Week Two at the Krishna Village

As I sit on the bus back to Brisbane, staring out of the window, I think back at the second wonderful, positive week I just had. I don’t think I’ve ever before said such a genuine, heartfelt goodbye to so many people. I guess I can say I’m used to leaving a lot behind (I’ve done it quite  few times in the past years), but this just felt a bit different. Here’s what went down in that week, to perhaps give you some insight why I feel this way.

While I mainly did gardening the last week, my big task this week was to help out with the paving of the communal kitchen area and fireplace.

Rob, one of the Yoga Teacher Trainees had been doing it and showed me the ropes. After a bit of a crooked start I quickly got into it and became the main person doing it in the last few days. Explaining it to someone who would take over from me after I left made me realize there’s quite a bit to it, more than you’d think. Another skill learned!

About half of the other volunteers were on renovation and construction, here’s Liv painting the kitchen walls right next to the paving area.

On Sunday, the temple traditionally has big feast where everyone, even the general public, is invited. Since there’s a stockpile of Indian-style clothes on the farm, a lot of the girls and even guys got all dressed up. The feast turned out very popular that Sunday, with a full parking lot and big queues for the food. Some very interesting looking people turned up just for the feast as well.

After the feast Emily wanted to feed the cows, so she got out the banana peels and everybody joined in. It’s amazing how the cows can almost grab the peels with their tongues!

On Johannes’ last day at the village, he drove 5 of us to Massage Rocks again. I’ve lost track of how much I went there, must have been 3-4 times a week, but it’s just so welcome after that hard work in the heat.
Johannes is somebody who really transformed during his 9-day stay at the village, he came out deciding to attempt being a vegetarian even, something I don’t think he’d imagined at all before.

There’s a few things that have been really good for me here, such as not having a car and just relying on others for a ride. After my month-long pause struggling and fixing my car, driving all over the place for parts and tools, this was just the perfect escape from all of that.

I had another great afternoon going to the beach with Anastasia, Liv and Mark. Liv and Mark brought their instruments along in the car, so they played and sang Bhagavad Gita verses for us on the drive there. We did some yoga on the beach, meditated and looked for shells. It was just a perfect afternoon getaway.

Liv is one of the few people at the farm that can pull off a yoga headstand. She’s been having the most amazing adventures, including training yoga with an ancient master, while living in his cave in India (sounds like a movie scenario!). I love meeting people out of the ordinary like her, seems like volunteering always attracts the right crowd.

I talked to Mark a bit about his plans on joining the temple devotees. He’s one of the volunteers who has been really drawn to the full Hare Krishna experience. I know I said I don’t really get it and a lot of it seems like “fluff”, but I do respect people choosing a more ascetic lifestyle like this, the same way as I felt about the monks I met on Athos in Greece. He could just as well be living a lifestyle that’s a lot less constructive than this, as unfortunately so many people are doing these days.

The days have just gone really quickly, some people could barely believe it had been 2 weeks already by the time I left. Getting up early in the morning, attending class, yoga, heading out with people at least every other day and then going to bed early just makes things go so much quicker.

On Saturday I had another lazy day. A big truck dropped off this huge parade wagon all of a sudden. I was told it came from Melbourne, as the Krishna’s send it all over the country. It’s called a “Juggernaut” wagon, the word is even derived  from the Sanskrit “Jagganath” temple where these cars originate from.
And there’s another photo of self-proclaimed “dirty hippy” Liv, who just always seems to fit perfectly in my photos of this place.

As I leave the Krishna Village behind I realize I am probably one of the biggest skeptics. The whole “spiritual” thing does not hold much meaning for me, nor does some of the extreme fascination with health (foods) and religion. However, there’s no denying the wonderful positive vibe that everybody there creates. Just walking around, all you encounter will greet you with a genuine smile and ask how you are. Despite perhaps having different ideas, everybody really is good friends with each other, family perhaps even. I’m pretty sure the world would be a better place  overall if everyone thought and acted like this.