On my way to Petersburg

Dear Friends:

 It has been my good fortune to be invited to Saint Petersburg, Russia to take part in the spiritual festivals and retreats being held there under the auspices of Avadhuta Mahārāja, Goswāmī Mahārāja, and others.

I will do my best to continue blogging from there and on the road. In the meantime I wish to thank those of you who keep faith with me by reading this space. I'm not sure if I will have the time to continue with the work on Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, but we'll see what happens.

Here's some photos of Saint Petersburg from my last trip. Here's the train station. It's called Boksal, so named after the Vauxhall train station in London, I'm told.

This is a hotel near the train station. It still uses the "Leningrad" name. Petersburg has changed names from Petrograd to Leningrad to Petersburg.

This is the needle-like spire of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, centrally located at the island fortress that commands a view of the city.  The fortress was originally built in 1740 by Peter the Great who founded the city as  a gateway to the West.

I took these pictures from the window of of Vijay-Raman Prabhu's car as we moved through the city on our way to Lahta.

Lahta is located close to the Petersburg Yacht Club and Marina on a large beach facing the Gulf of Finland.

The perfect place for meditation, retreat, and seva,  the Lahta Petersburg Center was established through the mercy of Govinda Mahārāja and with the hard work of Avadhuta Mahārāja, Goswāmī Mahārāja and Vijay Raman it offers spiritual refuge for sincere truth-seekers.

In winter time this part of the Gulf of Finland is icy, but in summer, when "White Nights" light the sky it is a popular place for water sports. 

Wildflowers bloom.

With luck I shall soon reach that fabled temple...

...Where reign the deities. 

...surrounded by the flowers of spring.

...To walk and chat with Vijay Raman again.

Last year I was there for the Janmastami festivities.

Śrī Lahta ki jai!