My Varsana experience
The food
The monks serve you all meals so you feel like a king rather than a volunteer. All meals are warm, vegan and cooked with fresh ingredients from the organic garden. The meals consist of vegetables, rice, quinoa, fruits and other ingredients you have never heard of. They really put lots of effort into their cooking and it tastes so good you barely notice the absence of meat. Combine that with the unbeatable pastries of their restaurant and you have everything a food lover needs. I wasn't really the meat that I missed. It was more the dairy products I missed most. I love my hot chocolate and of course old mature cheese... need i say more??
The people
These monks are really nice and kind people. I stayed there for a month so i got to know them a bit. The krishnas have a simple believe system. Don't do harm to anyone, treat every being with respect and live in conformity with nature. They almost live a self sufficient lifestyle by growing organic vegetables so they only have to buy little supplementary food like potatoes and fruits they don't grow.
They work everyday to maintain the place. A tough job considering the size of that place. In the morning and before dinner they do their chanting in the temple which is also the main house. This includes like i mentioned before chanting, singing, dancing and drumming which they do sometimes for hours. You can participate but you don't have to. It's completely up to you really.
Woman and man do their work seperately to avoid temptation. They also eat and dance seperately. One time I was supposed to help a nun with the recyling. Only minutes later another nun came up to me and told me to do something else instead. It would be too dangerous for the nun to work at my side. She reasoned the nun could fall in love with me. What a romantic setting!
There are 2 nuns to communicate with the volunteers because they are basically the only ones that speak proper english. But still it is not well received when you talk to them for too long.
It was the first time for me living with monks and nuns and it felt great. Well you never really feel like you are part of the group but they accept you and your flaws. If you are up for it you can also learn something about their believs in philosophy class that is helf once a week.
I must admit that i didn't attend any clases as my spanish was not good enough at this time. It was enough for me to know the basic rules. No meat. No drugs, alkohol and of course No sexy time.
I can live by these rules except the one for the sex.
The whole time I stayed there I felt like Bart Simpson in this place. All these people living according to their rules. And then there was me. The german guy who loves to cook, wine and woman.
I really admire their way of life and how they treat one another but the sex thing... I don't know gusy. To me it really feels as if you supress something perfectly natural. I mean not having sex to me is like stop pissing. I don't think it does a young healty man any good to supress that. I don't know about woman but a man just needs that to be balanced.
What i have learned from my stay:
I have discovered a beautiful place with very kind people. In this place felt connected to nature. Without the distractions of everyday life its easier to listen to your body. In the future I would like to treat my body with more respect as well as all the other beings. Within the walls of the monastery consumption did not matter. I really liked this part. If I can I would like to live a similar lifestyle some day. Let us thank nature for it's gifts to us and give something back in return.
I would like to thank these monks and nuns for making this stay an unforgettable one and for showing me their way of life. You have a great way of life and I wish you guys at Varsana all the best for your future.
Unfortunately their way isn't my way. I have to tread a different path.
The people
These monks are really nice and kind people. I stayed there for a month so i got to know them a bit. The krishnas have a simple believe system. Don't do harm to anyone, treat every being with respect and live in conformity with nature. They almost live a self sufficient lifestyle by growing organic vegetables so they only have to buy little supplementary food like potatoes and fruits they don't grow.
They work everyday to maintain the place. A tough job considering the size of that place. In the morning and before dinner they do their chanting in the temple which is also the main house. This includes like i mentioned before chanting, singing, dancing and drumming which they do sometimes for hours. You can participate but you don't have to. It's completely up to you really.
Woman and man do their work seperately to avoid temptation. They also eat and dance seperately. One time I was supposed to help a nun with the recyling. Only minutes later another nun came up to me and told me to do something else instead. It would be too dangerous for the nun to work at my side. She reasoned the nun could fall in love with me. What a romantic setting!
There are 2 nuns to communicate with the volunteers because they are basically the only ones that speak proper english. But still it is not well received when you talk to them for too long.
It was the first time for me living with monks and nuns and it felt great. Well you never really feel like you are part of the group but they accept you and your flaws. If you are up for it you can also learn something about their believs in philosophy class that is helf once a week.
I must admit that i didn't attend any clases as my spanish was not good enough at this time. It was enough for me to know the basic rules. No meat. No drugs, alkohol and of course No sexy time.
I can live by these rules except the one for the sex.
The whole time I stayed there I felt like Bart Simpson in this place. All these people living according to their rules. And then there was me. The german guy who loves to cook, wine and woman.
I really admire their way of life and how they treat one another but the sex thing... I don't know gusy. To me it really feels as if you supress something perfectly natural. I mean not having sex to me is like stop pissing. I don't think it does a young healty man any good to supress that. I don't know about woman but a man just needs that to be balanced.
What i have learned from my stay:
I have discovered a beautiful place with very kind people. In this place felt connected to nature. Without the distractions of everyday life its easier to listen to your body. In the future I would like to treat my body with more respect as well as all the other beings. Within the walls of the monastery consumption did not matter. I really liked this part. If I can I would like to live a similar lifestyle some day. Let us thank nature for it's gifts to us and give something back in return.
I would like to thank these monks and nuns for making this stay an unforgettable one and for showing me their way of life. You have a great way of life and I wish you guys at Varsana all the best for your future.
Unfortunately their way isn't my way. I have to tread a different path.
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