They didn't try to poison the water-hole....my foot.

They are everywhere! "Osho" followers that is. Here is yet another interesting conversation I had with a man here is Rishikesh:

Me: That looks pretty good, what is it?
Guy: It's the spinach omelet, part of the green hills breakfast.
Me: Oh yeah looked pretty good. You sound like you're from the states? Maybe New England somewhere?
Guy: I'm from Brooklyn, but I have spent around 30 years in Arizona. What about you?
Me: I'm from Oregon, Portland area.
Guy: Oh really? I spent a little more than a year in Oregon.
Me: Oh great, where?
Guy: Rajneesh Puram (again, there was something very stern in the way he said it). You know it?
Me: Well, yes, I wasn't alive when it was the Rajneesh Puram, but my parents lived in Bend. I heard there was some sort of water poisoning business associated with it?
Guy: Hmm, I'm not sure, but I know Osho was sent back to India.

He looked skeptical at the thought of his commune doing anything wrong. Nonetheless, I had a good conversation with him about many things, including our shared belief that religion has become too much about religion and not about how you express your faith. I also argued my case for Christ, which took us down a plethora of paths. After we were done speaking and he left, I slowly realized that I have learned so much, mainly about myself and where I stand on things, by talking to the most unlikely of people. I think about all my experiences with homeless people in Eugene and the poor people of this country, as well as strange characters like Krishna and this other Rajneesh guy, and I always feel like I understand the world a little better, until the next conversation and I realize I don't. But, I especially feel like I understand more and more why Christ reached out to the people he did. In Shane Claiborne's book, "The Irresistible Revolution", Claiborne makes a stunning case that Jesus was homeless...I wholeheartedly agree. Look at the gospels, he was an outcast Himself. This fact moves me to cling to, and express, the LOVE that Jesus talks about.

Rishikesh is a magnificent place. Set in the foothills of the Himalayas, it is sort of a haven/basecamp for yoga lovers and pilgrims trekking up to the head of the Ganges River. I'm just here to hang out and buy some nifty wool products, maybe take a hike to a waterfall. T-minus 4 days until I board my flight back home, but until then I'm gonna...

let er fly,

Reido