Hare Krishna- DE

Krishna Village
Bear, DE
June 2016
60/60 Project

I was a little afraid to go here.  As a kid, the Hari Krishna people scared me a little bit.  They were so different from the people I knew. I used to see them in Center City (Philly).  They would dance in a near trance and block foot traffic along Broad Street. That was in the late 60's.  I haven't seen them since I was 12 or 13.  But now, fifty years later, I have a chance to visit with them at a Krishna Village near my home.

I go to the village but with a bit of intrepidation. Will they still intimidate me?  Will they still be so different from people Inow know as as adult?  Will they now seem so out there as they once did?

I drive to the site, slow down and drive past it. It looks okay to me so I turn around and go in. to my surprise most of the people were Indian, not Caucasian.

Sitting on the lawn under a tree are a group of musicians playing sitars and chanting Hare Krishna. The lyrics are pretty simple to master: “Krishna, Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. All of the songs centered around this mantra.

After a few minutes I stroll around the rest of the grounds. There is a carnival like atmosphere. kids are playing organize games. Adults are preparing favorite treats and food from India. Merchants are selling saris and other Indian garb. There’re a couple stalls run just by Indians in hopes of encouraging other Indians to support their businesses.

 A small temple is tucked away, inside the house that sits on the property. I wander in and find 20 people kneeing to the ground and chanting “Krishna, Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. I sit for a few minutes on one of the few chairs available and then decide to leave. As I am making my way to the car two Caucasian women shout “Hare Krishna”. I look around to see who they’re calling to and realize it’s to me so I shout back “Hare Krishna”. I don’t know if this is the right response or not that’s all I can think of to say.

I engage in conversation with these two women and now I’m lured back into the festivities. “Come try some of the food,” Jovita insists.  She tells me her story as we walk. “My Krishna name is Jovita.  But I was raised as Louise.” She found Krishna in her 40s after her husband left. Now she’s retired and spends all of her time working on her enlightenment. “Are you searching for answers”, she asks me “because Krishna has all the answers to life’s questions. You just have to be willing to work on”, she tells me with a confidence that is genuine and naïve. “Even if you were raised as a Catholic and believe in Jesus you can still follow Krishna. You know Jesus is a disciple of Krishna so it’s really not a conflict of your religion. I was raised a Catholic. Were you?”, she inquires.

We come to the food stands and I am given a quick overview of all of the food. I’m not hungry and tried to convey that thought but that doesn’t matter to my two friends. I am trying some of the food whether I like it or not.   As we walk and eat, I am introduced to everyone who crosses our path. My story is told through Jovita and I nod my head in agreement to verify her statements. “Maybe she’ll begin to follow Krishna now that she’s visited us”, she tells everyone with great enthusiasm and great hope.

I am given magazines and flyers about Krishna and a thick book that lays out all of his teachings and all of the answers to life’s difficult problems. I leave and wonder who’s right. Are there really answers to life’s problems if I just follow this path. Or have Jovita and the others convince themselves that maybe their life will be easier if they could have an answer to difficult questions.