While the chaos in Israel/Palestine thickens, I’ve decided its worth taking a break from contemplating the madness to focus on some of the blessings that have occurred in the past few months, particularly my adventures in India that led to meeting some wonderfully spiritual musicians, the Bauls of Bengal.  Earlier on in this blog, I described a bit about the Bauls, just before setting out on the journey to find them in Shantiniketan, West Bengal.  The journey was only a few short hours from where the United Religions Initiative conference in Mayapur took place. (Read below for more details.) 

Upon meeting Deb Das Baul, I felt as though I were meeting an old friend after not seeing him for many years.  His energy was warm, inviting, and fatherly.  We were introduced by phone through a mutual friend and professional videographer, Charlie Steiner, who had made a film about the Bauls from footage taken over a twenty year period.  A curious search on You Tube just landed me with this link, a clip about Deb Das made by another videographer named Harry Matthews.  Here, you will find Deb Das speaking about the essence of Baul philosophy, which is a true example of “interfaith” living.  A blend of Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism, the Baul “religion” detests fundamentalism, adhering to only the deepest levels of the Spirit permeating all things.   The Baul’s spiritual practice is one I can personally relate to on the deepest levels ~ the performance of devotional, sacred music.  We spent about three days with their family, playing music, eating the humblest Indian meals of daal, rice and chapati, and contemplating the mystical aspects of religious tradition.

Watch the video of Deb Das Baul here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnD4bRt1n8&feature=related

It’s quite awkward that right after I arrived in India the attacks in Mumbai occurred, leading to the threat of war between India and Pakistan.  Similarly, the day after I arrived in Israel, the consistent threat of war between Israel and Gaza has become quite real.

The bible sayeth thus: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the earth.”  Right now, Im trying to get my bearings, and figure out what on earth is up with my strange timing.  Later this week, I will be in Bethlehem arranging details for some peace concerts I will be performing at through a group called Bridges for Cultural Exchange.  Earlier this week I called an old friend who is one of the organizers for The Sulha Peace Project (www.sulha.com) to say hello, and as a result ended up sitting at a meeting of Israeli Peace NGO’s (the counterpart of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum www.peacengo.org) only a few hours later.  There, dozens of grassoots peace leaders attempted to identify what roles they could play in alleviating the conflict.  Of course, everyone spoke in Hebrew, so I could only understand a bit.  But I did finally meet Eyal Raviv, the mastermind behind the Facebook/MySpace-inspired Middle East Peacemakers networking forum, www.mepeace.org.  Check it out and sign up as you like…it is a very good way to meet others who are working for and promoting peace in the region.

My dear friend Miriam, who is getting her Masters in Middle East Studies and has a focus on peacework, ended up in Tel Aviv three days ago after a rocket fell on her street in Be’er Sheva.  She laughs ironically as she calls herself a refugee.

Despite the bombs dropping, everything is Tel Aviv is business as usual.  The shuk was hopping Friday afternoon as the shopkeepers screamed in their bountiful voices, “Shalosh Shekel, Shalosh Shekel!”   I have been running into old friends left and right since I have been back, and, despite the distant violence, I feel very peaceful within and happy to be back here. 

This morning I read an article posted in September’s issue of Tikkun Magazine.  It was an interview with Michael Lerner and Sami Awad of the Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian peace group based in Bethlehem.  It was a very interesting article, focusing on the gleanings of a Palestinian non-violence movement.  Read the article here: http://www.tikkun.org/archive/backissues/tik0809/politics/awad

May we be blessed to see and experience true and lasting peace, inside and out, in our lifetimes.

I have spent the last 12 days on the banks of the Ganges in Mayapur, India, sitting in dialogue with spiritual and religious leaders from around the world.  I’ve met incredible new companions while pushing the boundaries of my knowledge of culture, tradition, religious practice and spiritual understanding.

Last night a group of us had the honor of being hosted in the home of a celebrated Vedic Astrologer who lives with his family here on the ISKCON Campus.  We played sitar, guitar, mrdungum and sang sacred songs.  We celebrated Shabbat with an interfaith Indian dinner and were given a lovingly descriptive tour of the altar in their home.  The deities Krisna and Radha smiled at us from the altar as we played music together, celebrating life and honoring the sacred in all things.

Tomorrow I will set forth on the next leg of my journey, in search of the mystical musicians known as the Bauls of Bengal.  Located only a few hours from where we have been hosted in The Land of the Golden Avatar, the Bauls are  a legendary esoteric sect of Hindu and Sufi minstrels.  In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO. 

The website http://www.adem.ch/Projets/baulspres.html  writes, “The musical culture and life style of the Bauls has inspired village life in Bengal so deeply that Bengali people have protected Baul practitioners for many centuries. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (13th Century) was the greatest known Baul singer, and he travelled all over India. History counts him as the biggest influence among Baul poets and singers of later generations.

The word ” Baul ” refers to three terms : betul, which means ” mad “, ” out of rhythm ” ; vayu, ” air “, or the inner flow of energy which gives life and harmony to all sentient beings ; and âuliyâ, a term of Arabic origin, which means ” saint “, ” holy man “. Bauls can come from a Hindu or a Muslim background ; in both cases, they are usually rebels against orthodox practices and social institutions. The reason of that is purely spiritual : they are continuously searching for Adhar Manush, the ” Essential Man “, the inner being which is inside of each human body, and this quest for mad love goes beyond all boundaries.”

The Bauls live in a region close to where the Nobel Prize laureate, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), lived.  Today we received complementary copies of Tagore’s poetry – a perfect gift to accompany me over the next few days as I travel with a few close friends to meet the Bauls.

The following is an excerpt from Tagore’s Nobel prize winning “Gitanjali,” ~ Song Offerings: 

“Light, oh, where is the light?  Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!

There is the lamp but never the flicker of a flame, – is such thy fate, my heart?  Ah, death were better by far for thee!

Misery knocks at thy door, and her message is that thy lord is wakeful, and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of the night.

The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless.  I know not what this is that stirs in me, – I know not its meaning.

A moment’s flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight, and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night calls me.

Light, oh, where is the light?  Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!  It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void.  The night is black as a black stone.  Let not the hours pass by in the dark.  Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.” 

Dear Leader, 

We write to you as the changing face of this World.  In total we are over 100 young leaders from 35 countries.  We are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Jains, Buddhists, Baha’is, Zoroastrians and representatives of spiritual traditions of indigenous peoples from the Americas, Asia and Africa.   

We have gathered for a week to experience and become a new reality. We join together in a spirit of peace and to dedicate our lives to the creation of a world that honors individuals and their different faiths.  This letter represents our collective voice. 

Never before has the relationship between religions been of such pressing importance for the future of our world.  The global community has become intimately connected in a variety of ways.  And as these connections grow in number and depth, interfaith living will become an essential precursor to a unified global community.   

Interfaith is not going to play a smaller role in the world; it will play a much larger role.   

Our meeting in Mayapur, India serves as an exceptional model for interfaith collaboration.   In contrast and in India at the same time, a senseless act of violence in Mumbai proves a bitter reminder of the continuing threat posed to all people by the specter of religious intolerance.  These acts contradict the universal, human values taught by all sincere spiritual paths, chief amongst them being peace, compassion and truth. 

In an era where common challenges will affect every nation, we have consciously rejected the notion that religious intolerance and violence is a given way of life.   This meeting is proof of the possibility of peaceful coexistence. We want it and know that we can create it.  

This can be seen today in interfaith conflict resolution efforts, in interfaith ecological projects, in interfaith housing builds, in the interfaith encounters that happen in our communities, businesses, and schools across the world.   

The 21^st Century presents us with the historic opportunity to ensure that the future of relations between faiths is characterized by respect, cooperation and concern for the common good of all peoples.  

In this way, the power that religions have to harness and inspire the creativity and energy of their adherents can be used to achieve a shared solution to the many and profound problems we as a global community now face.    

Our request  

As a leader you have the ability to inspire a new era of religious tolerance.  We ask that you actively engage in the development of interfaith cooperation and understanding. Leaders and countries around the world are recognizing the security implications of good interfaith cooperative efforts. Your role is not to lead one religion to victory, but to assist all the people of all the faiths to live in a more hospitable world. 

We emphasize the role of individuals in this process.  Peaceful individuals create peaceful families. Peaceful families create peaceful communities. Peaceful communities create peaceful nations. And peaceful nations create a peaceful world.  You are in the unique position to spread this message far and wide. 

Please visit www.uri.org for more information. 

Thank you for your support and we look forward to your encouraging response. 

In Respect and Peace, 
 

The participants of the United Religions Initiative Young Leaders Program

URI Young Leaders Assembly

URI Young Leaders Assembly

Everbody Say "Peeeeeace!"

Michal - ISRAEL, Ramesh - PHILIPPINES, Starr - CANADA, Basheer, PALESTINE

Eliyahu arrived at our conference the night before last, still having not heard whether or not the Rabbi, his family and others in the house were alive.  This extremist attack, having occurred about 700 miles away from where we are outside Kolkata, has significantly impacted our conference.  Yesterday, our group of young leaders began to draft a letter to Heads of State in direct response to the politically and religiously motivated attacks, calling for international support towards the strengthening of interfaith dialogue and tolerance worldwide. 

As a delegate of the United Religions Initiative’s Young Leaders Assembly, it has been a privelege to sit in this discussion, with the understanding that our letter, once completed, will be delivered by our United Nations Representative, Monica Willard, to the UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.  He will be asked to forward it to all Heads of State within the United Nations. Please check back in a day or so, as I intend to post the final draft of the letter as soon as it is ready. 

For information on the Principles and Purposes of the United Religions Initiative, please visit: www.uri.org

To learn about the Jerusalem Peacemakers, please visit www.jerusalempeacemakers.org

I arrived in India from NYC about 2.5 days ago and spent the night in Kolkata in preparation for the next day’s journey to Mayapur. In the morning I heard wild drumming outside my window, and looked out to see a young girl, no more than five years old, dancing wildly to the rhythm then lying face down on the ground and getting up again in a series of postures that had clearly been choreographed. A man who seemed to be her father beat the drum as her mother collected money from onlookers. Much to my surprise, after dancing awhile with her brother her father placed her on what looked like a wooden tightrope, gave her a stick for balance and stood back as this little girl walked across the very thin beam. I was astounded. (Picture below). You just don’t see that every day. Welcome to India. The land of strange visions.

Shortly after, the rest of the group began to arrive at our meeting place.  After some short introductions, I drove together with woman from Mozambique, a man from Brazil, a Hare Krishna pilgrim from France and a woman from Kenya to the United Religions Conference in “The Land of the Golden Avatar.” Considered one of the holiest places in India, Mayapur is the home of the Hare Krishnas and ISKCON, The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, where our conference, “Pilgrims of Peace” was to be held.

If you have never driven in India, I tell you, you have not lived. Actually, word has it that when atheists come to India, they become Believers by virtue of the fact that more people don’t die on the roads here. Imagine traveling down a two lane road with no lines, with loud cars swerving in and out of the center, head on towards you at full speed, swerving out of your way at the last minute, with people running across the road with no abandon, not to mention the cows crossing. It was quite the three hour ride to Mayapur. An adventure indeed. And the honking — well, drivers in India apparently honk for no reason at all. Just incessant honking all the way – whether there is something in the road or not, honk, honk, honk, honk, honk. Just honk. I suppose their motto is, honk ‘em if you got ‘em…and do they ever.

Arriving in Mayapur, we were greeted by the large image of Swami Praphupada, the initiator of the Hare Krishna movement and founder of ISKCON, where the United Religions Initiative Global Assembly and Young Leaders Program are taking place from Nov.24-Dec.5. I am here first for the Young Leaders Program, which preeceeds the Global Assembly by a week, bringing together 100 young interfaith leaders from 35 different countries, including Pakistan, Mozambique, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Nigeria, Kenya, Bali, South Africa, USA, and more. I was invited here to participate, perform my music, and to present a workshop on the Power of Music for Social Change. I have been meeting incredibly unique, spiritual people from around the globe, exchanging ideas, experiences, and inspirations. Mostly, I have been impressed by the willingness of attendees to learn from each other, sharing our cultures and thoughts on the power of the youth in the interfaith movement.

One of the most interesting experiences so far was visiting a Vedantic school on the outskirts of the community. Here, boys learn the Vedic scriptures and participate in a number of daily chores intended to focus the mind and improve the intellect and virtues. The school is perpetually in the process of being built, and its natural structures and lifestyle were a tremendous welcome from the chaotic NYC life I had just left behind.

Today, one of the participants, a young man from the Philippines, realized for the first time he is Jewish. He was telling Michal, from Israel, that his mother’s grandmother on his mother’s side was Jewish, and his great-grandmother was Jewish as well. She responded, “Well, that means you are Jewish.” It took a little while for it to sink in. He said he felt more like a Universalist than anything else. Later on, he shyly opened his shirt and showed the Hebrew letters YHVH tattooed over his heart. He admitted that he didn’t know why he felt it had to be there, but had it tattooed years ago. Well, there you have it.

It has been fun to be with the hundreds of Krishna devotees that live in this beautiful place. With their traditional garb, and their greetings of “Hare Krishna” at every corner, one feels like s/he is in another world. And, indeed, the Land of the Golden Avatar, with the incredible structures and soft colors, radiant smiles and ecstatic singing all day long is definitely its own spiritual haven.

Which is why today’s terrorist attacks seem like an anomaly occurring in a distant land. Hearing the news this morning over our lavish Hare Krishna prashad was incongruous to our seemingly utopian experience. I mean, here we are at a multi-faith peace conference, praying for peace and well being for all peoples on the planet, while kilometers away innocent bystanders are dying at the hands of fanatics. I suppose it reflects the consistent paradox which rules our world. Without darkness, there is no light. And I suppose, where there is powerful light, there is also extreme darkness.

Little Girl on Tightrope

Entrance to the Land of the Golden Avatar

Avatar Architecture