Adyar, Sunday, 20 October 2013

Visitors at the fallen tree on Bakrid holiday

Adyar, Sunday, 20 October 2013

The weather at the beginning of this week was extremely wet and warm, so we were wearing a completely soaked shirt, when we came home after going to the shops one afternoon, even while it did not rain one drop.

The monsoon has begun, though, and rain is falling during the night till just before breakfast. Today between one and two o’-clock in the afternoon, when we sat on the terrace behind the room, we had to put on a long sleeved shirt over our T-shirt, while it was just about the hottest time of the day. The sky was cloudy, there was a wind coming from the sea and the temperature came down to about 27° C.

The cat has moved her three kittens from the basement under the dormitories to just outside the wall of the restaurant. There the overhanging roof and a small building standing at about one meter distance were protecting her nest rather well from the rain and possible attacks of predators. In the evening she also got more attention from the kitchen staff, who moved the three kittens inside the wall of the dining room, which obviously is a much safer place.

Since a few days a monkey is looking at our bananas, while it is sitting on the roof of the kitchen building or sometimes even on the wall around the restaurant. It might be interested in the kittens.

Monday was a perfect day of rest and new beginning. Astrologically we are still in the sign of Libra, which is usually connected with Venus, the Greek and Roman goddess of love and art.

Giving in to the natural reaction to rest when we felt tired has resulted in a good state of health. It is all in the mind, and after resting and feeling better again, we even could do our meditation exercises. We sometimes had the impression to have experienced a little progress in the techniques taught to us last year. These were from the book with comments on the Yogasutras of Patanjali by I. K. Taimni, which was studied during the School of the Wisdom 2012 conducted by Mr. Yayaswal.

We had to go into town in the afternoons to buy some household things as soap, broom, buckets, mop, dust bin, towels, drinking glasses, plates, spoons, battery charger, multiple electrical sockets connector, padlocks, bed covers and extra mosquito nets for single beds, just to mention a few. All the shops are at walking distance. We also had to recharge the pen-drive modem. We have to buy almost everything a normal household collects in the course of the first weeks of settlement. Coming back from the shop with some buckets and towels in our possession, we met one day with visitors, who were admiring our house and seemed to know who had lived there more than half a century ago. We invited them to see the inside of the house and especially the women were happy to be able to admire the place.

For the price of the equivalent of about 14 euros we bought two new shirts with short sleeves and a pair of trousers, because for the few clothes we have, it takes them rather long to return from the Laundry Department. In the shop nobody spoke English and on top of that we had to try on the trousers while we were standing behind a counter at the back of the shop and three salesmen were smiling and joking. Our shopping thus becomes a pleasurable intermezzo for the shopkeepers and the foreign client. “Where are you from”, they asked and our reply was without hesitation that we were from India. They laughed and we explained that we are resident with an employment visa. Then one other client took out his agenda with a world map in it and asked us to point out where our country was situated on his map. Everybody was very joyful and happy about the encounter and about the business being done of course.

One day on our way back we met a person, who was eating a banana while standing with his driver in front of the fruit stall, where we bought four oranges for 35 rupees, the equivalent of 40 euro cents. He enquired about our origin and we replied with information about our birth place. He appeared to be very interested in Theosophy and had come from Bombay to Chennai to buy books at Adyar Bookshop. After an inspired talk about Arhat Yoga, pranic healing and healing religions in general, we exchanged telephone numbers.

These days we started at 5.30 a.m. with consumption of an orange. Then there was the beach walk at round six o’clock and afterwards before breakfast some time for meditation exercises. A few people sit in meditation posture or do yoga- and pranayama exercises on the dunes and at the beach.

In the evenings we usually study and drink a cup of herb tea before going to bed at about 9.30 p.m. One day we went to bed at almost quarter to eleven and thus much too late.

Last Sunday, there was a TS Lodge meeting in our home town of origin and we were informed by e-mail that it was a success, because there were exactly the ten people present and necessary to start a healing group. Some of the members had wanted to start a healing ritual, which they had attended almost every month for a long time already at the TS in another city. Now they shall be able to start such a group under the guidance of the person, who is organizing the ritual. Although rituals are not necessary for spiritual growth, they can be of great help for those who are used to them. This particular exercise is destined to be practiced by TS lodges and seems to harmonize the group of participating members. During dinner we discussed the item with our neighbor and we agreed that practically everything in human life is ritual.

On Monday evening, we went to a good-bye party organized by one of the colleagues for the colleague who is leaving the workplace this Sunday. We spoke about our meeting with the person from Mumbai in front of the fruit stall. The colleagues present agreed that Arhat Yoga is practiced by many Indian Buddhists of to date.

Tuesday at breakfast there were three again. This time an old acquaintance from Hayderabath had come. He will join the party going to the Southeast Asian conference in Bali from 1 to 6 November.

We went to the Telephone Company on the back of a motorcycle again. The driver was 45 minutes late and we thought that we really would have missed our lunch. To our surprise, the driver, working for the TS, was so keen on being helped as quickly as possible, that he managed to go to exactly that counter, where the clerk was so agreeable, that within fifteen minutes our application had been processed. We made the necessary payment and the driver would collect the receipt the next day. This looks like just another way of non-formalistic speeding up of administrative procedures to make the waiting time in the queue as short as possible. It must be an achievement worthy to be mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records.

Wednesday, it was bank holiday, because of Bakrid, a Muslim festivity, and not all the colleagues were there. In the TS compound a tree had fallen over the road and blocked it for traffic. Just as we had been wondering the last few days how all the motorized vehicles roaming about could be reduced in number. Now there were busloads of families, some of them obviously Muslims, visiting the place. They were so numerous, that a couple could wander till right under the middle of the big Banyan tree. The old lady from New Zealand, who has lived and worked here for more than 20 years and usually is walking alone, now was surrounded by more than a dozen curiously looking visitors, who seemed to enquire about her life here at the TS estate.

We ordered and received a 20 liter drinking water bottle for the new house, where we shall be moving in on Monday afternoon at 5 o’clock. That day we may have our dinner in the room at LBC, which will be practically emptied of our stuff by then, or take it in a carrier with us to the new residence.

The evening study group was usually with nine participants and has started with the book ‘Self Culture’ by I. K. Taimni. The 15 occult principles were reread several times and extensively commented upon. There was sometimes room for expression of different opinions, which is a reassuring thing. Listening and asking to repeat what was read or said are good signs of an open communicative atmosphere. Several times reference was made to various sources of theosophical teaching.

In the afternoons there were again lots of butterflies dancing around each other in the green boarders along the road and also above the road, sometimes interested in and flying during several paces in front of the walker.

At about 6 p.m. the last few days, there was a beautiful full moon to be seen from the beach, of which we took a lot of pictures one day with our cellphone, not too sharp, because of night vision, but rather moody. The other day, we were at the beach gate about ten minutes earlier than the day before and there was more daylight. The full moon was even more beautiful than the day before and we took some pictures with a camera.

On the 18^th October we were in India since one month again. It seems much longer as we are beginning to feel at home and appreciate the culture and organization of the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society. The work is close to our professional experience and should not pose too big a problem. This week we even appear to may have become a little bit productive.

One afternoon, when we were walking on our way back from the headquarters building, we saw two water buffalo's. These animals tend to move about very slowly all over the place and are normally in a group of about six. They were grazing the lawn in front of the main building.

With several colleagues we discussed the possibility of a project aimed at organizing academic studies in the form of a Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion, Philosophy and Science, like the one we ourselves have been studying at for five years in our country of origin. They all were demonstrating a favorable attitude to the idea. Such a Faculty could easily be run by the Theosophical Society at the existing facilities. The teachers would have to be representatives from the different religions, philosophies and sciences and would not earn a salary or honorarium. This sort of academic studies would be meant for students, who have finished their education at secondary schools like the Olcott School and are interested in continuing their academic studies in accordance with the second objective of the Theosophical Society.

 

Saturday there was another farewell party, now at the office, for the colleague, who we are replacing. There was music, snacks, tea, short speeches, jokes and a general feeling of departure. Monday he will be gone and, by coincidence or not, that is the day we shall be moving to our new residence here on the compound. When we were on the way out of the gate, the Telephone Company called for the installation of the connection. It came out, that a new line had to be laid, which is a major work, because the wiring has to go underground. We shall thus have to continue with the cellphone and the pen-drive modem, for the time being. Wi-Fi still appears to be a realistic option for Leadbeater Chambers, as it has been planned to be operational during the Convention and may be during the School of the Wisdom.

That was the week that was,

Bye for now,

Brooder