Sri Sai Baba Temple
Last night I went to the Sri Sai Baba Temple for bhajans. It was my second time there. I'm almost always really shy around new groups of people, but they have been really friendly and welcoming to me. The temple is in an old store in a former mall. At one end of the room is a raised stage where the priest does his chanting and offerings. There are portraits of Sri Sai Baba (an avatar living in India) and Ganesh. In front of the stage white sheets are laid out on the floor for people to sit on-men on the left, women on the right.
The bhajans are fun. It's an hour of chanting prayers of praise to the Hindu gods. They have chant books in English you can follow along with. After about half an hour of chanting I start feeling pretty buzzed and vibrating from the singing. Eventually I even forget to worry about doing it right and I'm just there. After bhajans holy ash is brought around. You dip your finger in the ash and touch it to your third eye, then to your tongue. It is sweet. You can also receive drink and fruit that has been blessed during the ceremony. Afterwards you go to a second room for a light meal. After that you can go back into the temple for puja's, or prayers to the icons on the stage. The whole thing lasts for about three hours, from 7 to 10. There are two other white people who go; every one else is Indian. Though I'm still worried about being white, and an outsider, both times I have gone I have had a really good experience. Last night the priest smiled when he saw me, and he asked me how I was.
The whole experience feels like home to me. It's at once internal and external. Personal and communal. There's pretty ritual in the icons, the flowers, the sari's the women wear, the fruit and ash. There's singing and trance, both of which I love. It feels very familiar, like I have done this-or something similar-before, somewhere, somewhen. It is missing only one thing: there is no dancing. What I loved about the Sufis was that they do both chanting and simple dances. I know that there are Hindu temple dances. Maybe eventually I can find a temple that has dancers. Until then, I think I'm hooked on the Thursday night bhajans.
The bhajans are fun. It's an hour of chanting prayers of praise to the Hindu gods. They have chant books in English you can follow along with. After about half an hour of chanting I start feeling pretty buzzed and vibrating from the singing. Eventually I even forget to worry about doing it right and I'm just there. After bhajans holy ash is brought around. You dip your finger in the ash and touch it to your third eye, then to your tongue. It is sweet. You can also receive drink and fruit that has been blessed during the ceremony. Afterwards you go to a second room for a light meal. After that you can go back into the temple for puja's, or prayers to the icons on the stage. The whole thing lasts for about three hours, from 7 to 10. There are two other white people who go; every one else is Indian. Though I'm still worried about being white, and an outsider, both times I have gone I have had a really good experience. Last night the priest smiled when he saw me, and he asked me how I was.
The whole experience feels like home to me. It's at once internal and external. Personal and communal. There's pretty ritual in the icons, the flowers, the sari's the women wear, the fruit and ash. There's singing and trance, both of which I love. It feels very familiar, like I have done this-or something similar-before, somewhere, somewhen. It is missing only one thing: there is no dancing. What I loved about the Sufis was that they do both chanting and simple dances. I know that there are Hindu temple dances. Maybe eventually I can find a temple that has dancers. Until then, I think I'm hooked on the Thursday night bhajans.