Pictures from Germany

I have just got back from a week in Germany. I was at the European Hare Krishna festival, which in 2007 was held in Frielendorf, a small town somewhat near Frankfurt. The reason for the festival is that our Guru travelled to Europe to meet us, and his disciples poured in from all over Europe to see him (plus many who wanted initiation).

This was outside the main venue. The festival was held in a vacation camp; the organisers block-booked a load of the accommodation, and we transformed their restaurant and bar into our temple room for the week. The large marquee was erected to serve as our food hall; we cooked for ourselves using a mobile kitchen in a trailer hidden behind the marquee.



The holiday camp did not have a camp site: trailers and tents were not allowed here. The accommodation was a set of villas, each suitable to house a large family. They had three bedrooms each (one with a double bed and the other two with two single beds each), plus a kitchen, bathroom and living space. They varied a little in design, but most looked like this from the outside:





Inside my accommodation looked like this:







There were two guys sleeping on our floor in the living room. They made a bit of a mess:



This was my bed. I bumped my head so many times on this stupid sloping ceiling:



Some more pictures from around the site:





Dunno what these buildings were:







The park was called Silbersee. I think I know why. It had a lake:













This is my favourite picture of the lot:







So, enough of that. This is Gurudeva giving class one evening:



That was zoomed in. This is panned out, to show the size of the congregation:





Gurudeva arriving at the temple room one morning:



and speaking with some French devotees:



The deities on the altar:











On the last morning of the festival, there was a fire sacrifice for the new initiates. I went through this ritual myself in 2004:





Me and some friends. Going left to right: me, Mangala from Switzerland, Dhanistha from Germany (but lives in England), Amal Krishna from Germany (I think), Vasudeva (same name as me) from Belgium, and Vamsi from Germany:



After the festival finished, I had a weekend free and MissHoneychurch was close by, so I went to hang with her a little. She showed me around Frankfurt a little. This is the cathedral:







Can a town look any more quintessentially European than this?







A big river. I think this is called the Mein. MissHoneychurch can put us straight on this:







From this angle it looks almost American:



And finally, MissHoneychurch and I:



That evening we went round to see neweurope and her husband for dinner. This proved to be the icing on the cake for the whole week. It was a sublimely lovely evening. We sat outside and ate from a barbecue, and talked as the sun went down. Even as it got dark it stayed warm, and our faces were lit by candlelight. No pictures exist of this meeting, I am sorry. I was having too nice a time to spoil the mood by asking to take a photograph.

And well documented. I felt as if I were on the trip with you :)

:yourock:

I don't know much about the Hare Krishna religion. One of these days I am going to ask you to educate me on your journey.

Did you have fun? I love those cottages. How beautiful.

I met up with a lot of friends, acquired a few new ones, and deepened my relationship with a couple of existing ones.

Any time you want to know something, please don't hesitate to ask. I never proselytise but I always try to answer questions to the best of my ability.

:hi:

If you are willing to answer my questions, I'll think about some and send you a PM.

:hug:

I don't want to pry.

I have a brother who lives in Germany ( right outside of Bremen ) who works for Eduscha (sp?) a coffee plant there. He's been there for 14 years and speaks fluent German ( I've tried to learn it myself, but I found it too difficult ). He's always trying to get me to come over, but expenses are SO tight right now, I just can't afford it. Anyway, thanks for those great pics! :D

Looks like you had a wonderful week, topped off by your wonderful evening with MissHoneychurch, neweurope, and Mr. neweurope.

:hi:

What awesome pics!

I'm so glad you went, and had such a great time!

I recall that you weren't sure about going....I'll bet you're glad you did!

The scenery and all the people shots are wonderful...

Thank you so much for sharing your week with us, sweetie...

:hug:

I'm so so so glad you got to go. Looks like a great place to relax.

:hug:

Without her this would not have happened. :hug: for her.

And :hug: for you too. :loveya:

I'm glad you had good time! :hug:

:wow:

Those are some great pics!
:applause: :yourock:

I'm glad you had such a good week. :hug: I just LOVE the pic of you and MissHC! :loveya: Thanks for sharing them all!

What beautiful pictures.

Odd how the pictures of the festival site and the surrounding woods and lake remind me of my own home in Minnesota.

I grew up sleeping in a bed next to a sloping wall. To this day I still get out of bed by moving to the edge before sitting up. :hi:

it is a great shot of you two :loveya:

thanks for sharing these and telling us about your religion. missed you this week but, this thread made up for it :hug:

I'm so glad you had a good time in Germany.

And I'm so glad to see you! :hug: :hug:

And so proud of you! ! ! ! You rawk, my friend.

I don't know very much about the dharmic religions, into which I can only assume Hare Krishna fits. Is it considered a "sect" of Hinduism, or is it pretty much a separate religion? Forgive me for prying and for any false assumptions I just made, but the Wikipedia article on Hare Krishna doesn't enlighten me very much.

Also, your name within the religion is Vasudeva? (Did I interpret that caption right?) I just read Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, so that name stuck out at me!

:hi:

I do think of myself as a Hindu, but it is certainly true that many Hindus do not agree with everything we believe. In fact if you get ten Hindus in a room you could easily have ten different opinions about what the truth is.

Yes, my initiated name is Vasudeva. The trailing 'a' is not pronounced, so it sounds like vas-oo-dave.

:hi:

looks like you had a wonderful time. thanks so much for sharing :)

:hug:

It sounds like you did the right thing by not spoiling that particular moment, by asking for a photograph, though I probably would have! ;-)

p.s., I laughed hysterically about you hitting your head on that ceiling because I could see, by the pic, all the touch-up jobs!

:rofl:

... it looks lovely and peaceful.

Thanks for freely sharing and the pictures are magnificent.

:hug:

You lucky dog you :)

Mein would be 'my' as in 'Mein Kampf'.

I took a picture of the same cathedral, I think, and the river too. I only had about an hour or so between trains, so I only walked about six blocks or less from the bahnhof.

Nice pictures, but when you said Frankfurt I was expecting more of MHC.

didn't want to spoil a perfectly fine pic :P

We also thought it was a very nice evening with you! It was an excellent idea of MissHoneychurch to bring you over. Stop by again whenever you get to Germany again! And I promise - next time I won't cook as much :evilgrin:



---------------------------------

Remember Fallujah
Bush to The Hague!

I noted that several of the altar Deities were in pairs, very similar but not exactly alike. My knowledge of India's gods and Gods is limited; who are they, or what do they represent? If this is not for the uninitiated, just ignore this post please.

Looks like you had a great time. Namaste.

The most common pairing of deities is Radha-Krishna, the form of the Lord in His male and female aspects. But you have noticed Gaura-Nitai, a less famous incarnation of the Lord but of great importance to us Hare Krishnas.

If you have heard of Krishna then you have probably also heard of Balarama, His brother in His human-like pastimes. Well, Gaura and Nitai are none other than Krishna and Balarama in other guise. Gaura is short for Gauranga, also known as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appeared with His brother Nitai (Lord Nityananda) as a very special avatar. What is special about this incarnation is that the Lord appeared as His own devotee; instead of instructing people in devotional service by commandment, He showed people how to do it by following the process Himself.

I'm aware of Rhada and Krishna, but never knew the rest. I especially like the last part. I've read the Gita three or four times in the last twenty+ years, and although parts of it had "pinged" me, only recently has it begun to make more sense. Kriyananda's translation and commentary have opened my eyes a lot.

As I've typed this, a hummingbird has spent a long time upon a set of nearby flowers, much more time today than usual...

Thanks for following and sharing your path. May it always be bountiful. May you find Krishna's smile in everything.

travelogue Billy! What a great way to document your trip. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Also, I'm so glad that you got to meet MissH again too.

:hi: :hug:

Love the one you submitted to the contest. :thumbsup: And the one with you and MissHoneychurch - very relaxed, almost intimate (not in a physical way, don't get me wrong, just the expression of it; very natural and calm.)

Also, the colors of the altars are very familiar. ;) Though I have one question: Your necklace and the similar necklace of others, what does it represent? Is it used for praying, meditating, like a Buddhist mala?

And, did you find the treasure in the Silbersee? ;)

:hi:

The neck beads are like a dog collar. You know how a dog warden, who catches stray dogs, if he sees a dog wearing a collar with an address on it then he will know the dog has an owner, and it won't end up at the pound. The neck beads are like this. Supposedly, when the Yamadutas come for you at the end of your life, they see the tulasi mala round the neck and know this person belongs to his Guru, and they will not take that person before Yamaraja.

We all have larger tulasi malas for chanting japa on.

I just learned it has 108 beads, too. :)

:hi:

Interesting!

They are beautiful and you look at peace spending time with MHC - lucky you!

and not one picture of cleavage on a bus.

Why do you hate America Germany? :cry:












:P






Excellent pics, great use of color!

thanks for sharing. MHC is a doll! i am happy the trip was everything you expected and more. :hi: :hug:

service. There is a restaurant in St Louis called Govindas. Every Sunday they have their feast and before the feast is a Krishna service, or there was one time when I attended the feast. I've not been to the restaurant in quite some time so things might be different.

I especially love the photo of you and MissHoneychurch. :hug: :loveya:

:*

I wish I could be in such a place until I pass on...

:cry:

:hug:

What a beautiful area in which you stayed. That's a cute little chalet, too (despite the mess on the main floor :P )

Frankfurt looks like such a beautiful city. I half expected to see the Pied Piper peeking out from one of the doorways...

I'm glad you had a good time! Looks like there were a lot of friendly faces there, including the lovely MissHoneychurch. :D

:hug:

You look like (with a bit of help from MissHC) your vacation was wonderful! :thumbsup: