Today’s Fourth of July was marked by a beautiful event on East Main Street. The Buddhist group (World Peace & Health Organization) that has made St. Casmir’s their new home hosted a celebration of liberty, healing and peace in the parking lot across from the Church. Serendipitously, I had been made aware of the happenings a little over an hour before the affair began. My friend Karin called me when she noticed the stage being built this morning. I’m so happy she did. My daughter and I went to explore this new phenomenon.
We were greeted by radiantly, warm men and women that spoke beautiful english and made every effort to make us feel comfortable, offering water and familiar red cans of cold Coca Cola. I’m not sure if the sun shone so intensely today because of its normal interaction with the elements, or because it couldn’t resist such a welcome. We were seated before the stage by a constructed altar for peace placed under a flowing American flag. A woman named Jenny translated for my daughter and I throughout the presentation.
The ceremony began with spirited drumming as the followers of Holy Master Ziguany Shang Shi assembled along the stage. The Master gave a compelling speech about the meaning of freedom and our shared destiny as caretakers of our neighbors and our country. He noted that there are no real differentiations between countries, races, or religions in that we are one as human beings, responsible for promoting health and world peace. He offered that the City of Amsterdam, USA may serve as a mecca for healing – physically, spiritually, economically and communally – and that his group will actively work to forge a connection between eastern and western cultures. Interestingly, after the program I spoke with the owner of a Chinese solar power industrial plant that plans to start-up operations here (hopefully in Amsterdam) and another individual that has drafted a business plan to promote tourism and housing development in our community. Evidently, our Feng Shui is very good here. We should greet these opportunities with open arms. We need all of the healing we can get.
It was a lovely way to celebrate the very tenants on which our country was founded.
These are photos of the group, their leader, martial art demonstrations, Tai Chi, dancers and the sitting “flight meditation” which was quite amusing to watch and apparently very enjoyable to take part in!
The group will be offering free demonstrations of their yoga techniques in August.
I’ll post an alert before then.
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