Pot-plants for Swamiji and the SPN Centre

Here is a request from Mataji Prajna, who is responsiple for all our pot-plants inside and outside the ashram:

Jai Gurudev dear friends and spiritual family,

Until now many of you have brought beautiful pot-plants for Swamiji and Shree Peetha Nilaya, beautiful orchids and other flowering plants. They have certainly  enriched the temple and the center.

The idea to bring pot-plants instead of cut flowers is also very thoughtful because they are longer lasting than cut flowers and bloom several times. For that we would like to thank all of you whole-heartedly.

However, from now on we kindly ask you not to bring anymore pot-plants as we have reached our maximum capacity. We have 40 orchids and there are also more than enough large plants. It takes a lot of time to look after them and this time pulls us away from our daily seva for Swamiji´s mission.

For that reason we make this request: Please, for the time being, do not bring any orchids or other plants. We will not accept them anymore. On the other hand, cut flowers  are always welcome.

Thank you very much for your understanding and  cooperation.

Prajna 

in the name of Shree Peetha Nilaya

Reconstruction of our balconies

As you know, we bought this property in 2008. It's an older building built in 1968*. The price was very competitive and it was clear that it gradually needs to be restored. 
The roofs we have now are solid and insulated. The next necessary step was to reconstruct the balconies. The concrete on them has already been cracked in many places. 

Rainwater was penetrating through the cracks which made the steel rust. In the winter the water freezes and the cracking of concrete continues. 

It was high time to do something with it. 

The scaffold was erected on the south side of the ashram in September. Right now the damaged concrete is being removed and the steel reinforcement is exposed. 

Subsequently, new concrete will be applied after the appropriate treatment of the steel. 

Here you can clearly recognise: before (top) and after (below). 

We believe that the work on the south side of the building  will be finished this week. Then it can be nicely painted and will look like new again!

*Sorry, I wrote 1868! Of course this was a mistake, it was built 1968 and was first time renovated 1986 - and than we took it over.

Our new "Veggie-Cellar"

The construction works here at Bhakti Marga are actually always an ongoing process: Now we are building a "veggie-cellar" outside of the Building A (temple/church- building):

As you can see, the construction company digged already a huge new hole on the back side of Building A

There will be soon 3 veggie-cellars for the fruits of the garden (potatoes, apples and, and  - its a lot what Giri produces !). 

One of our goals in SPN is to be self sufficient, and therefore it is important that all vegetables from our garden can be stored for the winter months when there is not much harvest.

Last week all the earth was brought away, stored at our parking area outside - this will go back where it was after the construction is finished, because the cellar has to be covered with earth and plants so that there will be a natural climate in the rooms (not too cold and not too warm). 

Only the entrance will be seen and the green hill covered with grass, plants and bushes will be back.

You can see the groundplan of the 3 cellars, we did apply for building permission already some time ago...

Now we finally build it :-)

After Navaratri

Now, after these wonderful celebration days of Navaratri - we have to remove all the decorations and the tent must be deconstructed before wintertime, as it cannot hold the snow which will eventually come.

Already 3 weeks before Navaratri, when we started with the preparations, we could feel the presence of the Divine Mother more and more! She was with us and helped in the kitchen, during shopping and with the planning of everything - also with the decoration - She had Her clear picture of how She wanted it ;-)

And latest at the end it was clear: He, our beloved Guru, arranged everything! We just have to be good tools in his hands! 

Next-Level Prasad

During Navaratri, the kitchen team at Shree Peetha Nilaya has been working hard to make some top-tier prasad.

We wanted to share a few of our recipes over the upcoming days of the festival for the Divine Mother.

Here is one of the favorites from last night.

LAMINGTONS

BISCUIT:
325 gr flour
240 gr sugar
180 gr oil
410 gr water
1 ½ baking powder
Vanilla aroma
Pinch of cinnamon powder

Mix separately in one bowl dry ingredients; flour, backing powder, cinnamon powder and sugar and in another bowl put together water, oil and vanilla aroma.
Then put all together and mix gently with the whisk.
When it is well mixed put the mixture into a backing pan and bake it on the 180 degree for 15-20 minutes.


DIP:
200 gr butter
100 gr carob powder
6 spoons of sugar
3 dcl milk
Vanilla aroma

Melt everything in a pot.
For this measure it is required 30 dkg of coconut
Biscuit cut in cubes, dip them into the carob sauce and then roll them into the dried coconut.


Bon apetit! ☺

Bhajan Cafe

Right now  we have a very nice bistro in our Bhajan Cafe.

Bhyageshree set it up in the last week. You can get a really good espresso or cappucino. Of course, there is also chai available.

You can also have different kinds of cakes, fresh made fruit salad and pancakes with different toppings. 

Today, after the Sunday morning prayer all of a sudden started a wonderful jam session.

One guy from St Petersburg brought a 'hang drum' - somebody went to the piano and another guy with a flute show up - a perfect spontaneous 'dowlnoad' of divine sounds so soothing to our ears and hearts...in our divine home.

So beautiful - the "Bhakti Marga Bhajan Cafe" way of life!

New Cash Card System in Shree Peetha Nilaya

The cashless age has also reached us in Shree Peetha Nilaya!

To make life and work easier in all areas and also in our accounting, Rishi Madhavananda (ex-Naamdev) developed a system with a so called "cash card".

We ask you now to accept this new system openly because without a cashcard, nothing works here anymore!

First, you need to befriend our new resident, the "cashless automat"!

He doesn't appear/look very charming but he can do quite a few things!

At the beginning of Navaratri there will be an attendant by the side of this automat to help you get to know his characteristics. At this automat one can:

• Obtain a cashcard for 2€ deposit (as a hotel guest you get the card at reception with a corresponding credit for meals during your stay)
• One can top the cash card with cash or debit card
• One can also decharge the card and get the money back in cash. 

Attention: one cannot get money with a normal debit card from the machine - it's not a cash machine!

Once you have a cash card you can pay with it the various meals :

Cashcard scanner at the food table

You can buy things in the shop, buy coffee and cake during events as well as drinks and chocolate from the vending machine in front of the Babaji cave.

Bhagyshri and her team filling up drinks

PS: The only thing that still works with cash here in SPN are your donations and Gurudakshina! For this purpose we still have the donation box in the entrance hall.

Upcoming Mridanga Workshop during Navaratri

Shree Peetha Nilaya is a host of a number of workshops: art, paint, music, Atma Kriya Yoga, Simply Meditation, and more.

As music is a very hub of devotees' life in SPN there is no surprise that it attracts also many people to its workshops. When Guruji sings a bhajan everybody wants to know what he sings; everybody wants to sing along with him and also to try to learn to play it at home.

SPN musicians have developed a mridanga workshop for the beginners led by Mayuran, a great mridanga player from London. The result of the last workshop in Gurupurnima was amazing. 

Mayuran conducted a workshop which attracted 10 people. That is a maximum number of participants as the workshop is designed to give a maximum attention to each single individual. Many people who did not believe in their abilities to play, by the end of the two-day course, were able to play simple beats and they got the solid base to build upon their skills.

Mridanga is an Indian drum perfectly suited for bhajans and kirtans. As mridanga (or khol as it is called in some parts of India), is not easy to learn, so the groups are kept small.

Next workshop is organized during Navaratri - October 2 and 3.

You must register for the workshop before attending!

If you plan to come and want to learn how to play mridanga, please write to us at music@bhaktimarga.org or speak with us personally (Chaturananda, Mayuran, Tandav Krishna, or any temple mridanga players).

We would be happy to answer your questions.

Transcend Pleasure and Pain

There is a point where pleasure and pain intersect.

One transcends duality and a new dimension of bliss arises. Once the line is crossed there is no going back.

In the heart of Germany at Shree Peetha Nilaya one can find the ultimate tool that helps one transcend the duality of life.

Where one can finally find the utmost pleasure, in the greatest of all pain.

Testimonies:

“When I first discovered that pain can lead to pleasure, I was shocked. I couldn’t help but grow more and more into this way of life.”

- Girikumar, Head of Garden

“The more I put in it the more I transcended the plain of duality. Eventually there is nothing more to do but bottle up this feeling and store it.”

- Bhagyshri, Head of Kitchen

The duality transcending medicine can be found at specific times of the year, and not everyone is capable of handling it. Get ready for the key to everlasting life. It is ……..

Swami’s Chilli Sauce!

A note of caution, this sauce is blisteringly hot, made with Sri Swami Vishwananda’s chilies which are some of the hottest chilies in the world.

Please do not buy this product for any person with any respiratory, stomach, or throat problems.
If anyone is having any “heart” problems though, this is the perfect product.

Only available during Navaratri 2014.

 ** Please don’t take the article too seriously, it's meant only as a joke. But seriously - the sauce is really tasty!

Preparations for Navaratri

Since two weeks ago we've started to prepare slowly for Navaratri, the nine day festival in honor of the Divine Mother. It is the biggest festival we celebrate here in Shree Peetha Nilaya and it takes a lot of time and clarity to coordinate everything and build.

Here are some pics of the work involved.

Outside the tent, a pedestal for the shoes was built and the yagna kund for day 10 - Dussera - was prepared.

Sadly, a storm swept down our not-so-stable smaller tent. Now we have something better built.

Inside the tent we set ourselves some high goals: the entire tent roof should be covered! This was pretty time consuming but after it was finished, it looked wonderful!

For the Divine Mother we cut out a nice wooden frame, which was then milled and gold plated ...

... and another one for our Guruji.

 

After we knew about how many visitors have registered, we had several meetings and made ​​plans: "How can we ensure that we can seat everyone in the best way possible?"

So we tinkered with a system: every night a different group of 80 devotees can sit up in the front of the tent and then can join in with the arati in the front - and with your cooperation, it can work!

Kitchen Meeting

The kitchen also had to be much more organized - not only will there be 400-500 guests to provide for, but also there will be a LOT of prasad for each of the 10 ceremonies to prepare.

Slowly, slowly, the inside of the tent is starting to take shape.

Yesterday was the big move: the Murti of the Divine Mother of the temple was transported with the frontloader into the tent and lifted by four strong men onto the altar.

We look forward to the Navaratri festival with all of you, and most of all we look forward to seeing Swamiji again, who returns today from Kenya!

Jai Gurudev!

We Have Peacock Babies

This summer our peacocks were busy. They showed their best feathers and impressed not only the Peahens: many guests at the ashram enjoyed themselves and the peacocks posed for the countless photos.

Early this summer there were three nests with eggs - even one with 7 - but gradually this brought a fox or a marten. We found a scared peahen running around nervously one morning, looking for her "scrim" (her nest) . 

In the second run, some time before the Krishna Retreat there were two nests of five eggs from two of the hens. There was a place just by the entrance and another under the stairs to large darshan hall.

 a proud peahen with her newborn chicks 

The hen had four weeks to stay on her eggs unscathed. On the first day of Krishna retreat the first chicks hatched, and all five chicks are doing well. Meanwhile, it can be seen that the first five chicks are five males (we call them "the 5 Pandavas")

the 5 pandavas on their way ...

Since Swamiji told me to be careful and keep them in their small barn for three months, I arranged the hens with their little ones in our little aviary. They were here for the first days, remaining undisturbed. I bring the whole crowd out early in the morning and in the evening they come back to their house by themselves - because there will be delicious food! - and then they are locked up overnight.

All 10 chicks

These are the wise chicks...

... the Rishis!

The chicks of the second hen (born near the darshan hall) hatched on the 13th day of the Bhagavad Gita Retreat. They have been there listening for two weeks to Swamiji's talks - not your average birds ;-)

So now that we therefore have a proud group of 10 peacock chicks. For now we are happy to have them - we don't know yet how to handle having too many when they are all grown up!

curious peacocks during the retreat

During the Bhagavad Gita retreat, the birds would go to the porch, where from time to time we would see some curious adult peacocks listening to Swamiji explaining the Gita. During a break in the course, he said, "I love them so much! I do not want that we give away any peacocks."

Here's a little video that Swami Kuru made from the first flight tests of the 5 Pandavas:

And some more photos from the babies (thanks Isolde!)