Sharing Most Spiritually-Uplifting PUBLIC Happenings

[Still_Waters]

Yesterday, a friend of mine asked me to identify some of the most Spiritually-Uplifting PUBLIC Happenings in my life. (He was not referring to meditation experiences specifically but rather to something that happened in a public place that was spiritually-uplifting.)

The first thing that came to mind was a 7-day visit to Lhasa (Tibet) in the early 1980s.

There was an awesome aura and peace surrounding virtually ALL of the people whom I met. I learned that the Tibetan word for the body is "LU", which means "that which is left behind". Their focus is constantly on the spiritual throughout the day as they carry out their daily responsibilities with full realization that all this (body and material things) shall pass away.

At the market place, whenever there were no customers at a particular stall, the vendor would be chanting on his/her prayer beads. Tibetans would be walking down the street chanting on their prayer beads ... silently or vocally. At the Jokhang Temple in the center of the city, people would prostate as they circumnavigated the temple before entering. Within the temple, there was an awesome energy as people were holding their prayer beads and chanting with an obvious absorbed intensity. The aura at the nearby monasteries (Drepung and Sera) was even more intense.

When I went into the Potala Palace (former residence of the Dalai Lama in Tibet) and other similar places open to the public, that too had an awesome aura with altars and prayer cushions and candles throughout the many halls.

At one point, I was surprised when an elderly Tibetan man on the street called out to me in English. I asked him what there was to do in Lhasa, and he looked at me incredulously and responded "we chant" with a conviction that indicated that there was nothing more important to do than to purify one's self. At that time, chanting a mantra repetitiously seemed bizarre .. until, later in life, I found myself doing the same purification practice. Some English-speaking Tibetans who wanted to practice their English invited me into their homes and each home had an altar with statues of the Buddha in a very prominent place. When family members were not otherwise occupied, they would sit near the altar and simply chant.

Prayer flags flew over the homes. Prayer wheels were everywhere. Everything that one saw and heard directed one's attention to the spiritual.

Within a single day in that environment, one could feel an intense spiritual awareness and peace (intoxicating in an indescribable way) permeating one's entire being and it became virtually impossible to have an impure thought in such a place. The atmosphere was electric and unforgettable.

Please feel free to share any similar experiences in a public setting that were particularly spiritually-uplifting for you as well as for others in that environment.

[Still_Waters]

Another experience was accompanying my spiritual mentor to the Khumba Mela in Haridwar, India, in 1998. For those who are unfamiliar with the Khumba Mela, it is the largest spiritual event in the world as Hindus converge on the city and masters who live in the Himalaya Caves come out for this very special occasion.

From the cracking of dawn until way past the setting of the sun, all one can hear is chanting from the various ashrams and tents along the Ganges River. Wherever one looks, there are spiritual images. An awesome purifying spiritual energy permeates the whole city.

I was fortunate to have been in the Great Procession to the Ganges. As the gates of the Acharya Palace opened, the procession with elephants and chariots proceeded down the crowd-lined flower-strewed path to the Ganges with millions of people in attendance. I was there for almost three weeks and it was virtually impossible to have an impure thought in one's mind.

In addition, I was able to accompany my teacher to the Bandaras (feasts) where we were constantly in the presence of great souls. At our ashram, we were also able to meet sages from the Himalayan Caves who came to visit my teacher.

This was an unforgettable spiritually uplifting unforgettable experience.

NOTE: It would be great to hear others here describe some of their unforgettable spiritually uplifting experiences in a public venue.