Sri Sri Guru-Gaurangau Jayatah! |
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Sept 1, 2000 Dear Devotees, Srila Govinda Maharaj accompanied by devotees from India, London, Mexico, and the United States arrived in Amsterdam on August 25. There he was met by all the Holland devotees including Sripad Arjjunananda Prabhu, Srimati Parama Bhakti devi dasi, Srimati Sachidevi dasi, Sripad Bilvamangala Prabhu and many other devotees from the Netherlands. Also there to meet Srila Govinda Maharaj was Sripad Tridandi Maharaj, Sripad Premanidhi Prabhu, Srimati Anupama devi dasi, and many other devotees from England and Germany. One devotee also came all the way from Northern Sweden, from far above the Arctic Circle. The local devotees had arranged to have the program in a beautiful resort located little more than one hour from Amsterdam, where there were very nice accommodations for Srila Govinda Maharaj and all his friends and all the visiting devotees. The resort was surrounded by farmland where dairy cows and horses grazed peacefully. The cows were so large no one could believe their eyes. Even a two year old bull was over 6 feet (2 meters) tall. The cows were very healthy and happily giving each over 30 liters of milk every day. The roads ran side by side with canals that connected the many lakes and rivers in the Netherlands by an intricate system of locks and water passageways. As we were driving, boats of all sizes were also plying alongside our road! Srila Govinda Maharaj was so happy to be there. He told us that it was his long time desire to come to the Netherlands, and now that desire was fulfilled by the grace of the Holland devotees. It was also the desire for a long time of the Holland devotees to have Srila Govinda Maharaj come there. And of course they were so happy to have their desire fulfilled. A public program was organized in Amsterdam where several hundred devotees and guests came to hear from His Divine Grace. Srila Govinda Maharaj was happy to see at the program several disciples of Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Sridhar Maharaj) that had come. Everyone was very satisfied with hearing Srila Govinda Maharaj's lecture and all their questions were fully answered by His Divine Grace. Then a very ecstatic Kirttan followed and delicious Prasadam was distributed to everyone. Srila Govinda Maharaj's health had been taxed by the demands of traveling for the last three weeks in Russia and Europe. But he was able to get some relief from a very good doctor who was summoned by Srimati Parama Bhakti devi dasi to come and examine Srila Govinda Maharaj. On the final day, Srila Govinda Maharaj gave such a beautiful lecture to the devotees. He thanked them all for making this trip possible, while telling stories from the Mahabharat and Ramayan. The room was surcharged with spiritual energy and everyone was smiling and fully enthused by Srila Govinda Maharaj's encouraging words. Then when Srila Govinda Maharaj left the room, all the devotees followed with Kirttan still going on, led by Sripad Tirtha Maharaj. Srila Govinda Maharaj walked around outside and went to the end of the property next to where the horses were grazing. These horses were friendly but they had not shown any special activities since we had arrived one week earlier. But this evening, with Srila Govinda Maharaj and about 30 devotees standing there chanting, the horses began to dance right in front of us! Everyone was astonished to see this. The horses ran up and down in their field, around in circles, sometimes bowing their heads and kicking up their back legs. The whole environment seemed auspicious, with the beautiful countryside surrounding us, the sun was low in the sky, the devotees chanting the Holy Names of the Lord and the horses dancing! It was unbelievable! Then to the simultaneously happy and sad hearts of all the Holland devotees His Divine Grace left the Netherlands to continue his tour to Italy. My dandavat pranams to all the devotees and please forgive me for only writing this brief description of the wonderful activities of His Divine Grace Srila Govinda Maharaj and of all his devotees in Holland. -Hasyapriya das |
16th Tour Index | Russian
Dispatches | 2nd Dutch Dispatch | Italian Dispatch  URL:
http://www.scsmath.com/worldtour/16/holland.html2 September 2000. (Updated 12 September 2000.) For more information, please send email to info@scsmath.com. |