Bodhinatha's West Texas Adventure

The last stop on Bodhinatha's recent trip was West Texas, in the Permian Basin popular for its abundant fossil fuel resources.

First on the agenda was the third in a series of interfaith panels that Dr. Padmaja Patel has arranged so that members of the local community in the twin cities of Midland and Odessa can learn more about how various faiths look at modern issues. This year the event (video here) was hosted by St. Nicholas' Episcopal Church in Midland, with their retired Bishop Rev. Sam Hulsey speaking on the panel with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami (Hindu), Dr. Randel Everett (Baptist), Rabbi Holly Cohn (Jewish), Mr. Jerry Zant (Mormon) and Imam Wazir Ali (Muslim).

Just prior to the weekend, the Patel family was joined by Chellappa and Banu Devi Deva from Phoenix in taking Bodhinatha and Senthilnathaswami on an overnight outing to Big Bend National Park on the Mexican border. Oh, what a beautiful piece of the Old West! Hikes and much needed relaxation after a couple weeks on the road were in order. On the way back, a stop at the famous art town of Marfa for a look at the galleries, followed by the Monahans Sand Dunes, then we were back in Midland-Odessa for a full weekend program of satsangs and talks before heading home to Kauai. Enjoy the photos and captions for details.

This year\

s Permian Basin interfaith panel at St. Nicholas\' Episcopal Church in Midland, Texas'

The West Texas landscape on the way down to Big Bend National Park

The view from Chisos Mountain in Big Bend National Park

Here at almost 7,000 feet, the clouds sometimes appear to be coming right out of the mountains

Bodhinatha leads an afternoon hike on a fun trail on Chisos Mountain

The Patels honored Bodhinatha with a cowboy hat, but since he already had a hat, he found another use for it

Panoramic view from the trail (move cursor left and right to pan)

The trailblazers

Not a joke: that\

s 0.25 miles to the Mexican border'

El Rio Grande divides Mexico from the United States

Interestingly, Mexico looks just like the US!

And the Texas flag, not the US flag, stands on the US side

Early in the morning, a family of hawks graced the resort. Later in the morning we saw a small family of eagles foraging by the Rio Grande.

It\

s true that everything is bigger in Texas. At this restaurant, not only do the waffle irons make waffles shaped like Texas (as we can attest they are in every hotel breakfast buffet in the state), but the chef makes pancakes in the shape of the Lone Star State, too. Chellappa says, \"How\'s that for state pride?\"'

Sunrise o\

er the border (panorama)'

Don\

t lose sight of the windmill, otherwise you could get lost on the dunes!'

The famous Food Shark lunch truck in Marfa, the most highly rated restaurant in this rare foodie outpost in West Texas!

Dr. Nalinbhai Tolia offering a gift to Bodhinatha. He hosted Bodhinatha in his home for dinner one night.

Jigisha and Pooja Patel and Aran Malhotra, the welcoming committee for the satsang at the Patel home

The priest of the Midland temple, Vignesh, welcomes Bodhinatha to the Patel home in the traditional fashion

Dr. Mrunal Patel performs pada puja for Bodhinatha for the first time since becoming a vratasishya

Shankar Mallampalli came from Jacksonville, Florida, to attend the satsang and be with his guru

(Pan left and right in this photo)

Mrunalbhai\

s mother, Hansaben'

After the pada puja, we adjourned to the shrine room for Shankar\

s arulsishya vow ceremony, for which Kulapati Easan Katir traveled from Davis, California'

Bodhinatha happily welcomes Shankar Mallampalli as an arulsishya

A bright group of Saiva Siddhanta Church members and Himalayan Academy students from Texas, Arizona, California, Florida--and Hawaii!

Sitting for the singing of the final chapter of the Ramayan at the temple-like home shrine of the Prasad family in Odessa

The Prasad family are from Bihar, so they are naturally ardent Ram bhaktas

Tulsidas\

s Ramayan, the standard for Ram Navami festivities'

Bodhinatha and Senthilnathaswami with the Prasad family

Before Bodhinatha\

s talk at the Midland temple began, the priest\'s twin daughters sang an invocation'

Bodhinatha speaking at the Hindu Association of West Texas\

Radha-Krishna Mandir'

Senthilnathaswami was invited to have a session with the youth at the mandir. They asked excellent questions!

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