[MD] Crestone Colorado

[david buchanan]

Howdy MOQers:

I don't know if I have a philosophical point to make right now. I just want 
to tell you about a family vacation from which I just returned. Or rather, I 
just want to tell you about the place we visited. Actually being there is 
different than reading about it, of course, but...

Crestone is a tiny, tiny town at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 
which means 'Blood of Christ' in Spanish. Its at the edge of the San Luis 
valley, the largest mountain valley on Earth. Even the floor of this valley 
is more than 8,000 feet above sea-level and the surrounding mountains rise 
up another 6,000 feet past that. "Downtown" Crestone consists of one 
internet cafe, one bar, one hotel, one resturant, one liquor store, one 
lumber yard, one gas station and a diner. The total population is about 
2,000, but most of them live in a residential area outside of "downtown".

The interesting thing about this place is that full of Buddhists and is 
exceptionally tolerant of religion in general. This is especially unlikely 
in southern Colorado because it is mostly cowboy country. Its a sparsely 
populated sage land with more cows than people. But years ago a landowner 
decided to make arrangement to grant parcels of land to any would-be church 
builders. I'm not sure if this land is given outright or sold for very low 
prices or exactly what the details are, but basically somebody wanted to 
foster a diverse community of seekers in this amazing place. Apparently, its 
working.

In addition to the Baptist church you'd see on the way in, there is a 
one-room cabin that serves as an Episcopal church. But there is also the 
Manitou Institute (from the word Manito, which Pirsig describes as an Indian 
word for DQ), the Crestone Mountain Zen Center, the Haidakhandi Universal 
Ashram, the Lindesfarne Chapel, Shumei International Ashram, at least three 
Buddists stupas, the Spiritual Life Institute and a road named after Sri 
Aurodindo. And the sign outside of the "Kundalini Fire Department" features 
Smoky the Bear sitting in the lotus position. I kid you not.

As you can imagine, the place is full of bohemians and therapists. There are 
places where you can go to retreat from the world, to seek a spiritual guide 
or just get a good massage. (I'd really like to find out what a massage is 
like.) In short, the place is Shangri-freakin'-La for a MOQer. If it were a 
mile lower, I'd move there as soon as possible. Anybody want to go in on a 
summer place with me?

What's my point? I don't know.

dmb

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