Report by Klara
Kadamba Kanana Swami arrived in Prague on Thursday, 12 March, in the late afternoon. He traveled from Berlin by train and there were about twenty-five devotees waiting for him at the railway station, with enthusiastic kirtan.
In Friday morning’s lecture, Maharaj spoke mainly about pure devotional service. During the day, he gave his association to some devotees through darshans and in the evening, he presented a very deep and serious lecture. Maharaj said that we should work on ourselves to become better people and that we have to WANT to change ourselves – it is not automatic. He went on further to say that our duty is to develop the qualities of a devotee and to become pure devotees, and anything that impedes us in achieving this goal, we should kick out from our lives.
The next morning’s lecture, was about paying respects to all living-beings, about being creative in giving out mercy and about all of us having to be real well-wishers. In the afternoon, Maharaj went to Harinam Mandir, which is a preaching center in downtown Prague. There, he led a really ecstatic kirtan and gave another very inspiring lecture. He spoke about the transcendental boat which is now anchored in Prague and which we should not let sail away. Also, we should not wait too long to buy tickets because we do not know how much time we have and there are not enough tickets for everyone. The temple room was totally packed that some devotees even had to stand in the hallway but the spiritual atmosphere was nice.
Sunday was the last day of Maharaja’s stay and he started the day with leading sweet kirtan at mangala arati – just like the previous days. Then he spoke about the sixty-four aspects of devotional service, that we should be eager about service and that the essence is not to convince people but to engage them in service. Again, he mentioned the point of creativity. The kirtan at the Sunday feast was amazing and surely pleased the presiding Deities Sri Sri Nitai-Navadvipacandra who were beautifully and luxuriously dressed. During the afternoon lecture, Maharaj touched on almost all chapters of Bhagavad-gita and inspired the audience to read the book and to those who did not have a copy yet, to buy one. Maharaj left just after the lecture and traveled to Leipzig, Germany.
He stayed in Leipzig for two nights at the house of Mahibharta Prabhu and his wife Jana. On Monday afternoon, he attended a public program, with kirtan and a lecture, in the new Leipzig temple. Early on Tuesday morning, he departed for Amsterdam where he took his flight to South Africa on Wednesday (18 March).
As usual, it was really wonderful to spend time with Maharaj and we can hardly wait for his association, deep scriptural explanations and sense of humor during his next visit which should be at the Czech Summer Camp in the beginning of July.
All glories to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami!
Visit flickr to see all the photos.