As a traveling preacher time passes much slower for me when traveling. The days are more eventful, visiting a different yatra every weekend. Staying at one place for such a long period of time - it's been two months now that I have been in Bangalore, and the days not being so terribly eventful, the time seems to fly. This is what it must be like when working at a regular job, and being situated in steady family duties. Before one even realizes, life has gone by. One of the main indicators for time passing by must be to see how the kids grow up, and all of a sudden are adults.
I am starting to look forward to the end of my exile here.....
I am starting to look forward to the end of my exile here.....
The most unusual fruit in this world is probably jackfruit. It is so unusual that it has not made it to the Western world, and probably never will. People there would not know what to do with it. It is almost as if Krsna got tired of creating the usual small fruits, and wanted to come up with something really different and unique....
Jackfruits grow on big trees in tropical countries, hanging down from the stems. I remember them from tropical Northern Australia, and also in Bangladesh it is a very common fruit. It can also be cooked as vegetable when unripe. It is not easy to cut and take apart, since it has a rubbery juice which sticks to the knife and hands. Only oil on hands and knife will allow one to fulfill the rather messy task.
Now is jackfruit season, and almost every day I am eating a few little pieces of it. One fruit can get as big and heavy as 35 kg's. Obviously nobody buys one fruit. Here in Bangalore there are people standing along the street with a cart and take a big fruit apart, selling the little segments separately - three pieces for 10 Rupees. The little yellow segments have a big shiny pip which can also be used. The fruit is very tasty, crunchy and sweet. Nature is full of amazing creations and varieties in tastes and flavors. Obviously there is an even more amazing creator behind it...!
Jackfruits grow on big trees in tropical countries, hanging down from the stems. I remember them from tropical Northern Australia, and also in Bangladesh it is a very common fruit. It can also be cooked as vegetable when unripe. It is not easy to cut and take apart, since it has a rubbery juice which sticks to the knife and hands. Only oil on hands and knife will allow one to fulfill the rather messy task.
Now is jackfruit season, and almost every day I am eating a few little pieces of it. One fruit can get as big and heavy as 35 kg's. Obviously nobody buys one fruit. Here in Bangalore there are people standing along the street with a cart and take a big fruit apart, selling the little segments separately - three pieces for 10 Rupees. The little yellow segments have a big shiny pip which can also be used. The fruit is very tasty, crunchy and sweet. Nature is full of amazing creations and varieties in tastes and flavors. Obviously there is an even more amazing creator behind it...!
One day I received a visit from Varis and Catherine from Australia. I know him from the "old days" in Sydney/Australia - he was a brahmacari in the temple at the time when I joined Krsna consciousness. He had gone through different phases in life, and done many different things, and had now established himself in Mysore, not far away from Bangalore, together with Catherine. They had heard that I am here doing Chemo, and he had suggested to visit me one day. So we had agreed to take lunch together at Subhadra Mataji's house. I had made arrangements for a nice lunch, with shak and paneer, portal and pumkin subji, dhal, chapatis, pizza toasts, avocado and salad, and vanilla custard and fresh mango puree. We were sitting for several hours chatting away while feasting.
Varis and Catherine have been developing what they call "Skills Tourism" in Mysore - a set-up to teach people different skills and crafts: stone carving, brass casting (making deities etc), wood marquetry, silver jewellery, textile embroidery and block printing. Their website is www.skillstourism.com
Engaging in a handcraft or cottage industry is probably the next best way for devotees to maintain themselves, after book and prasadam distribution - to actually produce something. Nowadays there are many opportunities to sell handcrafts over internet, and there is also a market for devotional items such as altars, Vyasasanas, picture frames, wood carvings, marquetry, embroidery for Deities' outfits, Deities, etc.
I have observed again and again the problem for devotees, when they would like to opt for a simple life in a village community: how to maintain a family. It is very clear, that a simple life in the village requires that we learn crafts and trades, which can be used in such setting. This is part of village life - that we know how to produce something. There is no room for people having to travel miles to the next city in order to sit in an office of a big company to earn their livelihood. This doesn't go very well together. I grew up in a village in Southern Germany, and I remember people were either farmers, or having a workshop to produce something, or both. Unless we come to this understanding, there is no question of simply living high thinking. In the villages in Bangaldesh we can also observe this. Those villages are almost self sufficient, because almost everything is locally produced and locally repaired. Nobody travels to the next big city to work in an office. This is healthy and happy village life. And people have plenty of time to practice spiritual life, with a peaceful mind.
I remember when I took my father to Bangladesh some fifteen years ago, we once visited a goldsmith's workshop - the owner was a devotee. My father being a PHD in chemistry and archeology, specializing in pre-historical gold findings, was really impressed, exlaiming with great enthusiasm: "That's how they made gold jewelry hundreds and thousands of years ago!" They were using the most simple tools, and creating the most beautiful gold jewelry. How wonderful it would be, if our devotees could learn such lost and forgotten arts and crafts!
The time will come when those who can actually produce something with their hands will be the number one, and all the folks sitting in their offices will be last.
Consciousness is a very powerful energy, and everything handmade carries a certain energy coming from the consciousness with which it is made. If something is made with devotion and endeavor, this energy will linger and emanate from this item. This is why hand-made things are always very attractive. They emanate a very different energy compared to things produced in the factories.
Consciousness is a very powerful energy, and everything handmade carries a certain energy coming from the consciousness with which it is made. If something is made with devotion and endeavor, this energy will linger and emanate from this item. This is why hand-made things are always very attractive. They emanate a very different energy compared to things produced in the factories.
Varis and Catherine's set-up in Mysore is also suitable for devotees of all levels to come and learn something. The ISKCON Mysore Temple is close by with an interesting morning and evening program and nice kirtans. There are many Vaishnava related holy places near by, and the Nrismhadeva temple at Melukote is amazing. There are also Ayurvedic treatments available.
The prices mentioned on the website are for non-devotees - devotees will receive special discounts and can stay for much longer than the tourist packages are suggesting. Accomodation and prasadam can be arranged separately, maybe even in conjunction with the ISKCON temple.
The prices mentioned on the website are for non-devotees - devotees will receive special discounts and can stay for much longer than the tourist packages are suggesting. Accomodation and prasadam can be arranged separately, maybe even in conjunction with the ISKCON temple.
On the 2nd of July time had come for me to move on to my next home. The evening before we had an ice cream party with Subhadra Mataji's family, enjoying vanilla ice cream with fresh mango puree - simply delicious! I had arranged for a few little gifts, and we exchanged words of gratitude and appreciation. I had stayed with them for an entire month, had received wonderful care and had felt very much at home.
When they were waving good-bye I mentioned that it would not be easy in the Western world to find a family who would host a cancer patient for such a long time, and tears were coming to their eyes......
Your servant, Devaki dd
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Your servant, Devaki dd
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