Posts Tagged ‘abode of the message’

i’m back home from the weekend in new york. we arrived last night at around 1:30, and i was simply to keyed up to sleep, so i’m running a bit towards empty at the moment, which might make this blog wander a bit. i appreciate your patience!

in total, we spent around 3 days at the abode – we arrived friday to spend a half a day, were there all day saturday and all day sunday, and left about halfway through the day on monday. with all of the activity we experienced, all of the wonderful new friends we met, it’s hard to imagine that we weren’t there for longer!

the motivator for the weekend was, of course, the barn renovations. if you have never been to the abode, it is made up of a number of old shaker houses, and the barn is no exception – i believe they said the builders were 220 years old, though i might have that number off. much effort has been put into keeping the form and function of the original design of these buildings, but luckily indoor plumbing (with hot water!) and wireless internet are also now included.

we’ve been wanting to visit the abode for a good while, and for us, the idea that we could not only come to visit, but to help with these renovations was irresistable. i had never stepped onto a construction site in my life, so it was a completely new experience for me. luckily i had a lot of excellent teachers; indeed there were more than a few in attendance that i would call masters of this craft, yet everyone approached eachother, regardless of experience and skill level, with humility and respect. whenever i was uncomfortable with a task, someone was always willing to stop and walk me through it.

indeed, the feeling of family that pervades the abode is remarkable.

the icing on the cake was, of course, getting to share our kirtan with the other barn raisers and abode community members. they dedicated an entire evening to it for us, which was extremely generous. it was quite different from the basement bhakti kirtan’s we’ve been having in charlottesville – we used no microphones at all, instead centering ourselves in the room and allowing the acoustics to carry our voices.

arcadia and myself were joined for the kirtan by our new friend ma’bud (please forgive me if that spelling is incorrect!) on guitar and percussion. despite guitar being my primary instrument for my entire life, this was the first kirtan i had ever done that included guitar, and it was quite a revelation! coming from a completely different background, he approached the chants in ways that i never would have, and it truly brought us to another level.

despite the lack of a full time drummer, and despite not micing our vocals, by the end of the evening the entire room was pounding and echoing in the most amazing way! everyone was clapping and stomping their feet and singing “hare ram! hare ram!” i don’t know that i will ever forget how incredible i felt after this kirtan!

and it must have made an impression, as well, because we were asked to lead more kirtan the next morning as a part of the abode’s weekly universal worship service. talk about an honor for us!

i can’t write a blog about this weekend without mentioning sunday afternoon, where arcadia and i broke with the barn group for an hour to take a walk around the grounds. we found ourselves at the most incredible place – the abode locals call it “Pir’s Pod.” It’s a dome shaped hut-style structure that was for a time the living quarters for the once head of the order, Pir Vilayat. Great care has been taken to keep “the pod” in similar condition to how it was while Vilayat was “in the body.”

The feeling inside “the pod” was one of deep, deep reverence. His robes and a pair of shoes remain hanging in the closet, and the bed is made. There’s a stereo, and his old laptop as well. We spent a few minutes there, just in awe of the presence of this man and the feeling everyone there has for him, and at it’s essence, for eachother.

Enough thanks cannot be given to the abode for hosting us, and to our new friends from the Baraka center in DC/Maryland for helping us to make it for the weekend. There is still much work to be done to the barn, and i am pleased to say that a second work weekend is planned for Columbus Day. be assured, we will be in attendance!

om shanthi,

jdavyd