India Travel Log 3

We fled the high priced Osho "resort" to make our way north the small
riverside town of Rishikesh. the whole train station experience was a
bit intense, with our heavy backpacks on, trying to make sense of the
ticket system, waiting in a line, only to be told we have to wait
actually in a different line, which turned out to be the wrong line !!
lol, we got a ticket from Pune to Delhi easily enough, and the train
ride was reasonably pleasant for a 23 hour journey, however, arriving
late at night in Delhi, was a bit sketch. We were then sold 2 tickets
by the ticket counter guy for Haridwar, only to find out 4 hours later
when the train arrived that our tickets didn't gaurantee a spot, only
if there were free seats, which there were not. frustrated, we were
at least able to refund ( most of ) our ticket price at the counter.
My next call at that point was to forget the train system as it is
only really reliable if you book days in advance , and so we grabbed a
rickshaw and headed for the bus station.
Right as we got there we found a bus leaving for Haridwar, no sign, no
tickets, just yelling Haridwar untill someone said " Haridwar YES come
come " we got on the bus. Of course, the seat I chose to sit down in
was the unofficially reserved seat for the ticket checker man, so when
he got on I no longer had a seat, and had to sit with the luggage at
the front of the bus. not the most comfortable, and a bit scary too
because I got to witness how close we came to hitting various cars and
busses along the way.

Finally we got to Haridwar, as the sun was coming up, and it was well
worth the trip,
Beautiful flowing Ganges river and the first wave of what would become
millions of pilgrims flocking to this place over the next week.

We then grabbe another bus for Rishikesh, just 40 minutes up river.

Rishikesh is a place out of time,... many ashrams and temples line
along the river here where each night many rituals and festivities
take place. The main market road here has no cars, which is great,
just many people from all over India and the world, and of course lots
and lots of beautiful cows who lounge around and are cared for by the
Sadhus. The cow is sacred here, they see it as a symbol of the divine
mother Kali Ma, and in fact it is not even possible to find any meat
of any kind sold in Rishikesh. fine by me, I've been veg since we
landed here.

We are staying at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram, which was founded here
many years ago by an Indian man, who was known as the "emperor of
yoga"
Even at the age of 99 , he could perform the most difficult of Yoga
postures and contortions with the greastest of ease. He never did
learn to speak english, or perhaps he would have been more popular
among the westerners. Today the ashram is prosided over by his main
disciple a woman who is indeed a great Guru, although she is not an
Acharya ( teacher ) she only teaches by the presence of her
experience and devotion. For 100 ruppees a day, around 2.50 I'm
provided with small simple but clean room, with a hard bed. included
is morning meditation at 630, and two Yoga classes, advanced in the
morning and a basic class in the afternoon. There is a man here, a
Swami who gives discourses during the day on many subjects, often
reading from the Bhagavad Gita and offering illumination on it's
meaning. I really enjoy his lectures and questions are always
welcome. In this way I've come to learn many things about Indian
culture, that makes things a bit less confusing here. His views on
meditation and yoga are very interesting, and such a sense of humour.
I feel like we are finally getting a taste of what the real India is
all about here, and becoming emmersed in the culture.

The first few days I had just about everyone along the road trying to
sell me something, perhaps it was because I was so wide-eyed, looking
at everything there was to see. Now that I am wearing a simple robe
and blanket, with a long Mala necklace, I am getting maybe 10% of the
people trying to sell me things as i was before.

Yesterday I performed my first Puja ( offering ) to the Ganga.... you
take a bowl made of leaves, filled with flowers and a small oil candle
+ incense, then slowing walking into the Ganges until it flows from my
hands and drifts down the river, as an offering to the Ganga. To the
people here, this is not merely a river, it is a living entity coming
down from the higher spiritual realms. It is said that if the Ganga
were to come down directly to earth, that she would be so intense, so
powerful that the very earth itself would be swept away. Seeing this,
Shiva offered himself that she might pour down first onto his matted
locks of hair, and then to the earth, that the people here may be
purified by her Skakti ( energy )

Coming straight from the Himalayas the Ganges here is clear blue, and
very cold.
I entered the Ganga, but it didn't feel that cold to me, just
incredibly revitalizing, like waking from a long sleep. submerging
below the water, I felt and incredible pull as my feet were swept off
the ground, rushing downstream.
Now I know why the Hindus here will never actually swim in the Ganga,
only dip in, while holding onto ropes or chains from the Ghats, (
steps built down to the river)
they believe that if you flow to far into the Ganga she will carry you
away to another world under her waters, the land of the Nagas - I
could definitely feel the pull !!

that river dip really woke me up in a powerful way, its hard to
describe, but everything seems to be more vivid now.

drying by the side of the river, we were approached by a Brahmin and
his family who had been watching Lorena practice some Yoga moves, they
were impresseed, but offered some advice on how to improve....very
friendly people. The Brahmins are different from the Sadhus, the
Brahmins are holy men who are also householders, they live within the
material world, but are highly educated and literate in many ways and
trained to perform certain rituals for the community and identify
themselve by showing the holy thread which they wear under their
shirt. talking with them was a lot of fun and we learned a lot, even
from their basic english. They really treated us like family, so many
people we have met here, its been like that - amazing, so welcoming.

Another great experience here in Rishikesh is the music teacher I met.
for 200 rupes and hour I am learning the art of the Tabla drum, and
Sitar. The tabla is a very technical instrument, but I am making
good progress I am told. It was hard for me at first to not just jam
, but to really slow down and learn each hit individually and then
learn to connect these different percise hit methods into small
sequences.

We just happen to be here at a very auspicious time. in fact it is
only once every 12 years that the Kumbha Mela is held here in its most
auspicious form. On saturday, some 5000 naked Babas bathed the
Ganga, 500,000 monks of various orders -and some 5 million pilgrims
all were purified by the Ganga....... Intense !!!!!
that was all in Haridwar, so it was nice to have Rishikesh to come to
as a more chill place that is not so overcrowded.

Learning from Swamiji about the Kumbha has been interesting, how now
modern science has discovered that the Kumbha cycle of 11.11 years
also matches with the sunspot cycle of the sun. meaning at this time
there is extra solar radiations coming to earth and brining different
forms of solar energy not usually present.
whatever that means :)

Also, the food here is SOOO goood, and very cheap. our favourite
place has a rooftop patio that overlooks the river ghats, nice and
quiet.

we plan to stay here for a while, at least 2 weeks. The ashram says
the 15days is max stay, but of course that can be extended if you show
diligence with the program and are wanting to stay longer. Dharmasala
and Bhodigaya are also on the list to visit, which are not far from
here. perhaps after our 15 days we can visit one of these places for
a week and be back here for the international yoga festival that is
happening in Rishikesh starting march 10th.

well if you've read this far ! congrats ! and hope to hear back from
ya'll about how things are going - especially Conrad, and Jer, How
goes it ?? you reading emails ?
and Jord, you in Vancouv for a while now ? any progress ?

Peace out !