Crying For Krishna In Ekachakra Dham
by Devaki Devi Dasi
Every room of the ISKCON Guest House at Ekachakra was fully occupied by our group of ladies from all parts of the world: Australia, South America, North America, South Africa, Mayapur, India, Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Swizzerland, Germany and France. We had come together in order to spend five days in seclusion to deepen our relationship with the holy name….
On the day of our arrival we went on parikrama in the peaceful village of Lord Nityananda. Seeing all the beautiful cows and the simple village life we were immediately reminded of Vrindavan. Visiting various places of significance we were praying for Lord Nityananda’s mercy to enter deeply into chanting the holy name. For the following four days we embarked on an internal journey and adventure, systematically preparing our consciousness in order to open our hearts and receive Sri Harinama Prabhu – in japa aswell as kirtan. We remembered Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur’s instruction: “Make your chanting heart-deep, not just lip-deep!” And this does not come about automatically. Every relationship requires serious and consistent endeavor in order for it to develop, and this includes our relationship with Sri Harinama Prabhu – Krsna in the form of His holy name. Chanting the holy name while turning towards Krsna and longing to develop our relationship with Him will destroy our tendency for impersonalism and will reconnect us with the Lord. Interestingly to note that it is indeed possible to chant Hare Krishna for many years and even lifetimes and at the same time completely ignore the personality of Krsna and our relationship with Him. This is indeed a common occurance since we all carry a little impersonalist within our heart! After all even Mayavadis are often chanting the maha mantra, however their chanting is without the intention to develop a loving relationship with Krsna. Begging Krsna to be allowed to serve will purify our tendencies for being the enjoyer and controller, and it will re-establish us in our eternal position of loving servant. These are two main keys which help us to cultivate the right quality of feeling while chanting, in japa aswell as kirtan: turning to Him helplessly while longing to serve. In this way the chanting of the holy name is a very deep science. It is not an external matter of mechanically doing our prescribed number of rounds, or joining kirtan simply for our own fun, but it is an internal process of developing a certain mood and attitude within the heart, which gradually turns into pure love for Krsna. And it all has to begin with a mindfulness of the personality of Krsna being actually present. Thus our chanting becomes “my time with Krishna”.
The atmosphere during our Holy Name Retreat was very personal, confidential and sweet, surcharged with an affectionate service attitude between the participating devotees. This was mainly created by the fact that we do not charge fixed fees to attend these retreats. It is an important part of brahminical culture that spiritual knowledge should be given free of charge. However, donations given with a happy and affectionate heart complete the loving exchange of receiving inspiration and giving in charity.
During the first days of January it was rather cold out there in Ekachakra. Nevertheless, we welcomed the tapasya as an opportunity to be even more determined to get off the platform of dualities – heat and cold, comfort and discomfort, pleasure and pain. We kept a good focus on the holy name, which allowed us to get a glimpse into a different reality: harer namaiva kevalam
– the reality of the holy name of Sri Hari alone being everything….
Returning to Mayapur it took us a couple of days to find our way back into our daily life, and we were missing the sweet evening kirtans in this personal and intimate atmosphere. We had shared a deep and unique experience which created a very special bond amongst all of us who participated in this retreat. Inspired by this event we now will offer another retreat at Ekachakra, which will be open for everyone and all – for men and ladies. For further details please see www.theholynameretreat.net
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