Veggie Steady Cook

Hare Krishna!

I was asked by a dear friend if I’d like to be involved in Veggie Steady Cook, a fun vegetarian cooking demonstration in one of the tents for the Janmashtami festival (Krishna’s birthday) at the Hare Krishna Manor in Watford.

I spend a lot of time at the manor, and over the past 4 years have been learning about the culture, taking yoga there and making some amazing friends who have taught me how to be a better person through learning about Krishna Consciousness.

When Braxton was born, the wonderful president of the manor, Srutidharma Das, kindly offered to do a ceremony for the baby, and it was wonderful. Braxton seemed very happy and content there – probably because he was so used to hearing the chanting from all the chanting I did during pregnancy and labour. I grew up in a Jewish home, so at first it seemed a little counter-intuitive, but I do believe that we all come from the same God, regardless of the title we give this God, and chanting just makes one feel that little bit closer to God, to Love, to the enlightenment we all crave. It is a form of meditation that almost transcends you to somewhere else, and I have never taken part in a kirtan where I didn’t leave feeling better than I did when I started. Titles don’t really matter to me; what matters is that I continue to grow, to evolve, to learn, to become a better human being. The friends I have met through the Hare Krishna Movement have taught me about this and I continue to embrace anything that makes me a better person. Even my husband embraced it and it has become a big part of our lives. I highly recommend reading Radhanath Swami’s book – The Journey Home – a story about how a young Jewish boy growing up during the counterculture in 1960s Chicago, became the head of the Hare Krishna movement and one of the most respected spiritual figures in the world.

So, when I was asked to help out at Janmashtami I was really excited. We honestly had the best day creating some incredible vegetarian dishes and we had a little cookbook made out of all our 37 recipes. There are still some available if you are interested!