The height of summer, the summer solstice, is here. No other time lets me rack up steps like the long days. Even without trying I walked 6 miles the other day, watering my plants, a short neighborhood walk with the locals, errands around town and walking around in the kitchen and grounds of the local temple where I volunteer. I ended the week with an 11 mile hike to Heart lake, a cirque below snowy peaks in the Latir Peak Wilderness. My legs carried me beyond my expectations. The climb to the lake at 11,500 feet altitude was an effort that tested my physical heart, but my feeling heart opened wide in the glorious mountain landscape.
For more on the heart, let me tell you about the local Hindu temple where I volunteer. People from diverse backgrounds are drawn to it. Hindu worshippers from near and far in bright saris and Indian tunics add more color to the already colorful temple grounds. Westerners in hippie robes, women in flowing dresses, men with beards, long hair bundled on top of their heads are a throwback to the seventies when I first set foot in India and met Neem Karoli, the guru Ram Das talked about, and to whom this temple is dedicated.
You can find locals here, homeless with or without mental illness, dressed shabbily, who come for the free food offered twice daily. No drugs or alcohol are allowed on the temple grounds. The place feels like a piece of India with bells ringing, a harmonium sending its nasal sound into the air, children playing, people sleeping in shady spots under trees, soft conversation while mantras reverberate. “Love, serve, remember” is the motto that encompasses life in all its facets here. The love is palpable. Everyone is accepted, fed and embraced. All those wanting to contribute are given responsibilities to ensure the place functions smoothly. The temple sanctum offers a place to meditate and chant.
Last weekend, the temple hosted an event for 100 participants with a meditation teacher and well-known Kirtan singer/performer. I served food, listened, observed and immersed myself in a love fest that pervaded the place. Where in this world can you find a place that embraces you as you are, provides food, and uplifts your spirit? One young man was sitting in the reading room reading a book I recognized. I asked him where he lived. “On the mesa”, he said, “I have a plot of land, a house, solar power and a rain water collecting system. I feel safer here,” he said in response to my questions. “The house next door got burned down; people with guns drive by.” “Drugs?” I asked. “Yes, people do crazy things when doing drugs,” he said.
I mostly wash dishes in the kitchen. The other day, the cook sent me on an errand to find mint for the salad. I searched greenhouses, asked young people planting marigolds in the field under the hot sun for mint location. I roamed the gardens and found it. I helped put the salad together. Doing humble tasks brings me joy. Since doing service is part of the Hindu devotional requirement, the Indians who visit the temple come laden with gifts of food; they ask to help. The place has a sense of enough-ness, abundance, the chai keeps flowing, intergenerational contact is everywhere.
It’s easy to see the beauty in the high mountains, find peace and feel love. This place however, an unlikely foreign temple in the middle of an ancient pueblo settlement, is a piece of an American dream that began 200 years ago. “Bring me your harrowed, bring me your poor”. Border closings, political haranguing - America is no longer a place for people to come, bring sorrows, be fed, start over, find peace.
My weekly visit and service bolsters my belief in the goodness of man, the ability to form a family atmosphere, while races and cultures mingle. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for crossing paths with the extraordinary Neem Karoli Baba, who unlocked my heart five decades ago on June 16th. June 16 is father’s day this year. It feels right to celebrate a man/saint who has been a father figure to many. Baba, as he is lovingly referred to, inspired people to create a space with a family atmosphere and allow a togetherness across the globe. I hope you find togetherness this Father’s Day, with or without family.