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Brittany Garza
Dr. Bose
English
8 December 2015

A Whole New World

When I do anything, I like to choose things that involve one of my favorite things, food.
So naturally, when I chose a local event to attend, I looked up vegan or vegetarian events in Los
Angeles. Not surprisingly, an Indian culture based event popped up since most Hindus are
religiously vegetarians. They had many different sections in the club that intrigued me. Those
being: yoga, meditation, and of course vegetarian food. My first instinct was to immediately
message the Bhakti Club, however, since I was raised in a primarily Christian home I
hesitated. This gut reflex occurred because I felt as if, in a way, I was betraying my own religion
by wanting to attend this event. Nevertheless, I set my somewhat already diminished religious
views aside and went into the club meeting with an open mind. Little did I know this was the
essence, according to the main speaker Jai Guaranga, wanted to stress that the club was all about:
having an open-mind. The way the club members welcomed everyone with an acceptance and
open-arms surprised me because I was worried about being preached to or forced to join their
religion. This was my ignorance of other cultures taking control over my thoughts. The club was
centered around spreading peace and finding a common ground between each other. I left the
meeting that day achieving much more than a full stomach, which I initially intended, I got a
whole new perspective on spirituality and life.

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The first event that took place that evening was Yoga with Jaeme, our class was four
people strong. This is where I met, Maddie, a student from USC (where the club was held) who
happened to appreciate yoga in the same way I do. We both attend classes moderately and enjoy
the flexibility aspects. Maddie and I started out as unsuspecting strangers, but by the end of the
night we had discovered so much about each other and even found out we had mutual friends.
The room we sat in was really just any old classroom. We had five yoga mats laid out on the
ground and resting on the nearby table were our jackets and some books about Hinduism. Our
shoes remained outside as a form of respect. We had an intimate yoga session which consisted of
many yoga poses I had already known from previous yoga ventures, however, this time it was
much more meaningful. As we began, Jaeme instructed us to let go of our insecurities and our
lack of confidence in skill level which I never have been instructed to do before in any sort of
exercise. She pushed us to do this so we could all connect and build as a community together.
Most yoga classes I have taken I spent the entire time competing with the person to my right and
left to be more flexible or better rather than appreciating the process. After clearing our minds
and regulating our breathing we went into the simple childs pose. This is when one curls into a
ball with their legs tucked under them, the shins, tops of feet, hands, and forehead are in contact
with the floor. Jaeme described it as one of the most humbling and grounding poses one could do
seeing as it brings our head, that thing which we always tend to hold too high, down to the earth.
As the yoga session ended we laid flat on our backs and Jaeme recited a beautiful little quote,
We must die from the material world to be reborn back into reality. then we closed with the
signature Namaste. Before Jaeme left us she described yoga as meditation for the body and
chanting mantras, which followed our class, as yoga for the mind and spirit.

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Following the yoga session many more joined our motley crew and we had about a dozen
ready to chant or listen to the Kirtan and Spiritual Discourse. The room seamlessly transformed
as we put away our individual mats and laid out one large rug with cushions to sit on. This part
of the evening I was most nervous to partake in since I was going in uneducated. If I am going to
be candid I was scared to praise a foreign God. The mantra we repeated for over an hour at
different speeds and rhythms was this Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. I asked the first man who sang, Shastra, what
this was all about and he explained that it was to re-discover God, whoever that may be, in
one's own life and find its love. Personally, I zoned out when chanting the mantra, which I
personally think, was a good thing. I began to think about God in my own life and what religion
meant to me. This was, as expected as it sounds, quite enlightening and soothing. I looked to my
right and saw Maddie gleefully unafraid to chant as loud as she could. I was inspired, I broke out
of my comfort zone at my own pace and even ended up clapping and swaying to the mantra as
we picked up the tempo.
As the chanting was almost over the special guest, Jaya Gauranga, gave a speech about
the Hare Krishna Rama. Shastra, the first singer that night of Hare Krishna, admitted, most
kids didnt show up until the end of the night because all they really wanted was the free food. I
thought about how selfish that sounded, but then I reflected back to why I initially chose this
event and began to understand. I was no better than them. This message began forming in my
head from the start of the evening when we practiced yoga and I began to have a revelation. Jaya
Gauranga the special guest, played the accordion, which he studied for 20 years and sang the
song with us in the most upbeat way like a community magnet that drew in more people as the
night went along. Our empty room, which initially started as four then grew to twelve guests,

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finally was filled to every corner with students. After the song he gave a speech and talked about
religion. He discussed how Hinduism is like gravity. The example he used was that Sir Isaac
Newton discovered gravity in England does not mean gravity only exists in England, just like
Hinduism and enlightenment do not only exist in India. He wanted to stress that joining as a
community or finding one like The Bhakti Club is a great way to find a family within a new
strange city. Again, I feared he was going to talk only about Hinduism, which he did touch on,
however, he talked about religion as a part of life in general as well. This was something I could
really appreciate. He compared us adults to babies and how babies dont only need food, water,
and shelter to survive, they need love like we need love. This really resonated with me, and then
he continued to say we crave love and spirituality in our lives to create peace within ourselves. I
think this was a great way to end his speech.
Finally the event was coming to a close and the four leaders handed each member a warm
home cooked vegetarian meal. They did not discriminate on who was new or who had been
coming for weeks on end. The room, once again, transformed. We all spread out into a circle so
we could see each others faces and look at all the members equally. They engaged in
conversation with us as did other members, which is how I made a new friend, Maddie. She and
I began to discuss more than just the food, but how amazing it was that we had the opportunity to
connect. This would have never been possible if I had not left my comfort zone. Even as I was
leaving the event they offered us even more food to take home because like a family they wanted
to take care of us. The members knew I was not a part of their religion, but I believed a lot of the
same things they did. I am vegan and also dont condone the mistreatment of animals, I often
enjoy yoga, and I try to allow myself to give and receive love just as they do. I even forgot the
gluttonous reason why I came there in the first place by the end of the night. The entire event

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was much different than I had expected, they brought together so many people with a variety of
interests and motives and created a wonderful experience focusing on community, equality, and
love.