Hanuman; Photo by Author

Temple of Hanuman-Taos New Mexico

One of about four sessions I was involved in.
All with one hand.
I did feel my spirit elevate while *ratta tat tatting*
Like always, my propensity to channel punk rock is never shy and eventually I stood up and shared a dance with an eccentric Asian man who reminded me of Damon Suzuki of CAN (RIP)

His house

Hanuman Temple- Taos New Mexico

Gorgeous temple
You go and take your shoes off and at some point, somebody will either pick up a drum or a piano and start playing.. then a man with the long rope comes in splashes you with water, then comes with a candle for you to waaft over you.

And then the

WHOOOSH!

A flood of spiritual emotion, a force the likes of which couldn’t be felt outside of this temple

WHOOSH !

Another flood

Another flood

WHOOSH

Then a Conflagration of fiery disciplined passion and fervor.

Then the chant

Then an apple on a plate .

The pompous glare of Hanuman

Look at the hand....look at it... You'll never be as glossy as him. Immortalized gleaming sparkling beauty.

I was ding-dang-flangin' on my drum in an immaculate room with an organist, sitar player, other drummer, and I jammed some hymns. Then the priest sashays in with a drippy, black robe, immaculate in conception and 2nd only to my own drippy black robe. When he entered we all stood, and when he brought the flame and started chanting in another language he came up to me and said, “Bro that drumming is freakin sweet”.

The video only captures a teenth of the sheer awesomeness of my experience. I was just keeping up with what they were doing

and as usual, being unknowing but ever ready to dive in

There was a part where while I was standing and, bopping, and banging , and twirling I honestly forgot where I was.

I wasn’t in Taos.

I wasn’t in my body.

I was in the realm that

He gave me The Immaculate Thumbs Up

Worship! Worship!

they give you free food and pester you to get seconds and thirds

It doesn't look that good but, it was. The rice pudding was damn good. The pasta didn't have meat, they had a tasty vinaigrette to glaze in the salad, and the vegetables were tender. All for the free.99

Cooperatively the dishes were washed, the floor was cleaned, and the room where the funk went down was immaculately clean.

Immaculate

Immaculate

How I wish to kiss thee

Immaculate

Immaculate

Immaculate

There’s something called the Taos Hum. If you’re in New Mexico and mention Taos they’ll say something bout the hum.

Driving from Santa Fe to Taos was… interesting. Hell driving anywhere in NM is interesting, and not only the ooohhh ahhh kind of interesting but the I’m either gonna get crushed by a boulder I can’t see, or somehow fall off the side of this mountain in the middle of nowhere.

It’s a long drive too. 1.5 hours. The kind of 1.5 hours that’s actually 90 miles. Once you finally think about the deeper section of Taos it’s a cute little peaceful patch of desert with tight turns and NM standard low-height adobe houses and structures. I will soon venture back and get the flavor of the town because this time, it was all about going to take my friend to see the temple.

New Mexico is full of wonders

Full of enchantment.