Downward Facing Blog

Win a new car from Lord Shiva! 

So my night of Shiva ended at approximately 11pm, AND with a serving of chocolate almond ice cream in my belly. I rank among the non-pious who ate past six pm and did not stay up all night with mantra in my mind. I really did set out with the best of intentions, but throughout the evening I got turned off and disappointed with the atmosphere at the local uma/shiva temple down the street.

Shane and I started the evening having dinner at a local restaurant.  The proprietor is a spiritual medium for Vishnu on the side and likes to decorate the place with endless statues of naga snakes, jatukam, yantras, ganeshas, and whatever else that stacks on power to the mix. We were chatting a while and as usual, yoga came up in conversation.

Considering his stated spiritual wardrobe, I suggested he does some yoga, because doing yoga accelerates spiritual development.  As he elaborated, it came clear that he really had no idea what yoga is, aside from a little simple stretching from side to side. Instead he works out at California Fitness. California Fitness is like cheap fast food and heartburn-  pumping out ac and lame house music on to the sidewalk. They have endless numbers of hard-sale agents outside the club with these confusing pricing models and BLOWOUT SALES that of course, expire tomorrow… or tomorrow…. it’s the LAST TWO DAYS! etc.

When I explained yoga a tiny bit, he said that he can clear his mind better than most people and really doesn’t need it (he was smoking cigarettes, drinking a cocktail, and eating meat). Given his proclivities, his lack of curiosity and knowledge in actual spiritual technique (as opposed to pretty pictures on the wall and cool jewlery) is, to me, incongruous.

“oooh… it’s POWERFUL!”

So we go to the Uma temple and it’s kind of that attitude magnified over several hundred people, most of whom are dressed exactly for the part of a really really good, devotee. That is, lots of eye makeup, white clothes, the cool jewelry, a giant jatukam amulet, and garlands of flowers. It looks like they are doing their best to look like a pretty Hindu picture. They touch the right column in the temple at the right moment, with a look of fear and awe in their faces. Reminds me of that old folk song, “oh lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?”

To make matters worse, there are two men stationed in the temple with megaphones shouting at people to buy the plates of offerings for 200 baht. I thought I would meditate. You try.

Zero vibe. The temple feels about as spiritual as a shopping mall.

It is good to have visual representations of the divine, as the conscious mind needs something to relate to. The problem is when we stop at the representation as if it’s real.

It seems, many Thai Buddhists have forgotten the liberating teachings of Buddhism, which is basically a system of YOGA. Instead they devote themselves to magickal thinking over amulets, pictures and rituals that they have no understanding of.

The thing I love about yoga is that it turns your body into the temple itself. Any puja or offering you want to make to the divine can be an offering of your thoughts, breath, actions, food, or whatever to the internal consciousness. There is no OUT THERE out there… God is inside, the karma is inside, the solution is inside.