We spent the weekend purchasing lights and curtains to adorn the altar. This new altar is truly beautiful, being hand crafted from himalayan cedar, and it has a very powerful presence about it. We are feeling that the presence of this new altar is the beginning of a new era at Hare Krishna Valley, as an enthusiastic momentum is beginning to build with all those who are involved with the project.

The first of our new broccoli have been picked and brought to Melbourne for the pleasure of the Deities. This is just the beginning of the broccoli harvest, and there are thousands to come, so anyone who feels inspired to come and pick some broccolis, please contact me.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.

Keshava Dasa.

On Friday night we held our monthly home programme in Geelong which was well attended once again. Around 30 of us gathered to hear and chant about Krishna, and to enjoy a feast of Krishna prasadam. Many of the attendees are now committing to chanting 1 round of the Hare Krishna Mantra on meditation beads everyday. This is very enlivening for us, seeing people taking to the process of Krishna Consciousness, and becoming happy as a result.

The sunsets have been very beautiful at Hare Krishna Valley, allowing us to finish our days peacefully chanting and enjoying the scenery.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.

Keshava Dasa.

Saturday morning began with a Yoga class at 7.00 am, which was attended by over half of the guests. After breakfast, everyone headed into the kitchen for a full morning of a hand on cooking class. Before lunch, Kurma gave a presentation on Ayurveda, or the ancient Indian science of health. After lunch there was another cooking demonstration, and the day ended with a sumptuous feast which was prepared by all the participants. In the evening we held another Kirtan, and watched a DVD about village life in India, where people live in harmony with nature.

Sunday was similar to the previous day, with the guests learning a new menu. After lunch we had our final farewells, and we presented gifts for all of our guests. At 3.00 pm everyone departed, feeling relaxed and rejuvenated from the Bhakti Yoga cooking retreat.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week. Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.

Keshava Dasa.

We celebrated our monthly feast programme with an attendance of 50 people, including devotees and guests. The Kirtan was very lively, and there were many questions asked during the discussion. We then finished with a delicious feast of Shepherds pie and rice, pakora and chutney, salad and soup and apple crumble and custard for dessert. Yum Yum ! We then spent the next day weeding the garden between the broccolis and cauliflowers, which now total over 13,000 seedlings.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Keshava Dasa.

.

Gandiva returned from his stay in Perth with his guru Bhurijan Prabhu, and he is feeling greatly enlivened after having the association with such a spiritually progressed soul. It rained alot in Hare Krishna Valley this week, with the water gushing from our catchment tanks. In fact, all of our rain water tanks have been overflowing for the last two years.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Keshava Dasa.

On Friday night we attended another monthly home program in Geelong, which was attended by even more guests than last time. Around 30 of us held kirtan, discussed Bhagavad-Gita philosophy, chanted one round of japa meditation, and enjoyed a delicious feast offered to Krishna. When we woke up on Saturday morning, we were surprised to see that our newly planted Japanese cherry tree had blossomed. We took this as an auspicious sign from Krishna that He is pleased with our service.

In order to scare the ducks away that are eating our crop of broccolis, Manigriva set up a gas powered “banger”, which lets off a loud noise every 15 minutes. We now have around 12,000 broccoli and cauliflower seedlings in the ground, and we are looking forward to beginning harvesting them in August.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.

Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Kesava dasa.

Hare Krishna Valley is an ideal place to live a natural life in harmony with God’s creation, and to contemplate the more important things in life. In the last week, we experienced several days of excellent weather, so I was able to go outside and sit in the sun while I prepared for the classes that I teach in Melbourne.

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Kesava dasa.

This week, we continued with our renovation work of our new temple. Bhaktin Julia, one of our new devotees, has been working hard re-upholstering Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasasana, and should have it finished soon. We moved our Deities Sri Sri Gaura Nitai into their new temple room on their temporary altar. Although it is simple for the time being, we are feeling enthused with the progress.

To reciprocate, the Deities sent our biggest crowd for our monthly Sunday feast programme since we have been at Hare Krishna Valley. In total, there were 70 of us in attendance including devotees and guests. We enjoyed an esctatic kirtana, in which everyone danced and chanted in great esctacy. We then had a lively discussion and finished with a nectarian feast. Those who came for the first time said they would surely come again!

We look forward to speaking to you again next week.
Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Kesava dasa.

We have continued with creating a new temple room for the Dieties, with many of the pieces beginning to come into place. Bhaktin Julia, one of our committed friends, has been assisting on her school holidays with re-upholstering Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasasana. We will continue next week with adding new components to the design of the temple.

Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Kesava dasa.

Last week, we began preparing a new altar to move the Dieties into their new temple room. We built a new platform to place Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai upon. The altar we are building is a temporary structure to house the Dieties until their permanant altar has been constructed.

On Friday night we began our first namahatta program in the nearby town of Geelong. This is a home program in which people who are interested in Krishna Consciousness come together in someone’s home to learn about chanting and the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness. 20 people attended and were greatly enlivened by the atmosphere that was created. Everyone then enjoyed Krishna prasadam, food offered to Krishna. If you are interested in attending our future home programs in Geelong, please contact me.

Until then, I remain yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada.
Kesava dasa.