last week, while walking on the main road into town, i noticed that one of the more prominent houses was burnt down. surprised, i asked my friend what happened, and he said that a few weeks ago the 7 year old boy was playing with matches near the gas balloon and it blew up and the boy was watched by god and ran to the other side of the house and was not hurt, but the house and shop attached, were all burnt to the ground. insurance? no.
as weeks had passed i wondered why no one was cleaning up the debris. then yesterday as i walked into town again i saw the very high priest conducting a ceremony at the ruins from the fire. family members surrounded the small raised platform that he sat on, with offerings in abundance. i wondered what exactly was happening. so i asked my friend today about it.
he explained that yesterday was the auspicious day for shadow plays. this is a very special day with many ceremonies taking place, that is why there was also chanting in the loud speaker going on most of the day. a child that is born on this day, may be hyperactive and by the time he is five years old the parents must make a special ceremony with a shadow play performance, costing about $1500.00...very expensive!
the high priest at the site of the burnt house, was purifying the earth, so that it would become neutral again, and then they can rebuild the house. the fire is a sign of destruction. when things begin to be more in darkness than in Light, fire comes and destroys it so it can be neutralized and be created again. "already today the trucks are there, collecting all of the debris, so they can start to rebuild after the purifying of the earth there." i thought how in the west we leave everything just the way it was destroyed, until the insurance man comes and assesses things...then we can throw it out and start anew...whereas here, it has nothing to do with money, rather insurance for a better future, in the Light.
we continued to discuss the Dark and the Light. i was sharing my understanding of the Kabbalah, and aware of many similarities with Hinduism. But the basic difference i found was that even though we both believe that our "work" is to choose the Light, after recognizing the Darkness, in Hinduism it is mainly by fear of the next incarnation that gives the strength to choose the Light. He also related to incarnations, as "seasons" that we have to go through. much more cyclical and repetitive. In Judaism it seems to me like it is out of a desire to become the vessel God created us to be, without any fear involved. it feels more linear. The goal is the same, but the path is slightly different. here, those who are "old souls", having been reincarnated many times already and are closer to the Light, may be a high priest, or priest in this lifetime. while "younger souls" are still very energetic and clever, and may be creating nuclear weapons and have much to learn about Darkness and Light, many more incarnations await them. now, this time for the universe, is the Kali Yuga, the "season" of the darkest times, the most corruption, the biggest temptations for our Ego. the universe was created standing on four legs, and was very sturdy. then it was only on three, and as the "seasons" passed, only on two. and now in the kali yuga, it stands only on one leg. very unstable. if people are not making an effort to choose the Light, the Dark will be stronger and this one unstable leg which the universe rests on now, will fall over to the Dark, and need to be destroyed, like the burnt house, so that we can begin again neutral, and create a better universe.
i believe that audio life here has a very strong impact on the people. waking up to different chanting everyday, by different people, in the microphone, and chanting going on all day during auspicious days (i think at least once a week there is an auspicious day) gives a sense of holiness and unity and a taste that each day is truly unique and special. i also suddenly realized that we can never judge someone else, since each of us is in our own "season" of development. when we are ready, we can choose the Light.
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