Maha harinam in Amsterdam

Someday, when we’re dying, when we’re like pockets inside out, when we’re like traps without bait, we’ll probably ask ourselves what I’ve done really well in my life. And I hope it will pop up that I was in Amsterdam for a harinam, with or without Kadamba Kanana Swami, and I will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. I lived!! Loka Saranga dasa

“So we’re in Amsterdam. There are many abodes of the Lord in this world – Dvaraka dham, Mayapura dham, Vrndavana dham, but the most unholy is Amsterdam because the people here are damned irreligious. So we come to the festival to celebrate the king with harinam. It’s a great opportunity to sing the holy name, everyone is in a festival mood, and this is the most purifying thing that has ever happened to Amsterdam.” Parasuram das, England

“Harinam, that’s where life really is. If we haven’t experienced a proper harina yet, we haven’t experienced what life means. Life takes place at harinam, especially on King’s Day in Amsterdam. This is a main day for harinam in Europe. It’s a moment of duel between material and spiritual energy. This duel is so visible and perceptible to everyone, everyone can see that those who are doing the real life party are just Hare Krisna devotees here in Amsterdam, although everyone else is also trying to have a good time and feel some joy because it’s a festival. But those who actually feel some bliss are Hare Krisna, and that is the meaning of harinam – to become actually blissful and make that bliss available to everyone else.” Godrum das, Germany

“Maha harinam in Amsterdam is very nice, very nice vibrations, very nice people, and chanting Hare Krisna is the best thing you can do.” Bhakta Stuli, Germany “I’m very surprised how many people there are. I haven’t seen harinam with so many people since the late 1980s, early 1990s in London. It’s absolutely amazing, there must be devotees from every European country you can imagine. It’s very fulfilling to see so many people joining in and chanting Hare Krisna on King’s Day in Amsterdam.” Moksalaksmi Devi Dasi, disciple of Srila Prabhupada, England

“I didn’t sleep much, so I was completely exhausted for the first half of the harinam. And then I got the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Guru Maharaja, and the exhaustion completely disappeared, and I danced and danced, and it was ecstasy!” Madhukanta das, Czechia

“Yesterday we were at Vyasapuja of Kadamba Kanana Swami, and today I feel his presence here. I think he’s here as in the past. Because of his company, his instructions, his lectures, his kirtanas, everyone can feel the same way. I am very happy in Krisna consciousness. I’m not fully conscious of Krisna, but this is a wonderful, beautiful process that works. It doesn’t matter what you do, and even if we have our downfalls, you just come back and the process works. If you are not offending some devotees, that is. But even if you offend someone, go to him, apologize and go ahead. This is the most fantastic and the merriest movement. It’s so good it’s completely out of touch with material reality.” Vamsi Vadan das, Bulgaria

“It’s my first time on King’s Day and it’s really amazing, it’s fantastic! And the devotees are… It can’t be explained… They have that passion to keep going and go on and on. And everyone who leads just jumps from one tempo to another and it goes right away. All glories to Kadamba Kanana Swami!” Giridhari Puja Devi Dasi, Nigeria

“I’m really happy to be here with everyone else, with our spiritual family. It’s very nice, there’s a great energy, we dance and sing and dance all the time and we have a lot of fun.” Mitravinda Devi Dasi, Germany

“We go to Amsterdam every year for King’s Day because Guru Maharaj wanted us to be here. We have it as a kind of mission – to be here every year for harinam. And we will be happy if there are more and more devotees here every year, especially from the Czech Republic, because they will put on the biggest show. That is my wish – that more and more devotees come here every year.” Ananda Kisori Devi Dasi, Czechia

“It’s beautiful here. Harinam sankirtana, there are a lot of people here and they are in orange, so Hare Krisna fits in completely here. Colored people – it’s a festival of colors, it’s ideal for harinam and to bring people closer to Hare Krisna. They dance with us, of course they drink alcohol, they smoke weed and all sorts of things, but they engage in harinam. That is the most important thing. They are engaged in devotional service. Unconsciously, but they are making progress. And, of course, we distribute books, a ton of books.” Goura Karuna das, Czechia

“This is the best King’s Day I’ve ever been to. I’ve been three times. Once my leg hurt and once it rained terribly, so this one was the best. And kirtan was amazing, I feel really purified, to see all these devotees, to hear kirtan. I really feel that this is the best, better than all the Rathayatras, because here is just a proper kirtan. There are always a lot of things going on in Rathayatra, but here there is only a proper kirtan, and many hours. I regret one thing – my amp stopped working after 4 hours, that’s quite a problem for me, but it doesn’t matter, I love it here and I’m looking forward to next year!” Mahavisnu Swami

“Harinam in Amsterdam is the most amazing experience and the best form of harinam I have ever experienced: I have only experienced small harinams so far. Small groups, and it always took at least half an hour to pump it into ecstasy. Here we had already started with the ecstasy, we went for at least five hours straight before prasadam. And those five hours, it was pure ecstasy, pure madness, I recommend everyone to experience it. It shouldn’t be just once a year on King’s Day, but ideally every day.” Bhakta Adi Purusa, Czechia “Harinam, this is a special occasion. Everyone goes out and is in a festive mood, and when we come, they are just drunk enough to start chanting Hare Krisna without hesitation, without any blocks from false ego. They shout the maha-mantra at the top of their voices, they get the mantra in their ears, in their heads, and hopefully in their hearts. It’s always very energetic here and I encourage everyone to come and deepen their understanding of harinam.” Nitai Pada Kamala das, Slovenia

“King’s Day in Amsterdam is one of the biggest and best harinams in the world. Two to three hundred devotees dressed in orange will come here. And the whole city is in orange. When devotees arrive in the mood of giving the holy name, it fits perfectly into the party mood on King’s Day in Amsterdam. And when people see that we’re really having fun, it makes them want to join us. They have their parties, their music, their beer and their weed, but they can see that the devotees are much more high and stay high forever. And they don’t need their stuff because they have something better, they have mahamantra, they have each other, they have the association of devotees and they get the blessings of Kadamba Kanana Swami. This King’s Day is bigger than life, it’s a cosmic thing, I’m sure the demigods are also involved, because there is so much mercy flowing here, for the most fallen. Amsterdam is such a fallen place, people’s minds are so ruined by engaging in forbidden activities, drugs, sex and so on. Self-abuse is happening here on a large scale, but for some reason Lord Sri Caitanya has sent so many devotees here at the most important moment to attract so many conditioned souls. And that’s why we have to do it every year, and we need more and more devotees. And not only to save the conditioned souls, but to see the power of the mercy of Lord Caitanya.” Harinamananda das, Australia