Prayers Have Amazing Power

I was just focusing on all that I have to do when I arrive back to Delhi and home to New York. It's amazing what can take me out of the present and bring me back again in one second.

In our noisy smelly rundown room on the beach in Gokarna, I was having trouble falling asleep. It must have been around midnight when I began to hear faint sounds of something other than sheer noise. All of a sudden I realized I was hearing people praying. I recognized the prayers from having heard the beginning of Krishna Dass'hit tune Om Na Ma Shivaya.

I went to the balcony and saw 20 monks, special ones who wear black. Amit says there are two groups from the south like this. Anyway, they were lined up perfectly facing the seashore and there they stood chanting old veda scriptures for about 45 minutes.

Standing there listening to them in the dark, watching the tide come and go was a mesmerizing experience.

It was worth all the craziness of the lowest class room in our itinerary, the Indian style toilet, the noisy taxi drivers outside our window and even the smells of the public urinal. I mean it was simply amazing!!! I became present to the miracle of the universe and surrender once again.