Tuesday 15 January 2013

Friday, January 11th, 2013

After A Long Day
 
Houston, Texas
After a long day at a leader’s session which involved a presentation by myself on my pilgrimage in Cuba and a drama practice, I took to West Street going east. I crossed a major juncture where you end up at one of the monstrously large parking lots so common in the US. At the plaza there I met a young couple sitting with some colourful liquid in their hands. They were seated outside a café and they called for my attention.
“Are you Hare Krishna?” they asked. I was trekking, but they pulled me in because they said the right thing.
“I’m a member,” I admitted. They were curious about what we do in our nearby temple. They were also serious when they asked me if we brewed beer in our sanctuary. They had a certain perception about us I guess, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad one. They like drinking, in fact I was wondering why they hadn’t visited us already.
“What do you believe?” they wanted to know.
“We are all spirits,” I started off.
“I like that… “ said he.
“We are on a journey… “
“That’s great,” said she.
“I went on and explained the essence of our practices that it takes on the form of mantra chanting. I presented to her a card with the maha (great) mantra on it. She attempted the mantra. That little endeavour, even while being a little tipsy, was an act of service to God. I would have loved to have spent more time with the two. I do find that speaking to people in a not so straight state to not always be so productive, but then again, I should hope by my little endeavour to reach out to some nice folks, was also a small act of service. I could have brushed them off when they called me over. In all honesty I do like to connect with people every day of my life, people that are outside my comfort zone.
Let me correct myself, connecting with anyone on spiritual terms, however big or small, is my comfort zone.
5 KM

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