Dear Reader,

Our kirtan-yoga festival in January, called ‘Radhadesh Mellows’, brought new and fresh energy during the spring season in Radhadesh. The upcoming appearance day of Lord Ramacandra (popularly known as Rama), is also reason to be joyous because in this form the Lord showed us how and why we should always do our duties. If you have a Bhagavad-gita, please read from the 3rd chapter, verse 35: “It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous”. You are invited to share with me your thoughts on this important verse. We are geared up to welcome you with many activities in the coming months like the Gaura Purnima festival, the colorful Holi festival and a new yoga retreat.

Warm regards,

Malati Devi Dasi

Yoga retreat / 20–22 April

Radhadesh Retreats is inviting you for a relaxing and refreshing weekend in the beautiful setting of the Ardennes Mountains. The retreat will be facilitated by our professional yoga teacher Jahnava Sundari Devi Dasi, who will expertly guide you through a weekend of both practical and theoretical yoga exercises. What you can expect after the retreat is: Relieve of burden, more peace in the mind, decrease of anxieties and increase of joy. Please keep in mind that no retreat is an instant detachment remedy or flight from reality; it is only meant to provide a tool to see things in life from more angles and thus create peace in mind.

Please register with Malati devi dasi: malati@radhadesh.com

Rama Navami

Sunday 1 April we celebrate the appearance of Lord Ramacandra. He appeared on the ninth day (=navami) after the new moon. The glories of Sri Ramacandra are elaborately described in Valmiki’s ‘Ramayana’. This epic, famous for thousands of years, is full of instructions about the higher purpose of life, creation and mankind. In many Indian homes the tales about Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman are known to young and old. Narrating the stories about the Lord and enacting His activities in plays and dances is part of the process of Bhakti with the goal of enhancing our relationship with the Supreme Person. In Radhadesh during the arati at 12.30h grains and dipas (lamps) can be offered to Their Lordships Sri Sri Sita Rama Lakshmana and Hanuman. Rama-lila (play) and music and a delicious prasadam feast and much more is on the program. Please join us for this wonderful celebration. Always a special attraction during this festival is the treeplanting project. The opportunity is given to buy a small tree which will be planted in Radhadesh’s fields. Then during your future visits to Radhadesh you can take care of it and see how your tree grows.

Contact Malati for more information and participation.

Cooking course / Sunday 25th March

Prof Parkin, a researcher from Oxford, said in a recent report: “We didn’t expect to find that eating fruit and vegetables would prove to be so important in protecting men against cancer. And among women we didn’t expect being overweight to be more of a risk factor than alcohol.” Balancing our lifestyle with healthy dishes is not a luxury anymore but a must. Mahalaxmi Devi Dasi is lined up to dive with you in the secrets of Vedic vegetarian cuisine.

Participation fee: 40 Euro per person. If you have a member card, a 20% discount will be applied. For accomodation contact our guesthouse: guesthouse @radhadesh.com. Register in time with Malati: malati@radhadesh.com.

New ISKCON preaching center in Brussels

In our recently opened center in Brussels, there is a number of weekly programs that are now up and running. You are welcome to come along and support this new project to present the art of Bhakti yoga in the european capital. Programmes are held every Friday evening at 7pm and every Sunday afternoon at 1.30 pm with a lecture from Bhagavad-gita and a vegetarian meal. Free entrance, but a donation is welcome.

Centre de Bhakti-yoga Oudergemlaan 197 1040 ETTERBEEK

For more information: bhakti.yoga.be@pamho.net

Srila Prabhupada speaks out

‘‘People in general always require a leader who can teach the public by practical behavior. A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes. Lord Caitanya said that a teacher should behave properly before he begins teaching. One who teaches in that way is called acarya, or the ideal teacher. The king or the executive head of a state, the father and the schoolteacher are all considered to be natural leaders of the innocent people in general. All such natural leaders have a great responsibility to their dependents; therefore they must be conversant with standard books of moral and spiritual codes’’ Bhagavad-gita 3.21 purport

Maha Mantra

The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the Maha Mantra (“Great Mantra”), is a sixteen-word Vaishnava mantra which first appeared in the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, and in the 15th century rose to importance in the Bhakti movement following the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Hare Krishna mantra is composed of 3 Sanskrit names in the vocative case: Hare, Krishna and Rama. “Hare” can be understood as the vocative of Hari, another name of Vishnu meaning “He who removes illusion”, or as the vocative of Hara, a name of Radha, Krishna’s eternal consort or Shakti.

---