By Sri Hari Priya Devi Dasi
On the 24th of February the Institute for Spiritual Culture conducted their annual program in Mayapur. This year the overall theme was “The Glories of Our Vaikuntha Children”, bringing attention to the importance of moving our children into the center of our communities. The chief guest speakers were HH Sivarama Maharaja and HH Lokanath Maharaja, followed by several senior grhasthas.
The program took place on the premises of the Old Gurukula on the way to the Goshala. A big pandal was constructed to conduct the event, with its open sides allowing a pleasant breeze to go through. And the nice flower decorations created a festive atmosphere. It was a perfect setting: peaceful, with green surroundings and plenty of space for the children to play outside, and some little parallel program with Krsna conscious story-telling was offered to our youngest participants.
Around 300 devotees assembled – the seniors being welcomed with flower garlands, and the children with a carob cookie. The program started with kirtan, followed by an opening and introduction given by Devaki Mataji as the Director of the Institute. She established the purpose of the Institute for Spiritual Culture being an educational institute within the institution of ISKCON, specializing in giving systematic education and training in various aspects of spiritual culture. She briefly introduced culture as evolving through the practical application of a certain world view and philosophy. In a culture where sense gratification is the goal in life, children are seen as a burden, disturbing the fun of the grown-ups, and are thus pushed aside into Day Care Centers and Kinder Gardens at a very young age. In spiritual culture where God consciousness is the goal, children are moved into the very center of life, and they are given special care, affection and attention since they are known to build the future of society. Thus being a parent is seen as a great responsibility and most valuable service and contribution to human society, which is immensely purifying and uplifting when performed with sincerity in Krsna consciousness. The advancement of a society can be measured in how much its people do for their children. And we do have a lot of room to improve in this regard in order to make our ISKCON society solid and strong.
Devaki Mataji quoted a powerful statement coming from Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the US, which we could deeply accept in the core of our hearts in order to carry Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtan movement to higher levels: “If we could have but one generation of properly born, trained, educated and healthy children, a thousand other problems of government would vanish. We would assure ourselves of healthier minds and vigorous bodies, to direct the energies of our nation to greater hights of achievement.”
As long as we find it difficult to embrace spiritual culture, our children will always be seen as a burden and disturbance, and naturally they will feel this and will not be attracted to Krsna consciousness. We require a deep paradigm shift and transformation of our attitude. And as we will be able to more and more live our world view and philosophy, very naturally our children will be moved into the center of our lives. It is a matter of systematic training and education. Therefore the Institute for Spiritual Culture has launched a new course of 15 hours on this topic of “Children in Spiritual Culture”, which was offered during January and was well attended and received.
Now, HH Sivarama Maharaja elaborated on the topic of “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”, followed by a group of young girls from the International School in Mayapur drumming us a little welcome on the mrdangas.
Ananda Tirtha Prabhu and his wife Radha Sundari Mataji gave insights into various aspects of parenting, sharing realizations and convictions from their own personal experience. Radhika Nagara Prabhu focused on the deeper understanding of Garbhadhana Samskara and the secrets of inviting a special soul to take birth in our family. Young boys from the Gurukula chanted the Siksastakam prayers, offering us an example of “Vaikuntha Children”.
Devaki Mataji clarified the title of the program by sharing one of Srila Prabhupada’s famous quote from a letter to Arundhati in 1972: “These children are given to us by Krsna, they are Vaisnavas and we must be very careful to protect them. These are not ordinary children, they are Vaikuntha children, and we are very fortunate we can give them a chance to advance further in Krsna consciousness.” HH Lokanath Maharaja summed up the event by highlighting further aspects of parenting, and encouraging us all in giving importance to this service. Ghosh Thakur Prabhu and his good wife Girija Mataji concluded the event by sharing testimonials from attending the offered courses on spiritual culture during January in Mayapur. And the attending devotees were requested not to leave the program without taking prasadam. The atmosphere of the entire event was very sweet, cultured and personal, and devotees were very pleased. It had certainly left impressions on their minds and had offered some food for thought – a cultured way to bring attention to the topic of spiritual culture…..