On May 28th I left
Jivaka Castle and hitch-hiked to Frankfurt – again a lot of kind people stopped
their car when they saw me and my stretched out thumb and some of them even
drove a longer distance than they had to, just to make sure that I arrive safely.
In Frankfurt I enjoyed the afternoon lying next to the river Main, observing
people and reading. In the evening I met with
Yvan. I could stay overnight in
his flat. On Monday I quickly sewed some of the aprons he sold later on and
about noon we left for Nuremberg. He had to go there for business and I
continued hitch hiking to Jandelsbrunn and my next workaway host:
SimhachalamTemple. Originally my arrival was planned for Tuesday because I didn’t think
that I’ll make it from Nuremberg to Jandelsbrunn in one day but thanks to the
amazing car drivers who gave me rides I did it.
When I arrived most of
the people where gone to bed already, because they rise early in the morning
about 4 o’clock. Luckily a Prabhu (monk) was still up and called Monika Mataji
(woman) who is responsible for workawayers. She showed me the room where I live
while I’m here and told me some basic things.
I have learned many
things since then, too much to tell in this blog entry.
Who wants to know more
about this place can check out their Website www.liontemple.de
My service here
consists mainly of upholstery. I feel honored that I’m allowed to upholster the
vyasasanas (Thrones) in the temple.
One is for the person/guru who holds the lecture and the other one is for (the
figure of) Prabhupad.
I’d like to take the
opportunity to thank all my former working colleagues for everything they have
taught me about upholstering. I can use it very well now. The decision I made 5
years ago to join the company and get this education was definitely right!
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| Kasia and Mira petting a cow |
The first week I was
lucky and had the room for myself. Then 3 other girls arrived, Kamala from
South Africa (already initiated), Mira from Kazakhstan (in Krishna Consciousness
for 7 years) and Kasia from Germany (didn’t know anything about KC before, just
like me). I always thought that sharing a room for a longer period of time is
something impossible for me. But somehow I can deal with it more easily than I
have expected. This has to do with the girls, each of them is really sweet and
kind and a unique personality I can learn from and it has also to do with me,
and how I have changed in the past months.
The daily routine is
getting up about 4 o’clock, first ceremony at 4:30. Next ceremony at 7:15 then
lecture on Srimad Baghavatam (something like the bible) at 7:45 until 8:45. At 9
there is prasadam meaning breakfast. Then people do their service, chant, read,…
At 1 pm there is another ceremony afterwards at 2pm there is prasadam again meaning
lunch this time ;) Evening ceremony starts at 6:30 pm and the evening lecture
on Bhagavat-Gita (bible again) starts at 7 pm and takes approx. 1 hour.
Afterwards you can take prasadam (dinner) again.
We workawayers don’t have
to attend every ceremony and lecture but we are asked to attend one lecture/day
at least. The lectures are really interesting, very philosophical and I try to
attend all of them. Sometimes they are in English sometimes in German. If there
is someone who doesn’t understand the language which is spoken someone
translates it. I had the opportunity to translate from English to German once.
It was a big challenge for me and I was a bit nervous but it actually went
quite well (for the first time at least).
I have managed to get
up for the very first ceremony 4 times and it is totally worth it! It is so
tranquil at this time of the day and the ceremony is beautiful.
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| first time wearing a sari - sankirtan in Passau |
For prasadam there is
always a huuuuugee (all you can eat) buffet. When it’s sunny and warm we take
it outside. People in Krishna Consciousness don’t eat meat or eggs which meets
my eating habits. There is always rice, salad, vegetables in various forms,
chutney, chapatis and something sweet as a desert. Different persons cook every
day this means the prasadam never tastes the same – but always delicious. There
are strict (hygienic) rules, like you have to wash your hands and rinse your
mouth before you take prasadam. If you want more you have to do this again
before taking more or ask someone “clean” to serve you. Women who are on their
period are not allowed to take prasadam, someone has to serve them and the
dishes we eat from must not touch the dishes which contain the prasadam. For people
who cook or assist in the kitchen there are even stricter rules.
My mum was here two
weeks ago and has brought some of my tools and material for my upholstering
service. It was so nice to see her again and talk about god and the world. We
took prasadam together and she even had good luck and got some cake because it
was Rhamanada’s (he is a priest) birthday =D
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| sankirtan in Passau |
The temple has a cow
protection program, they have five cows which got saved from being slaughtered
by different people. One of them loves to be scratched =)
Last Saturday I joined
sankirtan in Passau. We were 6 women
who chanted in public. It was amazing and a pleasure to be there. It was also the first time that I was wearing a Sari.
Monday two weeks ago
it was a fasting day. Their most important fasting day in the year, actually.
Most of the devotees didn’t eat nor drink. I did the “light” version and just
did it without food. Not to eat does a lot with your mind, especially on a
transcendental place like this. For me it was an interesting experience and if
anyone wants to know more about how I have experienced it, please ask, I’m
happy to share – it would just be too much for this entry, which becomes longer
than I wanted it to be anyway.
I am so glad that I
have the opportunity to spend some time here, get to know all these inspiring
people from all over the world and learn about Krishna Consciousness.
I'm going to stay until next week or so and come back to Austria at the end of June and stay for July. Looking forward to see you all again! Much Love
So just at the point
when I thought “Oh well, now I kind of know the faces and names here” the
amount of people doubled (not literally but it felt like it) and I had to start
remembering new names again.
The last night I have
spent in Goda Mataji and Monika Mataji’s room because a new volunteer (Claire
from Cape Town, South Africa) has arrived and needed “my” bed. During the night
there was a massive thunder storm with lightenings each second and heavy rain
and hail. The fire brigade alarm went at least three times. But it looks like
nothing serious has happened on the farm.
Thank you to all the
Matajis here who have helped me to feel comfortable, answered my questions,
invited me to join the Harinams and so much more. Thanks to all the Prabhus who
have held interesting lectures from which I could learn so much.
