Long Walks On Leafy Streets

12/18/24

Georgetown Waterfront, Washington DC, Jun 16, 2024    

Contemplations


On Monday two weeks ago (Dec 3) I went to Georgetown Waterfront around lunchtime. My original plan was to attend a seminar at the University of Maryland in College Park, on number theory, after my number theory students had finished their final exam. The exam went longer than expected so I decided to go to Georgetown instead, after eating the lunch that I had brought from home.

Much as I enjoy teaching, it is always a relief when the last of the final exams is given and the grading is done. Whether it is the winter break or summer break, there is some time to do research and other things on one's own schedule. This semester was particularly hectic with the elections also taking place during this time. So it felt great to walk down the streets of Georgetown to the waterfront. The weather was in the fifties, unusually warm for this time of the year, as it is so often these days.

I sat by the steps by the river. In a minute I was surrounded by a huge flock of gulls and pigeons. Apparently this has become their feeding ground. I didn't have anything on me nor would I have fed them even if there was anything. Just don't think it is a good idea. It was a bit uncomfortable to be honest, to have so many birds standing so close to you. I guess it takes getting used to, or perhaps my lovingkindness practice is not yet mature. Anyway I got up and just walked around the surrounding park area. There were quite a few people, perhaps out for lunch, although not as many as in non-working hours. An old lady started throwing bread crumbs and the birds got into a frenzy. The pigeons beat the gulls to the crumbs everytime. Even when a crumb fell near a gull the pigeons would push them away and grab it. Such is nature, but who are we to judge? I try to learn to love it as it is. In the eyes of God everything is beautiful.

7-30-2010, Dumbarton Chapel, Washington, DC    

I have always enjoyed visiting Georgetown. Probably a lot to do with the river. Nicole and I enjoy spending time around water, whether it is a river, a lake, or the ocean. Georgetown is where we had our first date, where we got engaged, and where as a family have spent many a weekend afternoon. The river was full of water from the recent rains. I stood by a railing just watching it flow by, for a few minutes.

Slowly it brought me back to the days when I used to do this more often. My worries and thoughts subsided and I started feeling carefree. Thich Nhat Hanh often talks about being at home in the present moment, not worrying about the past or the future. For a moment I felt completely at peace with life. Have a really arrived home?

Maybe there are still things I don’t understand, but more and more I feel at peace with myself, that I don't need to worry about achieving anything, just live life and love everyone as well as I could. Nevertheless I also need to take care of myself for the sake of Prashant, Nicole and the rest of my family.

May 28 2024, Bayview Park, Perth Amboy, NJ    

I had a similar moment of revelation during my stay in New Jersey with my parents last summer. This has become an annual event for us. After the end of the academic year I rent a home and we spend a week together, just the three of us. One summer we stayed in a home in Lewes, DE near the beach. Another in Brookland, Washington, DC. Little did I know that we will be moving to the Brookland area not long after! The reason for choosing New Jersey was the abundance of temples and South Indian vegetarian restaurants. My mother is in her 80's and my father in the 90's, and they are used to a certain lifestyle and food. New Jersey turned out to be a very good choice.

I am enjoying more and more spending time with my father, and starting to appreciate him for who he is. He has a strong independent nature, simple needs (but not simple minded), and a good heart. He grew up in a small town called Alleppey in Kerala.

It is now a tourist hub but when he was growing up it was almost rural. He would swim and bathe in the temple pond and spend a lot of time playing with his friends at the Beach. When we visited the Bayview Park in Perth Amboy he got onto the swinging chair and started swinging like he were a little boy.

5-23-2024 Spring Lake Park, South Plainfield, NJ    

We stayed in South Plainfield, near the Spring Lake park. The Airbnb owner was very nice and we even had coffee with him one morning. I enjoyed running around the lake and the nearby streets. We found many restaurants where they could eat as if they were in Chennai or Coimbatore. I loved the energy and industry of the people. We also visited my nephew Nitin in New York City one day, travelling by train and bus to East village. Taking my mother in a wheelchair by train and bus proved to be a bit difficult. Dare I say Washington metro and Union station do a better job for people with wheelchairs? The people including the drivers were very helpful and so it wasn't too bad but next time I would rather deal with the traffic and drive the rental car.

My mother enjoyed visiting the temples more. I love visiting temples myself, and overall it was good, but a few of the temples were a bit too much.

It felt like they were trying too hard to make the temples as grand and as orderly as possible. Temples in India are almost always crowded and often chaotic, nevertheless you always feel the spiritual energy. Unfortunately sometimes in temples in the US you only feel the former. Of course, it is hard to replicate the atmosphere and I appreciate what they are trying to do.

Sri Sarada Temple, Coimbatore, India 12-28-2018    

One of those days in New Jersey I had a difficult time at the temples and with my parents. Nothing serious, just the sort of routine friction that arises between human beings. The next morning I was walking around Spring lake. Suddenly I felt completely empty and rootless. I have heard of people having a crisis of faith. I started questioning everything— my beliefs, my faith in Advaita and the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, my purpose in life,... It was quite unexpected and surprising. Perhaps it was nothing, perhaps it was a sign of a deeper spiritual yearning. But it went away soon. Ultimately the sense of oneness of all creation that I have deep within, of "interbeing" as Thich Nhat Hanh calls it, was strong enough to overcome the doubts and provide purpose.

A few days after the visit to Georgetown, I was doing morning sandhyavandanam as usual. I started to just observe while chanting the Gayatri mantra, as usual.

I suddenly realized that the observer is the same as the observed. As Krishna says in the Gita, the victim and the killer are the same. There is no higher consciousness within me that is observing the rest of me. All consciousness is the same. Every cell in the body has the same consciousness. It is our illusion that creates the difference, the feeling that there is a higher consciousness. The body and mind complex is also helping to observe and to think about the higher consciousness. So it is not possible that they are separate from it.

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