By: Madhava Smullen ISKCON News on Aug. 21, 2015
With the help of a European Union grant for building youth relations, about 175 European youth received an immersive experience of Krishna consciousness on the Senagataway retreat at ISKCON’s beautiful Radhadesh community in Belgium from August 1st to 10th.
The event was organized by the Pandava Sena, a UK-based organization that helps youth apply Vaishnava wisdom to their practical everyday lives, and has organized summer retreats at ISKCON temples around Europe for the past decade.
The Senagetaway participants included around seventy students from the UK aged 16 to 21 who were relatively new to Krishna consciousness, but had been introduced to the Bhagavad-gita’s basic philosophy through Pandava Sena university groups like Jammin and KC Socs (Krishna Conscious Societies).
Other participants included second generation ISKCON youth from around Europe, and more experienced devotees guiding the retreat as mentors.
Senagetaway participants gather in front of the Radhadesh temple
Each day began with a 6am japa session in which leading preacher Bhakti Rasamrita Swami guided the students in personal meditation techniques such as posture, pronouncing the Hare Krishna mantra, and the proper mood in which to chant.
After breakfast came Bhakti Rasamrita Swami’s seminar “The Legends of Mahabharata”, in which he examined a different character of the ancient text every day.
“We discussed Krishna, Arjuna, Yudhistira, Kunti, Draupadi, and Bhisma,” says organizer Vinay Raniga. “We talked about the different themes each character represents – for instance, Bhisma represents celibacy and leadership qualities.”
Next the participants would be split into five boys’ groups and five girls’ groups, each color-coded and named after a different Mahabharata character, for a series of workshops. Each day, the groups would switch workshops with each other so that they all got to learn drama, cooking, yoga, art, and service (in which they would help with different cleaning or maintenance tasks around the temple).
Helping in the kitchen during the service workshop
“We’d then have a long lunch from 12:30 to 3:30pm, to give people the time to talk to each other, bond, and build friendships – a really important part of the day,” says Vinay.
After lunch, the seminars continued. “Mahabharata Untold” with Gaur Gopal Das from Chowpatty continued where Bhakti Rasamrita Swami left off, going into more depth with each character.
“It went down a storm, because he would tell rare stories from different acharyas that weren’t in Krishna Dharma’s Mahabharata, and talk about what we could learn from them,” Vinay says.
In “Vedic Psychology,” Bhakti Tirtha Swami disciple and consultant psychiatrist Citi Shakti Dasi spoke about the mind from a Western perspective, giving case studies, and balanced that with the Vedic perspective on how to control the mind.
Gaur Gopal Das speaks with the youth
In “How to be Krishna Confident,” Ghanashyam-priya Das, a digital strategy consultant nominated for Forbes’ 30 Under 30, gave students advice on how to avoid social pressure to go back to drinking and smoking, and how to present Krishna consciousness to peers in an attractive and relatable way.
In “ABCDs of Krishna Consciousness,” Cass Business School student Shyam Gopal, 21, explained how to engage with the philosophy and discussed its ABCDs – Association, Books, Chanting, and Diet.
And finally, Ravi Pattni, a much-sought-after kirtan leader, talked about the mood and goal of kirtan, and gave students a chance to play with kirtan instruments and learn the basics about them.
After dinner, there were a range of evening programs on different days. Bhakti Rasamrita Swami’s introduction to Srila Prabhupada and his achievements tied into this August’s 50th anniversary of the ISKCON founder’s journey to the West. Gaur Gopal gave an introduction to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And finally in two mock interview/debates with Bhakti Rasamrita Swami, students got to hear two sides of an issue and get involved by asking questions.
Participating in a yoga workshop
In the first, Ghanashyam-priya played the devil’s advocate, asking why devotees don’t eat meat, take intoxicants, gamble or have illicit sex.
And in the second, Citi Shakti Dasi and Bhakti Rasamrita Swami discussed the ideals for women in contemporary society alongside those in Krishna consciousness, and addressed some of Srila Prabhupada’s more controversial statements on women in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
“Citi Shakti, a consulting psychiatrist, is quite contemporary; while Bhakti Rasamrita Swami is very traditional,” says Vinay. “Their discussion was very interesting because it actually showed a good unity between them.”
Other days were “activity days.” On one, the group had a blast doing rock climbing, archery, go-karting, kayaking and paintball at a nearby adventure center. On another, they participated in a 12-hour kirtan with renowned kirtaniya Ojasvi Das, during which they bathed the Pandava Sena’s Gaura Nitai Deities with flowers and had a night-time kirtan dance party with glowsticks.
Go-karting on one of the activity days
They also attended the Rathayatra festival in Cologne, Germany, where Sacinandana Swami spoke to the youth in front of the beautiful Cologne Cathedral about how to add Krishna into their everyday lives once they returned home.
And the Pandava Sena has an impressive plan to do just that, wanting to make sure students continue on their Krishna conscious journey after the retreat.
The first step is to pay attention to caring for them during the retreat itself, so that they will think back on their Krishna conscious experience positively.
“The organizers Henal Chudasama, Ekadasi Ryan, Neha Pankhania, Samir Shanker, Angshuman Ghose, Dhruva Shah, Krishna Dattani and myself worked hard to realize that old adage, ‘love is in the details,’” says Vinay. “We made sure the accommodation and prasadam were really good, spent time with people, celebrated their birthdays, and gave everyone a custom-designed hoodie as a gift at the end.”
The effort will continue with involving young people in services at Bhaktivedanta Manor’s massive Janmastami festival on September 5th and 6th; providing a follow-up educational course called “Gita Life”; and involving students in university “Krishna Conscious Societies.” After that, there’s even an option to experience ashram life at the Manor for three months in a program called “The Sabbatical.”
“Hopefully everyone had an unforgettable time and formed lots of relationships and memories at the retreat,” says Vinay. “And hopefully, the spiritual buzz from it will remain!”
On Rathayatra in Cologne, Germany with Sacinandana Swami