Krishna Culture Educational Foundation

26/03/2026

205mm and still counting. The biggest flood, due to a burst of short intensity since we have been here for 5½ years.

According to the Vedic culture there are three kinds of miseries
1/ adhyatmic klesa - miseries of the the body and mind - for example cancer and depression
2/ adhibhautic klesa - miseries from other living entities - for example mosquito, dog bite, domestic violence etc
3/ adhidaivic klesa - miseries from nature (under the control of demigods) for example floods, draughts, intense heat and cold, earthquakes etc

These miseries are inflicted on us as a reaction of bad karma (sinful activities) which is so prevalent in today's society unfortunately 😔

25/03/2026

Just finished 11 days of catering (including pre and post fest) @ Forest Healing Festival, near Kerikeri, feeding volunteers, musos, stall holders, Korean visitors and more... around 3000 meals 😋

I was so busy that I only managed to take some photos on the last day.

The last picture is a very special and funny pastime, explained in its caption.

Thanks to Lynn Petry for some of the pics 🙏

05/02/2026

🍌 Northland Edible Garden Trail on Sunday, 8 February! 🍇

🪷 Krishna Sanctuary is part of the Far North trail this Sunday offering the following:

9.30 - 10am and 3.30 - 4.30pm:
🌴 Sugarcane experience🌴
Have a go at crushing some freshly harvested sugarcane for a refreshing drink - $5 per person

10 - 12noon and 2 to 4pm:
🌺 🌿 Guided Garden Tour 🌾🌹
You are welcome to visit our garden outside these times on 8th Feb but we won't be able to accompany you - $3 per person/ kids free (special trail rate for the day)

12noon - 2pm:
🥬 Vegan/ Vegetarian Lunch 🫜
Booking is essential - please confirm the number of people and any dietary restrictions at least a day before to ensure you get our sumptuous, yummy and nutritious homegrown meal - $10 per person

Also check out our fruit stall at the front gate!

For more information about us, visit https://krishnasanctuary.org

For more information about the Northland Edible Garden Trail, visit https://www.northlandediblegardentrail.org.nz/far-north
https://www.facebook.com/share/1GRu43bvK5/

Hope to see you this Sunday!

04/02/2026

Going off the grid:

We'll be discussing this subject on facebook live starting 10am NZ time this Friday (Waitangi day-holiday).

The video will be available after the live for one month on this page otherwise indefinitely on our youtube channel -

https://m.youtube.com/

05/01/2026

Krishna Sanctuary - five years on...

A big thank you to Prananatha Das for doing a drone video in April 2021, soon after Aaron Walker - Abhay had planted a number of our fruit and nut trees.

And recently we had Patrick Gartner, who is biking the Te Araroa, stop by for a few days and he did a video with his drone. Thank you, Patrick!

It is amazing to see how much the trees have grown. Thank you, Krishna!! 🙏🏻😇

Krishna Sanctuary - from 2021 when our trees were young to now in 2026...

04/01/2026

The uniqueness of the upcoming retreat @ Krishna sanctuary.

28/12/2025

Life skills masterclass & unique retreat @ Krishna Sanctuary

Friday, 23 to Monday, 26 January 2026 (Auckland/ Northland Anniversary)

In the shelter of a peaceful and abundant food forest 20 minutes south of Kaitaia, you will be in the best position to absorb knowledge (jnana) and practice that knowledge (vijnana) of essential subjects such as self-sufficiency, cooking vegan and vegetarian food, health, yoga, mantra-meditation, kirtan, and self realization.

While here you can also take advantage of some cow therapy with our super friendly cows, wood-fired sauna and hot tub, natural stream and waterfalls allowing any stress to melt away.

What you can expect:

Accommodation for 3 nights (Arrive Friday late afternoon & depart Monday mid-morning)

8 meals during your stay

2 vegetarian / vegan cooking classes

Refreshing and nutritious sugarcane juice

Use of hot tub and sauna

Workshops on:

# Ayurveda (ancient Vedic health knowledge)

# Self-sufficiency

# Mantra-meditation

Morning yoga sessions (bring your yoga mat)

Evening kirtan sessions (bring your cushion)

Karma yoga (selfless service without expectation of results)

Limited mobile reception and Internet access
(detox from devices 😁)

No power in cabins, only at house

This is truly a retreat with a difference...enjoy a unique experience!

Cost plus koha from your heart:

We hope our nominal prices will encourage your participation while helping us cover some of our costs for conducting this masterclass.

As per Vedic tradition, any knowledge imparted by the teacher (guru) is with the intention to see the student become happy and not for monetary gains.

However, it is the duty of the student to provide a dakshina (Sanskrit word for gift or koha) to the teacher as a means to show their gratitude, and respect for what they have learnt.

Following in this tradition, to show your appreciation and value for the learning you take away from here, please make a donation separate from the costs listed below for the different options:

Option 1 - Camping OR Caravan - $300 per person (bring your own tent and/or sleeping gear, towels and toiletries)

Option 2 - One shared cabin - $370 per person (bring own mat and sleeping bag/bedding, towels and toiletries)

Option 3 - One private cabin - $500 per person on twin share basis (bring own towels and toiletries) OR $850 for single person

Option 4 - Day participant (24 Jan, Saturday/ 25 Jan, Sunday) - $120 per person per day (bring own towel)

Registration

Advance bookings are essential, as only 10 or so spaces are available. Register and secure your place with a 50% deposit paid to our bank account by 15 January 2026.

(Really sorry for the short notice but this Anniversary weekend seemed too good to pass by. In future we will make sure to advertise much ahead of time.)

Register at https://www.krishnasanctuary.org/life-skills-masterclass OR Email [email protected] with your option of choice and we will get back to you with further information.

Best wishes for the new year,

Jayanti and Abhay

15/11/2025

Kiwi Gardener, NZ's popular magazine for gardening enthusiasts has included us in their November 2025 issue. You can read their article here:
https://cloud-1de12d.becdn.net/media/original/e7191d2aa36db937afa1cd7994282299.pdf
Looking forward to your comments! 😊

26/09/2025

Organic produce stall at Krishna sanctuary started today.

Honesty box system.

Fruit, veggies, herbs will be available according to the season. Now we have tropical guava, avocado, fresh turmeric root, lemon, orange, tangelo, banana (ripe and green for cooking), tamarillo.

Sugar cane juice available on order. On request we may also be able to provide things like taro, cherimoya, herbs like gotu kola, mint, peppermint, lemon grass. Ask us what you want, and we'll let you know if we have it.

If you're coming to get something specific from far away, connect up with us before you come to check if it's still available, so as not to be disappointed 😞.

21/09/2025

We finally have a working website !

For years Jayanti has wanted to set up a website, to promote and help people connect with what we're doing, but it was too daunting a task, considering she doesn't have any background in website design, only general IT skills. Recently when catering, a newfound friend Bimbisara Desh who enjoyed our food and liked our ethos noticed our website wasn't working. He very kindly gave us the infrastructure for a website, and guidance and support to Jayanti. It was still very challenging for Jayanti, and she nearly gave up once or twice. But to her credit she persevered and finally published it. I'm very proud of her!

Please check out krishnasanctuary.org
We would love some feedback, if any links don't work etc, or things to improve, let us know.

Note - The website looks the best viewed from a laptop, which shows all the pictures. Many of them don't show up on a phone.

15/09/2025

Spring is in the air !

Here in New Zealand, flowers are blossoming in profusion, which is a sign that spring is here.

It's Krishna's favourite season too!
aham rtūnām kusumākarah "of seasons I am flower bearing spring" Bhagavad gita 10.35

Kiwis can get out of their hibernation now!😆

Te Araroa walkers can start their adventure!

29/08/2025

Giving out the mercy in NZ's Far North

Yesterday Jayanti and I distributed over 200 bowls of free food outside Paknsave Kaitaia for the second time.
People were very happy, and we had some awesome feedback, which encourages us to continue on.
The menu was
with shredded carrots and coconut
& paneer in a peanut & tomato gravy
pudding flavoured with cardamon & saffron