March 18, 2016
We made it to Crestone, and it’s a very interesting town. There are not a lot of people, so it’s really quiet, which is a nice change from city life. There is one main road, two restaurants, a post office, some houses as well as a hotel. I think there are more religious sites than houses here.
The first site we visited was a Carmelite Hermitage. We were instantly welcomed by a nice elderly woman who never told us her name. She invited us into her home and told us about her life there and what she does on a daily basis. She told us that she lives a quiet life and that Crestone was the perfect place for that. They used to have another facility in Sedona, Arizona, but as people started developing the area around the facility, they were forced to move. Their other facility in the world is in Ireland. The woman who showed us around was very knowledgeable about the subject and it was clear that she had a passion for her faith, as well as a passion for educating school children.
Our second stop was to study Hinduism at the Haidakhanda Universal Ashram. We met a man named Paul who was not as welcoming as the woman at the Hermitage. He was very standoffish. He didn’t really know how to talk to us or what to say. He also pointed out to us that Catholicism was a lie, which is why he changed religions. I didn’t really appreciate that because my whole family is Catholic. After a discussion with him, we were able to participate in a Hindu ceremony. Only the boys could participate, though. The ceremony was very loud and had a lot of bells, drumming, and Sanskrit chanting. That, combined with the incense, gave me a headache. But I still appreciated learning about a different religion.
This morning we visited a Buddhist religious site, which I was told was very beautiful (I could not see most of the colors because I am color blind). After meeting with this woman we were told to go visit a Stupa, another Buddhist religious site. Dr. Longo told us a little bit about the Stupa.
The next site we visited was very cool, The Shumei International Institute. The building was very new, just like the belief system.
These last few days have been very enlightening and informative. We leave for Taos tomorrow to learn about Native American religion.
