On 22. of July, 2006 Sri Sri Radha Berlin-Isvara, affectionately known as Sri Sri Radha Govinda-sundaram, made their appearance in Berlin, the Capital of Germany.

Devotees from different parts of the world came to attend the auspicious function of Lord Krishna officially taking control over Berlin and it's residents.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti was very happy about this fact and requested the devotees, who worked hard to organize this beautiful festival, to make all the residents of Berlin aware that their Lord has appeared amongst them and is waiting for them to meet Him and become His devotees. The function was organized in a park nearby the temple where many visitors came to attend the Lectures, Kirtans, Prasadam, Devotional Dance and Theater etc.

The Ambassador of Nepal also came to the function. He was happy to see devotees in Berlin actively engaged in devotional service and spoke about the importance of spiritual practice.

Srila B.V. Sadhu Maharaja, known for his all-loving, all-embracing nature, filled the hearts of all with joy.

After the installation the deities went on a procession to Kurukshetra, the temple of Vrinda in Berlin.

WVA Meeting Berlin 2006

On 23. of July Sannyasis and leading devotees attended the WVA Meeting. We are including some excerpts from the meeting:

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti, General Secretary of the WVA:

Currently there are 127 WVA Secretaries worldwide. The 4 regulative principles of a WVA Secretary are:

1. To glorify your own mission by reporting about projects, festivals, new publications etc. to VINA

2. To visit other Vaishnava missions and report about their projects, festivals, new publications etc. to VINA

3. To organize WVA meetings

4. To recruit other WVA Secretaries

A WVA Secretary is a friendship agent of the Vaishnavas. He is trying his best to jump over difficulties between Vaishnavas. He is in the spirit of the Sankirtan movement. Every mission should have an Office for this purpose.

So far the WVA has concentrated on uniting the family of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada and the Gaudiyas, but time has come to join with other Vaishnava sampradayas as well.

So far the WVA has concentrated on uniting the family of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada and the Gaudiyas, but time has come to join with other Vaishnava sampradayas as well.

Sripad B.V. Bishnu Maharaja, Vice President of the WVA:

Vaishnava practice is not easy for the materially conditioned soul, it is only possible by the mercy of the Supreme Lord who instructs the living entities. The task is to apply Vaishnavism to material society. It takes much energy to change. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada said that 200 gallons of spiritual blood are required to save 1 living entity from this jail of material existence, and it will be the greatest achievement.

Our Association is there in order to apply Vaishnavism practically, but if our character is weak we will not have success.

Our Association is there in order to apply Vaishnavism practically, but if our character is weak we will not have success.

In a Vaishnava family we should feel like in our own home, we need this kind of instrument (WVA) to introduce Vaishnava practice on a broad scale. We should push the idea of WVA.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti:

We are entering a time where Vaishnavism is been taken serious, it is already been taken serious by the Slovenian president and people like that.

We are entering a time where Vaishnavism is been taken serious, it is already been taken serious by the Slovenian president and people like that.

Many Vaishnava missions want to include a section about the WVA in their publication, like for example Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission (Oriya magazine), Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math (Hindi magazine), Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math (Bengali magazine). The Oriya magazine is running for more than 50 years. Nityananda Brahmachari, a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada started it.

We should break the wall which is on our way, and we should mention that this meeting is taking place at the broken wall in Berlin.

Sripad B.A. Keshava Maharaja introduced bhaktipedia.org to the Vaishnavas:

Bhaktipedia is similar to Wikipedia. Pedia is a greek word and means teachings. Bhakti pedia is an online resource for Gaudiya Books, articles, etc. Vaishnava teachings can be found and discussed there.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti:

So if anybody writes about a temple, founder, acarya, it goes into the World encyclopedia. It is such a powerful thing that people in future will go online for information.

In one early Encyclopedia Britannica there was a mention of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, it was a positive note, but later on that note was taken out.

Sripad B.A. Keshava Maharaja:

So in Wikipedia anybody can edit, this may be a weak point, but there is a history of any editing, and you can return and correct. For any article there is also a small forum and the editors can discuss the correction.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti:

For example Ujjvala NIlamani is already published, there could be some philosophical mistakes in the translation, so the book is already published and distributed. It would be nice to have the book for instance online and be able to discuss if there is some philosophical discrepancies. There could be the corrections and comments and discussions, also to warn people of false ideas, like offering the Guru everything, including a girl before marriage. Bhaktipedia.org could save the integrity of sacred texts, for protecting our sampradaya.

Srila B.V. Bishnu Maharaja:

Srila Rupa Goswami divided Sringar rasa, and presented it separately in Ujjvala Nilamani. Why has he presented these topics separately? because these books should not be publicly presented.

Srila Rupa Goswami divided Sringar rasa, and presented it separately in Ujjvala Nilamani. Why has he presented these topics separately? because these books should not be publicly presented.

Srila B.V. Sadhu Maharaja:

My Gurudeva, Srila Radha Govinda das Babaji Maharaja said to not touch this high topic books, and I am telling from Babaji line. Only by listening from Mahajanas, Advanced devotees we may listen to such topics.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti:

So there should be mentioned that this is a special book and all the introductions and commentaries should be read and Readers should be encouraged to find out if they are qualified to read such books or not. Bhaktipedia is a way to protect the Bhakti tradition, and if somebody sees something wrong he can mention it there.

Madan Gopal Prabhu was requested to write a letter with a conclusion of the meeting and ask the opinion of Srila B.B. Tirtha Maharaja, President of the WVA.

Jay Gaura Prabhu, Iskcon:

There should be a broader acceptance of Vaishnavas with different philosophical views, like in the Christian tradition.

Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti:

In one of the WVA meetings it was mentioned: First we have to agree that we may disagree. If you carefully look at the activities of the WVA in the last 12 years then you can see that there is not much attention put on different philosophical views. We have a conflict resolution committee and in 12 years nobody has presented a conflict to us.

The WVA has provided an Online forum for discussion: wva-vvrs.org/forum

The Meeting was concluded with a wonderful prasadam feast.