Re-United with Swami Shiv Mangal Tirith ji

I was dropped at the airport on Wednesday the 24th. After taking
my seat I put on some Om namah Shivaya on my ipod and shut my eyes. Instantly tears burst into my lips with the image of swami ji in my consciousnesses. Just hours from now I will see him.
this is the part where many people who are not on a similar path will be able to really understanding my experience. What is a similar path anyhow? I need to warn you all that I am not part of a cult, nor am I doing anything religious. Swamiji performed an ancient blessing on me 17 years ago called shaktipat initiation. This is a scientifically studied as well as spirituality. It is also know as Kryia yoga, or kundalini yoga. What happens now. The chakra wheels after initiation spin quite a bit faster than then would without. Ther are only 2 ways to get your kundalini moving one is to seek out a guru who is qualified to do it or 2 do tons of hatha yoga and in about 12 years it will happen. Since my initiation 17 years ago life has taken quite a different path.
Now that I have experienced the worst of human nature on all levels, I have made a decision to live for love and not the other. Of course the other will happen, but now I am disconnected from it as well as the highs, bringing me into an appreciation fro the middle ground, this is the place where truth meets souls, light erases the dark and the infinite is present. This is a place that swami ji helped me to find within my self and there is only one suggestion from him. Keep meditating.
As i left the plane, I felt quite relaxed. Even though I had no idea where or how I would find him. i trusted that he said he would be there and he was. He first offered me his hand and shook it and touched his foot. I felt the energy STRONG! We went to another devotees house where we would stay the next few days.
Upon arriving, we would sit in the living room with Swami ji and other devotees. I immediately went into a grace filled trance. I was somewhere deep inside connected, burning, empty and full. I was sitting at the lotus feet of GuruJi! Guruji doesn’t say much. Many devotees come and ask questions and his answers are usually a nod or very short. I am too a center of attention since i am the only westerner in the house. Again I am trance back deep inside. Wow, I have a complete understanding of this path now and I am here to thank guru ji for it. We will sit at his feet for the next few hours and then to bed. I felt is was ot necessary for me to sight see, but since i have never been here and Mumbai is huge I asked what to do during the day. I told guruji its most important to spend time near him. He said please go to the museum, its your profession. So I decided the next day to go.

Safari Swamii Madness!

I can’t remember if I mentioned this before but one of my first nights in Rishikesh I went to the shivanada ashram to chant hari kristna. When I climbed the steps about 50 flights I was greeted by a swamii. He spent a little time with me to tell me about the hari Kristna chant and why it was created. He said in 1947 during WWII it was created for world peace.  The Swamii’s gave me the floor for a bit. And every hour a different swamii takes over and this has been nonstop since 1947 WOW!
Like everything in life things take time to develop. And my journey to this other ashram with Swammi B was supposed to take 3 hours, but instead it took about 5 or so. We took the safari road thru the jungle instead of the paved road which I think we did because Swami ji wanted me to see some elephants or something. This road was really rough and bumpy. We got out at one point to take a break and walked a few yards and saw some guys parked in the brush. So we ran out of there because swami ji thought they might be criminals. I could see where criminals would travel this route, hence there are no services, no houses, no police! We made it to the ashram just fine though. Although I was warned about waving to women by Swamiji. I guess its bad to do that especially being a foreigner.
Anyhow I got up the next morning to do power yoga with the guru of the Ashram. First impression about this place was that the energy was really flat, but peaceful. tucked just inside a valley next to some river. The guru we had met the night before seemed very nice, but not really a master like i know the definition of the word. I noticed he had somewhat of a weight problem so i thought it was unusual that he would be teaching power yoga.
I arrived about 10 minutes late for the class. just missed the Omm’s. There were about 35-45 Indians and 2 whiteys. I was cold and my nose was running not to mention the gas that had been brewing up since day one here. Well any how the guru was up there instructing a  standing what i call a non asana. I swear to you not it was truly a chicken dance with a strong exhale through the nose. Not like kapalabati, but some exhale. Well this was fine except i had the infinitely running nose and each time I tried my snott would fly toward something or someone. And then there was the forward bend blasting asana. God I  said this is truly a funny experiment your putting me through. We kept doing this chicken dance for like 25 minutes and I found myself filled with such laughter that I could hardly move in fear that i might bust out in laughter. And then we were instructed to do some laughing yoga. Jeez! I was truly laughing and when I looked around me I was highly amused and a bit weird ed  out by the forced laughing on the Indians faces at 530am. Anyhow we did a few seated real asanas and it was not a total loss. I do feel though that i was in a Bollywood video. So fun…
Later that afternoon I met a really dedicated asana yogi from Delhi. Yogi raj was so awesome! We looked at his picture album to see some of his poses and WOW! I have never seen anything like it. I was truly amazed at the lifetime of dedication he has proven. But he was not a asana freak which seems to happen to some. He was truly a good spirit following his dharma. After our talk we went on to the roof because he wanted to show me one good asana for a picture. He choose the Peacock. As he adjusted into the pose i could feel the energy radiating off him. He also realized that and started saying take Take asking me to shoot more images of this because spirit was working his way thru this moment. He told me after that normally he never does practice like this and felt that it was really a special moment. When he went to demonstrate to the crowd it was not the same as those few moments with me.

Swamiiji and i left that evening to go back to Rishikesh. I needed to get back because I was heading out Sunday afternoon. Our drive across the mountains was really insane. First of all Swamii ji didn't really know the way so it was a mystery how we were going to get there. I wasn’t too worried though, God was with us. As he has been the ultimate guide for me here. Well…about 2 hours into a 5 hours drive we got a flat tire. Now we had a spare, but the problem was that it was 1/2 flat. We decided to chance it and went onward. Not the road went from paved to an insane construction zone which was not meant for this little old truck to be driving down. I told swamii ji to drive really slow and we would be ok. SO after like 3 more hours at about 10 km per hour we ended up as some small village. Swamii ji stopped the car and turned down the Grateful dead soundtrack he had on and looked at the sign. Oh Shit he said. I know where we are now like 25km in the wrong direction from home. Well at this point the tire has totally torn up and we have like 2.5 more hours to get back. The road is getting worse. Somehow we made it back in like 8-9 hours of a 4-5 hour estimated journey. We crashed for the night and in the AM I hitchhiked back to my guest house. I wanted to the vastisha guha or vasistastna cave before getting my buss, but i felt there was not time.
I took the buss back to Delhi to spend a few days resting and coming down from the Mela high I have been on for days now. The buss ride was fun, except the seat was really hard and my tail bone was hurting the whole way and not to mention the huge buss zigzagging thru traffic as if it were a rickshaw or something. I have G force withdrawals from that ride. We stopped for a poddy break about 1/2 way. I was looking forward to eating the oranges I brought from rishikesh, so I took them out got off the buss and 3 monkeys fell from above and landed on top of me to grab the oranges. Damn! Oh well. There were 6 college age Indians that motioned me over to sit with them. So I did. they said they had been observing me for some time and wanted to chat. So I said ok. We talked about Yoga for a bit and then back to the buss. When I got out in Delhi i has surrounded by Shady looking people. We had parked in some dark alley away from main traffic. So I was trying to get  a prepay taxi, but there were none. Somehow i ended up in the back of some guys car. Oh shit I thought how did this happen. I could smell the liquor on his breath and we went to a gas station which i had to pay for gas. I almost got out went for a real cab. I asked the station attendant what he thought and he said ok with a little smirk. SO I started chanting om namah shivya out loud and offered an extra 100R to the driver to get me there safe. We were driving lilke 100mph through deli and shit that was scary. We did make it back safely though.
Rest, warmth, clean, home in Delhi. my friends there are exceptional. I have thought what is the importance of what I am doing here and what is yoga really. yoga for me now is what I do with every breath of every minute of every day. I will continue my asana’s, learning, and meditating. But thereis no special thing or place I need to do or go to follow my path. I have see the most gloroius truths of myself on this journey and I am in love with all of it.
The past two days in Delhi i have recuperated and now i a gong to meet my guru for the first time in about 7 years in Mumbai. I believe these next few days will be very trans-formative
. Again I am traveling on faith here. No address, one phone number and someone I don't know will pick me up at the airport.

Feeling fine!

What a great morning! Sun is shining and I am getting my full strength back. Today I’ll go see if I can find Shivananda’s bedroom for some meditation and then to the main ashram to listen to Swamii Bill’s noontime lecture.
Well…Breakfast went sooo slow, just that way i like it i missed seeing Shivananda’s bedroom. SO straight to Swamii bills noontime satsang. Now Swami Bill is from America, but has been in India for like 35 years living at the ashram. He has almost totally lost his English. Which is so fun to hear him talk. the way he does. And his voice is directed through his nose which really makes it sound fun! Anyhow he brought another swamii in for conversation about Yoga in India! This was fun. they talked about how most westerners only know hatha and not Meditation.  Also how yoga is supposed to be about the union of our mind and body and not just some exercise.
How nice it was to sit in the room with about 65 yogis from Europe
of whom don’t really get what the swamiis are talking about and it was how I started my yoga path 17 years ago. I could have given that talk, but i dont plan on turning in to a swamii anytime soon. Yes i have a little ego here, but i think its healthy. I have gone through great strides to understand the Indian yogic philosophies. Mostly experiential. Its just really nice to be with like minded people. After the talk I said hello to Swamii bill and told him I was friends with swamii bodichitananda and he said with his loud high nasal voice,”May god be in your heart always”! Then he offered me prasad with the food prayer. I sat at his feet for a bit then headed out to meet Swammi B for lunch.
I was face-booking with Gina Sala earlier yesterday and I told her I wished I could have Mexican food, and she wished for Indian. So funny how I was eating lunch and they had Mexican on the menu!! Woo hoo! My 2nd non Indian meal in weeks. Over lunch Swamii b and I talked about integral spirituality which is an current study of spirituality that has evolved over many thousands of years and now one thing we have is a record of it which helps us define it. Very interesting topic. swamii ji invited me to go to a conference the next day about yoga and Ayurveda. I accepted his invitation and headed out for a yoga class.
i took the suggestion for asana class from another American I met earlier in the week to go t this studio near Laxman Jhula. The teacher wa a really nice guy, but not so much my style. I felt i was more advanced than he and was not satisfied with the practice. After we finished, I continued a few Asana’s to show off a bit and get some extra work out. the teacher I think understood me much better after that and gave me a big hug before going. The class was done entirely on the floor. So no standing Asana’s and he had me do some fast movements with exhale that seemed a bit weird. I just went with it. Oh well..Its all good any practice should be good, but i know my temple better than anyone and what it needs to keep it running good. After I went to dinner and had pizza with Yaks cheese! YEAH! And an early bed for me.

Western Swamis' do exist! Here and There.

This evening I talked with swami Botchitandnadji. Actually We went to his ashram about 10 Kilometers north from the Laxman jhulia place I am staying. At first i think we didn’t connect well, but then he made me some strong coffee! And we both had some laugh for I said it was the best coffee I had in India. Which was true. Its not a coffee country for sure. After coffee we went for a walk along Ma ganga. He began to speak about how in a persons spiritual path they must first go inwards and be sort of selfish and how after many years they can do service for the majority of humanity and that is the real sigh of spiritual progression. In observance of my own dharma I have notice this happening in my world. His advise to me was not to plan too much. We talked until just after sundown and then I hitched a ride back to my guest house. After our talk I felt very connected to Swami and had some moment of Samadhi during the talk. For me it was a vibration up and down the spine of kundalini/ shakti.

My friend Andy has a friend living in an ashram just about 10 km above rishikesh. I contacted her by phone and she came down to meet me and we went back together. At this point in the trip I am really tuned into my energy and my environments energy. Deborah has an Indian man with her which seemed a bit weird. There was an unusual tension between them.As if her was trying to unnecessarily protect her from anybody coming to take her way. Cant quite describe it exactly, but it didn’t seem to bother me nor seem harmful to anyone. SO we went to the ashram and Wow was it nice! Almost to the top of the mountain, well kept gardens and rooms. Clean, and calm. We were first greeted by a man who has not spoken in years! this is his sadhana given to him by his guru. After some time there I understood that the residing Guru was giving lifetime missions to devotees. I’m not sure how to feel about this. I think everything he would ask a devotee to do would be very special and perfect, but what about the freedom to evolve and not being constrained by one task. I guess it works for some seems to work very well here.
Deborah and I went into a cave where pujas are held and talked for a while. I told her some of my stories about spirituality. She was excited to listen and have me there. The energy of this ashram is very high. Some yogi’s and smoking grass, which is something I am far past at this point in my life. Apparently they do a lot of it here. I think its ok for them, but i wold never mix mediation with anything. The guru had me come and sit with him for some questions..  looked at me and asked “What is Sadhana?” For me its living comfortably and whatever you need to do to achieve that is sadhana. If you has thoughts like jealously, greed, sad, happy, etc. you do some sadhana to clear and live comfortably. Then he slapped me on the cheek twice and walked out. I had asked 3 swamiis that same question last week and they couldn’t answer. I appreciated his answer and really got a shot of his energy which made me feel very relaxed. I was really enjoying my time there. Whenever I have been in the company of a realized master, I do usually get a shot of their energy. His was very present in the ashram and also with his devotees. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking, doing yoga, meditating and some chanting. A really really blessed day. At 6pm Deborah is in charge of dong a Kali Ma puja. Its her act of sadhana given by her guru. I stayed for this. I watch her as she began the chanting and I could see her body fill with the energy of the goddess kali. She really transformed, looked and sounded different. the energy was also swirling around with all the devotees gathering around. Such a cool experience to witness. Shortly after the puja, Deb walked me to the exit and on the way told me I cant explain exactly the puja, but my body fills with kali’s energy by
the grace of guruji. This is my purpose she says. I explain that i understand completely and told her I wold make an effort to come back again. The guru did invite me to stay, but I feel the need to get back to my guest house. The road is dark and the taxis have stopped runing so I have to hitchhike a ride down, but I’m not afraid. I get down safely and crash out.
Tomorrow I will meet with Swami bodichitananda for lunch.
Deborah visit… her guruji answered questions about the importance of sadhana. Asked me what is sadhana and said having a comfortable life and doing some work to balance out your thoughts and emotions.

Rishikesh!

Its day two in rishikesh and i am feeling beat! A light soar throat and low energy. Fortunately my attempts to gorge myself with juice are working and I will kick this today. The air is very cold at night and hot during the day. Its hard to get out of bed and step into a cold marble floor. I want to shower, but I’ll wait until after breakfast when it warms up a bit.
I’m wandering about town and finding my way into the German bakery in Ram jhulia. They have fruit, muesli and curd one of my favorite things in the world. I’m also taking 2 slices of brown bread and some chai. I feel this meal is healing my tired shell. The Mela has purified me and this sickness is coming out from some sort of chakra and karma cleanse. Its common to get sick when you do a diet change, fast or purge. Why would it be any different for spiritual one?
I’m looking for a good Asana class, but it seems there are none that resonate with me here. So I’m leaning on meditation and dharma to guide me with my activities here.
As i investigate the streets…I see Shivananda Music school Table lessons. I enter and ask how much for a lesson. 200R. SO I begin my first ever lesson. I’m telling you as soon as my hand touched that drum there were sparks. I couldn’t keep my hands off it. I really love love love it! I sat for an hour with the teacher and at the end of the lesson her showed me how to make the drum sound “booduhi booduih” I was so excited! I always wanted to do that since like forever! I’m buying one but not here. I was told to get one in Benares or Delhi. YEAH! not sure when i’ll have time to play, but I’m sure I can find some time.
This morning at breakfast there were two Italians sitting at the table. After my chai started to kick in I asked what they were up to. It was funny because the first question was are you from Spain and yesterday the people at breakfast were from spain and I asked them if they were from Italy. So I told them and we had a laugh. Now after a few words they told me how they were traveling around India and here in Rishikesh they found their Guru Prem Baba. THey explain to me that for so long they were traveling on an external journey only and after taking Prems baba’s blessings that their journey went inwards. In fact they changed their travel plans to stay at the ashram for the rest of their trip. I just looked and them and smiled and we all had a silent exchange of love, heart energy. SO beautiful for them and I was so happy for them. And they will have this journey now for the rest of their lives!
Speaking of journey…many people have asked me if this journey was one that I would use to find myself. In my head I hear the game show buzzer ARRNNNBZZZZ! Wrong answer. Of course not I tell them I am coming to deepen my practice and do some work. And that is JUST WHAT I Am DOING! :)
This afternoon I am meeting with Swamii Botchinanadaji a western swamii from the Sivanada Lineage. I have a little time to kill so I am just walking and observing. One beggar man I cam across was very persistent and I gave him some time. I told myself I would not do this unless I felt safe and as if it was the right thing to do. There are a lot of beggars here. The energy around them is very powerful and a bit scary. I noticed that the stronger the energy even if its good will attract its polar opposites.  In my meditation path they told me in the beginning that I should not get involved with many sexual encounters or drinking or other tarring activities because they could lead into very big problems. I did not understand that until later. When putting forth effort and positive energy like this its amazing how things are attracted to you. I have been trying to balance out this situation for years now. anyhow…I sat next to this guy and he showed me his leg minus the foot with a bloody bandage. And asked for money. So I gave 25 R. Well that didn't satisfy him seeing that I’m a foreigner. So he showed me the other foot. OH GOD!. With out any expression I watched as he flipped his toes back and forth as for they were only hanging on by a thread. I was truly disgusted to the core. I gave him a few more R’s and left. The
only thing I could think was what kind of karma has this person had that lead him to this. I could see he was only following him path in this body. I have no bad feelings or good about his situation it just is.

Recoup Rishikesh!

Day one shower, ditch the Italians, facial, massage, relax.

After 5 days of Mela madness I have landed in Rishikesh. The first impressions are touristy, and a bit cheesy. Even a little too busy for me at this moment. I caught a ride up here from the Italian crew who wanted to come here and see people doing yoga. Now this seems so dumb to me. Why would anyone want to watch yogi’s practice as if they were some sort of circus act or something. Unless you were another yogi looking to practice and expand i don’t see how this was going to work for a group of old guys to view yogi’s in practice. . I knew it was time to ditch them. So i did and went to my gueast house. Sonu Guest house for $3 per night with hot water..WooHAAA! The first shower in days lasted about 1 minute with hot water and I was so relieved. After that I took a nap.
I decided about a month ago that i wanted to get a massage upon arrival here. SO I did that after my nap. The therapist was pretty good. Full, oil thai relax rub! After that i headed across the street to get a shave and facial from the local barber. He kept saying very dirty..very dirty and actually had to shave me twice to finish the job. I’m pretty exhausted but i can see that Rishikesh will be nice to relax and do some good sadhana.
I almost forgot that I went to the German bakery to eat breakfast and it was really nice. Curd with muesli
and fruit. MMMM….

Oh Fuck…Its Royal Bathing day:)

So I could not think of a better way to title this post for  today since the past few days have been really filled with unbelievable happenings and today was surely going to lead up to some kind of intensity. As the crowds have gone thicker, I have grown stinkier Haa 5 days now no shower…WOA. But, its all in good spirit. The rest of the camp got up very early like 2am and went down to Hari Ki pouri. I’m pretty sure they are not actually going to get there because at 10 the army had blocked the majority of the place off. I was invited to go, but I said fuck it and decided to sleep. So Glad I did! I am getting exhausted from all the excitement and not sleeping much already. SO I get up an have a slow morning. Its cold outside and its hard to get out of the bed roll. there is no chance of showering, but there is a faucet with mystery water supply. I dipped my head into it because i just needed to do something. Shampoo, rinse and ready for the day ahhh!
One thing I have not mentioned yet is that food is extremely limited here. there are not many choices: Dal, Dal and more Dal. Or Chapattis and dal, dal and rice, or more Dal rice and chapattis. Good thing i like all that stuff. There would be an occasional vege thrown into the mix here or there. Did i mention that breakfast was also the same as lunch dinner and breakfast. Huh?:) Any how I had to walk all the way into town to get to the main area of town which was about 5 miles. All the auto traffic was being blocked so there was no chance of getting a ride in.
Some how I ran into my friend the superintendent of the army for the Mela right on the street. I was going to go to her house and watch the procession. It was exciting to see her in action…beating some people with the crowd control stick. I could tell she was hardcore! Good to have a friend like her. She told me to wait there for a sec and then said go follow the public and take pictures. Now there's like 5 or 6 millions people jammed into thi small town called haridwar which is the size of Bellevue. And the street are not so big, which means that you can and will get crushed.
Somehow I ended up at the back of the procession and was able to walk forward to the front. So what i found out was that this procession is all the swamiis and Baba’s wither their devotees riding on chariots to the main bathing ghat. They take a dip and ultra bless the ganga. Then later at night the public can go in . there are 3 separate processions. As I walked into the crowd it was really manageable, but about 20 minutes later ad I got closer to the front, I found myself saying “Oh Fuck”. The crowds were insane pushing, pulling, shouting, fighting, screaming, praying to get a glimpse of their baba’s. And I was in the middle of it. I’ll say its pretty scary, but I would do it again. Well I started to get tired so I ducked out for lunch on a less busy street. This restaurant seemed ok because it was busy and there were not a lot of options. Well it took forever to get food and I was really being treated like a foreigner. omce the food came it was fine but I needed a spoon. So I asked the waiter for one and her grabbed a used spoon off and used plate from a customer who just left and wiped it on his colar and threw it into my Dal. “OH Fuck” And looked at me like I was doing something stupid. I just had to laugh. And downed some garlic pills after that meal.
Well I made my way over to the rivers least popular bathing ghat and felt kind of wiped out. So I decided to sit and meditate on the side the water. I closed my eyes and Internally Omm Omm Omm for about 20 minutes. Then I opened my eyes and there were about 50 Indians standing around me taking pictures. “OH Fuck”  What to do? I decided to focus my dristi way inward and keep the eyes open. Many people sat net to me and took pictures. not sure how many, but I sat without moving much for about 2 hours.
Then something really nice happened. One Indian guy came over and asked me if i was afraid because of all the attention and being a foreigner. I said to him no because the only protection I needed was that of god and I have that. He noticed how focused I was with my eyes open and how even they stopped moving. Beautiful! We talked for about 2-3 hours and went to the Aarti. What a truly blessed way to end the evening and my last night at the Kumb Mela. For tomorrow I am going to
Rishikesh to take a shower and recoup.

Day four? Its all running together now.:)

I have now been though such an experience that anything extra is just pure bonus. I feel that if I left for home tonight I would be complete with this journey. I have read the birthday wishes from friends and family and they are bringing me to tears. I love all of you and thank you for being part of my family.
Last night another American arrived in our camp. So I offered to have him tour with me on that day. Mike was his name and he had a recent break up with his girlfriend so India was his choice to take a break from life in the USA. Mike was a really nice guy and I was glad to have him with me on this day. We had a slow morning and made our way in to Hari Ki pouri. We had a great morning, walking through town meeting swami’s and taking lots of images. In the afternoon we made our way to the Shiva statue which is like 15 stories high. While there we took some shots and talked to a very kind sadhu who gave us a banana and shared his thoughts. We were unsure of his intentions
, but her turned out to be very kind. Then we made our way to the Maharaj camps. Of course the way this pilgrimage is set up I couldn't find the exact place where I wanted to go. So we were on this walk through a lesser established camp. This was truly a bit out of the way, but while walking I spotted some Naga’s in a tent and decided to approach them. they welcomed us and we sat and conversed for a while about our lives. Of course much of the communication is in broken English, but its great because we make a good connection and its was really welcoming. Mike and the sadhus had a smoke and asked me why I was not joining. I told them because I am a yogi and it was not my path. Then suddenly the one Naga started doing some very advanced poses. So i decided to show him that i was also doing yoga and posed in my version of yogi vadranasana. There was some back and forth showing poses and I ended with scorpion and it felt great! We had a little crowd watching us and what an experience. WOW! Mike said I just earned street credit with the baba’s. We left there and Mike said that was probably the coolest thing he was ever a part of. I felt grace and peace for this experience. We headed to the Evening aarti at Hari Ki pouri to end our evening. But…after the Aarti the police had blocked the streets and getting out of there was really difficult. The traffic had increased about 5 times what it was yesterday being it the day before the royal bath. We walked like 6 KM to the place where we wanted to catch an auto-rickshaw, but the driver took us the wrong direction and then picked up a family and there were like 12 people in this 4 person rickshaw. We tried to stop the driver and with no luck we were now like 20KM or 12 miles from our camp and it was getting late. AHHH!. So we found a bike rickshaw and he dropped us at the Hari Ki pouri Ghat. From there we had to walk like 6 KM to get another auto R and finally get back to camp. What a journey. The rest of the camp was going to get up at 2am and go watch the sadhus bathe. Its their turn to do it on the holy bathing days. I choose not to and found that we all had a similar experience on the holy bathing day.

Day Three… I think!

I have officially lost track of time and day. Today I am to meet the superintendent of the Indian Army this morning for help with getting around the Kumbh Mela.
The morning was cold and wet, but I could see the sun would come out today. Myself, the Itialian.s would begin a tour again of the camps. Also we got up around 5am and headed to the Hari Ki pouri to shoot portraits of the pilgrims at dawn light which is realy the best. One family allowed me to shoot them shaving their sons head and being given a bath by the father. A truly blessed event for the family and me for being a witness. We spent about 2 hours greeting the pilgrims, And then Franco and i headed towards the quarters of Mrs Sharma to see how we could get help during this tour. She was just lovely and I felt a little embarrassed to have this crazy Italian with me, but i felt I owed him something for having me along with him for 2 days. So I explained to Mrs Sharma how he was a little addicted to the Naga’’s and not to worry about anything. She said she would give ma a kernel to assist me on the tour for the afternoon. Wow! I cant tell you how huge this was. Most of the really high level temples and Maharj’s are not accessible unless you are a devotee or military making contact. Even then it was difficult.
Our kernel first took us to a Shiva temple which had several armed guards in front. We were allowed inside and it was so beautiful! a huge marble patio with an entrance to the main temple where only the swami;s go. At the inner opening there were about 4 Swami’s who invited me to ask a few questions. Of course I had them ready. “What is the import of Sadhana?” So there was a pause and the Swami told me “ I need a whole day to answer that question.” And so we all laughed and i explained that I already knew the answer, but since I was coming from such a distance I had to ask a big question. He responded just do something 5 minutes a day and that is all that is necessary. So we touched their feet and proceeded to the next camp.
The next place was also a highly guarded enclosure which only the kernel got me access to . We were immediately greeted by a Naga Baba. He was a bit older. We asked for a photo or Franco did and He looked at me and pointed to the ground. I needled at his feet and receive his blessing. Now, many of you know i have been studying the chakra system. This is a very real system of energy alignment for me which many my world spin the right way. This naga was high evolved! He touched my head and for a moment I felt the world stop and spin around me. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7 all chakra’s where spinning and aligning and i was absolutely blessed in that instant. I felt a tear crawl down and felt grace had began at this moment for this Kumb Mela for me. We took a few more picture of this camp and Naga’s and then headed to the Main Maharaj’s encampment.
Now little did I know that this tour would become my own pilgrimage. My doctor told me that the Ganga is the most polluted river in the world so I decided that i would not bathe and after all I am not a Hindu. However….We took an auto richshaw to the Maharaj camp.
While there we would meet 2 Maharaj…I cant remember the name because the Hindu names and very hard for me to translate and remember. The first one was one of the more famous and recognized figures who had come to the Mela. His camp was huge. We were invited for satsang and questions. I Asked him a question about family and how i felt bad that they think I am some sort of problem because of my spiritual path which only i know is the most important thing i will ever gain in my life. He told me that i have to go to the temple to ask that question and he would only address question's about the Kumbh Mela. So I asked the obvious question…”Is it necessary for for a westerner to go into the water of Ma Ganga for this blessing of kumbh Mela?” And suddenly the light was extremely bright around me and behind him. I could only see him and there was no sounds. And with a thunderous, deep voice hes replied “Its is the will of all people coming to the Kumbh Mela to bathe in Ma Ganga”. Now he is speaking only in Hindi, but I swear I hear it in English. for a moment more the earth spun around me and this was a pure moment of samahdi. Then Franco took a picture of the Maharaj and tried to show it to him and this was a big NONO! About 6 swamis grabbed Franco and pulled him away. I felt bad for him for just not being here. But think he took it to heart and told me later he appreciated the time we were together. After this moment of Samahdi I was given an armband and lotus paste on top of my third eye. I way really buzzing! We sat with the devotees and ate lunch and the entire time I am feeling such peace. After lunch our kernel had to leave for his duty for the main bathing day and I decided to head over to the Hari Ki Pouri (footstep of God) main bathing ghat and take my bath.
So I proceeded towards the Ghat with Franco. There are 3 sides for possible bathing. The one I chose is where the nightly Aarti’s are performed every night since the beginning of humanity.  I undressed to my underwear which is what everyone does there. Now at this point I have not showered in like 4-5 days and I'm needing some sort of wash. I’ve been traveling in the mud mostly shoes off and sleeping in the damp tent. Its been a challenge getting used to the discomfort, but I am used to it. SO i make my way to the ghat and the feeling of light from within has surrounded me with a protective bubble and I grab the chain and wade in . I try not to put my head in and the Hindi boys around me laugh and say you have to dunk all the way! So I surrendered because i knew it was the right thing for me at that moment. Ahhh! the sweet nectar from the footstep of God has taken me and I am here. I am that. Hari Om!
As in the usual Indian customs a claimed Hindu priest about 25 or so of age asked me for additional  puja blessings. I said OK, but I think it was probably a scam. These are poor people so I’m ok with getting burned at times. I went to sit on the steps and reflect my experience. I brought some grapefruit seed extract and bottled water to cleanse myself off with. And drink to kill any bacteria that may have entered my mouth. I felt so at peace and was so incredibly
connected to grace, I was in tears. One Indian man came and sat with me and we talked for a while about the pilgrimage. Deep gratitude and kindness from this culture. A complete and whole experience indeed. Shortly after we went to tour some more camps grab a few more shots and back to camp.

Jai Ganga Maha Ganga Jai ganga Ma

The complete story of a new sector of my life begins here:

I boarded the train from Delhi at midnight. I was immediately nervous. I spent the day getting my internet data card set up. First I went to the shop to buy one and they said I needed proof of residence. So I cam back like 2 hours later and was told the same story so I asked if there was any plan I could get to use a phone or card for a short term here in India. I had to ask like 6 guys the same questions until finally the first guy gave me one and it was done. Almost. They told me it would not work on my laptop so i had to take it to a special set up center or I could try and do it myself. Well i took it back to the house and there was no problem getting it up and running. So  the real problem was how was i going to get power to my computer since Ia m on the us system and if i plugged it in it could possibly fry my machine. Tht would be devastating. Well, I used the computer to call dell support in the USA which routed me to a support center in Calcutta, upon which the operator routed me to another place somewhere else in India to speak to someone else who did not have th3e answer. However, that person did manage so call someone else in some other country which had the answer and I was set!!!! Ready for high tech travel communications from my tent anywhere in India. WooHoo!
Well lets talk about the train ride. So i was really terrified i think mostly because I knew there would be no chance of sleep in this 2nd class car. I tried and tried to sleep but there was too much going on in my head and around me to even think about it. Mantra, prana yama, happy thoughts and all of the above just didn't work. So I began the moksha mantra and repeated it for 4 hours until I arrived. Now its a miracle I even arrived because its not like anyone tells you this is your stop. I happen to notice the train was not moving and looked outside and saw that there were a lot of people hanging out. I noticed the sign Haridwar and my heart skipped a beat… I now know I am not in Kansas anymore. Before my eyes i see these people are pilgrims from all over India and sleeping around the train station because they are very poor. They are filthy muted colors from their journey here to greed God at Kumb Mela.
I begin to exit the train and I hear
“MR. Johnson” its my guide meeting me. Roshan. We got into the range rover and headed towards the camp where i would stay the next 5 days. After about 20 minutes of driving I realize this is going to be a sole act of God’s grace that this trip is successful to Kumb Mela. The camp was located a long ways form town which would serve as a benefit for my time there after a few days of the tour. I crawl into my tent about 6am and sleep about an hour and then I’m up and running. to see the sights.
Day one: Its pouring rain. Everything I brought will now be used…Rain coat, garlic pills, pro-biotic, health bars, common sense, surrender and presence. In the camp there are 4 50 something Italian’s, some of whom have been to the Mela in the past. One man named Franco’s was really a crazy guy…but he served as my guide for the first day. In the rain, we visited the pilgrim camps where the Naga Baba’s, swami’s and devotee’s resided. I am tired, but aware, I am cold and wet, but I am here and now, surrendering to the discomfort.
We walked through the mud, and rain to greet the Baba’s. Franco had done this before so it was perfect for me to get the first access to this experience. He was a tourist Naga addict. All he cared about was seeing as many Naga as possible and really missing the point to being here and now. Its was kind of a circus tour for him, without real appreciation for the beings in front of him and what they were about. I know it would be important for me to observe this day to see how the people interact. After about 6-7 hours of touring with them, we headed back to camp. I was anxious to leave them actually because I had a good contact with the Indian army and wanted to call them. The dinner was ready and I passed since I was so tired and slept very well in my tent at the base of the Himalaya
mountains.

The true meaning of hard work!

We were driving My friend to work today and on the way back I saw they guys loaded in this  truck mostly sleeping. All i could think of was man they must be working their asses off. But notice how clean they look…
I say that because yesterday we drove around the city a lot and I noticed lots of make shift camps set up on the sidewalks. Well. Milind told me the men who build the streets live in another part of the country and they are here temporarily with their families. Well…these tents are about the worst living conditions I’ve seen. No heat or real shelter and covered in construction soot inside and out. I choose not to take pictures of them. These men bring their families into these horrible conditions and work for like months or years…what sacrifice and what undeniable wills of these people to survive. I feel as though I have never worked a day after witnessing this. Someone said to me that the poorest people here will be the happiness you will ever meet. We drove by this small child in one of the slums and he was squatting on the street. The look on his face was truly priceless…I mean hes was truly in a state of bliss, but I got the impression that's the norm.
On to other things… Getting things done here can be a bit frustrating. However…I’m getting to understand the culture here and I gave it a big test. I was trying to do 2 things. buy a data card for my laptop and two see how i could plug in my laptop without burning it up. SO I went to the phone store and they told me I needed proof of address and like 3 other impossible things. Well… I left and went back like an hour later and asked like 4 guys there if they could just please help me out. well they finally did and its was all good. Of course after a little leaning and with kindness and compassion they finally gave in. I guess they asked for other stuff because of the terrorism problem using tech stuff… Then I went back to the house and needed to contact dell about getting a convertor. So I logged on to this internet phone my friend has which called a US number that routed me back to Kerala and then forwarded to another person in another part of India who asked someone else somewhere else in the world what the answer was to my question and it worked!!!!!! SO that was easy HAA! Its a race but you can win or accomplish with persistence and awareness and a little praying. Almost forgot to mention that in the middle of this my travel agent called and told me i might loose my booking in Haridwar because i was supposed to be there now and that took like an hour of calls to get me back on track, but it all worked out. Now if they could find me in the 5am drop off tomorrow that would also be great. Before all this began I said a little prayer to Amma and Swamiji and the stress was basically gone during this silly business of planning the trip to Haridwar.
Hari OMMMM!!
D

Mother I'm home...

Om Namah Shivaya,

Last night I changed planes in Amsterdam and almost immediately I began to get anxiety. I went form the comfort of the clean contemporary Dutch airport to the well used, sold out, super jet with tons of Indians and their families. the energy was frenzy on the jet with people running up and down the aisles…it was as if I almost, at that moment landed in India. The flight was fine though…after a while I began to think of how this test of patience would be near and how I would need to accept where I was and what it was.
Then “ding” the test started. the two Indian men sitting beside me drinking beer and farting the whole way to Delhi…Phew! and the one man sitting next to me kept jamming his elbow in my side. Every so often a stewardess would sit on my shoulder wild pushing beverage carts. So i decided to let go. I was exhausted from the jet lag already and felt that if I ws going to let something get to me it was not going to be this.
I finished reading the book on Chakras and balance during this flight. Eastern body Western Mind! It was nice to finish that book its really long read. It was exciting to see that the three upper chakras balancing suggestions were things I’m already doing.
Then we landed…my heart was racing with excitement, Kristna Das blasting in my ears Oh namah Shivaya and welcome to India says the captain. I was the 20th person off the plane of like 400 people. and as soon as I began walking past immigration the energy of the ground filled me up with a serene, subtle sensation and focus that if you weren’t paying attention, you would miss it. I proceed to get my bag and the speakers were playing a tranquilizing melody of tabla  and drawn out rhythmic Aramaic like chants. I stood and was pushed my a luggage cart and then a person and then another and I didn’t care, for I am here…now. After I got my bag I went to get my prepaid taxi to my friends house it was about 2am local time. thank god i printed out a map of the directions. the driver had no idea where to go. When we arrived i was so excited to see my friends name on the address, but I couldn't figure out how to get in. So we called them and they said just go in, but I could not see the staircase. After about 15 minutes I jumped over a car and thru a gate to get to the stair and I made it in. Gauri and the maid greeted me and fed me. they said not to go out today just eat our food here and allow your stomach to adjust. These are such beloved friends of mine!
I awoke to the maid named Radha and tried to say hello. she does not speak English or read so my translating book was useless. Radha made me some chai and an omelet. I couldn't seem to find any TP in my bathroom and tried to ask Radha for some. i felt like such an ass for a second having to gesture wiping my butt to try and ask her for TP. We both laughed and that was that.
I had a look around the house and noticed several books on the yoga sutras and other similar text. I knew then that I was in fact in the right place.
For the rest of today i will relax, do some meditation, make a few calls and emails. Today begins my journey here one breath at a time.
In Tirthji,
Derek

Day 1 the plane ride and thoughts

Dear friends,
Om namaha Shivaya,
I have to tell you my quote for today. Walt Whitman “Leaves of Grass”
Today I celebrate myself for every atom belonging to me as much belongs to you.

I am on this incredible journey and I have all of you to thank for it. In many ways I see this as your journey too. The experience and expansion of all my atoms will deliver with Grace to you the evolved satsang of each other. I’m excited to share this journey and I hope to hear from you.
And did I mention I’m in Holland… isn’t that weird. Seriously though the coffee is great here and the Graphic design rocks!!
Just another 5000 miles to go…
Hari Aum,
Derek