Saturday 20 August 2011

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Listen and Look

Boise, Idaho

Speaking of screaming girls again, a response to the boys doing their drum demo number on the stage, the shrilling kept going today at a water park.

I had the privileged challenge to hold the audiences interest after the boys’ stunning audio and visual show. I decided to just wing it and speak of how I see these boys, the drummers, like my sons. Even though I’m biologically a non-parent, still, I feel on this trip, I’ve got my offspring. I started to speak to the crowd about the glories of monastic life, of downscale, simplicity, of marginalizing the dependency on matter and increasing the trust in spirit.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the attention given to these words. We tried to paint the picture into the minds of the audience. Imagining the merit to a ‘less is more’ policy on life. Looking at the amazing range of ages, and their attentiveness, I felt that people were getting it. “You give that a serious consideration” I appealed, “when you hit sixty, if you haven’t already, then consider the path of no frills.”

The theme I am hitting at here is about listening, and that they were doing intently.

And what about looking? Nirguna and I were walking streets on the outskirts of Boise. We came upon a creek that looked inviting, or rather, the trail next to it. This fast flowing waterway trail took us through the backyards of an impeccably tidy residential area. One home owner had spotted us while he was busy in his back yard. “Hello!” he said, “Are you from here?” “Actually, we’re from Canada.” “Oh, good, wait just a minute,” so we stopped. I thought perhaps he was going into his house to open a drawer and then to toss at us a Christian Track, but no. Out came a statue of Buddha which he held in his arms. Our new friend simply wanted to make us feel very welcome. I explained we were Krishna monks, but we have some affection for Buddha.

Buddha and Boise, get a load a’ that!

10 Km

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