Sri Swami Vishwananda showered his blessings over the countries of Portugal and Spain last week. Multiple Darshans, Satsangs, a temple opening and a yagna ceremony - what a Divine week!
For over 3 hours Swamiji answered questions in a venue that was overflowing with people and love. Singing, laughter, joy and deep spiritual explanations from Swamiji made the the Satsang in Viseu a memorable experience. After the Satsang was done, each person in the room had the opportunity to personally go over to Guruji to talk and have his blessing.
"We could already see the queue growing and growing, and Swamiji could see it too through his room's window. With a most generous heart, he came twice to the balcony to wave to the people in the queue. Can you imagine a queue, hundreds of meters long, in the raining streets of Fatima, and you 'accidentally' look to your right side and you have the One you are longing for smiling and saying hi from the balcony?"
"Well it was time to call them in and give the sign that Gurudev was ready to come down, but the crowd was so huge that I had to open a passage just to let him through!"
"And only some hours after the Fatima Darshan was complete, the Lisbon Darshan was scheduled to start.... so let's prepare one more venue!"
"Gurudev was received by the priest of the Mandir of the Hindu community (the largest in Europe besides London).
The first darshan in Lisbon went very smoothly. After 12 hours of Darshan and taking his time to see 800 devotees, Gurudev was still radiant and shining absolute Divine Love."
"But we still had one huge Darshan in front of us! The third Darshan of the tour and the second in Lisbon was larger than the first, again with huge queues outside, bringing approximately 1200 people!"
"At the end a surprise wedding was conducted by Guruji!"
"How sweet Swamiji was! Saying thank you to all, he gave them a much deserved last smile of His tour."
After Portugal, Swamiji went to Valencia to give another Darshan.
A Spanish devotee shared how seeing Swamiji was for her:
"If I think about Sri Swami Vishwanada the day of the Darshan, two words come to my mind, humility and Love. His presence fills any room and any place. He just catches the attention of everybody and slowly the atmosphere becomes tender, happy and joyful.
"It was so nice to see people´s faces when they were leaving. Many of them just couldn´t explain what they felt, but you could see the joy and light in them.
"Personally he imbues me with such peace, love and joy. He helps me just to be, not to think. Just to live and enjoy."
The Darshan started in the early afternoon, and went for about 10-11 hours, with about 900 people in attendance.
In the beginning, Guruji gave a short talk, and mentioned the importance of listening to one's heart, and that when one does, it brings the right answer. After this first answer, then the mind comes in (with its accompanying doubts and judgments).
One devotee from Shree Peetha Nilaya who went on the trip:
"One thing that really impressed me was the humility of the devotees who were hosting Swamiji. It's amazing to me how they serve Swami, how they organise the event, how they serve the people that come - how they do their best to serve the people that come, make them comfortable and help them to meet Swami in the best possible way."
Portugal
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| Portuguese devotees with Guruji in Lisbon |
Guruji's visit started with a beautiful Satsang in the city of Viseu.
For over 3 hours Swamiji answered questions in a venue that was overflowing with people and love. Singing, laughter, joy and deep spiritual explanations from Swamiji made the the Satsang in Viseu a memorable experience. After the Satsang was done, each person in the room had the opportunity to personally go over to Guruji to talk and have his blessing.
Leiria - Opening the Radha Krishna Bhakta Udara Temple
The city of Leiria was the next stop on Swamiji's visit. The Radha Krishna Bhakta Udara Temple had an amazing opening ceremony where abishekam, yagna, kirtan and Satsang were conducted by Sri Swami Vishwananda.
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| Yagna during the Radha Krishna Bhakta Udara temple inauguration in Leiria |
Hundreds of devotees were in bliss as the ceremony went on, and out of his Divine Love, Guruji chanted the Guru Gita, giving his blessings for the new temple and all the people gathered.
Darshan was the next event on the calendar. Three Darshans were given in 2 different cities. One Darshan in Fatima and two Darshans in Lisbon brought together almost 4000 people!
Bhakti Marga Portugal did an amazing job organising the events, creating the opportunity for thousands of people to receive Darshan and to know about Sri Swami Vishwananda. One of the organisers described their experience:
"Sri Swami Vishwananda had promised to visit us for one whole week this year. What a blessing! We had to announce it to all of Portugal and invite as many people as possible to meet Him. The registrations were not stopping even the day of His coming. We started with a great Satsang in the north of Portugal after the temple inauguration. But the biggest challenge was about to begin. Fatima Darshan! The smallest room, yet the largest number of registrations!"
Fatima - Darshan
"Well it was time to call them in and give the sign that Gurudev was ready to come down, but the crowd was so huge that I had to open a passage just to let him through!"
"Soon after it started and it was fantastic. Fatima is called the "altar of the world" and to see Gurudev there receiving thousands of devotees was simply amazing. Of course the room was smaller than 'all of Portugal' that had decided to come. The decision of splitting the Darshan in two shifts was forced on us. And even with that decision, the ones outside never left - they waited and waited. Hours and hours.... By the end Swamiji saw more than 1500 people, and gave more than 12 hours of Darshan!"
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| Arati |
Lisbon - Darshan
"Gurudev was received by the priest of the Mandir of the Hindu community (the largest in Europe besides London).
The first darshan in Lisbon went very smoothly. After 12 hours of Darshan and taking his time to see 800 devotees, Gurudev was still radiant and shining absolute Divine Love."
"But we still had one huge Darshan in front of us! The third Darshan of the tour and the second in Lisbon was larger than the first, again with huge queues outside, bringing approximately 1200 people!"
"At the end a surprise wedding was conducted by Guruji!"
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| Before the arati at the end of the Darshan, Guruji performed a Hindu wedding for a couple. |
"How sweet Swamiji was! Saying thank you to all, he gave them a much deserved last smile of His tour."
Some more pictures from the Darshan:
Valencia, Spain - Darshan
After Portugal, Swamiji went to Valencia to give another Darshan.
A Spanish devotee shared how seeing Swamiji was for her:
"If I think about Sri Swami Vishwanada the day of the Darshan, two words come to my mind, humility and Love. His presence fills any room and any place. He just catches the attention of everybody and slowly the atmosphere becomes tender, happy and joyful.
"It was so nice to see people´s faces when they were leaving. Many of them just couldn´t explain what they felt, but you could see the joy and light in them.
"Personally he imbues me with such peace, love and joy. He helps me just to be, not to think. Just to live and enjoy."
The Darshan started in the early afternoon, and went for about 10-11 hours, with about 900 people in attendance.
In the beginning, Guruji gave a short talk, and mentioned the importance of listening to one's heart, and that when one does, it brings the right answer. After this first answer, then the mind comes in (with its accompanying doubts and judgments).
One devotee from Shree Peetha Nilaya who went on the trip:
"One thing that really impressed me was the humility of the devotees who were hosting Swamiji. It's amazing to me how they serve Swami, how they organise the event, how they serve the people that come - how they do their best to serve the people that come, make them comfortable and help them to meet Swami in the best possible way."