First Kirtan Mela 2011_ by the mercy of Sacinandana Swami   07.09.2011

The holy name was bouncing of the walls continuously, at night it continued in our dreams, at times I woke up and just started kirtana. It bounced against the wall of our false ego, making cracks and gradually breaking it. In the Caitanya Bhagavata it is described how Lord Nityananda engaged a group of young boys for one month in continuous kirtana, they didn’t  even stop to eat or sleep and at the end the boys in their ecstasy ripped  entire trees out of the ground. During the Kirtana Mela, sometimes the kirtanas were wild and intense,other times mellow and meditative, an ocean of so many rasas, so many different types of taste. Some danced the whole week.

Then  we sang and  danced while pulling the chariot of Lord Jagannatha through the streets of Leipzig and still there was more festival to come the next day, Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani. Remembering the pure loving devotional service of Srimati Radharani.   Her love is like a mirror reflecting the unlimited qualities of Krsna and she continuous to discover newer and newer amazing qualities in Krsna and in this way her love is increasing eternally. That love is touching Krsna, who also feels His love for her increasing and increasing. There is no end to the pleasure in the spiritual world.   The Mayor  from Limbach, the village where the Kirtana Mela was held,  personally visited the festival and enjoyed the festival and prasadam. The Mayor is a theologian with a keen spiritual interest and came across very favorably in a newspaper artikel; “We are a town open to the world and I find it fantastic, that people from the entire globe came to be our Guest. Generally speaking  in connection  with the Globalization a stronger effort should be made toward dialogue between various cultures.” “Such festivals with their impressive atmophere are very suitable toward realizing that objective and can have more impact on the consciousness then Seminars and speeches on the theme of Global Culture”,  he added. “He would welcome the festival if it would again take place in Limbach in 2012.”

Meanwhile here in the material world, there is now a moment of peace and quiet,ki jaya, a moment of rest, and after catching up on some good sleep, we can try and catch up on some good japa and read the sastra. Hearing, chanting and remembering, sabde pare ca nisnatam, always bathing in transcendental sound continues also at a time of rest.  Now may be also the time has come to reflect, how deeply can we become aborbed in chanting  Krsna’s holy name. The Padma Purana has established that the name is non-different from Krsna, Himself, but we are not yet actually perceiving it in that way. We look at the chanting like  a yajna, a sacrifice to attract the mercy of Krsna for our purification. We also look at the chanting as just fun when famous, powerful kirtan leaders such as Lokanatha Maharaja, BB Govinda Maharaja, Madhvava, Sacinandana Maharaja and many others are leading and we don’t forget the extra dimension to that fun of the eternal benefit that we have gained from the chanting. Then we flooded Leipzig with the ecstasy of  Ratha Yatra and our heart became inundated more. On Radhastami started our reflection on pure devotional service of which Srimati Radharani is the emblem and we prayed to her for service knowing that no one can please Krsna the way that she can.

Now everyone has gone home! Where is my home? My home is with the devotees, who are my real friends, I am at home with them and visit them all over the world.