Long Walks On Leafy Streets

12/11/2016 Dieren, Netherlands (Thanks to Rama Satish).
We just came back from sitting with our meditation group, the Washington Mindfulness Community. Tonight was a special sitting, where the families of members joined the meditation. Nicole and I both were able to go and take Prashant with us. I sat in meditation upstairs in the main sanctuary / hall while Nicole stayed with Prashant and the other kids in the basement. While meditating we could hear the shouts of the children. Thay (Thich Nhat Hanh) teaches us to sit with whatever is around us, rather than try to seal ourselves off. In that spirit I simply sat and observed those sounds go through my ears and my mind while being in a restful state. It was very pleasant to be able to listen to the joyful noises being made by the children.

More and more these days I am spending time playing with Prashant because he is of an age where he likes to play a lot. He also makes us read his favorite books to him all the time.
I am getting to enjoy his company as he grows and matures, and feeling grateful for the bond that is growing between us. I think of the world we are leaving to him and feel an even stronger urgency to make it a better place for him. In what way I don’t know yet. All I can do right now is try to be the best I can be, not only at what I do but also in how I live.

Speaking of the future of the world I feel a growing concern about the actions being planned by the new administration. While I feel strong in my belief that truth, justice and fairness will win out one cannot help but worry. Yesterday we went on our annual Christmas tree purchasing to trip to Feezer’s farm in Marriottsville, MD, not far from Ellicott City. I was at first wondering if we should travel to a rural area in the current atmosphere in the country. But then I decided that it is important that we go because part of the problem is that people don’t venture outside their comfort zones. Nicole didn’t even seem to think about that, so we went. I am glad we went because it was a great trip.

It was a little cold yesterday. An arctic air mass that had been sweeping through the country was now blanketing our area. We first stopped at the Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham. Yesterday was my birthday according to the Hindu calendar. After making a puja and getting some food to eat in the car we were on our way. The temple was quite crowded for the annual Ayyappa festival. Many people in my native state of Kerala are devotees of Lord Ayyappa and a lot of them make pilgrimage to his temple atop the Sabarimala hills at this time of the year.

We stopped at the Gateway Overlook mall in Columbia to charge the car. Because of the cold weather the battery drains faster and so we had to charge twice instead of once as we did last year. The mall and the charging station were quite convenient. Nicole visited a Christian bookstore with Prashant while we were charging. On the way back we stopped again and I shopped at the Trader Joe’s. Both the farm and the store were very pleasant places to be, with helpful and friendly people. I felt a bit better about everything after the trip. Prashant was deliriously happy at the farm, running between the various Christmas trees, trying to pull the cart with me and generally being very rambunctious. I can’t wait to take him on hikes in the woods.

Nicole spent the night decorating the Christmas tree after I set it up. I tried to relax, watching a Cricket test match between India and England. It has been a long and hectic semester, what with the marathon and the election thrown in between. But I feel good about how everything went, including the election. I strongly believe that God has a plan and that it is all going to work out for the good of the world. I also feel grateful for the excellent students that I had the good fortune to teach during this semester. It was not always a bed of roses but everything has somehow worked out well.

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