Spring break is now over, and, at least for myself, everything that I looked forward to at the beginning of the semester has now become part of the past, with only a few weeks left to try and get everything else in. The time off brought me (and hopefully yourself) time to relax and kind of graze around a bit, finding out what is out there in a place other than a university.
During the break, one of my experiences with the outside came through being approached by two college age men from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, one in New York City and the other at Boston's Quincy Market. Both were friendly, greeting me and my friends and asking us where we were from. They conversed with us, trying to get us to take their books. The man in New York said little as we passed up his offer, but the man in Boston was quite different.
This man tried to get us to buy into this type of spirituality. As he stopped us and talked, he first began to get to know us - kind of like a used car salesman moving in on a prospective client. Then, he handed us his goods out of his tattered bag - hardback editions of Krishna literature. He explained to us what the books contained inside, who published them and that he was wanting us to have them - for a donation that covered the price of the book. After we said we really did not want the material, he then gave us a disappointed salesman's face with wide eyes gazing back at us. In his "well if you did not win, here is the departing gift" voice, he said he did not want us to "be the first college students that had not taken the books," so he pulled out the paperback version.
When my friend asked him why he went around handing out books for the Krishna, the man said he did it because people have lost touch with spirituality.
What is spirituality? Webster's New World Dictionary defines it as spiritual character, quality or nature. Okay, so what is spiritual? This is something of the spirit or the soul as distinguished from the body or material matters. Spiritual can also be something intellectual.
Through these definitions, people - in my viewpoint - have lost touch with the spiritual side. I know I have. My common view of life is in a job which you go to five days a week, catch up on chores on the weekends, and then probably have very little time for yourself. And that is exactly how life feels to me. I spend most of my time working, studying and trying to find time for the people and things important to me. I never get time to slow down and, in a sense, smell the roses. I respect the people who can find time to do spiritual activities. My mind has not allowed time for such activities.
So what are spiritual activities? That depends on the person and who they are. For some it may be praying five times a day, while others may find it to be a walk in the park or a day at a sporting venue. It is just finding a person's spiritual side.
The thing about spirituality is that it is individual. Some people join religious groups because their individuality coincides with another's (and yes, that is possible). Others find spirituality elsewhere. My point is that spiritualism is an individual response, not a group response. And when people find spirituality, they usually want to share their experience and spirituality with others. This is probably what was felt by this man trying to give us these books.
But the sense of spirituality is not one that can be gained through a five-minute conversation with a man on the street. For me, it is something that takes time to find and develop. I was a bit surprised that this man approached us in such a salesmanlike manner, especially working for a group who is asking for donations for the books. It just seems that they are trying to package spirituality for everyone, like many religious groups do. But this is not a commentary on the spread of religions and their religious activities, it is about the loss of spiritualism.
People need to take more time out to look around and find their spiritual side. Why can't people keep trying to find themselves, just like many do during their vacations and Spring breaks?
Keith Allen
Wildcat opinions editor