Crestone, Ashram, Monastery, and Pool

On Friday, we headed out to Crestone Colorado, a center for a wide range of spiritual groups, and a place that Richard had been wanting to see for a while. We had a picnic in the forest, and then went off in search of Stupas and Ashrams.

The Baca Grande development, just outside Crestone, was developed by the Strongs. Hanne Strong was very interested in Buddhism, and began to offer land to various religious groups, from Catholics to Zen Buddhists.

The houses in the development tend to have solar panels and adobe walls, in the pinons, very pretty. Ari noticed that a high percentage of the houses were for sale; we were told that many people only make it though one winter, too cold and too isolated.

We saw a sign for the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram and gift shop. We went up the steep driveway, and were greeted by Ramloti. She invited us to visit the gift shop and temple. We chatted at some length with a Finnish lady, who explained to us something about the Ashram. This particular Ashram was neither Buddhist nor Hindu, although the statues in the temple were mostly Hindu. They believe that their spiritual leader, Shri Babaji, was a reincarnation of a previous spiritual leader. (The belief in reincarnated leaders is apparently common for eastern religions, based on the book we bought on the religious groups in Crestone).

Their daily schedule includes getting up very early, 7 AM and & PM prayers, as well as work. They referred to their work as Yoga, but not meaning the poses that most of us associated with the word Yoga. They believe that their work is a form of prayer. Richard was very interested to hear how much their daily schedule and religious practices were very similar to that found in Catholic monasteries.

She indicated that the various religious groups in Crestone are very supportive of each other, with the Catholics attending their annual festival, and everybody going to the Monastery for Christmas mass.

We bought Indian bracelets for the girls, and then went to their temple. The sign in the vestibule asked that women cover bare shoulders. The girls had tank tops, so we wrapped them in their visitor saris. They had pictures of their spiritual leader, as well as a statue of the Divine Mother.

We drove to the Catholic monastery, and spent some time in their chapel. Unfortunately, no one was available to talk to, but Richard read their Friday evening prayers aloud. If we had stayed for another half hour, we could have attended a memorial service for a local woman.

After a brief detour to pick up Erica's glasses, left behind at our lunch rock, we headed for the Dunes Pool, in Hooper. The pool was a busy place, but there was room to swim. The girls enjoyed diving, while Richard kept a close eye on Erica, who needed four tries to swim the width of the pool unaided.

We drove home, where Ari prepared dinner for us. We watched the sunset and closed the evening with the usual Skipbo game.