Enjoying the Orange Flowers of New Zealand

The past five days that I’ve spent WWOOFING (working on organic farms in exchange for room/board) at the Vistara Bed and Breakfast/Meditation Retreat Center in Motueka Valley, New Zealand, have been interesting to say the least. It’s been fantastic to have a bit of a break from traveling—to sleep in a comfortable bed as opposed to a 12-bed dorm hostel, use a real towel instead of my square-foot size travel towel, and eat the best vegetarian meals of my life rather than variations of peanut butter, nutella and jam on apples, bananas and baguettes. My work has been minimal, ranging from weed-whacking to apple picking and veggie garden weeding for maybe 3 hours a day, and seems insignificant compared to all the healthy mind and body benefits I’ve reaped. Yesterday I chilled at the top of a plum tree for about an hour, happily enjoying the fact that I’m not afraid of heights, gorging on fruit, and braving climbing maneuvers that got me really high and really dirty. :) Amidst all of this, the highlight of this stay for me has been meeting about a dozen real Kiwis, who are attending their current Meditation Retreat.


I’ve always been interested in meditation, yoga and learning about diverse spiritual paths, and it’s been a real treat to learn about Ananda Marga for several days, a global spiritual and social service organization which teaches self-realization and service to humanity through meditation and yoga. It seems fitting to delve into spirituality while in this beautiful green valley, since the chirping birds and iridescent shining sun somehow invite a reflective and peaceful outlook. Surrounded by bright-eyed “magiis” or followers, as well as the “dadas and didis” or monks and nuns who wear bright orange robes, I’m definitely seeing another side of New Zealand than on the tour busses and tourist sites. It’s not unlike the hippie-friendly Whole Earth Festival held annually at UC Davis in Northern California where I attended college for four years, but it still feels like another universe.

My first day here, I was inducted into the retreat with a chanting session called Kiirtan, in which we all dance, play instruments, and sing “Baba Nam Kevalam” over and over in different melodies, which in Sanskrit means “Love is All There Is.” After that, we meditate for about a half hour to forty-five minutes. I felt really calm and relaxed, though a bit intrigued about the pictures of their guru on the alter. I was especially caught off guard when I noticed that one of their major symbols featured a side-ways Nazi symbol… apparently in Sanskrit it means “perfection,” haha. It’s funny that generally, I have a faint idea of what’s going on because I’ve read a popular book called Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, in which she travels to India to meditate in an Ashram for three months of her 9-month trip around the world. Perhaps it’s reflective of how New Age spirituality is becoming more commercialized? At the very least, I’m grateful to know a little bit about how Sanskrit, gurus and chanting is normal, otherwise I’d probably be more reserved and wary that I might have stumbled upon a cult. :) I’m feeling really happy about keeping an open mind and heart, and I think I’ve been able to grow spiritually as well.

My second day, my friend Didi from Taiwan (a wearer of the orange robes—she’s a nun) taught me how to meditate and gave me my own personal mantra and guru. Unbeknownst to me, this apparently meant that she initiated me into Ananda Marga. :) I thought it was pretty funny when I found out a few hours later, because it reminded me of the time when I was eight and I raised my hand in church and that signified that I had accepted Jesus Christ into my heart. I don’t take any of this too seriously—I believe in God, I believe in doing good to others, and I will always work toward social justice—so anything that falls in line with all that is okay by me. I’ve really enjoyed asking a ton of questions from Didi and the other Magiis, meditating several times a day, and singing beautiful music with beautiful people… so all is good in the world. :)

I’ve also realized something quite beautiful here at Vistara, which is that I’ve found something I was looking for in New Zealand. While I was getting my tattoo a month before leaving on my trip, during the most painful moments, for some reason I found myself meditating on the “orange flowers of New Zealand.” I had no idea at the time whether there were orange flowers in New Zealand, and to be honest I haven’t seen any growing in the wild so far; the hills are mostly green with little white specks of sheep and cattle everywhere. However, here at Vistara I’ve found my orange flowers of New Zealand that I meditated about… the orange robe-wearing Didis and Dadas, the dancing candle-flames of the meditation alter, and an added significance to my own orange flower tattoo, which before symbolized global consciousness; now, it also means “Baba”—father, beloved, pure consciousness, supreme consciousness.

Tomorrow I leave to WWOOF on another organic farm in Nelson before jumping on the Magic Bus again to continue my tour of the South Island. My Ananda Marga friends are bummed that I'm leaving, especially since tomorrow's their fasting day, haha. I'm going to try to fast in spirit with them anyways, since it'll not only be a nice gesture, but I think I've put the weight back on that I lost from two weeks of non-stop hiking due to all of this delicious vegetarian food. I doubt that the new WWOOFING farm will be as hippie-dippie as here, but the folks I'll be staying with-- Jeff and Briar-- seem really lovely. Yay for my next adventure! :)