Epic Weekend
I make weekends as epic as I can. Here’s what we did this weekend.
Saturday
7am: Went to the Hare Krsna bake sale and set up a book table to do Bhagavad Gita Readings. 4 people sat down for a reading. One person said he would read the Gita and chant Hare Krishna before bed out of our conversation.
10am: I drove back home, picked up my fiancé and we set up a book table at the Mind, Body Spirit Festival. I did readings there too.
One lady said "it's refreshing to meet people who like God. Most people have a grudge against Him" I said "yeah like what did He do to them?"
Another person named Tom came and shared that he was wanting guidance on how to connect better. He opened up and shared he was lonely. I congratulated him for his authenticity and shared with him how chanting Hare Krishna japa made me better socially. I also invited him to the 108 OM’s event.
After 1 hour the organizer played a film which was basically a 1.5-hour ad for his workshops and then he led a workshop. Ishvari and I left to finish our daily japa meditation and set up for the 108 OM's event.
5pm: We began our OM chanting at the new Hare Krishna community center and about 15 people came. Venu Krsna Das, Melissa Burtenshaw and Vasanti Eve headed up the feast and Buddhi supplied some bread, samosas and chai. Venu Led the OM’s while playing harmonium. It took 25 minutes to chant 108. Then Ishvari led 5 minutes of Hare Krsna japa. Tulasi then led Hare Krsna kirtan on harmonium. Ishvari played Karatallas and I played Mrdanga. Tom who came for a reading was there and he was right into it. Everyone got up and danced in a circle and it was ecstatic. After the kirtan we all got our shoes back on to walk to Food for Life for dinner. 2 people showed up and we invited them to come with us.
A guy I met in the morning while setting up the book table at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival came with his girlfriend, and we had dinner together. He told me he reads the Gita almost daily and when he misses a day, he feels the difference. He asked if there was some way to study the Gita with others, so I shared with him about Dailyguidance.org and the opportunity to read with a mentor.
7:30pm: Tulasi, Venu, Melissa, Vasanti, Ishvari and I clean up and go home.
Sunday
6am: Showered and chanted japa.
6:30am: Ishvari wakes up and I tell her we’re going to the beach
8:30am: We drive to Reotahi Bay but I missed a turn and we ended up at some other Marine reserve, so we chanted up Hare Krishna japa there. It was a perfect sunny day, there was no wind and the water was clear.
11am: We went to Reotahi Bay and I brought some paint to do a piece on a wall I heard about that used to be a bunker. I painted “Hare Krsna” in calligraphy with a character in the middle of both the names. Ishvari took video of the whole thing and noone took offence to us painting there.
3pm: Went home
4pm: I edited the footage into a video and Ishvari made dinner
5pm: We had dinner watching people making huts and pools in the forest with spades and their hands.
Here’s the link to my Youtube channel if you want to see the video when it drops.
Here’s the poster for the 108 OM’s event we did.