Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 11, No. 11
By Krishna-kripa das
(June 2015, part one)
The North of England, Edinburgh, Brighton, London and Birmingham
(Sent from Newcastle-upon Tyne on July 6, 2015)
Where I Went and What I Did
After so much traveling around The North of England in May, and even visiting London, I finally settled down in Newcastle for a week, except for two one-day trips, one on Tuesday to Edinburgh to do harinama and speak at their weekly Tuesday evening program,and one on Saturday to York, to do harinama and speak at their monthly evening program. While in Newcastle I did harinama there and in the nearby cities of Chester-le-Street, Durham, and Sunderland. The following week I did harinama and an evening program in Chester.Then to Sheffield for their Wednesday evening program and Thursday afternoon kirtana, and to Brighton to do harinama and spend time with Janananda Goswami on Friday and Saturday. Back to London for the Ratha-yatra on Sunday. Monday I chanted in Birmingham with Sutapa Prabhu and devotees from the Manor and the world harinama party, Harinam Ruci, on our way to chant in the cities around Manchester for the next several days.
I share a quote by Srila Prabhupada from Srimad-Bhagavatam, a quote by Sanatana Goswami from Brihad-bhagavatamrita, quotes from the books and journal of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, a story by Jayadvaita Swami, and notes on lectures by Janananda Goswami, Jagadatma Prabhu, Parividha Prabhu, and Sadbhuja Prabhu.
Thanks to Agi for the pictures of Chester harinama and evening program, Dharmatma Prabhu for the picture of Parividha Prabhu and me at the London Ratha-yatra, the Hare Krishna Festivals devotees for two pictures of the London Ratha-yatra stage show, Martine for two pictures of Brighton, and Harinama Ruci for two pictures of Birmingham.
I would like to thank Janananda Goswami, Clive of Chester, Lochan Das Thakura Prabhu of Brighton, Rima of Edinburgh, and Gaura Karuna and Vishnujana Prabhus of the Harinama Ruci world traveling harinama party for their kind donations.
Itinerary
July 5–6: Newcastle
July 7: Edinburgh
July 8–9: Newcastle
July 10: Leeds
July 11: Chester
July 12: Manchester
July 13–15: London
July 16–17: Prague
July 18: Munich Ratha-yatra
July 19: Prague Ratha-yatra
July 20–26: Baltic Summer Festival
July 28–August 2: Polish Woodstock
August 3–15: Czech Padayatra?
August 16–18: Bratislava?
August 19: Prague?
August 20–23: Trutnov (Czech Woodstock)
August 24: London
August 25: Edinburgh?
August 26: Newcastle
August 27: Preston
August 28: Liverpool
August 29: Manchester
August 30: Leeds
August 31–September 1
September 2–3: Sheffield
September 4–7: Ireland
September 8: New York City
Harinama in Chester-le-Street
I was simply amazed by the positive response we received in Chester-le-Street, a city of 37,000 near Newcastle. One devotee named Atula Krishna Caitanya Prabhu lives there. His health is not good, and it is hard for him to come to the temple regularly. It means a lot to him for us to chant in his town, and he always joins us.
Prema Sankirtana Prabhu, Radhe Shyam Prabhu, Madhuri Devi Dasi, who are all young and enthusiastic, came from Newcastle. We chanted for ten minutes to and from our car to the front of a shopping center where there was a steady flow of people.
One lady, who gave us a donation, passed by our party a second time telling Madhuri, “It is nice to hear some music that makes you happy for a change.” A few school children, dressed in their uniforms, moved with the music and joked with us.
Considering the smallness of the place, the sorts of people you find there, and that we stayed barely an hour, I was surprised that people donated £10.96 and took four or five books!
After Chester-le-Street, Prema Sankirtana Prabhu, Radhe Shyam Prabhu, Madhuri Devi Dasi, and I went to Durham. They are so enthusiastic, it was great to be chanting with them.
I thought it was humorous we stood near a Marks and Spencer display entitled “Tastes of the British Isles.”
One favorable young man from Singapore, who had come to one of the Durham programs, was happy to see the devotees again.
Still it was striking to me that although people are more sophisticated in Durham, a university town, much fewer people gave donations and took books than in Chester-le-Street.
Harinama in Edinburgh
In Edinburgh we have a new storefront called Gauranga Mantra Centre, which is run by a Lithuanian couple, Lucas and Rima, who have three programs a week there, Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday.
I chanted in Edinburgh for three hours the day of our Tuesday program and an hour the next day. Yamuna Devi Dasi, a devotee who lived in Scotland for many years, and who was up from London visiting her daughters that go to the university there, joined me most of the time. We had a busy location and amazing weather for Scotland. We met a couple of Indian families and a couple of local musicians who were interested in hearing of our programs in Edinburgh, but otherwise not so many people interacted with us.
There were a few Scottish people at the program and many Bengali speaking people who had emigrated there. The final kirtana was very lively.
Harinama in Newcastle
I decided to encourage the devotees in Newcastle to do harinama before our two-hourevening kirtana on Wednesday, and I was very happy that six of them came out.
One kid played the karatalaswith us.
Some Muslim kids enjoyed dancing with us.
Their mom enjoyed taking a video of the kids.
The Muslim familygave a £5 donation, and I gave them a Higher Taste cookbook.
On the way back to the temple, we met some partying young people who got into dancing to our music.
One young lady delighted in playing the karatalas.
As I was doing harinamaone day, an Indian student stopped to purchase Bhagavad-gita.He was from Iowa but getting his masters in organic farming at Newcastle University. He attended Hare Krishna programs in New York’s Lower East Side but had not met devotees in Newcastle yet.
He chanted with me for half an hour.
Later that daya young lady majoring in psychology at the same school and interested in Hinduism’s oneness and altered states of consciousness also bought a Gita.
Harinama in York
Harinama in York was amazing. We had nine devotees coming from Newcastle and a couple from Leeds. Many groups of people danced with us, mostly ladies. Govardhan Dasi of Scarborough,is the inspiration behind the York harinama, and she sings in this video and many people dance (https://youtu.be/6BecU_ZP9KU):
One man holding a tray of pizza samples really enjoyed dancing with us, but because I was playing karatalas I could not take a photo of it.
A lady delighted in dancing in front of a cafe with us for several minutes, while her dining partners watched and took photos.
Another lady tried playing our instruments, both drum and gong.
Priya Sundari Devi Dasi swung one lady around.
Two young men who were friends stayed with u
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