Sunday April 4th, 2010

Costa and People

Durban, South Africa

Costa is a smiley bright faced black chap who is employed by the temple to keep it neat and clean. He approaches his work which has been on going for eight years with the most positive attitudes. Truly he’s an angel. He speaks proudly of his daughter’s reaching the 7th grade and remorsefully of his wife who died of malaria.
”I love my daughter like crazy,” he told me. He has a passion for doing his service at the temple. I’ve known Costa for those eight years. He’s just a fine human being. It’s people like him that give you some hope for the human race.

I say this because this is South Africa after all – a place of high crime rate. It makes walking a little risky. For safety I take a circle around the temple and continue for a two hour stretch if I can. I found that theft is so rampant that my second set of meditation beads was lifted (stolen) during a drama practice. It was silly that I left some coins in the bead bag. I put trust being in the temple compound by leaving them at the side ledge of the interior. On the one hand you have someone like Costa and then you feel some hope.

On the bright side a vibrancy pervades. When pumping gas the attendant does it with a dance and when wiping your windshield he’ll pick up rhythm even more and add a song. As I had come to find out a major soccer game was stirring excitement shooting up adrenaline in fans and all the service people connected.

Meanwhile at the Chariot Festival site the fair was giving more than cheap thrills to the count of over 100,000 in attendance over this weekend. At the main stage the biggest drawing card was our premiere of “The Three Lives of Bharat”.

My biggest regret about the event was the fact that the ten swamis that were there were so occupied in speeches, leading chants, and charming the people that we (and I being one) had so little time with each other. It is just a very intense program for four consecutive days. Rewarding and purifying. Uplifting. There is this marvelous cohesive feeling within the crowds – all credit going to the spiritual nature of the event.

6 KM