Friday 29th July 2005 - 14:48

Ceremony in New Mayapur, France in memory of HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj

by Gaurangi dasi

On Sunday July 3rd, I organized a ceremony in New Mayapur to honour my very dear siksa-guru, His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja. A few days before, Jahnava dasi, who just came from Gita Nagari, had showed us the video of one of the last classes given by Maharaja in Gita Nagari, in which he was showing so much love, emotions and concern for the devotees. It was very stirring and heart rendering to see him in this physical condition. During his recent visit His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami had also shared memories and appreciations for his dear Godbrother and all year long Bhakta Patrick had posted news of Maharaja on the community board. "Swami Love", as some devotees called him, had been on the mind and in the prayers of the devotees living around New Mayapur for a long time, so I should not have been surprised to see a big turn-out the day of the ceremony; around sixty devotees.

We started at 12:30 with a simultaneous arati to the deities and His Holiness, followed by a puspanjali, the song to the departed vaisnavas and the offering of the feast at his lotus feet. Then the devotees who knew him shared their memories. Adishekar das, one of Prabhupada's disciples who was in Paris when Maharaja was there, spoke first:

"At the time he was the brahmacari Ghaneshyam das. He was getting up early every morning and when we got into the temple for mangal arati he had already chanted all his rounds. Once I was serving halavah and I did not gave him enough; so he caught up with me and cited the verse of the Isopanishad in which it is said that everyone is entitled to his quota. He was a very advanced soul, very pure and never showed the syndrome of 'I am a senior devotee'."

We even found an old picture of him doing harinam near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I spoke about Bhakti Tirtha Swami's numerous and various achievements, both material and spiritual, introduced his books and shared my several encounters with him and the stimulating seminars I followed with him. This summer I have scheduled to do one in New Mayapur in his memory, "How to forgive those who have made us suffer the most.", following the format and the contents of the seminar I attended in Mayapur, India. As it was getting very late in the afternoon, bands of children were running around hungry, so we read only part of the letter written by Satsvarupa Maharaja for all the devotees at the request of Maharaja. For a change the sun was shining that day so all the devotees could happily settle on the grass to enjoy the feast while watching the cows in the nearby field.

I wanted to do a wonderful feast for Maharaja and was feeling very ambitious; I had planned to do a super excellent puspanna rice from Kurma's cookbook. Since I was very tired that day - we had spent the previous days running errands and making preparations for the feast - and my cooking skills are not so developed yet, I almost ruined the rice and the samosas. Happily Sumitra dasi was there to rescue these preparations and improve the subji. The highlight of the feast was the gorgeous cake she made: a huge and colourful cake, stuffed with homemade jam, cream and fruits, with the words 'LOVE' written in red cherries and plenty of fruits of all colours around the edges. Devotees were asking for second and third pieces, and saving some for the next day. It just melted in the mouth and was a truly intoxicating substance, due to so much bhakti in it. Just to think about it makes my mouth water and my heart melt....It was so sweet....so befitting the loving mood of Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja. To add a personal touch, also in accordance with his mood and style, I stuck a little pink heart taped to a toothpick on each piece of cake. There was a little message written on it, such as:

- Go and tell 3 devotees what you appreciate in them
- Ask 3 devotees what you can do to improve yourself
- Tell the devotee next to you about the glories of one devotee
- Give a hug to someone
- Tell 3 devotees how wonderful they are
- Tell 3 qualities of the temple president, etc.

It added a nice mood to the feast and afterwards the devotees lounged on the grass for a long time, reading the messages on their hearts, revealing their hearts, chatting, talking, laughing and digesting... Loving feelings between devotees were evoked that day, and I am sure that it was one of the best ways to honour His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja

We pray to Maharaja that we will be able to follow the last advice he gave to all the French devotees through His Holiness Paramgati Maharaja: Concentrate on two things, our personnal sadhana and relationships between devotees.

His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja ki jaya!

The photos below are from HH Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj's visit to the 2003 Balaram festival at New Mayapur

(click on a thumbnail to view the full size photo)

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