iMonk | January 2006

Caracas, Venezuela — Sunday, January 15th

Distinguished guests

On our last afternoon at the Parama-Karuna temple here in Caracas, Purujit Prabhu and his wife Amita Shakti Devi Dasi host some very distinguished guests from the Indian embassy: the Cultural Director, the First Secretary and his wife, and their children.

After lunch, our guests stay for the full Sunday afternoon program — arati, kirtan, and a lecture about the significance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's sannyas-lila — which is attended by about one hundred devotees and guests.

The First Secretary (who has visited this temple before) and the Cultural Director have been very helpful to our preaching mission here in Caracas: linking to our Parama-Karuna website on the main page of the Indian Embassy website, displaying our books in the embassy library, and hiring one of our devotees (Mandakini Devi Dasi) as an assistant.

Such recognition from the Indian embassy is a tribute to the spiritual, cultural, and community outreach programs organized by Antyarjami Prabhu, Purujit Prabhu, and Amita Shakti Devi Dasi — and proof of the success of Srila Gurudeva's mission here in Venezuela.

San Jose, California — Monday, January 16th

Back to California

Today Janardan Maharaj and I return to California after spending the first two-and-a-half weeks of the year in this wonderful South American country, at the Parama-Karuna temple in Caracas.

The attitude of the devotees here, under the direction and supervision of Purujit Prabhu and Antyarjami Prabhu, has been exemplary, and their seriousness and dedication, earnest inquiries, enthusiastic, infectious kirtans, and the exuberance with which they perform their service and embrace the Krishna consciousness ideal has been a real inspiration.

They think that we came to their country to inspire and encourage them, but really, it is we who have been inspired. It is easy to see why Srila Gurudeva has so much affection for this country and the devotees here.

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