Saturday, December 14th, 2013

A New Kind of Saturday Night

Vancouver, British Columbia

Here we are in Vancouver, a world class city, rated the number one place to live in for a number of years in a row.  Yet, the district a few of us pulled into this evening is a dingy embarrassment to the human race.  It’s the infamous Hastings and Main area.   Just around the corner is popular and touristic Gas Town.  Acid heads, crack pots and drunks frequent and live in the area.  Because of the relatively moderate temperatures Vancouver enjoys, even in winter, it helps to jump up real estate value, but it also attracts the country’s more down and out, at least in the winter.  At the same time, this area of Hastings and Main is a hopeful nook, a nest with eggs about to crack open.  I’ll explain further on.

The entrance to tonight’s event was a dodgy alley way door.  Then you go up two flights of stairs to an old creaky floored warehouse type deal.  No need to worry, attendees to the event have come to a kirtan ecstatic yoga program.  They came alcohol/substance free.  Speaking of which, I guess you put them in the ‘free spirit’ category.

I was introduced as The Walking Monk and did my version of trance dance through mantra and movement.  The person who preceeded me was the real hero, and who uses this space as his yoga studio, and believe it or not, he has made yoga accessible to poor people.  In fact, the people here generally come for yoga to rehab, to relax, to believe.   Emmerson is the hero’s name and I had the pleasure to engage him in one of our dramas last summer.  Many of his clients who come by donation are male.

When you talk to Emmerson, you can feel that he’s at the brink of something big.  He’s just about to open location number two and says he’s getting calls from all over the world from people who want to hear his success story.  When he was conducting his session, it was fun to see how he got people to move to the Hare Krishna mantra.

It is a fact and as real as the nose on your face that the modern world is driving people to a vacuum, to a space and life lacking ‘meaning’.  Who, after all, wants to be homeless or be on a binge?  It all depends on the mode of life you’ve chosen for yourself.  Some folks, however, are not in such a position to make major choices.  But climb the stairs after walking a back alley, becoming sober and agreeing to sit quiet, breathe, and chant, almost anyone can do.

I was impressed with the kirtan crowd of tonight.  I can’t imagine what Emmerson does during the week when the real needing ones come to see him.  In 1996 I walked through this neighbourhood as part of the route across Canada.  I could see it needed attention.  It looks like some people are taking advantage of the hand that’s being extended to them.

May the Source be with you!

5 KM