Consciousness Shifting in Romania...

I am revisiting now the very places where I spent my childhood and youth in the Romanian landscape.  When I first got here after having spent ten months in West Africa, I was a bit in shock... The material consciousness felt so heavy in the air, my ears and eyes could not believe the things I saw and heard, and I found myself  wishing I was back in Africa surrounded by the human warm spirit and simplicity of life...  I observed many questions rising within my heart... Had I changed so much that I could not identify with this one facet of my Romanian personality?  Was I undergoing a culture shock again after 3-4 years of absence? I was then reminded that ALL I had to do NOW was to BE... to take it all in and bless it all in the spirit of Divine Oneness. 

BEING in the midst of this aparent chaos was a privilege.  I arrived here to see them (the Romanian parts of my Self)  at a crossroad in the evolution of their consciousness. It is BEAUTIFUL, although it looks the opposite on the outside. 

This picture is one tiny powerful image of consciousness shifting... Look at the book covers.  There are mostly spiritual books being translated into Romanian for the first time... I saw Yogananda's book up top, for example, and I smiled.  The mere presece of divine knowledge on the streets here is the sign that a NEW DAY HAS COME...

I am now SHARING a powerful moment that happened just last night.  We were in the metro/subway station, James and I, we were waiting to get back to my sister's apartment...  We had been walking for a while in the streets of Bucharest (and I would like to emphasize that one's senses are constantly under assault when walking down the streets of Bucharest) and I had not found a beggar yet to give her/him the box of leftover rice that came from a Chinese restaurant we had visited for lunch. James was still holding the box of rice in his hands. As I was standing up waiting, I heard myself asking him out loud, 'Where are the beggars here? Where are they hiding? I just want to give someone some food...that is all... '  We sat down on a bench and the next thing I saw was the face of a teenage boy speaking to me in Romanian and placing a small magazine in my hands...'I come from the Children's House and if you buy his magazine,then I can eat something...I am so hungry...'  I stared at him for a minute and asked, 'Are you really hungry?  I have some rice... here, you can have it...'  I handed him the rice, then watched his face in amazement...He looked as if he was going to faint of disbelief....He took the rice and went a few feet away... I saw him place his face in the box and eat the contents till the last grain of rice disappeared.  Then I saw James walk over and placed some money in his hands...Then I realized  we also had a small bag of  mini chocolate croissants with us, so I took these and put them in his arms.  He turned towards me one more time and his face was filled with joy.

The subway car arrived soon.  As we were gliding by inside the womb of the Romanian underground world, I stared at the boy once more... I felt my heart overflow with love... I said a silent prayer for him that he may always have food and shelter... He had turned my day into pure joy...