Home » Belgium » Belgium - part VI

Monday 19 December, prehistoric Weris, Radhadesh Castle

Belgium - part VI

Elisabeth & Teije
2006-07-19 20:17:38

Displayed times (last time: )

the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg).

Radhadesh is a spiritual community with about 80 people living in and around the castle and there are guided visits everyday. We seem to be the only ones today, and we are welcomed heartily by David, our guide. The first thing he does is giving us necklaces with flowers.

The tour takes about an hour and starts with a film about the history of the castle and about its present inhabitants. And also a clear explanation about the Krishna movement, which is much better than what we saw about the ESA yesterday in the European space center!

After this, we visit the temple which is beautiful, the spiritual heart of the castle and the community. David is eager to answer all our questions and although we do not agree with him on some points, we appreciate his honesty and sincerity and we can feel this place is alive, as we sometimes feel in castles or some churches. We don't want to take pictures here, so we don't ask. Later he tells us we can take photographs everywhere, but this was clearly a holy place and we have no regrets that we don't have a picture.

Krishna (on the left) came to earth in the 15th century as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Shrila Prabhupada (his real name is much longer) brought this philosophy to the west, travelling around the world and founding Krishna centers. The holy book of the Krishna movement is the Bhagavad-gita, one of the oldest books written.

A religion or philosophy that teaches nonviolence can't be bad in our eyes and deserves respect.

David also takes us to the roof of the castle where he has fun throwing snowballs at friends. We enjoy the view and the landscape covered in mist. This castle surely has fallen into the right hands, otherwise it would probably have been a ruin.

After this pleasant visit we drive around a bit through the small villages around Durbuy but the visibility is becoming worse and before dark we return to our cottage. We have had a great week with lots of rest and relaxation here. And we have seen a few things, but only a small part of all there is to see and do, especially in the summer. It is not so far from our home, so we could (should) come easily here again for another short holiday.