Monday, March 24th 2008

Monday, March 24, 2008 – Durban, South Africa

Shocking are the details I hear of the crime that people endure. On my eighth or rather ninth visit to South Africa I have witnessed a high level of kind-heartedness as on previous stays here. The community in Durban in particular, appear to be especially over-extending themselves to traveling monks, the swamis. There is, however, this dark side to human life at this southern tip of this huge continent.
Theft is common as well as rape and murder. In order to ransack a home an organized crime group may poison your guard dog, release a substance that paralyses the occupants, then pillage and if need be murder. These activities are commonplace. Just this last Thursday one of our women from Pretoria, Saritha, who came to Durban for the festival, was found raped and murdered and her body found on the side of the road. She was 36, and, was a dedicated woman to our mission, especially in the area of book distribution, that is, on the mission of sankirtan, spreading God consciousness.
Our little drama group dedicated the last of the weekend’s performance in her honour. “The Age of Kali” epitomizes the symptoms of the current times and the actors were in full form giving notation of the gravity of the situation.
It is a culture shock somewhat to me but murder is so everyday that, an oblivion has set into the social fabric. Apathy pervades our planet as senselessness increases. We are missing something on the earth we reside on.
7 Km