Mayapura, West Bengal
Announcements can be dangerous, so I've found. Samba, an Australian married priest, announces events over the PA for the day. In the midst of a ton of things to report he said to the multitudes, "An ice-and-ground-breaking experience, visit the 9 Devotions Workshop this afternoon!" That announcement to all the returning pilgrims in the area excited a flood of a turn out.
Normally, as facilitator, I'm happy with a figure of 25 but our tiny room burst with attendance. I also discovered, after the workshop, that a crew of dozens were misinformed about the location of our classroom and hence, they went to another end of the campus. This is indeed one of those situations that you call a 'nice problem'.
For some reason the male population in attendance was very strong. I don't' know exactly what that indicates. One woman who entered the room just prior to the start of our presentation asked me, "Is this only for prabhus?" meaning 'men', when she peered in.
"No, it's for anyone wanting to go
through a crash course on the nine devotional processes.
Each session that I facilitate brings on interesting results. Each group is unique and participants at 'feedback' time express their preference on which of the nine techniques resonates the most for them. Overall, it was transformational.
My other highlight for the day was being requested to give the morning Bhagavatam class to a group of a thousand Russians and its delivery. What was interesting in the talk was the paradox of this philosophical point. Sastra (scripture) leads us to believe that if you have much determination or conviction with your devotion it means that in the previous life you had begun the rigors of austerity, study, worship and so on. Another view on those who take to the process of bhakti (devotion) in the age, is that we have no qualifications. Only on the principle of mercy or grace do we get landed in this devotional lifestyle.
"This can be a bit of a puzzle," I admitted in my talk. Prerequisite versus mercy from God. Which one is it? Or is it a bit of both?
Shall we explore this and touch on this tomorrow?
8 Km
Each session that I facilitate brings on interesting results. Each group is unique and participants at 'feedback' time express their preference on which of the nine techniques resonates the most for them. Overall, it was transformational.
My other highlight for the day was being requested to give the morning Bhagavatam class to a group of a thousand Russians and its delivery. What was interesting in the talk was the paradox of this philosophical point. Sastra (scripture) leads us to believe that if you have much determination or conviction with your devotion it means that in the previous life you had begun the rigors of austerity, study, worship and so on. Another view on those who take to the process of bhakti (devotion) in the age, is that we have no qualifications. Only on the principle of mercy or grace do we get landed in this devotional lifestyle.
"This can be a bit of a puzzle," I admitted in my talk. Prerequisite versus mercy from God. Which one is it? Or is it a bit of both?
Shall we explore this and touch on this tomorrow?
8 Km
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