There were definitely some people who looked scruffy, like people who didn't pay lip service to the idea of finding spiritual enlightenment in an office cubicle.  But they stood out in sea of  well-fed, upper middle class, forty-ish, spiritual-minded women.  Judging from the lines outside the bathrooms, women outnumbered men in attendance by perhaps two for every man.  I spotted many instances that looked like mothers bringing their teenage daughters to this event. There were many unaccompanied attendees.

There were some children in attendance.  After an event, in the commerce hall, a teenage couple sat in each other's lap. They were accompanied by someone's parents. From my male viewpoint, there were enough single, young, thirty-ish women to make my single friends back home drool.

In viewing the crowd, my estimation is that people did not exude happiness. In fact, my perception is that, in general, the attendees looked confused, like they were missing out on something good that was about to begin without them. I never heard someone ask another person what they liked or disliked about the lecture. When I talked to my wife, I tried to talk a little softer to evoke a passer-by's attention, but there were no takers.  Most people seemed interested in not standing out, but looking handsome or pretty, all the same.  The net effect had me feeling like I was laid over in an airport somewhere in Europe.

The most emotion came when Maharaji entered the stage. Upon his entrance, a standing ovation erupted for about one minute, only to be shut down by the front rows quickly sitting down. While Maharaji was on stage, there was no significant disruption.  Some people used opera glasses to gain a better look. During the lecture, people watched, enthralled.  While peering around at the audience, nobody reciprocated my glances.  If you looked, you could see a welling of water in the eyes of most attendees. 

During the last "Expressions" I desperately wanted to go outside to the antiques show. My wife would not let me leave early, which I could understand: it would reflect badly on her. But I had enough, and was content to just lean forward and look at the floor.  Actually, our seats were directly above a cast iron manhole cover, which occuppied more than my fair share of attention.  My wife questioned my behavior and gave me some gum.  Despite the usual occasional cough, you could hear a pin drop during the lecturing.

After the event, some people stayed behind. Most got up to begin the leaving process. If you like being in a crowded New York City subway car, leaving this event would have put you in heaven. All in all, the event seemed like a study of minimalism in a city of flambuoyance. People meandered in droves toward Lincoln Road for dinner and shopping.  On Sunday, there was an outdoor antique show. A dealer summed it up when she coyly remarked, "What's the deal with these people? Did their leader tell them not to buy?" I thought to myself, "Just the opposite, dear. Only I can't find your DVD's, CD's, and Premie Threads."