Wow! Is all I have to say about this group. When this group first arrived, I had no idea
who they were or what their religious background was. However, as soon as they greeted each other
with a “Hare Krishna” I knew I was in for a treat! This group was so interesting it was really
the motivating force for me to create this blog.
After the first day, as soon as I was able to get on to my
computer I immediately jumped on Wikipedia to learn more about the Hare Krishna
religion. Which I will leave you to do
in your free time because this blog is all about the stories and man do I have
stories!
Our main meeting hall became their worship center. The stage was converted into a shrine and on
the floor they put down a carpet to meditate and sit on. Every time I walked into the room, I noticed
a man sitting intensely mediating on top of the stage. Hours would pass and it seemed as if the man
had not moved let alone blink. I was
impressed by this man’s dedication to his religion and wondered if he was
fasting, since he kept missing meal times.
It turned out this man was actually a wax statute! He was so life like that one of my coworkers
still believed it was an actual person until we asked someone from the group to
confirm. This was just the beginning to the
confusing weekend I was about to endure.
Hare krishnas believed in serving the community, some of
them contributed by cooking and serving food for everyone. I was standing behind the servers making sure
they had everything then needed when all of a sudden a couple of people were kneeling
ground on the looking for something underneath our warmer. Naturally, I crouched down to help find
whatever it was that they dropped. Only after
a minute or two I realized they were bowing down to their Swami (spiritual
leader) who had just walked into the room.
Opps!
An example of how the hare krishnas bowed down.
One of my coworkers also got caught off guard by the bowing. He was in the main hall turning on some lights
and at the same time the Swami walked into the room. Everyone was bend over on the ground bowing
to him, which just left the Swami and my coworker the only people standing in
the room. Feeling really awkward, my
coworker tried to leave the room as quickly as possible. The only problem was that the room was so
packed with people he had to walk through the maze of people bowing down, which
just drew more attention to him.
My goal during the weekend was to have a conversation with
the Swami and see what words of wisdom he had to say to everyone. I mean anyone that can get 400 people to bow
down to them must have something interesting to say! My chance finally came when I saw him locked
outside the building. I came over to
open the door and the amazing words he left me with were… “hi, how are you
today?” All I have to say to that is
mission accomplished!
Since we were feeding over 400 participants at our retreat
center, I pretty much spent all day in our dining room. At some point I looked over and saw a man talking
to himself and staring at the floor. I
really didn’t think much of it until I realized he was praying to a dying bug
on the ground. Now I know that they
believe in reincarnation but I was really surprised to see someone take the
time to pray to a bug. It wasn’t just a
quick prayer either he was there for about 20 minutes. Wild!
The last story I will leave you with comes complete with a
video! Another one of my coworkers, who
had been working with this group months in advanced to make sure they had
everything they needed, was pulled into their worship room on their last night
at the retreat center. They wanted him
to get involved in all the dancing with them and celebrate (the video that is
attached is an example of some of the dancing and singing they were doing
throughout the weekend). All of a sudden
to people pick up my coworker and place him on their shoulders and carry him
around the room as people cheer for him.
We’ve had so many groups thanks us for our help but never anything quite
like this!
