(Graham): Tuesday - Islamic Cultural Center and Self Realization Fellowship

Yesterday (Tuesday) the day began with Father Scott banging loudly on our doors at 8 am, something that makes what would normally feel like sleeping in feel like one hour of sleep. We got dressed then at 9 went to the cafeteria for breakfast. At 10:45 we piled into the now familiar bus and began the drive to the Islamic Cultural center. Once we arrived we were led up to the second floor by Imam Taha, where we sat in a book filled room and listened while Imam Taha explained the religion of Islam as well as Muslim customs and beliefs. For many of us it was an eye opening experience that shed a lot of light on political and social issues in the world today. Again we piled back into the bus and headed toward Las Olas, where we had great Mexican food. After lunch we went to visit the Self-Realization Fellowship, a westernized branch of Hinduism focused on meditation and the belief in one single god with many aspects or "faces." We practiced basic meditation techniques with the Yogi there, and learned more about the practice of connecting to God individually through meditation and reflection. This too gave us a window into eastern religion that surprised many of us and enraptured others. Later we were given a chance to walk through the beautiful meditation gardens, which ended in an amazing view of the ocean below. Finally we retired back to the retreat center where we ate dinner and held a meeting in which we discussed the day's events. Mostly we talked about the assumptions that people make about religions, and the differences and similarities we saw and heard yesterday in our meeting with the Imam and the Brother. That discussion then led us to discuss inequality and unfairness in the world (we circled it back to immigration), then finished off by reflecting on and sharing where we stand religiously. We had a heated voting session about what we were going to do the next day, before dispersing to our rooms or the pool. By the time we went to bed we were exhausted but much more enlightened about the world we live in.