For all the Ladies in the House!

"One thing that keeps coming to my mind is I'm now very convinced that the very best women in the world are actually in the Hare Krishna movement."
-H.H. Hridayananda das Goswami

This past weekend I participated in a women's retreat back with my old girlfriends at New Vrindavan, West Virginia. Srila Acharyadev's quote above summarizes my experience.

In fact, the women's retreat is what first brought me to New Vrindavan. Last summer, I heard about the retreat at the Rainbow Gathering and was delighted to have an opportunity to come visit the temple. I was confused about the role of women in the ISKCON movement having always seen far more men than women at camp. I thought I would check things out for myself and meet the women who have been chanting Hare Krishna for the last forty years to observe exactly what this movement is all about.

It seems to me that I came for a visit and never ended up leaving. Needless to say, the women I met at last year's retreat impressed the heck out of me. After meeting so many incredible women, I thought to myself, now this is what it means to be intelligently empowered. Thus, I was thrilled to again have the opportunity to participate in this year's Vaisnavi retreat.
To be in the same room with women from all over the world, coming from different religions, and different cultures, yet united by faith in God, is a rare opportunity. I used to think that Hare Krishna was just another religion. I had no understanding that the Hare Krishna Movement is actually a spiritual collective, encouraging and facilitating the pursuit of pure love of God through many religious paths based on unified spiritual principles of truth, mercy, self-control, and cleanliness.

The women in this movement are the personification of these qualities. How can I resist their embrace? How can I bear to be in separation from them. Good thing there are Hare Krishna women representin' all over the world. It is comforting to know that in any given situation, I will never be far from a loving mother.

I'm posting some pictures of my favorite women at the retreat. Varshana Swami told me this weekend that people seem to have wavering feelings about New Vrindavan but when it comes to Mother Gopa, they all agree. The agreement is that Mother Gopa is one of the kindest, most generous, and humble women on the planet.


Young and old, the retreat reflected the eclectic group of women around the world who have taken to spiritual life for the benefit of themselves, their family, and for humanity at large.

I offer my respects to all the righteous women in this world holding up the very essence of feminine qualities: pure, self-less, unmotivated love and nurturing.

"The soul is of no sect, no party: it is, as you say, our passions and our prejudices, which give rise to our religious and political distinctions."
-Jane Austen