Darshan in Brasilia

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The almost Open-air Darshan took place just outside the futuristic capital in a small retreat centre (Spa-Balsamo). Unfortunately, we had quite a bit of rain on that day so the evening was very cool.

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The city lights below the Darshan Hall sparkled like stars and the many joyful faces during the Darshan lit up the room!

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Around 130 joyful Brazilians heard Swami´s talk about the various stages of prayer and enjoyed a very long Darshan (until 1am) with him.

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Wonderful bhajans accompanied Swamiji during the evening and he even started another round of kirtan after the Darshan! Thanks to the Brasilia-Team!

(Yamunashree)

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India Pilgrimage with Swami Vishwananda - 2nd part

From Nashik we went with Swami Vishwananda by bus through a wonderful countryside to the nearby village called Trimbak.

Trimbakeshwar is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas (Lingam (pillar) of Light). The extraordinary feature of the Jyotirlinga located here is its three faces embodying Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra. Due to excessive use of water, the linga has started to erode. It is said that this erosion symbolizes the eroding nature of human society.

The Lingas are covered by a jeweled crown which is placed over the Gold Mask of Tridev (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh). The crown is said to be from the age of the Pandavs and consists of diamonds, emeralds, and many precious stones. The crown is displayed every Monday from 4-5 pm (Shiva).

Adwait Kher, our host, welcomed us very heartfully and made it possible for our group to sit and meditate with Swami Vishwananda near the Lingam for a long time and to get the blessing of its powerful energy. 

We were all dressed "typically indian" which was very helpful and opened a few more doors.

Late at night we got on the bus with Swami Vishwananda to go to the next place - more news from there coming soon...

Israel pilgrimage (part 3)

During a lovely lunchbreak Swamiji was explaing to us about the appearance of the holy light at the Church of the Holy Sepulcre.

Pillar at the entrance to the Holy Sepulcre where the holy light comes out every easter

Joseph of Arimathea was the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after Jesus' Crucifixion. Joseph took the body from the cross, wrapped it in the fine linen and applied myrrh and aloes.

Jesus body was placed on this rock after Josef took him down from the cross which is very close to the entrance of the church. The visitors bring roserys, shawls and many many other things to bless on the stone.

We venerate the place where the body of Christ was put after his death

Swami Vishwananda visited the miraculous staircase of Santa Fe

Seing the pictures of the miraculous staircase of Santa Fe, it reminded me of the afternoon before a darshan in Santa Fe some years ago. Swami decided to have a walk around the hotel and so we discovered the nice chapel of Santa Fe. The Gothic Revival-style chapel was patterned after King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. But the most amazing thing was inside the chapel: the miraculous staircase of St Josef...

See the full story of the miracle at: http://miraclesoffaith.wordpress.com/

Swami Vishwananda with Lakshmi Narasimha

In Mauritius a small temple is dedicated to Lakshmi Narasimha in middle of a Bambu forest.

Swami Vishwananda met Newcomers in Grand Bassin

To see who Swami Vishwananda met in Grand Bassin please go to the Mauritian Blog:

http://www.vishwananda4mauritius.wordpress.com

Kirtan with Swami Vishwananda in Grand-Bassin

Swami Vishwananda sang lively Kirtans with the devotees in the Mandir dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Swami Vishwananda performs abishek to the Shiva Lingham

Swami Vishwananda went on a pilgrimage to Grand-Bassin with close devotees.

Trip to Kanchikaram

Since yesterday the pilgrim-group is in Kanchipuram:

 

(the Hindu god of fertility and love). Another legend attributes it to the Raja Rajeswari pose of the deity that signifies an absolute control over the land under its control, leaving no otherffered worship to a Shivalingam made out of sand,under a mango tree and gained Shiva's hand in marriage.

Kamakshi Amman Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Kamakshi a divine form ofParvati. It is located in the historic city Kanchipuram, near Chennai, India and is popularly associated with Adi Sankaracharya, one of the greatest Hindu saints. Along withMadurai Meenakshi, Thiruvanaikaval  Akilandeswari, Vishalakshi Varanasi, Kamakshi is an important part of

worship of Parvati. It is interesting to note that the main deity is seated in a

majestic Padmasana posture, an yogic posture signifying peace and prosperity, instead of the traditional standing pose in most other temples of Parvati. The goddess holds a sugarcane bow and lotus and parrot in the lower two of her arms

two divine instruments Pasa and Angusa in her upper two arms. It is interesting to note that there are

all the other shakthi forms to give boon to Manmatha

forms of Shakthi.Legend has it that Kamakshi o

  

Adi Sankaracharya is significantly associated in the rich history of the temple. Like many other ancient goddesses, the form of Kamakshi was less benign than the current form. There used to be various forms of animal and human sacrifices in ancient Shakthi temples and it is believed that Adi Sankarachar ya led to the more peaceful representation of the goddess by placing a divine Chakra before it. And the goddess agreed to show her benign side in the temple, while the forms of Shakthi outside

Kanchipuram still had more angrier forms of Shakthi. There is no verifiable historical proof for this, though it is a part of the local folklore. Symbolic of this, during the festivals when the processional deity is taken for a procession around the templestreets , it takesleave from Sankaracharya, at his shrine in the inner corridor.

It is also believed that Sankaracharya defeated Buddhist and other philosophers in this place, sparking a revival for Hinduism.

(Many of the Hindu god forms generally have four arms) and has theno traditional Parvati or Shakthi shrines in the city of Kanchipuram, apart from this temple, which is unusual in a traditional city that has hundreds of traditional temples. There are various legends attributed to it. One of them according to Kamkshivilasa is that the Goddess had to absorb

The golden pilar of the Mookambika temple

Swami Vishwananda in the yard of the temple a golden pilar at he entrance of the Sanctorum.

Trip to India

Yesterdayat the Airport in Frankfurt Swami Vishwananda at the Check In for his Pilgrimage to India. I had the possibility to take some (paparazzi) fotos:

"...its overbooked?"

...so we stay here!    ;-) "

"...Yes , vegetarien meal, please!"

In Mumbay there was already a bus waiting for the whole group- (it was perfectly planned by Yamunashree and her team- ... but you never now!) - to bring them directly to Shirdi.

Short News from Kenya

Pramod sent a (very) short mail and some pictures from Kenya:

finally internet...:

arrival in Kenya

adoption of two elephant babies and Seva

picnic

darshan ca 400 pers

gayatri yagna

hope this news helps

sorry for the short version, I'm extremely tired!....

lg

Pramod

Today Swamiji will come back from Kenya!

Swamiji in Karlstein

We didn't get any photos from the Darshan in Prag yet, but 2 nice pictures from a trip yesterday morning to the castle of Karlstein:

Darshan in Helsinki

About the Darshan last night Yamunashree wrote:

In Helsinki: In the evening of the full moon about 240 excited participants arrived at the yoga studio. There was a relaxed and attentive atmosphere during the whole evening.

Dharmananda also came just for the music (he had trained with the bhajan group already during one weekend in July). The excitement caught also Pandit Satya Narayana Das and he joined in the Krishna bhajans.

Gurujis speech and the speech of the pandit have been excellently translated. There was a special end to the evening with our hosts, where Guruji thanked the helpers by serving them.

We have already been asked when Swamiji will come back- particularly as more than 150 people have received his blessing for the first time and they would like to see him again. We will come back, Helsinki, that´s for sure!

Sightseeing in Helsinki

Swami Vishwananda did a sightseeing tour in Helsinki.
Here some pictures from their visit of the orthodox Uspenski-Kathedral

On the way they met some Maurition tourists which recognised Swamiji.

He had to take also a Tourist-Photographer-Job:

(Thanks, Yamuna!!!)

Swami in Finland

Last night Swami Vishwananda arrived in Finland.

At the Airport - so happy faces!

This time, together with Swamiji "on tour" is Doc Satya Narayana Dasa, a very well known Pandit and Professor from India / Vrindavan. 

Swamiji's favorite  Cookies.

 

Sunset in Finland

(Thanks, Yamunashree, for the pictures!)