In addition to the entertainment on the stage, there were the many booths. I spent some time at the reincarnation booth chanting softly on my beads and asking the people who looked at all of the panels if they had any questions. The ones who did not know English, I showed a Polish Coming Back, known as Reinkarnacja, and indicated with my five fingers that it cost 5 zlote (about $1.20 U.S.) Some of the ones whose questions I answered were so very grateful, it made me feel very happy to have helped them. Such great gratitude is less common in the U.S. One person I spoke to said he had seen the exhibit before, but that he was not interested. He said, “As long as I have enough beer, cigarettes, and music, I am happy. That is all I need.” For some reason, he liked me and decided to sit down beside me. During the breaks in our conversation he would puff on his cigarette, and I would chant Hare Krishna on my beads. I explained about the ill effects of cigarettes on the health and how it was an expensive habit, and I explained about the spiritual happiness of chanting, but he was unreceptive. I felt sorry for him and wondered how I could benefit such a person. Later an inquistive boy who knew only Polish came by. I was frustrated that I couldn’t communicate with him, but then I got an idea. I engaged the beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking boy as a translator, and so he chanted and heard about Krishna, although he had no real interest, and thus he benefited spiritually. Later, I reflected how that was one of the beauties of this festival that everyone came for their own enjoyment, but somehow they all performed some devotional activities and made great spiritual profit.    The boy with the peace sign reminded me of the 1960s and 1970s. I hadn’t seen so many peace signs in recent years as I did at the Polish Woodstock.

I also spent some time at the Vedic Science booth, offering to answer any questions as usual. I explained to one lady that although all the world’s religions describe a creation by God, in academic institutions life is described as evolving from chemicals into complex beings without an original designer and without assistance. Actually the different scientific theories of man’s origin and the origin of the universe are faulty, and this display discusses some of them and their different faults, and I elaborated on what these were. The lady was very grateful for the explanation.

One major focus of Krishna’s Village of Peace is the distribution of vast quantities of prasadam, vegetarian food which is spiritualized by being offered to Krishna (God). This process of sanctifying food, which has been done in India for centuries, frees one from the karmic reaction for killing the vegetables used in its preparation and brings the cook, the priest, the vegetables, the farmer, and the persons eating the food all closer to God. This year a team of about 60 devotees cooked in several high school kitchens about 35 tons of food, and a total of about 73,000 plates of prasadam were served. Indradyumna Swami joyfully poses for the picture below surrounded by satisfied customers. As a result of coming to festivals such as this many people have become vegetarian. This attitude of giving up unnecessary violence is helpful in awakening our dormant God consciousness. The food consisted of kitri (a preparation of beans, rice, and vegetables), halava (a dessert with butter, sugar, and farina), and pappadam (a fried, spiced, bean flour wafer).
   Patrons would wait in lines of hundreds of people during peak periods in front of the “Hare Kryszna Food for Peace” booth to get a healthy plate of prasadam for which they would give a donation of 3 zlote (about $0.70 U.S.).

There was a temple booth in operation from noon till 10 p.m. at night. There were deities of Radha and Krishna on an altar and there was always a lecture or devotional chanting either bhajan (meditative) or kirtana (lively with dancing) going on all this time and a group of between twenty and fifty visitors was always seeing and hearing. I spent time in this booth periodically. Here is an ecstatic kirtana scene.

In addition to the temple booth, there was another bhajan (devotional chanting) booth. There I taught a few people how to chant and dance, as well as how to chant Hare Krishna meditatively on prayer beads (japa mala). The devotee running the booth was very grateful and invited me to come back whenever I wanted.

The questions and answers booth at Krishna’s Village of Peace was the most popular of that type of booth I had ever seen. The whole afternoon, at any given time, between 50 and 100 people listened as a devotee fielded questions from the audience. This hearing about Krishna or God is one of the most recommended methods in this age for purifying our consciousness.

There was also an information booth where the devotees distributed, among other things, a flyer telling how add Krishna to your daily life. It tells how to chant the Hare Krishna mantra on beads, lists all the addresses for the centers in Poland, and mentions the web page: http://www.iskcon.waw.pl/.

We did a harinama (walking chanting party) through the rows of multicolor tents where the thousands of people could hear the holy name. We were greeted with smiles, several people took photos of us, and a few people danced along. Indradyumna Swami led the procession.

Then came as usual the ladies dancing in unison and next the leader of the chanting, Govinda dasa, a teacher from our school in Mayapur, who played the accordion. One lady played the flute. I was given the service of holding the microphone for the lead chanter.

Behind the chanting party was the ox cart containing the murti (form) of Srila Prabhupada and the deities Sri Sri Gaura Nitai along with Their driver.