Hare Krsna my dear devotees. I hope your week has been peaceful and happy in devotional life. Mine has been blissful. First because I got some really amazing association from senior devotees and could learn how we can experience love of God and a deeper relationship with Him.

A couple of days ago I sent an email to H.H. Sacinandana Maharaj asking him some guidelines on chanting with attention, I have heard that by getting the association of the devotees that have tasted the nectar of chanting with purity we can advance in our japa and one day become good chanters as well. Because he is such an amazing soul and very merciful he replied my email sending his personal experience with the holy names, just one of them, he must have many. I am so grateful souls like him share with us their experiences so we can get inspired to go ahead with our practices and never stop improving and maybe one day we can become better servants.

Chanting purifies our hearts even when we can't perceive others can, the ones around us. These days I have been developing a program with Kesava and Advaita, asking them to chant extra rounds and do other services, we are studying the Krsna Book together, I am reading to them and asking some questions so they can have this knowledge fixed in their minds, they are enjoying the activities and having fun with our classes, at the same time in Mayapur Uddhava is taking advantage of the Holy Dhama and is getting assotiation with great vaisnavas and the precious Deities of Sri Sri Radha Madhava.

Today we bathed our Deities with milk, honey, yogurt and rose petals, They were wearing a nice garland of raisins. Actually Advaita who is just 9 did all the bathing and Kesava offered the bhoga, incenses and flowers. This is very purifying to them because they are getting the interest to preach to others, it's nice to hear that Advaita is talking to his friends at school and telling them they need to become vegetarian, just by sharing prasadam with a friend he got him to be interested in spiritual life and pronounce the holy names of Krsna, which gave Advaita a lot of pleasure. I am going to share a story maharaj sent me and I hope you like it and feel inspired as I felt.

A Heart Full of Krishna

While visiting Goloka Dhama1 to celebrate Krishna's appearance day, a friend asked me how I was. I said, "I feel totally blissful because I live a most wonderful life!"

At first my friend looked back with an expression of disbelief, but then his face settled into happy surprise. "Really? Tell me about it!"

So I spoke to him about the eternal soul and how we are all parts of happy Krishna, and how we address Krishna each day by chanting His holy names. But he interrupted me: "Yes, I know all that, but what is your experience of all this philosophy and practice?"

An experience I had high in the Swiss Alps came to mind - an experience that has stayed with me, although it has faded a little in intensity.

It was early morning. The sun had just started to rise and pour its golden rays over the shoulders of the silent mountains. I was sitting on my bed chanting when suddenly I disconnected from the beautiful scene before me and entered an even more beautiful scene - the scene within the heart. I could clearly see that I was an eternal soul, part of the spiritual world, which was sparkling with pure love - the love of Krishna for His devotees, which filled all the devotees' hearts and poured back to Him only to circulate in ever fresh ways back and forth.

Before leaving my room that morning, I jotted down what I saw and later turned it into a poem. Here it is for your pleasure:

Lock the Door!

This morning I woke with a start - no matter how I tried, I could not find myself in the bed.
I rushed to the bathroom to check the mirror, but someone else was looking back at me - someone full of compassion.
As usual I engaged myself in a thousand little things to see whether I could find myself in any of them, but met no success.

I honestly don't know where that other person went, the one who used to worry and criticize himself and whom I know so well.
I don't remember seeing him move out of the house. Can someone please tell me how to lock the door so he can't come back?
He occupied the only big room I have - the room of my heart -
and he spread his things everywhere.
His leaving has freed up the space.
In its center I found both myself
and the most beautiful Being, Krishna,
who was smiling at me with love.

My heart feels free now, but heavy with His love.
My eyes are clear from seeing His radiant image everywhere.
My tongue tastes only the sweetness of His divine names.

Is that what saints talk about when they try to describe enlightenment?
Now I urgently need to know how to lock the door of the heart.

I read my poem to my friend and his eyes began to sparkle. "Yes, you have a wonderful life, and soon I will also try to lose myself to find myself!"

May Krsna bless us all with pure chanting by the mercy of the vaisnavas.

your servant,

Aruna devi