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Road-trip with Krishna
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Reno, NV —-> Salt Lake City, UT: June 24, 2016
I’m on day 3 of a road trip following a spontaneous invitation to join devotees of Hare Krishna on a music tour. This new opportunity began when I wandered into the Anarchist library in Santa Cruz one week ago. An incredibly benevolent Venezuelan woman offered me Prashadam (A blessed food offering) and I sat next to a welcoming young guy named Kamal. After listening - while eating - to him articulate about how he resonates with the moral guidelines inspired by Krishna Consciousness, I felt intrigued enough to join them for the Sunday gathering at their local ashram.
Though Fearful, I entered the Krishna sanctuary alone and I left five hours later with positive feedback, a belly full of home-cooked food & a bold invitation to join kamal on the next leg of his journey. This next opportunity consisted of chanting along side Kamal’s band of Kirtan musicians on a tour through Nevada, Utah, Colorado and back down south to Tijuana for a festival at the end of July.
I’m uncertain how long I desire to tag along - so far so good.
Krishna Temple, Utah: June 25, 2016
Originally, I felt uncomfortable bowing my head to the ground (& the lotus feet of their deity Prahaprabu) solely because everyone else was doing it.
Then my sister unknowingly gave me the necessary advice to realize; if we are not willing to bow down to a life source of creation , we are denying the greatness of our creator and therefore suggesting that we ourselves are the masters of our own existence.
Now, I bow because i chose to.
Adventures find us.
We chose whether or not to participate.
Boulder, CO: July 2, 2016
While I appreciate this blessed opportunity to raise money for Kamal’s Kirtan Tour by selling vegan burritos outside of a Grateful Dead concert, I was bummed to witness communication problems arise between our group of like-spirited devotees.
In my opinion, Kamal’s tendency to control the group’s presentation of kirtan on his self-ordained tour frustrated an experienced devotee and our best musician, Hari Bolive.
In between selling five dollar burritos, we started jamming together: Abbi on the mridanga (Tabla/double-sided drum) and Hari playing one of his flutes while we all chanted. Once Kamal returned, he expressed concern that a flute is not an acceptable instrument for traditional Kirtan. So Hari declared in that moment: volunteering on this kirtan tour was no longer the best use of his time.
The end of my trip soon followed.
Portland, Oregon: July 23, 2016
Once reunited with my car in Santa Cruz, I contacted Hari and we embarked together on a tour of our own through Oregon. Over the next two weeks, we bounced around campgrounds and Airbnbs between Mt. Shasta and Eugene.
All along the way, we paused to play music anywhere we went. While he played his flutes, I provided bass on my new djembe. Other times, he would jam on either the acoustic or electric guitar and I received my first lessons in how to strum! As an unspoken exchange for free guitar lessons, I drove us to the Sweet Illusions club in Springfield for a few dollar dances.
Not long after the pinnacle of our trip - performing and exploring around the Saturday market in Eugene - Hari and I parted ways at the train station. I felt truly blessed to have shared that extra time with Hari, as we got along so well since we met at the start of this Kirtan tour in Santa Cruz. He gifted me with a few treasures, thanking me for a wonderful trip, before he eventually reunited with the Krishna devotees for the mass gathering in Tijuana
I continued driving North.
