Krishnas’ Laguna Beach Festival Falls in Step With ‘Freedom’ Walk

Imagine a sparkling Saturday afternoon in Laguna Beach: a cloudless blue sky, waves crashing onto a beach packed with bronzed bodies, a volleyball game in progress, and bumper-to-bumper traffic on Coast Highway.

Then, from a crowded sidewalk up the street, comes the increasingly loud sound of jingling, jangling, chanting and drumbeats. Heads turn. Eyebrows lift.

A pack of bobbing, smiling Hare Krishna devotees comes into view, clad in pastel-colored robes of peach and white and green, dodging parking meters and handing out brochures to anybody who would take one.

“This sounds like something we do with the preschool children--freedom of expression of oneself within a group,” said Susan Ludeman, who said she runs a preschool in Las Vegas and was watching the procession.

It was the fourth annual Krishna festival at Main Beach Park, a time for spreading the good word about vegetarian diets, reincarnation and meditation. But it was also a time for politics, a time when the Krishnas are trying to cultivate public good-will while they appeal an Orange County court case that could force them to sell seven temples, including one in Laguna Beach. (Except for one temple in Los Angeles, the other six temples are scattered around the country.)

As part of this public relations campaign, a group of about 30 Krishnas are participating in a 1,000-mile “walk for religious freedom” from San Francisco to Tijuana, said Tracey Killeen, 25, who joined the movement three years ago in Boston. “We’re not out here recruiting members.”

The walk began May 29 and is expected to end in Tijuana during the Labor Day weekend.

The Krishnas believe their First Amendment rights have been threatened because of a lawsuit that accused the group of kidnaping and brainwashing a 15-year-old Cypress girl who left home in 1974 to join the Laguna Beach temple. After Robin George returned home in 1977, she and her mother sued the Krishnas and won a $32.5-million judgment. The judgment has since been reduced to $9.7 million, and the Krishnas may have to sell seven of their temples to pay if the decision is upheld by the California Supreme Court.

The Krishnas are appealing the ruling, Killeen said, “because under the First Amendment, we have every right to make this decision to practice Krishna consciousness.”

In an effort to explain the Krishna faith, which devotees believe has been maligned in the news media, the Laguna Beach temple set up informational displays under maroon-and-gold striped tents just south of the lifeguard station at Main Beach Park. Visitors perused information on reincarnation, vegetarian diets and the history of the Krishna movement, while a four-man band on a makeshift stage chanted happily to the beat of cymbals and drums.

Mary Varnadeaux of Claremont stopped to read a display about the dangers of eating meat.

“I’m just very happy I had fish for lunch,” Varnadeaux said.

The Krishnas also had religious items for sale, including incense, meditation beads, copies of the Krishnas’ sacred text, the Bhagavad-Gita, and T-shirts. Another booth offered free samples of Krishna cooking, including rice, bean and vegetable dishes.

“Come and take a plate, special for you!” the Krishna behind the table urged. “No meat, no colors, pure nature.”

Lola Busch of Mission Viejo munched cauliflower fried in sunflower oil while she scanned information about vegetarian diets.

“I’m a ‘born-again’ Christian,” Busch said. “I don’t understand it, but it’s interesting. The food’s good.”

The festival was part of the California experience for some tourists, who captured chanting Krishna members on videotape and in snapshots.

“I’m from North Dakota,” explained one woman as she photographed the Krishna procession from across the street. “It’s something new to me.”

But not to Susan Ludeman of Washington, who said, “This is just normal--what you’d expect to see out here.”