Sunday, 22 July 2012

Wednesday, July 18th, 2012

Better Chance

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Being bus bound doesn’t always provide the opportunity for a wayward stroll. Still, you can be somewhat productive and let your brain do some walking. With a good chance to read I pulled out of my travel bag, I pulled out the latest copy of the JVS, Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Here’s what I read and loved, and have referred to in the past:

A quote from To Kill A Mockingbird.

Atticus Finch said,“If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

To comment, we who live in this age of agitation in Kali Yuga are so much prone to misunderstand. We are hard of hearing. Listening to or understanding the other fellow is not our strength. If we are committed to this scenario, to ‘my’position, and only ‘mine’, it could be that we will be reborn into a body with a personality that misunderstood and are now going to appreciate more.
 
When our bus tour youth pulled together their drama, The Jagannatha Story, one actor projects himself into the life of a King who is anxious for life’s deeper meaning. Another actor becomes the tribal leader who has profound love for the Divine, and fears the King who will usurp his privilege to serve the Divine. Another actor must perceive the purpose of a Brahman who is committed to helping his King. While the Brahman’s wife is a role that is played out needing to know what she can do for her husband, father and king. In other words, everyone here as actors has become someone else.
 
The drama staged this evening at the Hindu temple on Saint Anne’s Road presented the motives of four different individuals, each being totally relatable. The tale which surrounds the manifestation of Jagannatha (an image of Krishna) really does stir up interest amongst those involved. The audience and the actors. I think that the actors did portray their characters in such a way that the audience could fit into those characters. It was a job well done.
 
Anyways, how improved could be our world if each of us could step inside another’s experience? And if we could go for dialogue over monologue we would have a better chance towards peace.
 
1 Km

No comments: