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The Full Experience: the Autumn Carnivale April 10,2005
The Carnivale was a great open day for the Shiva Ashram and there were many people from all over the peninsula who came to visit. There was a wide ranging assortment of attractions and stalls to delight in. Between the main stage, the dunking chair, jumping castle, trash and treasure stalls the healing tent, you could stop for lunch or a coffee at Pop’s Café, which had transplanted itself from downtown Mt Eliza. It was all spread out over the ashram grounds like a feast.
In the morning Swami Shankarananda welcomed everyone by saying, ‘this is a school of second education.’ Dunkley MP Bruce Billson and Mornington Peninsula Mayor Reade Smith, both previous visitors to the Shiva School, addressed the audience, espousing the benefits of meditation and the positive influence of the Shiva School in the local community. Swami Aparoxananda then blessed the event with Vedic mantras before ‘The Bollywood Dancers’took over the stage.
In other events the Sei Ku Kan Karate Do showed their skills, as did the Shiva Hatha Yoga teachers. The Mighty Shiva Band performed a mellow jam style set that had the audience on their feet. Australia’s champion ‘Footbag’ (hacky sack) player Dan Ednie demonstrated his sport to a rapturous audience response.
Yet the two most dramatic events of the day involved water: first, the sudden and brief rainstorm, which unfortunately scattered a few people but added to the day’s celebratory mood. It made everything look like Woodstock (without the mud). And also the Dunking Chair was very well patronised. People simply didn’t tire of throwing a ball at a target and watching people repeatedly fall into a vat of water. So it raised a lot of money.
After all, this was the purpose of the day. We are raising funds for a new meditation hall. To complement this aim we ran a raffle. This was drawn by TV actress Sigrid Thornton, herself a meditator. Leila McCann won the first prize of a trip to Broome. As the day wound down, many people gathered around the cake . When everything had been packed away, we had raised $15 000.
Many special thanks to Maria Lazzaro, Ishwari Fairfax and their troops of helpers. A special mention to all the healers who volunteered their services and in many cases worked without a break. It was inspiring to see so many of the people in the ashram community freely gave their energy to make the day the fulfilling experience that it was.
Narada Jackson-Smith
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