On May 21st I left New Goloka for a brief trip to Europe. Normally I visit some of the temples in Europe in May and also in September. It looks like this year I will have to forgo my September trip, due to the need for me to visit Fiji again in September. Normally I would visit Fiji just once a year, but due to the unfortunate departure of Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami, I have to give the devotees more association this year.

Dr. Liladhara Gupta has been visiting New Goloka and has given me some hints on how to deal with long transcontinental flights and with the accompanying jet lag. He told me to eat a large meal just before taking the flight and to not eat at all on the flight (just take plenty of liquids during the flight). In this way I would rest during the flight, and would arrive refreshed.

I tried this on my non-stop flight to Frankfurt and it seemed to work. I was ready for a whole day of service when I arrived.

I arrive on May 22.

Radharadhya and his wife Srinitamba picked me up at the airport. He is a wonderful example of responsible household life. He runs a business called Vedasan, and at the same time he is going to medical school. He also has to financially pay most of the mortgage on the Weisbaden building that was originally meant for a temple but now sits vacant. He is trying to sell it.

Srinitamba is perhaps the best singer in ISKCON. She is attempting to make inroads in the professional music field so that she can preach Krishna consciousness utilizing her talents.

Radharadhya and his wife also regularly host devotees in their home and encourage many of the devotees in the area in their spiritual practices. It is an unfortunate fact that many devotees who had taken initiation from Harikesa are having trouble in their spiritual lives. Radharadhya and Srinitamba are spiritually maintaining many of these devotees. In this way they are doing very very valuable service. One who protects and maintains devotees certainly wins the favor of Krishna.

This evening Radharadhya and his wife arranged a nice get together with many of the local devotees. We spoke informally with them, had some nice bhajans, and finally prasadam. The devotees expressed appreciation for my visit. We discussed the paradigms that are presently accepted in ISKCON for spreading Krishna consciousness and how they needed to be adjusted to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s desire. Devotees came from hours away to attend the program. (check out news and pictures by Srinitamba)

May 23

The next day we were blessed with association of Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu and his wife. Normally because we are so busy in our respective services, we don’t get much time to talk with each other, but this time we had a lot of quality time to discuss Krishna Katha. We also talked about the need to sell the existing building in Weisbaden so that Radharadhya could be relieved of his burden of paying the mortgage. (check out pictures)

In the evening I took the night train to Denmark. I don’t really like taking the night trains in Europe, as the compartments are really crowded with people, and you can not really pick and choose your association. Sometimes you even end up with drunkards. Of course sometimes you do get nice preaching opportunities.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the cost of the night train was substantially less than the day train. I am always in anxiety about not wasting Krishna’s money on my own eating, sleeping or traveling. When I was young and on traveling sankirtana I used to go for weeks without spending money. We would beg gasoline from the service stations, beg bhoga from people who we distributed books (door to door skp), and in general not want to spend any of Krishna’s money, but to send the maximum possible to the BBT which is Srila Prabhupada’s heart. So that was my “basic training” in Krishna consciousness.

May 24

I arrived early the next morning in Copenhagen. My disciple Kesava picked me up at the train station. Also in the car was my disciple Visakha who for years was one of the main devotees who was instrumental in maintaining the Denmark yatra. She now has her own apartment in downtown Copenhagen and is working with the restaurant/preaching center. She is a great empowered preacher.

They have just sold the main temple in Denmark and are looking for a place closer to Copenhagen. The devotees have to move out of the existing temple by the 1st of July. I told them not to rush to buy something but be patient. They could temporarily worship the Deities somewhere else while the search for the ideal property goes on.

In one sense it is good that the devotees have sold the temple and are going to be moving to the city. The present temple was just too far away from the city to attract many people. Gradually the population of devotees was dwindling as devotees moved on in life and no new devotees came to replace them. So when I gave my welcome talk at the temple I stressed the fact that Lord Caitanya was now going to give them a wonderful opportunity to increase the number of devotees.

One way in which Europe differs from the United States is that the downtown areas in Europe are generally places where people shop, hang out, have their social lives, meet people etc, whereas in the United States these activities take place outside the downtown areas. In the US the downtown areas in general (outside of a few cities like NY) are places that are deserted after business hours at best, and at worst are dangerous areas. The European downtown areas are teeming with tourists, young people, night life, and other candidates for our society. So in Europe we definitely belong downtown or we need to have easy access to downtown.

May 25

May 25 is Lord Nrsimha’s appearance day, so in the morning we spoke about Lord Nrsimha, and in the afternoon I headed for the downtown preaching center/restaurant which has recently had its basement renovated. The preaching center was packed with nice people and we spoke about Lord Nrsimha. I spoke on the purpose of worshipping Lord Nrsimha. We worship Him not only for our external protection but to annihilate all the dirty things in our hearts so that we can attain the perfection of Krishna consciousness.

I also saw the proposed property for the new temple in Denmark and commented on it to the devotees.

I decided to leave early the next morning so that I could make it to Korsnas early enough to talk to the devotees who wanted to see me, give the Sunday feast lecture, and take the night boat for Helsinki.

May 26

I arrived in at the train station Sordelaje Syd at about 11:15 and was greeted by Srinivasa and his wife Saumyarupa who is my disciple. They brought me to the temple where I met with many devotees who were anxious to talk about Krishna consciousness(check out pictures). After this meeting we spoke again at the Sunday feast about Lord Nrsimha. Soon thereafter we had to leave for the docks where I was to board the evening boat for Helsinki.

This evening boat for Helsinki is an unpleasant experience because on this boat practically all the passengers are drunk. The single rooms were too expensive so I booked a room with some other people in it. Upon entering the room I discovered that the inhabitants had already put their bottles of Vodka on the shelf. They profusely appologised to me. They were nice young Finnish men. Actually since it was Sunday night and the night before they had a wild time, they were so tired that immediately after taking their Vodka they collapsed and slept so soundly I could not even hear them breathing. In this way the Vodka was engaged in Krishna’s service.

Saumyarupa had, as usual, packed enough prasadam for a small army. I was very happy to find that there were two other devotees on the boat. I gladly shared this prasadam with them, and there was enough left to feed others too. I really like providing prasadam for devotees. It is one of the six loving exchanges recommended by Srila Rupa Goswami in his Upadesamrta.

May 27

Rested up I disembarked at Helsinki at 9:30 AM. I was met at the boat by Gopinatha and Asvaharu. Gopinatha is my disciple and Asvaharu is the most unusual Finnish devotee. He is always enthusiastic and ready to render service to me, and I always joke with him about becoming more serious about Krishna consciousness.

We had a nice reception at the temple. I really like preaching in Finland since the devotees are the jolliest devotees I have ever encountered. They are always laughing and smiling.

When I am in Finland I try to schedule a visit to different householders each night. The first night I visited my disciples Syama Kunda and Radha Kunda (the Kunda family). I always enjoy visiting their family. They have two children, Haridas and Savitri. Savitri was just born less than a year ago but is a very very bright girl and will be a fantastic devotee when she grows older. Haridas is very shy when I am there but I am sure that he will bring great merit to his family.

So my program is; in the morning class, in the day meetings with devotees, and in the evening visiting homes.

May 28

Today I gave class in the morning, met with the devotees during the day, and in the evening we went to Leka’s house for dinner. Leka is a professional graphic arts designer and teacher who engages his talents in presenting Krishna consciousness in a very unique way to the public. When we entered their house we were greeted with a mannequin with a toy gun in her hand. It really is avant-garde there. He is doing so many creative projects to spread Krishna consciousness that it boggles the mind.

Kaisa, another graphics artist works with him and produces Krishna conscious comic books. She recently had an operation where both of her feet were removed and replaced by artificial limbs but she accepts this like a true devotee, detached from this material world and attached to Krishna.

May 29

Today in addition to the morning class, we had an initiation(check out pictures). Jayadhvaja became Jayananda and took second initiation and Rasarani took second initiation. In the afternoon I performed the marriage of two disciples(check out pictures), Jayananda and Astasakhi. About 150 persons came to the ceremony. The temple was completely packed. I am very happy when my disciples are situated nicely in the household ashram and this ashram is one of great stability if the combination is proper.

May 30

This evening I took prasadam with Kesava Madhava. Kesava Madhava is always wanting to move to Mayapura where he owns a nice flat. He is the first Finnish devotee I met, and when I first came to Finland I stayed with him. He and his wife traveled with our group in South India. His wife is studying videography and is determined to be on the top of this field.

Later on I moved from the sannyasa quarters to the home of Jayananada and Astasakhi. It is funny that after being married, a sannyasi moves in with them for their “honeymoon”! For the rest of this visit I will stay with them and regularly attend the morning programs that the congregation holds in the house of Ajamidha das, a very nice devotee with two children.

May 31st

We attended the morning program in Ajamidha’s house and spoke from the first canto, chapter 13 about the Kurus, the Pandavas, and Dhritarastra’s renunciation. Ajamidha’s son Sudama is very nice. Even though he is very young and not able to speak fluently he attends the classes and laughs at all the funny things. He is quite a nice devotee.

In the evening we met a group of congregational members in Jayananda’s apartment. Most were of Russian background so one of the devotees translated for them. They were very happy to get some association.

June 1st

After the morning program in Ajamidha’s house we rested and got ready for the congregational meeting. At three the congregational meeting began. There we spoke about how we need to change the paradigms in ISKCON in order to expand this movement and have it accepted by the people in general. There was quite some interest on the part of the attendees. Also we are trying to empower the devotees to become leaders rather than engage in “follow the leader.”

After the congregational meeting we met the devotees from the temple and extended congregation at a lake nearby. Also Kadamba Kanana Maharaja was there. He lead the most wonderful Sundar Aroti in the park where all the devotees were chanting and dancing with abandon, much to the amazement of all the other park visitors. At this time of year the sun stays up till 11 PM, so people remain in the park as long as possible. The park was crowded with many people.

The devotees had a nice picnic after the Krishna Katha.

June 2, 2002

We enjoyed another morning program with the devotees at Ajamidha’s place. This is the last day in Finland till I come back after Estonia, so I made use of the day to catch up on my email and get ready for tomorrow’s trip to Estonia, where we will rehearse for our concert tour. I am looking forward to this tour.

June 3, 2002

Woke up early as usual. It seems that no matter what time I go to take rest, my body automatically jumps out of bed by 4 AM even without an alarm clock. Krishna definitely wants me to take rest early otherwise I will not get sufficient rest.

At 6 AM Gopinatha came to pick us up to take us to the boat to Estonia. We had a 7:45 boat. The ride usually takes about 1 ½ hours during the summer and about 3 hours during the winter when the water is rougher. Four devotees were traveling with me. It was me, Venu Gopal, Gopinatha, Bh Jaako (Venu Gopals brother), and Bhaktin Elisabeth who has come to join the tour from Norway.

After an uneventful boat trip we arrived in Tallinn the capital of Estonia. Just a few years ago it would have been extremely dangerous for a Hare Krishna to be in Estonia because they were part of the Soviet Union. Now the immigration officials were friendly and even were in ecstacy to see Hare Krishna devotees.

Tallinn is a very old city with some buildings over 800 years old. The people are very friendly. Most do not speak English too well. Estonian is the national language, although the second language is Russian due to the previous occupation by Russia.

Devotees told me that years ago in order to do anything in the country you had to get permission from Moscow. Even to grow some plants on your farm! If you deviated the least, the KGB could send you to Siberia! Now it is just like any other European City.

European cities are quite different from most American cities. In American young people hang out at malls and other places. Seldom (except in NY) do you see them in downtown areas. Downtown areas are usually for business or other things not of interest to young people. In Europe the young people hang out in droves in the downtown areas, so just by having a temple in the middle of the city, we are assured of crowds coming to the Sunday program and many people joining to become devotees. I wish America was like that.

One reason I like Europe is that there is a lot of youthful Krishna conscious energy here. Sometimes in America I feel like I have moved into an old people’s home. I always tell the devotees I feel like I am 20 years younger here.

We immediately went to the temple upon our arrival in Tallinn. The temple is situated right behind one of the main government buildings in Tallinn (the tax bureau), so everyone knows where it is, and you can walk to all the major downtown attractions from it, so it is always filled with Krishna conscious energy. For harinama you just need to walk out the door!

The devotees had a nice reception for me upon my arrival. For the next three days we rehearsed the songs that our band was going to play. Gopinatha is the bass guitar player, Venu Gopal the lead guitar, and Jaako is our expert drummer. They are really good musicians. I am almost embarrassed to be singing with them.

We decided to have about 14 songs in our repertoire: 1. Lord Gauranga’s Calling you, 2. Jaya Radha Madhava, 3. Mantra Chant, 4. Vande Krishna, 5. Across the world, 6. Hanuman, 7. Good Time, 8. Satisfaction (you can only be satisfied if you chant), 9. Swami Step, 10. Nrsimha, 11. Kali Yuga Rap, 12. Nitai Pada Kamala 13. Jaya Jagannatha

There are also 5 other performances going on which include plays and dancing as well as music.

We practiced till the 5th of June. Then in the evening we performed for the devotees in the temple room. They seemed to like it.

June 4-5

We gave class in the morning, practiced in the day, and in the evening had an initiation. Bhaktin Jaana and Jandra both took initiation(check out pictures). They got the names Tulasi Manjari and Rupa Manjari respectively. They are both very nice devotees. Jaana is a student and Jandra is a dentist.

June 6th

After the normal morning program the devotees left in a 50 passenger bus for the first concert venue. I left later in the afternoon and joined the devotees. It was a small place behind a music school in a small town so not many people came. Our group did not get to perform, as the program went really late, and it started to get cold so few people were there. We are going to rearrange the schedule for the next night so we can perform.

The devotees who performed were quite expert. Arjuna is one of the country’s most famous musicians so he acted as MC and also performed with many of the groups. The highlight of the evening was the play, “Sanatana Goswami and the Touchstone”. I am taking videos and pictures of these performances so that they can be posted on the internet(check out pictures). Also memorable was the Bharata Natyam Dancing. They did a dance with three mrdungas and two dancers about Lord Nrsimhadeva that was simply riveting.

Late in evening we headed for a devotee’s house that was about an hour away. All the devotees are camping out at this house. We have about 50 devotees with us.

June 7th
I woke early again and chanted my rounds before everyone else woke. The rest of the devotees woke at about 7 AM. We had a morning program at about 8AM in the backyard of the house that we are staying in. Most of the devotees left at about 11 AM for the next concert venue, a park in a beach town. I left in the afternoon for the concert. We scheduled our group early so that we could get a chance to perform. This was our first public performance. Not many people were there, but we did get everyone to chant and dance.

June 8th

Today we performed right by the beach in an open amphitheater. Many people attended, and were enthusiastically chanting and dancing.

June 9th

Today was the last day of the concert series, and it was held in downtown Tallinn. It is also a festival day in the city. Many of the streets were closed off, and thousands of people were milling around. We were able to get hundreds of people to chant the holy names. I became so overwhelmed on stage to see everyone chanting and dancing, that I felt like a young man and got a little carried away with the dancing myself.

We even got a chance to play my rap song about Kali Yuga, as the audience was demanding more and more songs.

Venu Gopal’s brother Jaako (our drummer) was so happy that he almost jumped out of his skin.

The greatest happiness is in giving the holy names to others.

June 10th

I went back to Finland by ferry and spent the day talking to the devotees and showing them the videos of our tour. Most likely we will do something similar in Finland in the future. Also I am planning to do the same in America.