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page 12
thursday, december 7, 1978
daily nebraskan
arts & entertainment
A
Goal of religious system is the path to awareness
By Peg Sheldrick
"Everybody's so much in a hurry to be the ultimate
person they want to be, and they run over themselves,"
Keith Larsen said.
"Taking small steps in the right direction will get you
there eventually."
That's the attitude behind ECKANKAR, a system of
religious and philosophical teachings that has as its goal
total awareness and transcendence of the physical body.
It's "a point of view on life," according to Janis Morariu,
area representative for ECKANKAR.
"It's an individual path to awareness," she said.
Keith Larsen, Mahdis for Nebraska, compares it to
philosophy, religion, psychology and other methods
used by individuals to cope with the world.
"It's all of those things," he said.
Gathering together
"(Through ECKANKAR) you can separate yourself
from your physical body and take a whole different
look at what's going on in your life. The contemplative
aspect lets the world spin. . . (while) you decide what
you really want. It's not escaping-it's more gathering
yourself together," he said.
ECKANKAR teaches that an individual should try
to be attuned with the ECK, the "creative life force."
Since it's nature is individual study, there are no churches.
The ECKist tries to work through states of physical, emot
ional, causal and mental consciousness to a level of con
sciousness "beyond energy, space, time and matter,"
according to Larsen.
'Soul travel'
He said the ECKANKAR experience can allow the
individual to transcend the physical body and experience
"soul travel," moving into a world of large consciousness.
People are taught to relax and let go of problems "so
that each individual can learn to be in the present
moment," Larsen said.
There is no strong authority figure in ECKANKAR be
cause that would diminish individual responsibility.
The Living ECK Master, Sri Darwin Gross, is a spiritual
guide rather than an authority.
"It's up to the individual," Morariu said.
Can't be converted
"The organization is not a social movement," Larsen
said. "The individuals within it are involved in move
ments. . . The purpose of ECKANKAR is to present the
ideas of ECKANKAR to people who are looking for them.
There's no way you can convert somebody to
ECKANKAR-they have to be ready for it."
The teachings of the worldwide organization are said to
be older than recorded history. They were brought to
modern attention in 1965 by Paul Twitchell. On a
national basis members pay about $40 a year and receive
mailings each month. Funds are used to publish literature
on the teachings. The staff in Menlo Park, Calif., mails
materials all over the country to ECK Centers such as the
one here in Lincoln at 2639 Randolph.
Storefront rented
The ECK Center is open during evenings and is used for
discussions and lectures and for making ECKANKAR lit
' erature available. Local ECKists have pooled their money
to rent the storefront.
The student branch of the organization meets on
campus and has existed for about a year and a half.
Members range from college age to 50, and some come
from Omaha to take part in discussions. Local operations
are funded through donations, but ECKists don't make a
point of soliciting funds. Since it is considered a religious
education foundation, ECKANKAR is tax exempt.
No People's Temple influence
Asked if she thought recent events with the People's
Tempe would discourage people from joining groups like
ECKANKAR, Morariu said, "I figure anyone who is really
inter: sted in ECKANKAR, it wouldn't stop them."
"In ECKANKAR, if Sri Darwin Gross told an ECKist
to kill someone or commit suicide, it would be their re
sponsibility to tell him to go jump in the lake," Larsen
said.
Worldly search for delectable eats leads gourmet home
By Ben T. Shomshor
Over the years I have come to the conclusion that there
are only two good reasons to travel. The first is to see
someone whom you would otherwise be unable to see (an
acceptable reason). The other is to eat something which
you would otherwise be unable to eat (the right reason).
I knew one chap who hunted throughout all of France
in search of the ultimate croissant. Another trekked the
length of Scotland and the width of Ireland questing, not
for the Holy Grail, but for a merely tolerable way to
prepare oatmeal. I stalked the elusive Sachertorte in the
konditorei of Central Europe.
notes from table 8
black -eyed peas and cornbread. The restaurant is very
small, friendly and inexpensive.
Chopsticks
Since the lamented closing of the Hong Kong Pizza
King and the loss of the world of renowned Chinese pizza,
the closest Chinese restaurant to campus has been the
Ming Palace at 1309 N St.
The Ming Palace does a justifiably good business, ser
ving the only Mandarin menu in Lincoln. I have never
been anything but pleased with the food. and service. The
house and chefs specials are good, but after you try them
once or twice they begin to seem monotonous. That is the
the right time to start ordering the other items on the
menu. If you enjoy spicy food, order one of the Szechuan
dishes offered.
The wine list is distinguished primarily by its low
prices, so don't hesitate to order a full bottle with your
meal.
The only real competition to the Ming Palace is the
House of the Dragon 6811 O St. While the atmosphere is
open and comfortable, and the waiters exhibit a profes
sionally unhurried attentiveness to the diners, there seems
to be a disquieting lack of "vigor" and precision to the
food. They also have at least two pairs of warped chop
sticks which they show no qualms about offering to the
customers.
The hazards of such journeys are sung in the under
ground Odysseys throughout our land. Legends abound
of intrepid gastronomes diverted from their single-minded
purpose by willowy, blonde Swedes, or waylaid between
sun and sea by passionate Greeks and Latins.
Eat at home
The safer (and cheaper) way to enjoy such adventures
is by eating at ethnic restaurants at home. In New York
City, the explosion in the numbers of ethnic restaurants
has been so phenomenal that, as one writer noted, where
it was once considered a sign of worldliness to know the
difference between veal marsala and veal piccata, you now
need a Master's Degree in Altaic Studies or a working
knowledge of the Honan dialect of China just to order
lunch.
The situation in Lincoln has not yet reached this state.
The few ethnic restaurants we have are used to catering to
the midwestern, fattened-on-steak-and-potatoes, crowd.
Still, they are well worth trying.
The Soul Food Cafe (2049 0' St.) is one of my fa
vorites. Though I admit a certain bias, having been weaned
to collard greens and red beans and rice at an early age,
many of my Yankee guests have also been favorably im
pressed. Of special note are their breakfasts (the largest
and most reasonably priced this side of the Mason-Dixon
line) and the supplementary dishes such as the greens,
Ambitious plans drift like crumbs on cosmic muffin
Enough of this pedestrian nonsense, what I really
meant to say was after nine semesters of swearing not to
do what I had already done, I capitulate. If the gods had
meant me to finish my classes with a measure of grace,
they would have made me a Basket Ed. major.
Having just returned from an extended vacation in
the Bruhahas, and not without a measure of fatalistic clar
ity, I am quite willing to admit that the energy I had set
aside for the end of the semester has set me aside.
There is no order in the universe. If there were, the
thrill of another semester's worth of higher education
would propel me into unparalleled brilliance in the final
hours. As it is (and it is), I am sleeping through
the death rattle of yet another season's worth of aspirat
tions, and am quite resolved to waking up with a bone in
my throat and a daisy in my hand.
michael zangari
Where does lost energy go?
Does it drift off to some distant plain and collect like
dust on the cosmic muffin? Does it come back with
interest when you finally cash in your chips at the end of
the game? Can you get more with Bingo bucks? I'm
enough of a mystic, and silly enough to believe that no
energy is ever lost. Misplaced, obviously-lost
never.
Hours of meditation in front of an empty sheet of
paper and acres of term paper notes have left me with an
inner peacefulness and an intense desire to go out and get
out of my head.
My consciousness is beyond -hovering lightly over
books and obligations, relevance and politics. I can't see
my notes, next semester or even this one. All is quiet.
In other words, damned again.