More Lessons in Simple Living and High Thinking
Cooking Over a Wood Stove

I never wanted to cook. It was an “artsy” thing, and I was an “engineer.” But after my divorce I was forced into the kitchen, because although I didn’t want to cook, I did like to eat nice food. Going out to restaurants was not a consideration because of my religious principles, so armed with Yamuna’s “never-fail” cookbook (Lord Krishna’s Vegetarian Cuisine – most highly recommended) I took my stand at the stove.

It was a frightful affair because I was not clear on the concept. It was my impression that everything had to go into the pot in exactly the proper order and amount called for, and if that was not possible then it was doomed to failure. I struggled for a number of years like that. You couldn’t say that I was a cook. I was more of a chemist. I did have laboratory experience as a chemist back in my college days and my cooking took on a similar approach. Although I wasn’t that good of a chemist I was a much better cook when I dutifully followed instructions.

It was fate that taught me how to cook more than anything else. One eventful day I happened to run out a spice that was called for! Oh heavens! What was I going to do? Imagine what a delightful discovery it was to find out that it didn’t make that much of a difference! Armed with this experience, as time went on I even began to experiment, substituting various ingredients to learn how it would alter the finished product.

Even though I was learning to improvise and substitute I leaned on that cookbook for help for many years. I can’t remember exactly how I was weaned from it, but my earliest recollection of doing without it was some 15 years after I ventured into the kitchen. Finally I’ve graduated from the school of cooking experience and I never even refer to a cookbook unless I want to make something specific that I haven’t yet made.

Now here we are in lovely village of Ryabuinak and the only stove is the fire box that also heats the house. Where is the high and low switch? How does one navigate the thing? Can it be too hot? These were some questions that I first wondered about. Fortunately at this point in time I am not so timid about trying new things, so we set out on our first adventure to cook eggplant and potatoes.

A word to the wise: here is one very important tip I received from a friend for cooking over an open fire. If you take the time to coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of clay, the clay becomes black and not your pot. And it’s very easy to wash off. If you don’t do this however, your pot will become impossibly black and stay that way. I keep a small tin of moistened clay on hand for the job.

The stove is made with a number of concentric rings that nest on each other making openings of various sizes. You remove the number of rings required to match the diameter of your pot. It was interesting to learn that the rings exactly correspond to the pot sizes! Nice. Somebody with experience is making the pots or the stove, or both!

For a nice high heat its best to build up a bed of coals and then on top of that add some fresh wood to get the flames going. With this arrangement things get going right away. If you need to “turn down the heat” all you do is remove the pan from the opening and set it a third or a half onto the stove top, which is cooler since it is not directly above the flame. Or you can also move it to another part of the stove. The further the distance from the open flames the cooler the stove is. Although I first had some trepidation about it, I’ve found cooking on this stove to be quite nice. There is lots of room for pots and there is a complete variety of temperatures. As soon as one prep is ready to simmer it is moved off of the central spot and then the next dish is begun with the high heat.

Now after cooking we make a nice attractive dish and offer it to the Lord. This is the most essential part of preparing a great meal. Food that is offered first for sacrifice becomes “prasadam,” or sanctified food. It has a very special quality about it that other foods cannot match. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Sri Krishna instructs us: “all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer as well as give away, should be done as an offering unto Me.” When the result of our cooking is offered to the Lord for His pleasure the entire kitchen activity becomes spiritualized. This is bhakti yoga, or the yoga of devotion. Such spiritualized activity, however normal, or even mundane, can bring the happiness and satisfaction we all desire. Not because of the activity, but because of the love that imbues it. In this way we learn to live in love. By following the ways of bhakti we can truly be happy even while living a simple life.

One result of kitchen work is hands blackened from tending the fire box. Another is very delicious food. I don’t know what it is but food cooked over a wood fire is somehow much more delicious. Although I was first apprehensive about this aspect of simple life, I think I am going to like it verymuch!

Chopping Wood and Carrying Water at Gitagrad

In 1984 Rick Fields’ book “Chop Wood, Carry Water” was published. The book’s subtitle "A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life" tells more about the contents of the book than the title. It’s   15 chapters focus on subjects such as: learning; relationships; sex; family; work; money; play; the earth; social action, etc. The idea of Chop Wood Carry Water comes from a Chinese Zen Master who spoke of   the spiritual aspect of everyday things.

I never read the book. By that time I had been a full-time monk in the Hare Krishna Movement for more than 11 years. The principles of the book however, very much apply to living the ideals of Krishna Consciousness. Our founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, constantly spoke to his disciples and followers about what he called “simple living and high thinking.”

In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna states that every person can become perfect by proper performance of their work. The entire Gita leads one to the conclusion that we all should work according to our nature, but with the consciousness of pleasing the Supreme Lord. Working in this way the activity becomes a process of linking oneself to the Supreme, or Bhakti yoga, the linking process of devotional service. In our practice we do not seek to find satisfaction in everyday affairs by themselves. Actually it is not possible to find satisfaction in material activities. But when those same activities are performed with a consciousness of devotion, then one is actually performing spiritual activity, which by its nature is satisfying.

Prabhupada wanted his followers to establish village communities that exemplified this principle. He taught: “Whatever your occupation may be, that doesn't matter. But if you worship the Supreme Lord by your occupation, then you are successful. Serve the Supreme Lord by your occupational duty.” He was also very critical of modern society that focuses exclusively on sense gratification devoid of spiritual understanding. He encouraged us: “Don't waste time for bodily comforts. You have got this body. You have to eat something. You have to cover yourself. So produce your own food and produce your own cloth. Don't waste time for luxury, and chant Hare Krishna. This is success of life. In this way organize as far as possible, either in Ceylon or in Czechoslovakia, wherever... Save time. Chant Hare Krishna. Don't be allured by the machine civilization. . . .This is soul-killing civilization, this kind way of life, especially European countries.”

 So here we are in Ryabuino, living in a simple house that was constructed perhaps 50 years ago. It has no heating system other than the kitchen’s wood stove. There is no running water – that has to be carriied from the well that is about 30 meters from the house. There is no gas for heating or making hot water. For that we must chop wood. There is no bathroom, just an outdoor shed standing over a hole in the ground, and for a bath right now I stand in a small tub pouring water over my body with a cup, much of which winds up on the floor. This is the simple life. Very simple.

But the simple life has its advantages that cannot be had in the cities. E. F. Schumacher, a British economist who was quite a maverick in his field, spent some time in India, and he witnessed the simple life of the villagers there, which stood in sharp contrast to the city life of London. From this experience he made a startling observation. He wrote that the amount of free time that a culture has is inversely proportional to the number of labor-saving devices that they employ. Such irony. But it is true. Indeed, some time ago I read about a study that determined that women (and presumably men also) wanted to have more sex, but they didn’t have time for it, nor the energy since their days were so full of things that had to be done. Hmm, the epitome of their sense gratification, that which is so highly craved, is unavailable to them even though it is what they are working for!

In my own visits to Indian villages I have seen that Schumacher's observation is very true – the villagers have nothing BUT time. Time for each other, time for their children, time for worship of the Lord. Time for all of the important things in life – something that modern city people do not have. In America people actually spend more time shopping than they do with their children. Talk about misplaced values! Rather, the fact is that modern society is wrongly organized. It's a mis-directed culture. And it is this that we seek to correct here at Gitagrad.

We also want to realize the benefits of simple living in the form of time. What we plan to do with that time is to use it for developing our relationship with God in direct ways of reading and hearing about His pastimes, and chanting His holy names with the mahamantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

I’ll be writing more about bhakti yoga and our practice of it here at Gitagrad in the weeks and months to come. Stay tuned.

What is Gitagrad?

Background Information

What is Gitograd?
    Gitograd is an eco-spiritual community with a special purpose: to develop and teach a new culture based on the timeless wisdom and universal spiritual values of the Vedas, the scriptures of ancient India. Formerly an entire civilization was based on this knowledge, one that far, far outlived any of the Western cultures. Remnants of that culture still exist at many places on the planet, but they are being destroyed by the influences of the modern age. The clue is there how to use the best parts of the past and apply them to create a wonderful culture and a wonderful future. The theme of Gitograd is therefore “Back to the Future.”

    Gitograd is a compound word that comes from Gita, a reference to the world-renowned scripture, the Bhagavad-gita; and grad, which is a Russian expression for place. We choose this term because Gitograd is located in Ukraine, near the city of Kharkov. Gitograd therefore is the place where we will live according to the principles of the Bhagavad-gita. This way of life has been designated for us by the creator of this world, and is free from most of the problems of modern society. Actually, these problems are a direct result of the lack of God-consciousness. Therefore by making God the central focus of all activity the economic problems, the environmental problems, the social problems, and the political problems are simply not created. It is the purpose of the Gitograd community to demonstrate this fact and thus lead the world into a wonderful new era of a happy life for all living beings.

What is the Bhagavad-gita?
    The Bhagavad-gita is accepted all over the world as one of the foremost texts of spiritual wisdom, and is revered by more than a billion people as the direct words of God. According to ancient traditions the Gita was spoken by the Supreme Lord Himself some 5,000 years ago. This history is recorded in the great epic of Mahabharata, as well as other Puranas, such as the Bhagavat Purana. In the Gita Lord Krishna explains to His friend Arjuna the basic elements of spiritual wisdom: how we, the soul, lives in the body, how the body is influenced by the material energies of this world, how the soul transmigrates from one body to another, the nature of this material world, the actions of karma on our future destiny, the nature of God Himself and the influences of time. Most importantly, Sri Krishna explains how the soul can enter into a loving relationship with Him, and as a result, be liberated from this world of birth and death to attain life in the Kingdom of God.

What is the difference between Vedic culture and modern culture?
The main differences are found in the very foundations of the two cultures.
    In modern culture the foundational principles include: the opportunity to own an unlimited amount of private property, the idea that we can become happy through varieties of sense gratification; in some spheres the concept that we are the body and that there is no soul; and an economic system based on cash and credit, and transactions that can yield unlimited gain.
    Vedic culture however, is based on the concept that Krishna, or God, is the proprietor of everything and as such we have no valid claims to proprietorship over anything. He is also the supreme enjoyer of all, and all living beings, including ourselves, will find our highest expression of happiness by engaging ourselves in His loving service. In Vedic culture the economy is direct – each group of people produces the majority of their necessities locally without the need for money and the instability inherent that comes with it.

Gitograd offers a natural way of living
    Following the principle that we can find our happiness in loving service to the Supreme Lord, the inhabitants of Gitograd engage themselves in devotional service. Happy and satisfied with their devotional activities and using their time for spiritual pursuits, they work only as is necessary for a simple life. Work thereby finds its proper place and limits, and not consuming the majority of waking hours. Life’s simple necessities of food, shelter and clothing, are produced without great difficulty directly from the land, and the inhabitants of Gitograd are thus engaged. Money needs are kept to a bare minimum, and are satisfied by offering of goods produced by the community to our Partners (see Partners-for-Life) and to the general public.

Gitograd uses and encourages ecologically friendly practices
    Living our philosophy we understand that everything needed for a healthy and happy life is given by the Supreme Lord. As stated in the Isopanisad, this world is already perfect and complete. There is no need to attempt to improve upon it in order to squeeze profit from the land, animals, or people. We therefore follow sustainable organic farming practices and apply no-till gardening and farming methods. We favor subsistence living and do not produce for the market economy, thus limiting our efforts to only what is necessary.

Gitograd residents aim to produce almost all of their needs locally
    There is a push in modern society to privatize everything and to charge people for the very necessities of life. We consider this to be an atheistic approach to life. God offers all that we need, such as clean air, clean water and healthy, nourishing and tasty food without asking for anything in return. We don’t have to purchase produce from the earth. The earth yields her bounty joyfully if she is treated with respect, as does the cow, who provides us with healthy, delicious milk. At Gitograd we also want to produce our own electricity locally with natures own ecologically friendly and completely sustainable power source – the bull. The bull provides valuable dung for fertilizer and with his strong muscles can produce all the power requirements of the community. We also plan to produce our own clothing using hand-looms and our own locally-grown fibers. The housing in the community is built with traditional methods using clay and straw as the main components, providing a warm and secure home from local materials. We hold building workshops almost every year and invite people to come to learn how to build such attractive structures and live a more natural way of life.
The community plans to develop their cottage industry as membership grows, producing clay and glass products, wooden products, furniture, clothing, food and herbal remedies, and so on. But there are a number of items that we cannot produce such as nails and screw, various tools, eyeglasses, and so on. For these there is a need for cash that typically comes from donations to the project.

Gitograd residents want a healthy and sustainable way of life
    Our residents are all committed vegetarians who have consciously rejected animal flesh as food. Their dietary needs are all supplied locally from the earth and cow. In North America (and many other place in the world) food travels some 2,000 miles before landing on the plate. Not for us, though. Instead of using a ton of steel powered by gasoline and oil that travels around the world to go to a store and use money to pay a clerk for food grown, processed and packaged by exploited workers, we simply walk 10-20 yards to our yard, or padval (Russian word for root cellar where our grains, cabbages and root vegetables are kept) to get what we need. Our food-related carbon footprint is ZERO! (Almost, because we do purchase some store-bought goods at this time). It is a totally sustainable way of living. Very healthy, and very delicious!

The Eco-Spiritual Community of Gitagrad

Demonstrating the future happy and eternally sustainable way of life based on the Bhagavad-gita and Spiritual Economics