Temple visit Hare Krishna (Jan. 30, 2007)

Hare Krishna!

I greet you with the holy name of God from the Hindu spiritual group popularly known by the same name. But this religious organization we visited last Tuesday (Jan.30) has its official name, ISKCON, which stands for International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

I am sure I would be speaking for the group when I say that it was such a wonderful and enlightening Open Evening for the Tuesday Inner Work Circle TIWC as we experienced first-hand and on-site the sight, sound, smell, feel, and (mostly especially!) the taste of Hare Krishna faith.

The Sri Radha Madhava Center (as this particular Hare Krishna temple is named) is found in a residential village in Makati. From the outside we were able to recognize it easily because of its unique bamboo-pleated fence and religious murals. As we entered the hall we were welcomed by the warm smiles of the ISKCON devotees who had white markings on their forehead and clad in colorful traditional clothes. Most of the men had their heads shaved (save for a tuff). The most attractive scene that caught our attention is the colorful and well-decorated altar upon which two prominent deities stood: a flute-playing Krishna (made of black marble), and the beautiful Radha (made of white marble). It was a stunning tableau of the male divinity form complimented by the sacred feminine form, as in “yin and yang”.

In the Hindu faith tradition, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is portrayed with a darkblue complexion. His female energy manifestation is Radha who is portrayed with glowing white complexion.

Aside from being visually delighted, the group was also enthralled with the lively sound of drums, bells and harmonium accompanying the chorus chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. We joyfully joined the chanting and clapping, even the dancing.

After a formal welcoming and a basic orientation by their chairman, Mr. Mahendra Das (who, by the way, is one of the founding members of The Peacemakers’ Circle), a lively and almost endless exchange of questions and answers took place during the open forum. The group almost never ran out of questions!

The evening was capped off with a sumptuous feast of delicious blessed (“prasad”) vegetarian food accompanied by conversations with their members. One of the striking sharing I heard from them was how they call all the men “prabhu” meaning “master,” while all the women (except the wife) they call “mata” or “mother”. All of them have “Das” as last name—which means “servant.” Isn’t that beautiful expression of humility, respect for women and service for others?

We got to know a lot about the Hare Krishna faith and I cannot share all we learned. You’ll have to join us the next time we visit them! I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as we did.

One can tell if people had a great time by their length of stay… It was almost 10:00pm when we realized how late it was!

We hope to hear from others who may have reflections/comments/thoughts to share about the experience or about what you read. At the TIWC we learned that sharing our insights enriches both ourselves and those who may benefit from hearing/reading them. We look forward to your sharing.

Next Tuesday (Feb. 6), we will be resuming our session at the Peacemakers’ office with reflections and sharing on the first module of the InnerWork Self-Reflection Guide which is about “Who Am I?”. Our first set of questions will be reflecting on our physical self.


Once again, our heartfelt thanks goes to Prabhu Mahendra and the staff and members of ISKCON Manila and the Sri Radha Madhava Center!

Hare Krishna!

Orlan