Beautiful People in Winston Salem

"May I hear a G please?"
"Z?"
"No, G"
"D?"
There are a variety of accents from India.
Someone suggests,"G, as in God"
"Ah, OK", Rajen plays 'G' on his harmonium, and the song begins.
Akhilesh supports the rhythm on tablas.
I select the 'G' flute from my collection and follow the melody.
This is true Folk Music, the music of the people.
Some are trained in the Indian Classical system, some sing what they have learned from childhood. All of them sing from their heart while the group responds as a chorus. Moments of the performance may be praised in midstream, "Bahut Accha He !", raising a hand while slightly tilting the head to one side.
These people have kindly accepted me as if part of their family.
It is a very tightly knit group. For years they have been gathering regularly to sing and play music of India.
Today is an annual event at Praful's home, celebrating the appearance of Hanuman, the monkey warrior servant of Lord Rama.
Way back in December, Praful urged me to reserve the date to sing a bhajan and give a brief talk.

It is a bit intimidating to speak or perform before such a talented group.
"Mitra, it is your turn, please speak something"
"10 minutes?"
"Yes, 10 minutes, then bhajan."
That is more time than anyone else had taken. I'd better make this good. I've learned so much from these people and want to give something back.
"It's been a year since our last gathering here. I've had a wonderful year, full of growth, learning and opportunity. I hope that your year has also been so eventful." I scanned the audience, many of them senior to me, Mathematicians, Physicists, Nano-technicians, nodding their heads in agreement, still learning, still growing.
"I've been studying habits. They are stored in the basal ganglia region of the brain. Once an action is learned, we don't need to give it much attention. We tend to brush our teeth in the same pattern or tie our shoelaces in the same order every time. Driving a car is so easy for us. Remember when you first learned, how difficult and scary it was to approach an intersection? Now, most of you probably don't even remember driving here. The functions were taken over by the basal ganglia while your mind absorbed itself in other topics." Again, heads nodding in agreement, smiles remembering early driving attempts.
"Studies have shown however, that when people are on vacation, they tend to alter their patterns for brushing their teeth. The stimuli have changed. This is a good time to change habits. We can use this to our advantage.
"Yesterday I was reading about Shabari. She had left home at a young age to live in a hermitage accepting spiritual guidance from the sage Matanga. One by one, the sages achieved perfection, leaving this world. Matanga asked Shabari to remain at the ashram as Lord Rama would be coming to visit, she will get the opportunity to host Him.
Shabari took this service, daily collecting flowers to decorate the path, thinking that "today may be the day when He will arrive". She would collect fruits, tasting each one, discarding those that were not sweet enough. After many years, Rama and his brother Laxman arrived to accept the hospitality of this elderly woman. As she offered the fruits, Laxman questioned,"Why are you eating  food which has already been tasted by this woman? This is impure."
Rama replied,"I have tasted many different things in my life, but never have I had anything like this. You must try some."
The Lord has no need for our offerings, rather He accepts our devotion. The devotion of Shabari surpassed that of the followers of rituals. When Laxman tasted the fruit, tears came to His eyes, understanding the intention of His brother."
The body language of the audience showed they felt the same as I do about Shabari, inspired by her example.

"When we chant mantras, the mind considers, 'OK, we already know how to do this.' The basal ganglia takes over and the mind is free to wander. Shabari put everything into her service, it was not simply a habit. For this kirtan, we will try to break our routine. We will try to keep the mantra in the forefront of our mind, as if this is an entirely new experience. Raise your hands to shoulder height, palms upward, asking for blessings. Keeping them like this will help keep your mind from wandering. Taste each mantra, as Shabari tasted each fruit to see if it was sweet. Offer each sweet mantra to Lord Rama and wait patiently for His arrival."
I was surprised to see everyone cooperatively holding their hands up as requested, eyes closed in expectation,"OK Rajen, key of E"
"B?"
"No, E.... as in elephant"

Friendliest Place on Earth

"That makes 100% so far."I commented,"Every car that's passed by has waved at us. Of all the places we've been, we haven't seen anything like this.."
"It would be hard to do that in New York City.", Narayan imitated waving to everyone in sight in Manhattan,"Hello, Hi, hello, hello, hi , hi...."
My son and I had walked halfway across Panama, over the back roads  of Costa Rica and into the subways of New York.
Everywhere we've met friendly, helpful people, even in the 'dangerous areas' in Panama City we'd been warned of. Today we're walking on familiar roads close to home in North Carolina, where everyone waves, where neighbors come out to greet us and ask how we've been. There have been two grand festivals in our community since our return last Tuesday. More festivities are scheduled for this weekend. Home is certainly 'the friendliest place on Earth', though there are challenges here that one will not encounter on the road. A host may tolerate my ill behavior as I am only passing through. My wife and close friends don't have that option. The danger here is to neglect those who are closest, and overlook their favors and courtesies, taking them for granted.

Vampire Bats and a Visitor from Transylvania

“I noticed the light was left on in the barn the last couple nights.”

“Yes, it’s to slow down the vampire bats.”

“Whoa! We’ve got vampire bats here in Costa Rica?”

“Yes. They aren’t too much trouble for a full grown cow, but can do some damage to a calf if they’re left out on their own.”  Gaura's Canadian pronunciation sounds like ‘oot on their oown’. Carrying a bucket of milk from the barn, with his ragged flannel shirt and unshaven face he looks like a rather thin Canadian lumberjack climbing the hill to the temple kitchen. 

Gaura the Canadian

A few days later, another Canadian appeared.

We soon learned that Teo is from the province of Transylvania.

“How do Romanians feel about Dracula’s fame?” I had to ask,” Is there any truth to the legend, any accuracy in the movie?”

“They’re not too happy about it. Actually, Dracula is kind of a hero in our country. He was a brutal leader, but very fair and just. There was no crime at all under his regime. If money was found in the street, no one would dare take it. It would be turned in to the guards for fear of punishment.”

“What kind of punishment?”

“He was known as Vlad the Impaler. He would leave the bodies of his enemies on display, impaled on spears as an example to anyone who would disobey the law.  It was a very slow and painful death, as I’m sure you can imagine. However, he also did a lot of good for the country. He conquered the neighboring enemies, fixed the economy, eliminated corruption and brought peace and prosperity to the region.”

“But you say he was fair?”

“Yes, because he would punish only those who deserved it.  There’s a story of a visiting merchant who heard of a rather fat coin purse that had been turned in to the guards. His greed must have got the better of him because he actually decided to swindle Vlad and claim it for his own.

 “How many gold coins are in the purse you’ve lost?” Dracula asked him. “100”, said the merchant who had been tipped by the guards. “Count it and make sure it is yours.” Dracula said after adding an extra gold coin. The merchant counted and succumbed to his greed once again, pretending not to notice the extra coin. “Is this correct? “ Dracula asked, “Yes”, “Then go”. Unfortunately for him, Dracula signaled the guards behind his back and as the happy merchant approached the door, he was stopped by the guards who drew their swords.  It is said that the merchant’s wail of terror was heard throughout the entire province when he realized the fate that now awaited him.”

“Out of greed for one gold coin, the merchant lost his life. We live in a brutal world Teo, this is a good lesson for keeping our integrity at every moment."

"Yes, the laws of nature can be brutal, but they are always fair.", replied Teo as he sank his Transylvanian teeth into a Costa Rican melon.

"One who does good is never overcome by evil",quoting Bhagavad Gita(6:40) I commented, "A power stronger than Vlad the Impaler is keeping the balance. Our only concern is to keep proper conduct, we'll get all we deserve."

Teo sunk his Transylvanian teeth into a melon.

"We must have done something good to deserve these melons"

Eat a Palm Tree ?

A back hoe intruded one quiet afternoon.
He carved a flat space, a ‘shelf’ out of a steep hillside.

Unfortunately, one of the palm trees was in the way. 

The tree was intact, though horizontal, “Can we transplant it somewhere?” I asked.

“Transplant it? I WANT TO EAT IT.”
Nitai told me about the last tree that had been downed. The inner core is sort of like celery or bamboo shoots.  I’ve had ‘Hearts of Palm ‘ from a can before, but never seen it freshly harvested.  The next morning I heard a chain saw. 

 

 Later in the day a large club shaped item appeared at the door to the kitchen.

 With a tinge of guilt we had a delicious pasta salad with chunks of the palm’s heart, arugula from the garden and fresh cheese from our cow.

Many more palm trees are scheduled for planting in the rainy season.  That eases some of the guilt of enjoying the heart of this ancient tree.

Wants to eat a palm tree.

The new 'shelf', minus a palm tree.

My home for the last couple weeks, covered with palm leaves, shower and outhouse in the background. The view from the shower is unsurpassed by any of the finest homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic Bargains in Costa Rica !

 A nearby farm grows melons.

$2 buys a dozen.

I invested $6 and felt rich, with plenty to share and enough to eat my fill.

They’re very sweet.

After finishing one, the natural tendency is to have another, then another.

Why not?

They're less than 17 cents each. 

                                                                        During lunch one day, a monk began an inspired speech. “What if just by wanting it, one could get money? “

We had been studying and discussing a 17^th century text describing the step by step progression in bhakti, reaching total absorption in love for God.

“It doesn’t happen that way.", he continued, "You’ve got to work to get money. Yet Bhakti is available simply by wanting it. There is one condition though; you have to want only bhakti and nothing else.”

Time was suspended as the monk brought new light to our studies.

“We have so many other desires in our heart. They are well established, like multi storied corporate buildings with lavish advertising.  Meanwhile we’ve let bhakti move in, she’s got a little kiosk in the mall, hardly noticeable. “

This was getting very interesting; all the monks paused from their meal hoping he would continue.

“Desires for wealth, fame, and sensual pleasures are all well established, but bhakti is patiently sitting there with her product.  Gradually we become frustrated by these other commodities, and bhakti becomes more attractive. What we don’t see is that she is sabotaging these other desires. She destroys their foundation and they begin to topple until she is the only store left.”

“And then she gives her product to you for free.” I added.

Adventure-Walking from Atlantic to Pacific Oceans

Ever since I’ve seen the map in grade school I’ve wanted to do this. It’s such an insignificant strip of land between these two huge oceans, how can anyone resist walking these 50 miles? 

Shyamachandra gave us a ride to Colon on his way to work. Dropping us near the beach he warned, “Colon can be dangerous, don’t spend much time downtown, and keep an eye on your things.”  Narayan and I touched the Atlantic Ocean and headed southeast to the Pacific.

 

The residents of Colon that we had been warned of were starting to awaken. The walkway became crowded with people saying things to us that we didn’t understand, sometimes laughing, and sometimes threatening. “Just keep walking and show no fear.” I coached Narayan. We made it through the downtown unscathed.  

Voodoo ?

 Three days later, in Panama City, we walked through the lobby of the $400 million dollar Trump

Hotel to reach the Pacific Ocean.

We each drank more than a gallon of water the first day.

We hadn’t walked the entire route as planned. The first day we covered 17 miles on the noisy and rough roadside. There was no shade, no peace, not exactly something you want to do on your day off. In the dismal heat of the day we watched a crew working on power poles. One rope for his left thigh, another for his right foot, the lineman worked his way up.

 

His helper below conversed in perfect English and accepted a book from us about Karma.”How can we say, ‘we’re walking from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans?” I asked.  He wrote,”NOSOTROS CAMINAMOS DEL ATLANTICO AL PACIFICO"

Former Pole Climber?

I practiced saying ‘nosotros caminamos….’as we continued the walk. Narayan was skeptical, “What if he was playing a trick on us and it means something really weird in Spanish.”

“Well there’s only one way to find out.”, I tried the phrase while we took a break in the shade. The recipient didn’t laugh at us or get angry, rather he appeared impressed and surprised. He said something about tres dias and I agreed that it will most likely take three days.

We made it as far as a small place called El Valle. You won’t find it on any map, but that’s where we’ll resume our walk if we ever try again. We heard rumors that someday a nice trail will be made from coast to coast. Walking on a hot, noisy road is not particularly pleasant.  We opted to take a couple rides to reach our destination; one of the rides was in the notorious diablo rojo buses. These had been roaring past us all day, spewing fumes, sounding their air horn anytime they sighted a woman younger than 60.

 

Upon boarding the bus we were disoriented by the flashing disco lights and loud music. The seats were all taken as well as most of the standing room. Much of the windshield had been painted with elaborate designs so we couldn’t see where we were going. My primitive Spanish must appear like Tarzan talk to these people, “Villa Zaita where?  Big distance? How many? Thank you.”

We’re riding the Tumba Muerto bus. A loose translation means, ‘the tomb of death’, which the driver announces at all stops, calling out ,”TUMBA MUERTO, TUMBA MUERTO, TUMBA MUERTO !”, so  passengers will know this bus will take them to the tomb of death.

I wonder how such a happy name has come about. No one seems to know or care. That’s just the name it is. Every road has several names, and you have to know all of them and assess the age of the person you are speaking to in order to guess which name he will know the road by.  No one has been able to change the Tumba Muerto name, which is fine with me, I’m glad our stop is on this well-known and easy to find road.

http://johnsmitchell.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Diablos-Rojos-buses-Panama-CIty/G0000_TGKD_aHGzs/I0000pLRYA2pZ2U0

Inappropriate Laughter

Every morning after an hour of kirtan and prayer, the group of monks sits to chant gayatri.

It is a focused moment as the sun rises, a dozen of us sitting together in silent meditation. This morning I had a difficult time keeping from breaking out in laughter.

Sounds of the monkeys in the distance reminded me of last night’s episode. One of the workers spied a monkey overhead and imitated their sounds. A tree full of monkeys responded, several other groups of monkeys responded to them making a big ruckus followed by human laughter.

My smile went undetected and I was able to repress the urge to laugh out loud. This tendency of laughing at things going on in my head has gotten me into trouble more than once, especially when I was younger. I’m glad that it still exists, though it continues to cause awkward moments.