Walking Down the Street in Vrindavan

Mystical Cooperation and Highly Tuned Awareness

The reality of walking around India and navigating around all the people, various motorized and people powered vehicles, puddles of Lord knows what, and various species of animals will certainly keep you on your toes. In a strange way, I think thats one of the reasons I love India. It's like a meditation to walk down the street, you have to be really tuned in and aware. If you have a mantra, sometimes you're chanting it for dear life. If you are not engaging all your senses in prayer or on your own safety, just to walk to the market, you could end up in trouble. Some sort of mystical cooperation occurs here. You couldn’t even understand unless you were standing in it. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Watching From All Directions At the Same Time

You are a tiny part of this massive complex system of unspoken high awareness to watch your step. You have to be aware of everything around in every direction. Monkeys above you may swoop and attack, bulls in your path that are mostly peaceful but are unpredictably agitated, female cows are not aggressive but have huge horns and sometimes take up the whole lane, so you aren’t exactly in a hurry to bypass them sometimes.

Many motorcycle scenarios take place, including seeing quite a few boys that appear to be about 10 years old on them, or a five person family seated all on one bike. Sometimes you might see a Mama sitting side saddle, often holding a newborn, with her sari cloth covering her head to appear lady-like. There is often another child or two between her and her husband. They are weaving in and out. All of this appears effortless.You also have tiny, hunched over elderly men and women who often wear thick glasses and can barely see or walk with big cains weaving in and out.

Occasionally you have bullock carts as laborers use ox to haul stone. They are also weaving in and out of traffic carrying rubble on their heads and to relocate it to their work site. Even more unusually, you sometimes see a camel with a man on a chariot hauling
for building.

From below, the biggest thing you have to watch for is wild boars, wild dogs, ditches, and potholes. Auto and cycle rickshaw drivers are constantly coming from behind and ringing their bells or shouting to indicate that you need to move out of their way. Here in Vrindavan, they say, “Radhe Radhe”, a tribute to Lord Krishna's most beloved.

The Spiritual Realities of Sri Vrindavan

For someone who doesn't have a background or appreciation of the Bhakti (selfless love to God) tradition of worshipping Krishna, staying in a place like this would seem like nonsense. Right now, there are thousands of people from all over the world who have left wealth and comfort to come to Vrindavan to engage in spiritual practices and remember Krishna. They do not see even the material things as material things, to them all is in a spiritual dimension. The souls residing in every element of this place are all great souls. Yamuna is not just a river, but a most elevated devotee and Goddess. The trees are sages performing austerities, and the monkeys that are born here are in a more favorable karmic position that the other monkeys in India. The spiritual vision is cultivated over time and given as a form of grace to those with sincere and dedicated hearts.