My Saturday began at 6, when my father rudely awakened me. Since I am unemployed and just generally blah, my father was taking me to see a woman who goes by the name Amma (or mother) who heals through hugs and is believed to be a saint. I received her blessing once before and the process had taken hours, but that was when I was in high school, so I thought things would have changed for the better.
Well, actually they are more ridiculous. My parents really believe in this woman, and I tried hard to suppress the sceptic in me. Please take no offense to what I write below, it was just that some things unnerved me. The first thing I noticed when I got there was that her followers, the volunteers who go on tour with her across the country and set her programs, were 99 percent white. Which is interesting, given that this woman is Indian, from Kerala. When I stepped into the suburban Chicago hotel I felt that I had stepped into a fair, maybe a convention. Not a place of religious significance. Her people were hawking blessed goods at booths, and supposed fair-trade items to go toward her charity. She has some really great sounding charities but I would prefer that people donate instead of having to walk past rows of booths to get to my seat.
Other than the craft fair, some guy named Doctor Wang was offering acupuncture in the lobby. Also White Americans were doing horoscope readings. Though I don't believe in astrology, my conception is that it's semi-sacred, that only certain people "have the power to do it." So much commercialism and branding surrounded this woman who just wanted to help other people, who was doling out hugs and sharing her love.
Her hippie groups flanked her and made decisions for her. They marketed the Amma concept. They had co-opted something that some Hindu people hold in the highest regard. Her people had also all adopted Sanskrit names and spoke with a new-age tone. I ran into many a pretentious hippie, one of the most annoying categories of people. The fellow next to me sleeps in his van when he goes on her tour. Another guy at lunch (ugh lunch, made for people with non-Indian tastebuds, the curry was completely tasteless) told the girl next to me that Henry Kissinger and the U.S. administration invented AIDS so they could kill off unnecessary people. and these people love to spout their bs half-developed Eastern philosophy as well.
Seeing her was nice, though brief. Her handlers shoved me at her. They also pissed me off. We had earlier watched a documentary in which Amma said she believes in gender equality, that men should not come before women. Well, I was standing in line in front of my father. Her people told me that men need to go before women. Huh. Well aren't they just listening to all of her teachings? The experience was cheapened for me, especially seeing as there were many a non-Hindu American person (which is fine, I don't care what people believe in) dressed for lawn cutting. Have some respect. Do not go before someone thought to be hole-y in a tattered tank top. It was a nice suburb after all, I know these people had not wandered in off the streets.
Fours hours after I had arrived, I had been hugged and blessed but was left once again with distaste for organized religion. That something so pure had turned into such a brand disgusted me.
A few hours later, I prepared for a night on the town. After a nap, my disillusionment had melted and I was ready for a drink or two. Sha'Donna was in town and called me up saying some friends were going to a popular Rockford bar. I called Phyllis and the two of us decided to jump start our evening. Fortunately, there were some beautiful men at Cousins. Unfortunately, everyone goes there so I had to run into people from my past. Like a former co-worker who always hit on and did again today when I went on facebook, even though he's been with his gf all this time and brought her to the bar.
Once we left Cousins and went to the Breeze, everything was fun. The place was small but charming. The large group reunion was unplanned and just a blast. I always worry about running into high school classmates, but these were all people whose company I enjoy. There was love and drunkenness all around (though I was driving, so I was not drunk). Plus, I had a new experience. When we left, Phyllis and I had to pee so bad we stopped at Wal-Mart at 2 in the morning. And the women's restroom was out of order, so I said screw it, we're using the mens. And that's how I came to use the men's room for the first time ever.
Well, actually they are more ridiculous. My parents really believe in this woman, and I tried hard to suppress the sceptic in me. Please take no offense to what I write below, it was just that some things unnerved me. The first thing I noticed when I got there was that her followers, the volunteers who go on tour with her across the country and set her programs, were 99 percent white. Which is interesting, given that this woman is Indian, from Kerala. When I stepped into the suburban Chicago hotel I felt that I had stepped into a fair, maybe a convention. Not a place of religious significance. Her people were hawking blessed goods at booths, and supposed fair-trade items to go toward her charity. She has some really great sounding charities but I would prefer that people donate instead of having to walk past rows of booths to get to my seat.
Other than the craft fair, some guy named Doctor Wang was offering acupuncture in the lobby. Also White Americans were doing horoscope readings. Though I don't believe in astrology, my conception is that it's semi-sacred, that only certain people "have the power to do it." So much commercialism and branding surrounded this woman who just wanted to help other people, who was doling out hugs and sharing her love.
Her hippie groups flanked her and made decisions for her. They marketed the Amma concept. They had co-opted something that some Hindu people hold in the highest regard. Her people had also all adopted Sanskrit names and spoke with a new-age tone. I ran into many a pretentious hippie, one of the most annoying categories of people. The fellow next to me sleeps in his van when he goes on her tour. Another guy at lunch (ugh lunch, made for people with non-Indian tastebuds, the curry was completely tasteless) told the girl next to me that Henry Kissinger and the U.S. administration invented AIDS so they could kill off unnecessary people. and these people love to spout their bs half-developed Eastern philosophy as well.
Seeing her was nice, though brief. Her handlers shoved me at her. They also pissed me off. We had earlier watched a documentary in which Amma said she believes in gender equality, that men should not come before women. Well, I was standing in line in front of my father. Her people told me that men need to go before women. Huh. Well aren't they just listening to all of her teachings? The experience was cheapened for me, especially seeing as there were many a non-Hindu American person (which is fine, I don't care what people believe in) dressed for lawn cutting. Have some respect. Do not go before someone thought to be hole-y in a tattered tank top. It was a nice suburb after all, I know these people had not wandered in off the streets.
Fours hours after I had arrived, I had been hugged and blessed but was left once again with distaste for organized religion. That something so pure had turned into such a brand disgusted me.
A few hours later, I prepared for a night on the town. After a nap, my disillusionment had melted and I was ready for a drink or two. Sha'Donna was in town and called me up saying some friends were going to a popular Rockford bar. I called Phyllis and the two of us decided to jump start our evening. Fortunately, there were some beautiful men at Cousins. Unfortunately, everyone goes there so I had to run into people from my past. Like a former co-worker who always hit on and did again today when I went on facebook, even though he's been with his gf all this time and brought her to the bar.
Once we left Cousins and went to the Breeze, everything was fun. The place was small but charming. The large group reunion was unplanned and just a blast. I always worry about running into high school classmates, but these were all people whose company I enjoy. There was love and drunkenness all around (though I was driving, so I was not drunk). Plus, I had a new experience. When we left, Phyllis and I had to pee so bad we stopped at Wal-Mart at 2 in the morning. And the women's restroom was out of order, so I said screw it, we're using the mens. And that's how I came to use the men's room for the first time ever.
