Thursday 25 August 2011

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

Immerse Yourself

Louisiana/Mississippi

We had left arid desert for flat swampy green territory. It’s nice to see green again. Diversity of plants has increased. We see cotton fields and towns of black folks. Our bus is diverted from moving on fast freeways to opt for a more direct route on a two lane highway, at least for a time. So you see, small towns with people outside, it’s the kind of road you would walk along, what a relief. Here you see homes, gardens, mom and pop shops, kids on bicycles or playing in water.

If the average person today is not subjected to this human element, and is stuck on concrete trapped in a car, there’s no wonder that there’s cause for frustration and loneliness. On the other hand, we humans don’t always score well when we have a chance with interpersonal relationships, even when we try. So here’s a perfect escape route, just get into a vehicle, close out the elements, after all it’s hot, listen to your radio, float, dream away and avoid hassles. But in reality both scenarios are not ideal. Both lack the grounding effect of spiritually connecting.

After a sticky, hot ride, our buses arrived at New Talavan, a rural Vaisnava community, one hour from New Orleans. An outdoor ‘fun fair’, as the organizers called it, was staged with a major attraction, being our Bha Ra Ta show. Even local attendees were expressing heat wave grumblings, but once the show of spiritual might, Bha Ra Ta, took off, the calming of minds transpired. The effect of physical, mental, and intellectual preoccupation in divine immersion cannot be underestimated.

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