Mother Kaulini asked me to travel with her to “upstate” NY where her services were requested to lead two grain ceremonies. Grain ceremonies, according to my neophyte understanding, are one of the samscaras (basically means a ritual intended to create a favorable impression) that most children brought up in the Vaisnava tradition undergo at 6 months when they receive their first taste of grain. Turns out the ceremonies were for the triplets I saw in NY and another little boy named Yogi.
After the kid takes his first bite, tradition holds that three plates are put in front of the baby, one full of books, another with coins and jewelry, and the third with soil. The idea is that whichever plate the child reaches for, becomes an indication of their future inclinations. Nice pick Yogi!
Our last night was spent in Styvescent Falls, NY with the nice Kayle & Saci family. Their kids impressed the heck out of me. All three attend a Waldorf school in the area. We spent the following morning looking through pictures of their school's annualperformance of
The Mahabarata, an ancient Vedic text that describes in detail the full history of
The Bhagavad Gita. Little Laxman here officialy qualifies as a super rare allstar.
My favorite moment of the entire trip was late afternoon after the first grain ceremony which was only the beginning of a larger Panihati festival to be celebrated for the rest of the day. Upon departure, I noticed our tires were low but neither I nor Mother Kaulini could remember the proper tire pressure for an SUV nor did we have a tire pressure gauge. A seasof Hindus stood before us. Outcome unlikely. A moment later, however, Mother Taruni spots His Holiness Varsana Maharaja. She ran over, he nodded his head, and, sure enough, came back with an answer and a tire gauge. He said we could keep it. And that's how one lucky tire gauge found itself on my altar.
Mother Kaulini asked me to travel with her to “upstate” NY where her services were requested to lead two grain ceremonies. Grain ceremonies, according to my neophyte understanding, are one of the samscaras (basically means a ritual intended to create a favorable impression) that most children brought up in the Vaisnava tradition undergo at 6 months when they receive their first taste of grain. Turns out the ceremonies were for the triplets I saw in NY and another little boy named Yogi.
Our last night was spent in Styvescent Falls, NY with the nice Kayle & Saci family. Their kids impressed the heck out of me. All three attend a Waldorf school in the area. We spent the following morning looking through pictures of their school's annualperformance of The Mahabarata, an ancient Vedic text that describes in detail the full history of The Bhagavad Gita. Little Laxman here officialy qualifies as a super rare allstar.
My favorite moment of the entire trip was late afternoon after the first grain ceremony which was only the beginning of a larger Panihati festival to be celebrated for the rest of the day. Upon departure, I noticed our tires were low but neither I nor Mother Kaulini could remember the proper tire pressure for an SUV nor did we have a tire pressure gauge. A seasof Hindus stood before us. Outcome unlikely. A moment later, however, Mother Taruni spots His Holiness Varsana Maharaja. She ran over, he nodded his head, and, sure enough, came back with an answer and a tire gauge. He said we could keep it. And that's how one lucky tire gauge found itself on my altar.
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