Mission San Juan Capistrano

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August 12, 2009

Yesterday I made a wonderful trip to one the most prominent California missions, Mission San Juan Capistrano, which is located about 100 kilometers south of Los Angeles. To give you a little background on what the missions are, I quote the opening paragraph from the Wikipedia:

“The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to colonize the Pacific Coast region, and gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land. The settlers introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the California region… Today, the missions are among the state’s oldest structures and the most-visited historic monuments.”

The Capitsrano mission is located immediately off the 5 freeway at the Ortega Highway exit and anyone who is traveling between San Diego and Los Angeles, and who is interested in California history and religion, should stop and take a tour. This is a must see site. From my travels in Europe I have gained a keen sense of living and dead historical sites and this one is definitely living. Its ruins go back almost 300 years and for the western coast of North America this, indeed, is ‘ancient.’ The local community, San Juan Capistrano, is in one of the best areas of Orange County and even though the Mission has become a tourist location, the local city keeps the surrounding area tasteful. There is nothing tacky here. Walking into the mission one is immediately swept up by its peacefulness and serenity. This Capistrano mission is an oasis of spiritual serenity. It is a place where you can sit and “recharge,” and when I sat in the main courtyard facing the central fountain and the gardens, I could immediately feel the calm and spirituality of the mission wash over me. One can successfully make a tour of this place in about two hours, but I would allow at least 15 minutes to just sit and feel the ambience. There is an excellent walking audio tour that I recommend, which gives the history of the various rooms and activity centers. Listening to these sound bites one learns a lot about the history and what life in the California frontier must have been like. The highlight of my visit was the Serra Church with its 300 year old Spanish baroque altar, and the ruins of the Great Stone Church. See the photos. The Serra Church is a living place of worship with mass everyday at 7AM, and without a doubt it is the engine that keeps the mission alive and spiritually potent. The ruins of The Great Stone Church, which is actually a basilica, are just remnants from the past because the original structure was destroyed during an earthquake in 1812. Over 40 worshippers died in this disaster, which occurred only ten years after the church was completed. This church is sometimes called the American Acropolis, but having seen the Athen’s acropolis, there is no comparison. Regardless, the ruins are impressive in their own right and give a solid indication of what a magnificent structure this place once was.

The curious thing is that this grand structure is completely out of sync with the religious mood of the mission. Today, the mission is a peaceful, serene, and rustic spiritual retreat, a spiritual oasis in the heart of a high-tech and upbeat modern world. The presence of a basilica in the midst of this rustic simplicity seems out of place. To make a Hindu comment on this matter, we think of worship as a form of meditation that produces a certain “flavor” or “taste.” This is called rasa. Worship in a grand way, as one would find in a large basilica, produces another state of mind that contemplates the divine in a majestic way. Majesty produces a particular kind religious “taste.” Take the example of the Vatican in Rome. There one finds a kind of imperial Christianity. Christ is worshipped in a majestic way with huge basilicas adorned with gold and silver, precious gems, gorgeous paintings and other priceless works of art. You can see a similar kind of worship in many large Hindu temples in India. As you enter these grand imperial “palaces” you get the feeling that you are approaching God as the “King of the Universe.” One is over powered by the grander of the architecture and the opulence of the art. This is the worship of the divine following the way of majesty. In Hinduism this is called Aisvarya, the “majestic way.” But there are other ways to worship. Take the worship of Krishna in the rustic village of Vrindavan, which is the “birth-site” of Krishna. Instead of seeing huge temples and opulent styles or worship, which is what you may expect, one finds simple and rustic temples with very little opulence. In Vrindavan Krishna is worshipped in a rustic simplicity that produces a sweetness and intimacy that is distinct from the majestic way. In Hinduism this sweet way of worship is called madhurya, the worship of the divine with simplicity and spontaneity. The mission at San Juan Capistrano follows this sweet mode and you feel it everywhere. It is simple village life built around the worship of God, and the Serra Church perfectly embodies this approach. The Great Stone Church, on the other hand, follows the majestic way and seems completely out of sync or in contrary religious “taste” with the mood of this mission. From this perspective the loss of The Great Stone church has preserved the sweet mode of worship that can be found at Mission San Juan Capistrano. I will return for the 7AM mass one day.

Click here for more photos

The House of the Virgin Mary

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Saturday, Aug 2 2008

The house of the Virgin is powerful. There are only a few places that truly reach out and touch me, and this is one. There is a story that Saint John brought the mother of Jesus to this place during her final days. For a time John lived in Ephesus not far from here. This is the place where she apparently attained ascension. This makes the site a kind of Samadhi shrine like you find in Vrindavan. The site has a controversial history because it was only discovered in recent times during the 19th century. Following the details outlined in a vision of an 18th century German mystic, this place was discovered by a French pilgrim. The Christian communities in the Mideast, of course, condemn this place as a fraud. They have their own site for her ascension. The Roman Church, after carbon dating the original foundation and finding that it indeed does go back to the first century, and then along with other textual evidence and local traditions, has accepted this place as an official pilgrimage site. Many popes have visited the place, even the current one. Regardless of whether the site is genuine or not I felt the sanctity and pull of this place. A lot of this may simply come from the pilgrims themselves. I now have three strong “pulling places” all connected to the Virgin: Notre Dame in Paris, Santa Maria Novella in Florence and the house of the Virgin here near Ephesus in Turkey. My attraction to these feminine sites of pilgrimage is indicative of a major shift in my religious mood over the last decade. I have moved from the male to the female.

Is this place her actual final home? God only knows, but for pilgrimage purposes it does not matter. The feelings are here and that is what matters. Like most places you cannot take photos inside, but I can tell you that it is plain inside with just a few photos of the Virgin and a simple wooden altar at the front. The walls are stone and there are lamps mounted throughout with candles burning. The air is filled with incense and atmosphere is serene and meditative. I sat on a simple wooden chair for a few minutes and took in the ‘airs’ of this room. I felt “home,” like sitting in the lap of my mother as a child. (Analyze that!) What I was interested to hear, and not surprised, was that even in pre Christian times the cult of the Mother Goddess was prominent throughout the Anatolia area of Turkey. This is evidenced by the ancient goddess Kybele (Cybele) being associated with the famous temple to the Goddess Artemis, the sister of Zeus at Ephesus. I will come to this shortly. Clearly the sentiment of the people towards a feminine divinity in this region simply shifted from the pre Christian to the Christian version of the same form of worship. This is natural. The archetype of Mother permeates human consciousness and easily shifts in its ethnic and local manifestations. So to move from the archaic form of the deity as Kybele and then into the Greek goddess Artemis and then into a Christian manifestation is not surprising. For reasons that are not yet clear to me I am emotionally drawn to this feminine form of worship. I started out in the “Father” mood and now I have shifted to the “Mother” mood. Given my Protestant background, I find this unusual.

When I travel to religious places, irrespective of what the religion is, I cannot help but fall into the mode of a pilgrim. As a dog cannot help but wag its tail, I cannot help but be religious. If I can, I always attend a mass or take the Eucharist when I am at a church. So while here I lit two candles and tied a strip of “prayer cloth” to a nearby fence. The purpose of doing this, of course, is to leave a presence. I want to remain in the lap of my Mother. I also took a sip from the healing fountains. This is like taking a dip in the waters of the Ganga.

 

First Trip to Turkey My Impressions

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Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008

Traveled all night on the ship. Very restful sleep. The wave-rocking is peaceful. The seas were actually rough. I am on a lower deck just 3 or 4 meters above the water level and so the waves were crashing against my portal all night, but I love the rocking along with the sound of wind and water. It reminds me of my trailer in the desert rocking in the wind. I was surprised that I did not get sea sick. God, I remember my first trip across the English Channel on a ferry boat one horrible night in January. I was sick to death by the time I reached France. At any rate, got up early this morning, ate and left the ship by 6:45 AM and boarded a bus at the port of Kusadasi in Turkey and was driven to the house of the Virgin Mary and then to Ephesus, the site of ancient Greek ruins. Kusadasi and Ephesus are situated in the Anatolia region of Turkey. It is an area with a lot of significance for Christianity.

This is my first time in Turkey and I am pleasantly surprised. What I see is a clean and well organized developing country. I expected squalor and filth, but I did not see it. I asked our tour guide, a Turkish girl, if the rest of the country was also clean. She said it was because in the last twenty years Turkey has been cleaning up; it is apparently not like it used to be. I was told a similar story by an American traveler I met back at Stonehenge who had been in the Istanbul and Constantinople areas. If this is true, then the Turks are doing a good job! Turkey is preparing to join the European Union and so I am sure the cleanup is part of this plan. I will definitely return to Turkey.

Turkey has mostly a Muslim population, but in spite of this, it is a democracy and a secular state. Our tour guide, a woman originally from Istanbul, was proud to tell us that of the 51 Muslim countries in the world, Turkey was the only one with a true democracy. Walking in the streets of Kusadasi, which is admittedly a resort and port city, and therefore I am sure more secular, I do not see any evidence of this being a Muslim state. The women, as far as I see, do not wear head covering in the streets, but I am sure they do in the Mosques. I had a good chat with one lady who was selling Turkish jewelry in a shop near the port terminal. She was clean, well dressed, educated and straight forward. I learned that Turkish jewelry is made only with 24 kt gold. I was amazed. Now I want to buy some of that Turkish Jewelry, and Anna, you know how expensive my taste can be!

I do notice that many shop keepers in Kusadasi think I am Jewish because of my shikha (top knot). Being Jewish in a Muslim country, even a secular one, does not excite me. I will probably wear a hat next time. Unfortunately there was little time to spend shopping, but I did manage to buy a set of zils in a belly dancing shop, just for fun! I feel like the guy in the movie, Defending Your Life. On a cruise you are moved from one activity to next, from one place to the next, with hardly anytime to relax, and the only compensation that you get is that the food is great! Regardless, I will return to Turkey. This was just my first taste and overall I was impressed.

Traveling by Train

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February 28, 1987 Old Delhi train station

Delhi Train Station

I am sitting in a train compartment waiting to leave for Calcutta. The time is 7:30 AM. India has changed a lot since one year ago. The prices are higher, plastic bags are used when you buy things, computerization of train system, etc. We took a bus from Vrindavan yesterday to Delhi. Stayed with Dayananda and Nandarani. They are doing good work with Garuda, gave us a number of excellent contacts in Calcutta. We have a lot of work to do in Bengal. I expect we’ll spend a lot of time there. So far the trip has been very successful. London was good. Delhi and Vrindavan were good. We’ve made a number of new discoveries about TBV and Bhaktisiddhanta as well we have opened into new areas of the Gandiya Sampradaya, Babajis and caste Goswamis.

Being on this train is like being at home. This trip will take 24 hours. Calcutta to Madras will take 10 hours. You learn to live on these trains. This time we have bed rolls instead of bare bunks to lie on. Riding the trains is great. I like the clickety-clack and the roll. We are about 50 miles east of Delhi now. The land is flat and hazy – temp about 60 degrees. It will go up to 75 today. How is the weather in NV? – cold I bet.

Narrow Gauge Tracks in Bengal

We have uncovered so much new material. It’s amazing We have found a whole set of Sajjana Toshani in Calcutta. So how are you? I hope that you are not in difficulty. It seems that we spend a lot of time separated from each other. What can be done? I wish you were here. I can’t properly describe it to you. I feel very at home here. The climate is beautiful and the people are friendly. So far on this trip I am doing better than last time. Everything is familiar. I feel comfortable. Of course as long as health holds up everything is good. I wonder how the kids are doing? What school are they in? Are you even in NV? Please, keep these letters, they can be published one day. Hare Krsna.

Shukavak Das

Middle India

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Thursday, February 12, 1987 Central India

Tirupati Hills

Somewhere between Nagpur and Bopal the terrain changes dramatically. The land is higher and rocky. We even passed through a of number tunnels. There is no more irrigated agriculture. I see lots of goats and the growing of wheat. The topography is much more familiar. It looks like scenes I’ve seen in rural Ontario. Even the trees have a familiar shape. Of course, I can still see lots of sugar cane. It looks like August in rural eastern Ontario. Just pretend the that sugar cane is corn. Further north it looks like late fall in Haliburton, very beautiful. There is one difference, however, anywhere in India, no matter how remote the location you can look out toward the horizon and see at least one person squatting and evacuating, an all pervasive obnoxious practice. If you step off the main track anywhere in India you will step on a turd.

 

Water Buffalo Cart

There are few fences in India, you see herds of cattle or goats, but they are always tended by a person. People do everything. Hundreds women with little hammers sit and crack stones to make gravel! Then other women carry the gravel in bamboo baskets on their heads to where it must be. This is the way. It is a labor intensive culture. Labor is dirt cheap. This is the result of education. or the lack thereof. Take the female rock breakers and give them an education and will they still break rocks? There are very distinct classes people in India. There are millions of low class people. Ride the second class unreserved train and see their habits. Then ride A. C. two tier. Such a different type of Indian. Completely different. The huge mass of population is even less than second class unreserved. That is why the place is so filthy. You can’t have it both ways. If you want women to crack rocks then you can’t expect them not to evacuate in the streets. I am sure education would completely change this society, but then what would all of the people do?

 

Madras

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Wednesday, February 11, 1987

Gaur Keshava: Mahabalipuram

Now I am alone. I purposely left Gaur in order to be alone. I have to become confident in moving around in the country. When I go with him, he dominates and I never learn to do things myself. He wants to go to Kovalam and body serf for a week. Kovalan is a great beach, but it is full of nude European women. It’s a hippy scene. I’m not into it. I’ve got work to do in Vrindavan. I can’t waste my time bathing with naked women. I also want to see Toshan and Bhurijan and discuss with them the things that I have discovered in Bengal. So I decided to go from Madras to Mathura by train (36 hours trip). I’ll spend a few days in Vrindavan and interview Shrivatsa and Vishvambar Gosvamis, talk to Toshan and Bhurijan, do some sadhana, have a rest, then go to Delhi, talk to some shastri people there, then fly to Bombay, spend a day there, then fly to NY. Should come in around the 25th.

 

Trouble and Fun

I may have to stop in London unless Air India lets me go all the way. I have a separate ticket which by strict law would make me stop in London, then rebook for NY, but I’ll try to bypass this formality. I did this last year. Today we visited the Parthasarthi Temple in Madras, fabulous. In this respect Gaur is the best. We get into places that I could never enter on my own. He is expert. He is just too much in the mode passion. He wears me down. The guy needs a wife like anything to cool him down. But he’ll be a hard catch. He loves to roam. Anyway, one day the right girl will come along. It will be good for him, but pity the girl she will have to be as tough as leather to handle him.

Shrirangam Temple Towers

I can see this trip to Delhi is going to be hellish. I’ve got a compartment with a westernized Delhi couple. The woman’s a real hotty and she can’t keep her hands off the guy. I don’t need that type of agitation. Oh dear, such austerity. Apart from having your company, I’d just like you to see what I am seeing. In the south Vaishnavism is completely different than in the north, fabulous architecture and sculpture. Grandeur on the greatest scale. Vrindavan is old and run down and filthy. It’s very hard to appreciate. But the Shri Vaisnava situation immediately holds the mind and makes one feel good for being a part of this culture. Personally I consider Shri Rangam and Tirupati as much as a part of my spiritual life as Vrindavan. Shri Vaishnavism attracts me. I’d like you to see it at least once. When you come to Shantiniketan I will take you to Madras and Tirupati. You must see it!

Elephant with Chamara Fan

This trip so far has been highly successful. I’ve done what had to be done on TBV. There is much more. I could spend a year in it researching in Bengal and Orrisa. But at least if the situation does not allow us to return, I’ve got enough information to present a good study of TBV. Evening is coming now. The terrain is flat in the distance. I can see the factories around Madras. There’s not a cloud in the sky only the golden hue as the sun sets. I’m feeling a little homesick. What are you doing? And the kids secure? I’m so far away. I’m in such a different world. I have seen things which you could not imagine. As Krishna has looked after me so I am sure he has looked after you. Every night I never know where I am going to sleep or how I will eat or how I will travel. But every night I sleep and everyday I eat. Sometimes it is better or less than the previous, but always Krishna looks after me. I rely on Krishna. Traveling creates this kind of reliance, but the same dependence on Krishna applies even when one is not traveling. You just notice more when you are traveling because you are more vulnerable. Difficulties come and go, pleasures also come and go. Sometimes the train is early and sometimes it is late. Sometimes the train is on time and I go first class. But in all cases I get to my destination by Krishna’s grace. And even if I don’t and he takes me somewhere else, it turns out for the better. The same logic applies in New Vrindavan.

 

Tirumala Temple

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February, 10, 1987 Tirumala

Now I have seen God, Shri Venkateshvara (Balaji). Truely a sight of aishwarya. I have to admit that I prefer aishwarya to madhurya. It’s so fantastic inside this temple. This is what I expect to see and feel like when I go to a place of pilgrimage. Vrindavan just does not fill that need for religious grandeur and mysticism. Ascending the hill is like ascending to heaven. The view is spectucular. Today we spent 7 hours on the train and 3 and a half hours on buses. I was only able to eat two peanut butter sandwiches. I am exhausted, but the trip was successful. As soon as possible I will leave Gaur Keshava and go to Vrindavan. I want to travel alone to get that experience and confidence. Plus I want to see Shri Vatsa Goswami and Vishwambara and Bhurijan and Toshan in Vrindavan. I cannot justify spending a week in sun and surf in Kovalam. It’s a waste of time. If I go to Vrindavan I can get some work done and do some sadhan and get some rest as well. I want to be alone now.

South India

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February 9, 1987 Vijawada (8 hours from Madras)

So now we are in the south of India. It is much different that the north. Hotter, cleaner, fewer beggars, more organized and less rushing. Now we are in the heat. I’ve been looking through my date book and I realize that by tomorrow we will have been out of NV four weeks. I can hardly believe it. To me it seems only a few days. Time flies by when you are traveling. Everyday we have been doing something and going somewhere. I also realize that I am quite tired. All this moving is hard work. The countryside in the south is beautiful. We’ve even seen orange trees. The scenery is tremendous, a lot of agriculture and mountains. After 2 weeks in Calcutta and Bengal the south is a pleasure. No crowds and clean and orderly even color television in the Madras train station. Even saw the police chase beggars away from the train station. The feeling up in these mts is uplifting and enchanting.

East and West

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Wednesday, February 4, 1987 Krishnagar

Ice Cream

I am sitting in the train station waiting to go to Birnagar. I have about an hour wait. I am feeling a little lonely. I am starting to get a little tired of India and traveling. India is endless. You get into your hotel room or train bunk and you can turn it off for a few hours, but then you have to leave and go back into it all again. It’s impossible to get my westernization out of my head. I miss western foods and sounds. What can I say? Bengali music and tastes just doesn’t do it for me.

On the way from London

Probably in week we’ll be finished in Bengali and can get out. I like long train trips, it gives a chance to rest and think and digest everything. The plan is to travel as a bit of a holiday after Bengal. I am not looking forward to going back to NV and winter. After another week or so we will have worked our guts out. Traveling and interviewing people is hard work. I want to spend a few days on the beach in Kovalam and rest. Sun and serf. You’ll probably not like to hear this, especially if you’re living in NV in all that cold weather and craziness going on. I want to miss as much of it as I can. After the middle of February I have to go back to Vrindavan in order to interview Shri Vatsa and Visvambar Gosvamis. After that I have to go to Bombay to leave. My flight goes from there on the 25th of February. I will try to go all the way through to NY, but they may make me stop in London. If so there’s a few things I can do there. London was great. There’s a few books I should try to get there. I left my boots in Vrindavan so I hope most of the snow is gone by then. All I have are sandals now.

Love, Shukavak