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 18th 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
