Where Is Religion?

I'm past my eastern religion phase. I consider myself a western philosopher and a neo-christian now. But I still love driving the narrow winding road through Oak Creek Canyon to the Vedanta Monastery. I have friends there and am doing some research at the library.
In some places the oak forest is so thick it forms an arch over the road, providing intense shade dappled with sunlight. I have to keep a sharp watch for the little wooden bridge with a small white sign announcing "Vedanta Monastery". Sometimes I stop on the bridge to listen to chatter of birds around the creek.
The road up the hill is tight and curving. Oak gives way to California chaparral, a mix of cactus and scrub, and then a pine forest....
A broad gravel path leads to the old monastery. It was winter and there was a crisp chill loaded with the fragrance of pines. The only sound in the silence is the crunch of gravel as one walks. Then there is the clear gong of the call to service bell.
I entered the library. There was a crackling fire in a stone fireplace, hot coffee, and people standing around chatting softly. Then we all entered the large lecture hall. There is an even larger fireplace with a blaze that warms the whole hall. I sat on the padded benches in the back near the fire. The voice of the Hindu teacher was so soft, his accent so heavy, I kept dozing off... the Hindu lady sitting next to me kept stealing glances at me...
I had come to visit the library and some old friends anyway. I wanted to know what kind of terminology Ramakrishna uses to refer to the Divine Being and the Absolute. Remarkably, in that whole library, I somehow made a beeline to his few narrow booklets, and found he uses the terms "personal god and impersonal god". This was an important bit for my new essay.
I'm always sorry when I have to leave there, afraid that somehow I may never come back...

Oarnge County, Southern California