Weekly Community Get-Together
Inspired by H.H. Varsana Swami’s desire to see the New Vrindaban residents come closer together in a more personal setting, a weekly get-together has started. Caitanya das is responsible for the organization of the weekly program which consists of Kirtan, a possible class or talk, and lots of great prasadam. Varsana Swami spoke at the first one held at one of the cabins, on Sept. 22nd, and at the second which was at Gopa and Damodar’s – Sept. 29th.
The third one was at our house, last Thursday, Oct. 5th. Unfortunately, Varsana Swami was not feeling well, and couldn’t attend, so we just kept the kirtan going for over an hour and a half, the first half being led ecstatically by Loka prabhu, and then a couple of the youth from Talavan (Pavanadham), took over. We had about 35 devotees attend, including our old friend Bill and his son, Jagannath, who recently moved back into the area. Mother Gopa brought five visiting ladies, who had arrived to attend the Vaisnavi Retreat. They really enjoyed meeting some of the locals and getting to associate and relax after being in a vehicle for many hours.
After the chanting, and no guest speaker, it was time for prasadam: Rainbow Chili, cornbread, springmix salad, taboulli and brownies filled the bill. Afraid that I had made “too much” as Varsana Swami wasn’t coming, there wasn’t a crumb left at the end of the night.
This week we had a combined get-together at Shyam and Vidya’s house for their son Rishi’s 16th birthday, the youth program, and weekly NV residents get-together. An ecstatic kirtan was led by Nityodita prabhu, then the Damodar prayers, and lots of yummy prasadam, Lo-mein, barbequed gluten, lasagna, potato salad, and good-old Dharmakala chocolate cake. Prasadam Ki Jaya!!!
The regular day for the program is every Friday, but stay in touch via Jayamurari’s email for updates.
Haribol,
Sachimata
