400 rupees
I have never been to India, but have always been fond of their culture, food, music, movies, people and practices. One of my best friends is there right now, traveling and teaching English. I would love more than ever to join her there, but in the meantime I seem to be surrounded by the essence of India! The other day I ran into an old friend of Indian descent, who I'd met just before I left for Israel. Coincidentally he had been in Israel for work and was interested to exchange stories. Also a few days ago I was in the Hillcrest Trader Joe's, where they keep a collection of foreign currency under the glass at their check-out stands. I reached in between the glass and pulled out a bill - it was from India - their currency the Rupee. Another good friend of mine is a promoter for Hindi movies, and as I was walking along the boardwalk today I decided to give him a call. My phone was breaking up and all i heard was "400 Rupees", wondering what he was doing with Indian currency. What he actually said was he was in a room with "400 Indian people" and proceeded to tell me about his day at work.
After talking to him I continued walking down the boardwalk, lined with drunk people and tourists. A man approached me abruptly waving a thick book in my face. The book was called Bhagavad-Gita (meaning "Song of God"), and the man was an Indian Monk. He told me he was giving away copies of the book, to anyone who wanted to learn more about meditation. Being the open-minded spiritual person that I am, I had no other intended path then to stop and talk to him for a while. Our conversation was amazing, our connection transcended beyond the standard "boardwalk talk". As it turns out he was born Jewish, worked as a Physicist at UCSD in his early adulthood, then decided to become a Monk, which he has been for 30 years. During that time not only has he researched Indian spirituality and philosophy extensively, he has traveled around distributing books and meeting people who want to learn more. He offered give me the book for a donation of $15, only to cover their printing costs. I explained to him that I was in between jobs and in between homes, though I really wanted the book.
Our conversation evolved into discussion of the Divine as well as the metaphysical, and early interpretations of religion, such as the history and evolution of spiritual thought in the Middle East and Asia. He asked me if I was open to alternative thoughts about God besides the beliefs of Christianity, this before he actually knew I was a Christian. I told him that indeed I am more open minded than most of the Christian people I know so he didn't need to worry about that, and having lived among Jews and Muslims I already have a pretty broad understanding of the other viewpoints. Of course my own practices of Yoga and meditation tie into the peacefully-attainable levels of spiritual growth and highly evolved mindset that seems to be the underlying theme of the Bhagavad-Gita. It took little convincing on either side to realize we were conversing on the same level, and the monetary value of the book seemed to have disappeared in the chill twilight ocean air. Ultimately knowing that I was short on Rupees, not only did he decide to GIVE me the book - because it was understood that I would in fact read it - but invited me to an Indian-food dinner at the meditation center down the street. I declined the dinner invitation but may venture over there sometime in the future for a free meal or meditation. In the meantime I definitely have some new reading material... don't worry Im not converting to a new religion, only expanding my levels of consciousness!
After talking to him I continued walking down the boardwalk, lined with drunk people and tourists. A man approached me abruptly waving a thick book in my face. The book was called Bhagavad-Gita (meaning "Song of God"), and the man was an Indian Monk. He told me he was giving away copies of the book, to anyone who wanted to learn more about meditation. Being the open-minded spiritual person that I am, I had no other intended path then to stop and talk to him for a while. Our conversation was amazing, our connection transcended beyond the standard "boardwalk talk". As it turns out he was born Jewish, worked as a Physicist at UCSD in his early adulthood, then decided to become a Monk, which he has been for 30 years. During that time not only has he researched Indian spirituality and philosophy extensively, he has traveled around distributing books and meeting people who want to learn more. He offered give me the book for a donation of $15, only to cover their printing costs. I explained to him that I was in between jobs and in between homes, though I really wanted the book.
Our conversation evolved into discussion of the Divine as well as the metaphysical, and early interpretations of religion, such as the history and evolution of spiritual thought in the Middle East and Asia. He asked me if I was open to alternative thoughts about God besides the beliefs of Christianity, this before he actually knew I was a Christian. I told him that indeed I am more open minded than most of the Christian people I know so he didn't need to worry about that, and having lived among Jews and Muslims I already have a pretty broad understanding of the other viewpoints. Of course my own practices of Yoga and meditation tie into the peacefully-attainable levels of spiritual growth and highly evolved mindset that seems to be the underlying theme of the Bhagavad-Gita. It took little convincing on either side to realize we were conversing on the same level, and the monetary value of the book seemed to have disappeared in the chill twilight ocean air. Ultimately knowing that I was short on Rupees, not only did he decide to GIVE me the book - because it was understood that I would in fact read it - but invited me to an Indian-food dinner at the meditation center down the street. I declined the dinner invitation but may venture over there sometime in the future for a free meal or meditation. In the meantime I definitely have some new reading material... don't worry Im not converting to a new religion, only expanding my levels of consciousness!
posted by :: Lisa :: at 9:05 PM
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