German Lesson

Yesterday I came into the Bhajan cafe and saw a group of matajis sitting around one of the tables.

It didn't look like a meeting and I was wondering what they are doing there. I asked Ramanee in German: "Was macht ihr da?" (What are you doing?)

And she answered (in German) - while looking to Shradda: "Shradda, bitte kannst Du Drishti sagen was wir machen?" (... please can you tell Drishti what we are doing?!)

And Shradda answered very calmly and carefully, looking to me: "Wir haben Deutschstunde!"

It was such a sweet moment - I understood:  they come together once a week, out of their own interest to learn German - and Ramanee helps them. 

Feedback from a longterm Seva helper.

Karani from Finland is doing seva in the sewing studio since five months. Here are some of her experiences about living at Shree Peetha Nilaya:

"I met Sri Swami Vishwananda for the first time in Finland in August 2009 where he was giving Darshan. Only a few months later in December I came for a visit to the ashram here in Germany. After that I came quite often. Already from the beginning I helped during my visits with making murti clothes and different other cloths like the brown ones for the bamacharinis.

It was always my wish to stay for a longer period of time and to participate in the life here in the centre. But for a long time it was not possible to do this due to my life in Finland. But then at the end of 2013 things suddenly came together in the right way and it was possible for me to come and stay for a longer seva time.

For me this place means having a feeling of being at home which I have nowhere else like that. The prayers in the temple and in the church are like food for me. A food that I have missed for so long. The lifestyle here seems to be the only useful way of living.

The community of people is quite big with so many different personalities and people from all over the world and I can learn so much through meeting them which is a great blessing.

The most important one here is of course Guruji and I know that only through him this place is possible.

Never before in my life did I have the possibility to learn so many different things. Be it the daily prayers or doing seva together with others, there is so much here which is opening the heart. If I take time to reflect a bit on what this place and its people are giving me, I am very touched and tears are coming to my eyes.

I am learning that we can be very strong together if we are able to open ourselves. And this is what is happening here. Now that I am in the ashram for a longer period of time I am beginning to understand what respect is. It is especially through Guruji that I am learning this. To learn to be humble and to respect others is getting more and more important for me. I am learning this through the people i meet here and through observing others. Once I saw Swamini Dayamati meeting Guruji and greeting him. There was so much respect and friendliness in her behaviour towards him that it left a deep impression on me and it made me understand that for me the most important thing to learn is true humility."

Seva needed in the Laundry

This is our Laundry Team, Padmavati and Sister Parthenia:

After the events there is always a lot to do in the laundry, so they need urgently some help to wash, iron and fold all the bed-linen and towels from our guests:

Announcement Bhakti Seva Programme Laundry:

Our main laundry needs volunteers to help, especially AFTER our events.

This seva duty consists of cleaning all laundry areas; collect dirty laundry; carry up clean laundry to storage rooms; support all the process of washing, drying, stretching, ironing and folding.

Time Period: 

From beginning of June 2014 till the 4th of July and from the 15^th of July till the beginning of September 2014.

If you like to come and help with this program (preferably for 4 weeks!), experiencing our community life (full time seva 6-7 hours a day) then you are welcome to apply for the bhakti seva program.

For further information or application please contact:

seva@bhaktimarga.org

Last night Swamiji cooked for all of us!

Last night Sri Swami Vishwananda went into the kitchen and cooked for us all, and here is Bhagyshri's report:

'When He walked into the kitchen, Swami opened his arms, saying: "Bhagyshri im here!"  This made me laugh and immediately set the mood for our cooking session.  

The night before Swami came to the kitchen office and we sat together planning the menu.  I was the secretary writing down his dictations, sometimes giving my input, but he was the chef. 

Going through the cookbook, we decided on Halim, Kitcheree, Fried Potato Balls, and Cheese Sticks for the dinner the next night.  

First when he came, he was silent, never speaking over the food.  Even he wanted to wear a kitchen net, that no hair would come in the food.  Of course he did it for us, setting an example of how it should be. But then.....the fun began!  We danced and laughed, Swami making jokes and everyone laughing.  Even we burnt the food, but Swami just laughed and said thats the flavor and in fact, it was delicious.  

Krishna got his food, on his beautiful plate, filled by Swamis hand, delivered to the temple.  Annapurna, at the very end of cooking, when all people had been served, there was a little bit of kitcheree left in the pot.  Swami began to scrape the last bits making it into a ball and then said to offer it to Annapurna.  For me, this was really symbolic...the Mother always feeds her children first, making sure all are filled, accepting whatever is left.' 

Seva needed in the Garden

This is GirikumarAnanda short called "Giri" and Punita, our Gardenteam. Now during the main season there is a lot to do in the garden and they urgently need help!

Announcement Bhakti Seva Program Garden:

Jai Gurudev,

Like every year, from springtime until the end of November, we are again looking for many diligent seva helpers for our beautiful big garden in Shree Peetha Nilaya.

If you would like to help with seva in the garden, have good physical condition and would like to spend from min. 2 till max. 4 weeks experiencing our community life (full time seva 6-7 hours a day), then you are welcome to apply for the bhakti seva program.

For further information or application please contact:seva@bhaktimarga.org

Preparations for the Lakshmi Yagna

The last week we were very busy preparing everything down at the tent:

First of all the tent had to be built up. Swami Anashuya did it quite fast. After all the years of him doing it, he is getting really professional at it. 

Just after the roof of the tent was pulled up, it started to rain heavily - all around the tent was getting extremely muddy, so we needed to make a system for the rainwater: 

Some of our construction boys and some seva helpers were digging a kind of drainage ditch to lead the water away from the tent

At the same time inside, we had to cover the ground and start to built up the altar. Swami Vishwananda wanted our big Lakshmi Murti as the main deity on the altar- so Kalpit brought it with the bumblebee.

In the end, all the three yagna kunds were somehow dry, and the tent looked nice and cozy.

Thanks to all who brought flowers- this helped a lot to make the place nice for our Guruji and for Maha Lakshmi!

In the last moment Swami Vishwananda decided, that the Lakshmi Yagna will not take place on two separate days, but will instead start today at noon and will last 24 hours without any break!

At around 11 am, he came and started with the Kalash Puja.

In the kitchen the prasad was already waiting.