=kit024.txt

KIT 24 - Khumba Mela

What is the internal thrust that lures a person away from the
relative comfort or at least, routine of established life
circumstances, to venture on a pilgrimage into the unknown? Is it
the search for dimensions of the self that one had failed to find
in the usual commonplace circumstances?

Remember C. G. Jung's, "Modern Man in Search of A Soul?" The Greek
philosopher, Plotinus, once said, "That which one fails to
discover in contemplation, one seeks to experience outside
oneself." The Rishi's, "Why did you come so far to see what you
should be?" becomes more pertinent as I grow; the answer, "To
become what I am, I need to see myself in you", less crucial, yet
still relevant. This applies to all of us and has its implication
to the guru/chela relationship. Perhaps the clue is, "I would not
be seeking for you if you were not already virtually in me, albeit
in a different way, but I need to explore a different mode of
expression than the one you have actuated in your being."

Of course, in the same way as your minds are able to realize that
there is always a larger number than the largest number we have
encompassed so far, or a wider space or a longer time, so our
souls are able to imagine that there is a perfection beyond what
we usually portray. It is the nostalgia for this idyllic unknown
in infinite regress that prompts the evolutionary advance of the
universe. In as much as we give vent to our nostalgia for
perfection, we are in pursuit of this perfection. Now we may
understand better why people leave their homes on the meager
chance of an encounter that may change their lives.

Did the Khumba Mela offer this rare chance? One had to have eyes
to see and know how to get to the right place at the right time,
while avoiding being crushed to death by the crowd, cordoned off
and whipped by the police. One had to avoid being way-laid by the
more spectacular sights. One needed to spot the beings of
spiritual stature in their hide-outs or after their bath, in a
procession. It was more subtle than looking for gems amongst lots
of stones. All that glitters is not gold. The atmosphere of beings
is more significant than their appearance. Occasionally, the real
thing: four eyes meeting, four hands clasped in greetings from
afar - in mutual acknowledgement of affinity - speaking? Of what
use the trivia of, "Where do you come from?" The realized beings
shun vain chatting and distrust verbal expression. I recognized in
their bearing and glance, what I was experiencing on my retreats.

Yes, there were a few great ones, perhaps one could have counted
them by the fingers on two hands, in that crowd of five million
people, cantoned on a four mile square. The atmosphere was
electric. Yet as we wandered at one A.M.. on the banks of the
Ganges, amidst unteemed rows of sleepers, somebody remarked, "In
the West, you would never get a crowd like this, so peacefully at
ease with each other." In contrast, the atmosphere of many of the
naked Sadhus was disruptive and reeked of pending violence. The
contrast between the drug addicted Saddhus and the sublime
"rishis" stood out so clearly as a confirmation of what drugs do
to the psyche of humans, and conversely, what the effect of the
clear light of realization, achieved at the cost of great
discipline and renunciation, does to one's whole demeanor.

In the East, the first is called the way of the left hand (the
lesser way) and the second, the royal road. The latter is the way
through which one discovers the divine inheritance latent in one's
being. Pir-o-Murshid once said, "This is the tradition of the King
of Kings." Those wandering on this path recognize each other.

Greetings to you. Life is a great pilgrimage and we are in it
together.   

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