Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most humble and respectful obeisances in the dust of your divine lotus feet.
On this glorious and auspicious day of your appearance, we would like to offer you a report on the Radhadesh community in Belgium. For the past forty-six years, this community has been trying to serve you and your mission. Radhadesh strives to be a spiritual and devotional embassy – offering shelter and solace to residents and visitors alike and providing an alternative to all-exposing materialistic society, strongly influenced by the forces of Kali.
It is through your divine inspiration and personal example that we can make even small contributions to your mission. When things are difficult, we remember how you also struggled in your efforts to establish Kṛṣṇa consciousness throughout the world. When things go smoothly, we attribute that success to your mercy, and we pray that you will continue to bless us with the ability to move forward in this mission in a way that is aligned with your vision and mood.
Although it is already challenging to keep the community running smoothly day by day – ensuring that the hundreds of weekly services are covered, and that Their presiding Lordships, the community members, the guests, and the properties are all cared for – we also see it as our duty to actively work on the mission and vision of Radhadesh.
Fortunately, dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, you have already given us a clear mission and vision. We simply need to apply it locally.
To ensure that we continue walking on the right path, as an important spiritual embassy in Europe, we are increasing our focus on the seven purposes of ISKCON that you clearly established in New York in 1966. By regularly reflecting and meditating on these seven purposes, we feel your presence strongly, and the roadmap for our service becomes clear.
Today we would like to share a brief report on how Radhadesh tries to get and remain connected to each of these seven purposes.
- To spread spiritual knowledge and educate society in techniques that help people achieve a deeper understanding of their true spiritual nature: Every year, Radhadesh welcomes thousands of guests – mainly tourists – who take part in guided tours. During these visits, they hear basic philosophy, chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, receive darshan of Their Lordships, taste prasādam, and have the opportunity to associate with a devotee. This remains one of the unique strengths of our community.
- To promote consciousness of Kṛṣṇa as revealed in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: In addition to our well-known tour programs, we facilitate weekly Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam classes and monthly Bhagavad-gītā sessions online. A stable group of devotees takes turns covering one chapter of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam each week. This program has been ongoing for many years and is currently focused on the Tenth Canto, after having already completed the first nine Cantos. The monthly Bhagavad-gītā sessions also continue with a dedicated group of participants.
- To bring devotees together for the purpose of uplifting one another in a spiritual lifestyle based on Kṛṣṇa consciousness: We are grateful to report that Radhadesh maintains a steady morning and evening program. Although participation is sometimes modest, the programs continue daily without interruption. Occasionally there may be no one attending Gaura-ārati, yet the rest of the daily schedule continues, including evening Kṛṣṇa book readings and bhajanas during the final darshan.
We know how pleased you are when devotees come together to hear and chant about Kṛṣṇa’s glories before the Deities. In addition, Bhakti Śāstrī, Bhakti Vaibhava, śloka classes, and youth courses are regularly held, allowing dedicated devotees to deepen their understanding of the path of bhakti together.
- To teach and encourage saṅkīrtana – the congregational chanting of the holy names of God – as the primary means of spiritual realization: Radhadesh is internationally known for the Radhadesh Mellows, during which approximately 1,200 devotees and guests come together for four full days to chant continuously for twelve hours a day. Not only do the participants benefit directly, but recordings of these kirtans are streamed millions of times each year across the world, inspiring countless listeners.
In addition, Radhadesh, in cooperation with other preaching centers and nāma-haṭṭas in the Benelux region, regularly organizes harināmas and mahā-harināmas, both in the vicinity of Radhadesh and in more distant towns and cities.
- To establish holy places dedicated to Kṛṣṇa where devotees can engage in spiritual life together: Radhadesh offers visitors the opportunity to experience life in a holy place, with Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopīnātha at the center of the community. Throughout the castle, there are many paintings – what you once described as “windows to the spiritual world.”
At present, we are working to establish a complete parikramā path around the entire estate, as a holy dhāma is not complete without parikramā. Visitors can walk through the surrounding forest while learning key teachings from the Bhagavad-gītā and afterward visit the Govinda restaurant to honor prasādam. In this way, Radhadesh functions as a true tīrtha – a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds.
- To support simpler, more natural ways of living, aligned with spiritual values and beneficial for personal wellbeing and harmony with nature: In recent years, awareness within the Radhadesh community of the importance of simpler and more natural living has grown steadily. We are making efforts to become less dependent on external systems for water, energy, and food. Radhadesh has installed many solar panels and is currently adding batteries to better store and use solar energy across the property.
We have our own water supply through an underground river, and we use wood from our forest for heating. The Premaculture project continues to expand, aiming to apply holistic and sustainable agricultural principles. Recently, an educational yurt was built to facilitate the community members and guests in these principles.
Our cow protection program is also developing steadily. Most of the milk used for the Deities is our own ahimsa milk. We now have two bull calves in training, with the hope that they will eventually contribute through bull work at Radhadesh.
- To publish and distribute spiritual literature, helping ensure that transcendental wisdom is accessible to everyone: Some dedicated devotees at Radhadesh are focused on the mission of book distribution and book publication. In the past years, we reprinted your Bhagavad-gītā in Dutch twice, for a total of 25,000 copies. The Nectar of Instruction, your transcendental biography, and the life and precepts of Lord Caitanya were translated into Dutch, and 10,000 copies of each title were printed. Currently, the devotees are translating Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, and Easy Journey to Other Planets. Devotees are selling your books in different languages, both to the Radhadesh visitors and outside Radhadesh as well. We know how dear book production and distribution are to your heart.
We also know from historical records that you would always listen attentively to the reports on different yātrās from around the world, so we thought this offering would be pleasing to you.
We beg for your continuous inspiration so that this wonderful community can continue to inspire all those who live here and those who visit us.
Your aspiring servants from the Radhadesh community