Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Friday, August 5th, 2011

How to party

Encinata, California

Along the beach walk of San Diego, you catch a great but pleasant breeze. "No Smoking, No Alcohol, No Glass Bottles!" is the repetitious marking along its waist-high wall. If San Diego wasn't such a party town, you probably wouldn't read about such prohibitions.

"Who really knows how to party?" I was thinking. And especially without destroying yourself, and without being a nuisance!

After a great walk along Pacific Beach, a sadhana program at the temple, some correspondence over buses headed to Encinata for an evening performance, traffic was thick on Highway 5--normal for Friday. After all, it's the weekend. Some people will slot time for partying for sure.

As usual, our party or "get together" take on a different shape from most of the world. Free of nasties like intoxicants, our life of party involves kirtan chanting. This is a unique teenage group. We do make a mess but clean up after. Free from gossip? I don't know whether our group is liberated from that. What I do know is that we are looking at a great bunch of young people. I'm traveling with them because I believe it to be a good investment of time in helping them for their devotional future. I also hold a firm belief that I get some punya (pious credits) out of this.

Our audience was passive while actors and dancers strutted their passion. "Pacific people are like that." said Mitrasena, a spiritual brother also traveling with us. Nevertheless they showed their appreciation.

As aforementioned, we clean-up after our group of forty plus. We arrive at a place; trash it; and then tidy it up. During that process, I found a broom and dust pan. I began cleaning when one of the young women from our tour group remarked, "Maharaj, you are a real bus swami. You know, you just fit in so well."

I was touched by the remark. I felt accepted by these young Vaishnavas.

7 KM

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