European Sankirtan Newsletter

Dear Prabhus,

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Your servant,

Trai Das

Sankirtan Meeting

Remember that on NNth May at 19:00 CET and 18:00 UK time we'll have the great fortune to have with us XXXX.

Don't miss out and invite as many devotees as possible to participate.

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Sankirtan stories

France

Hare Krishna, dear devotees,
Today I was trying to serve my spiritual master by distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. Alain, whom you see in the photo, came up to me with a big smile and said, "Hare Krishna." While chatting with Alain, he told me he was from Cameroon and was in Paris on a business trip. He then explained that he had been chanting Hare Krishna for four years and didn't understand why he couldn't see the Lord around him. I explained that Bhaktisidhanta Sarasvati Thakur had explained that it was more important to work hard so that Krishna would see us sooner than to try to see Krishna. He was very pleased with our conversation and took out the Bhagavad Gita and began to glorify Srila Prabhupada as a saint, the likes of which are rarely encountered. He told me he would come to our Paris Lyric Yoga center. I was impressed by the power of Srila Prabhupada's books, which continue to touch the hearts of millions of people around the world today.

18.04 Lyon

Dayal Nitai and I traveled from Paris to Lyon, a city now known as a stronghold of sankirtan, a place where the preaching of the French yatra has taken deep root. There, we met wonderful bhaktas—softly, slowly stepping into the ranks of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's transcendental army.

Book distribution started as soon as we set foot at Lyon Part Dieu station. Earlier that day, I was remembering the eternal spaceman Narada Muni and how he travels across worlds to deliver the conditioned souls. To inspire the bhaktas, I explained to them the literal meaning of the name Narada. Srila Prabhupada says in his Bhaktivedanta purport that: "The very name Nārada suggests that he can deliver the Supreme Lord. Nāra means the 'Supreme Lord,' and da means 'one who can deliver.'" (SB 3.12.23, purport)

In this way, while engaged in book distribution, we meditated on how to give the Supreme Lord to everyone, following in the footsteps of Narada Muni. Matis, Eric's five-year-old son, was happily tagging along with the book distributors, and every time a book was distributed, he would kindly thank the person for their contribution.

We met wonderful people that day—people who were genuinely interested in what we had to say. After a full day of sankirtan, we went to buy bhoga for the next day's program. Along the way, we distributed more books. And Eric met a few people he had been slowly cultivating in devotional life.

19.04 Lyon

15:00 — We arrived a little late at the yoga center. Some guests had already gathered, chatting while waiting for the program to start. I knew Matis loved to sing in kirtana, so I told him to sit next to me. Then we started the kirtana. Matis' singing melted everyone's hearts, and it wasn't long before everyone joined their voices to glorify Krsna.

Some genuine conversation about the problems of life and prasadam distribution left everyone happy and satisfied.

At the end, it was clear that if we just engage people in devotional service and try to give them the Supreme Lord through kirtana, prasadam, and compassionate listening, then their faith will grow naturally.

Haribol!