Silence and The Celebration

"Freedom breathes in the

throb of the universe."

Swami Vivekananda

In all parts of the world, when people need a break, they seek a secluded place.A place Where they can feel freedom. A place where they can come close to their soul and therefore come close to the Universe. A place where there are no irritating sounds of honking vehicles, where there can be no fights for a seat in metro. A place away from the hulla bulla of cities. Let me take you to one of such places where in celebration will bring peace, if what i felt, is true .

"When we dance, we are free. To put it better, our

spirit can travel through the universe, while our

body follows a rhythm that is not part of the

routine."- Paulo Coelho

People were dancing in delight. They were dancing as if they were attained the infinite. An old devotee of Lord Krishna was deeply absorbed in the "Hare Krishna" tune. He was happy as if he were never born , he was happy as if he would never die. He was enjoying himself . He was celebrating Krishna. The whole ambience was giving the "Meera Ho Gayi Magan" kind of feel .

It was the aarati time in the forenoon at the ISKCON temple. Everything was in the The rhythm. It did not matter if you know how to dance. Only your presence was needed and everything else followed by itself.

 I sat there for sometime in kirtan and then I came out of temple. I came across some people who were in dhoti kurta, probably they were from priest family . It was sunday afternoon and I had all the time in the world. I asked them "It is a temple. Why do people dance here?". They told me about bhakti yoga(the yoga of devotion). "It’s about dancing to the sounds of Krishna’s flute, not showing off our own riffs or the sway of our hips. It's about forgetting yourself and getting closer to the higher self", they said. 

They were also concerned about people making the temple a tourist place instead of devotional place. Personally I liked only the kirtan part and dancing people in ecstasy to the bhajans of krishna. Rest of the temple gave me the feeling of an exhibition.There were a few things that I did not like but there is a saying "life is too short to focus on things you do not like." I gave a miss to the film on krishna. I liked the book store. If you have interest in exploring Krishna in literature , you might pick one of those books .

If you are a devotee of Krishna , then you might not need a reason. You should simply go there and join people like you. You will forget everything and go into the celebration mode.This place gives perfect freedom to you to sing and to dance and to worship, all at a time. This will certainly make you happy and stress free. Once in a while everyone wants this kind of a day. Please do not miss the Janmastami celebration there.

If you are not a devotee and just another visiter, then this place can make you wonder.

So many people dancing together--- a great example of bonhomie.

So many people opening their hearts out to Krishna--- a great example of unity.

Non professional bhajan singers creating magic with music--- this will certainly kill you.

           

A few hours free from office politics,

A few hours away from jealousy,

A few hours free from anger,

A few hours devoid of desire,

A few hours away from this

Mechanical world,

A few hours close to your Krishna,

A few hours close to yourself,

A few hours close to the universe,

Shall definitely bring purity and Silence.

"Out of purity and silence comes the word of power."-Swami Vivekananda

Nonetheless to say when I returned from the temple , had an icecream and boarded the DTC bus back to my room, I was free.