Today is mommy's birthday. And holi. I would have liked to play but I didn't.
Later in the afternoon we went to one of the eight special firetemples (called Atash Behrams) in India, four of which are in Bombay. We took the train to Charni Road and then walked over to the Atash Behram. A pigeon pooped on my phone which I was holding out texting a friend just as I crossed the threshold into the temple grounds. I acknowledged the gesture and put my phone away.
It felt great to step into the atash behram. I have missed the smells (sandalwood and flowers) and warmth and peace of these spaces. A sacred fire burns in each Parsi temple, and none but Parsees are allowed in. This fire is tended to 24 hours a day, and has been burning for hundreds of years.
I'm not a practicing Parsi, but I' drawn to the sacred purity of the temples. With my recent studies of the vedic traditions, including Ayurveda which talks about the elemental principles in the universe and our bodies, I felt very grateful to be able to bow my head to this sacred fire. I've found that it really is my intentions and thoughts that allow me to have a sacred moment in any space. India is so full of temples and mosques and churches in every street and for the first 20-something years of my life they didn't mean too much to me. That's changed, as it does, ironically, when you leave your country and move halfway around the world. It's good to be back.
Later in the afternoon we went to one of the eight special firetemples (called Atash Behrams) in India, four of which are in Bombay. We took the train to Charni Road and then walked over to the Atash Behram. A pigeon pooped on my phone which I was holding out texting a friend just as I crossed the threshold into the temple grounds. I acknowledged the gesture and put my phone away.
It felt great to step into the atash behram. I have missed the smells (sandalwood and flowers) and warmth and peace of these spaces. A sacred fire burns in each Parsi temple, and none but Parsees are allowed in. This fire is tended to 24 hours a day, and has been burning for hundreds of years.
I'm not a practicing Parsi, but I' drawn to the sacred purity of the temples. With my recent studies of the vedic traditions, including Ayurveda which talks about the elemental principles in the universe and our bodies, I felt very grateful to be able to bow my head to this sacred fire. I've found that it really is my intentions and thoughts that allow me to have a sacred moment in any space. India is so full of temples and mosques and churches in every street and for the first 20-something years of my life they didn't mean too much to me. That's changed, as it does, ironically, when you leave your country and move halfway around the world. It's good to be back.
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