I visited Mayapur Dham in July. I live in L.A, and my visits to Mayapur are truly a spiritual rejuvenation that inspire me in my work throughout the year.

One afternoon, I was reading Caitanya Charitamrita in my apartment. I was reading how Lord Caitanya and His associates would chant in ecstasy for hours. I just sat there on a rainy afternoon, and imagined what it might have been like during those times in Navadwip and Mayapur Dhamas.

After reading, I went outside for a walk, and came upon Shastra Prabhu's Kirtan Party. Shastra is one of the devotees who live here in Mayapur, and he heads up a kirtan party every day in Mayapur. So, everyone who is here: residents, guests, all birds and animals, receive the benefit of this daily beautiful kirtan.

I watched as Shastra explained to the many guests who were there, how to chant, why we chant, and he taught the guests there how to chant along with music. He engages everyone, with kartals, mrdanga, accordian. The chanting began on the loudspeaker, and everyone started to sing together, the Maha Mantra, "Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare....Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." Several ladies were in circles, beautifully chanting and dancing together. A group of visiting Shivaites suddenly were dancing for joy, singing the Holy Names in their bright orange robes. Shastra kept everyone together as the kirtan leader, and gradually this kirtan group grew, and it just reminded me of the passages that I was just reading about in the Chaitanya Charitamrita, about the roaring kirtans of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda.

I watched as one older gentleman, around 80 years old, slowly began to put one foot in front of the other, in time with the music and drum. He had arthritis all over his entire body, but it became soon apparent that the sweet sounds of the kirtan were penetrating into his soul. Suddenly, he jumped in the center of the circle and was spinning and gracefully dancing. Eyes were closed, arms held high, and with each chant of the Holy Name of Krsna, he became more and more ecstatic

Reading about the kirtans of Lord Caitanya is so sweet. And then, to be able to walk outside and experience these ecstatic kirtans right here in Mayapur is the blessing of Lord Chaitanya, the incarnation of Lord Krsna Himself. This is just one of the transcendental features of spending some time in Mayapur Dham. To read about and witness and delve into one of these ecstatic kirtans is truly the most purifying experience one can have.

So many people are looking for self-realization, God realization these days. Srila Prabhupada gave us the greatest gift of love, by establishing the birth place of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and giving us the opportunity of God realization through these kirtans, through the chanting of God's names.

Come to Mayapur Dham, join in Shastra's kirtan party, and let those memories, those realizations flood your heart!

Krodhasamani dasi, USA

 

	Janamastami 2009