So long India

The 10 day meditation went well. It was super challenging of course (not speaking for 10 days and meditating for 11 hours), but in the process I recieved many insights. Although the goal was to be both silent outwardly and inwardly, I wasn't as successful in the latter part. I did my best though and felt a huge sense of peace when I finished on that tenth day. I found myself really missing singing a lot; just making use of those vocal chords. And I really wanted to write out my thoughts, but that also was not allowed. So it was different not having any outlets in a sense. I had to keep so much trapped within. But this seemed to give me a chance to really know what was trapped in there. And I was so happy to walk away from the journey feeling content with who I was (having spent 10 days just with myself). In India they call it the monkey mind, as the mind jumps from branch to branch. The monkey in my mind is quite a jumper that's for sure. This is why I think meditation is really effective for me. So I think I will continue on this path in the future.

Speaking of monkeys, I'm sure the girls had a good laugh when I was giving my monkey a bath in the courtyard. But hey after 5 months of travelling with me in this dusty country that came to be one dirty monkey. I laughed when the protective Indian housewife saw the monkey hanging on the clothes line; she came running out to shoo him away, but soon realized it wasn't your typical monkey. We exchanged a smile.

Yesturday I travelled from Rishikesh to Delhi. I was blessed to sit with a 21year Indian girl and her mother. They were so kind with me, fed me delicious food, and invited me to stay with them next time I come to India. Since then I have arrived in Delhi and it isn't my favorite place, to say the least. I am practically counting down the minutes until when I can leave. My flight is at 8am tomorrow morning. That's approx. 10:30pm Monday night in Montreal. I will arrive in Montreal at 8pm the following night (around 5:30 am in this time zone). So it's almost a whole day of travelling I have ahead of me. It's good though, and I'm very excited. I have had an amazing time and I am looking forward to what life has for me back in the beautiful land of Canada. We are really so blessed to have such amazing lush forests, mountains, lakes, etc. I really can't wait to take a big fat whiff of Canadian air when I step off the plane.

So that's my final India blog. I hope you have all enjoyed it and look forward to visiting with you all at some future time :D

I haven't written in some time. I will admit that this past week or so has been quite challenging. I have suffered from the traveller's bug so many people do their best to avoid. I myself wasn't so fortunate. Things are looking much better now though as I prepare myself for my 10 day meditation session that begins on Saturday. So I just wanted to leave a few more pics as these most likely will be the last. After the meditation I have just a few days before I make my way to Montreal on April 14th, then Calgary on April 21st.

So much love and light to all. I hope spring is finding you all well. And I look forward to seeing you all so soon.

Some last shots

This is the Shiva statue that sits on the Ganga and faces the Ganga Aarti ceremony that I was invited to take part in.

There are several rituals involved in this ceremony. Here I am receiving water from the holy Ganga to drink and then wash my hands with.

The musicians.

These cows were hanging out during the holy day. They still have paint on their foreheads.

These two boys were having a blast trying to cool down on the hot hot day.They dug theirselves a pit and soaked the sand with the icy Ganga water.

Here in Pushkar we met some funny baba's. This pink one danced for us. The other one (who I never got a photo of) just laughed at everything (as he was in noble silence for four months and wasn't speaking).

Camels are so great!

I found this little boy out in the desert. I asked him to play me a song.

Sunrise.

Here's my full power camel foaming at the mouth.

Mr. Monkey was loving it!

Here's the group I was with for my trip to Pushkar (Danny, Natahna and Aruna). We had a blast.

Jai Ram Ashram

These are some shots of the ashram where I have been taking yoga classes in Rishikesh market area.

Here's a view of the Ganga where there are ceremonies every evening.

The Beatles ashram is the place where the members of the Beatles found their way to sometime in the late 60's, early 70's. They chilled out at this hot spot, that was the home of what is known of today as 'Transendental Meditation', and worked on their 'White Album'. For the past 20 years or so this place has been abandoned. Big problems came up when there were so many foreigners trampling through. Apparently it was George who led the boys out to India; John and Paul were pretty into it, but Ringo hated the food and wanted out immediately. The story goes that these boys got along for the time that they chilled out at this place. But soon after the band broke up.

Natahna and I spent an afternoon/evening there just checking out this abandoned, decaying and mysterious dwelling. The property was HUGE and connected to a Provincial forest with wild animals. The two of us were the only one's around for our entire visit, which only added to the magic of the experience. We were told to be very careful and come out ASAP as the cops may be patrolling and it was illegal for us to be there. I am not sure why there are so many fear tactics involved in a visit to this place.

The Beatles Ashram!

Natahna and I had fun climbing into these egg like structures on the property. It was a little scary climbing up the old ladder (because at one point I thought 'imagine this old ladder busted and I went flying?'). But once I was in the acoustics were just amazing. What an experience!! I can only imagine what took place in these eggs at some distant time.





An old abandoned school on the property.




























Pretty flowers growing in the decay.

























These were these little pod things that people used to meditate in. This little meditation pod dwelling is situated along the Ganga and next to the wild forest (where the people said there were tigers and elephants and that I should watch out!).

Crazy times!

Wow!!!
That was intense!!!!!!

It was a psychedelic experience for sure. The colors were so bright. It was amazing. But what wasn't as amazing was how aggressive many of the Indian men were (many times using this holy day as an opportunity to grab and grope the foreigners). Getting paint smeared all over your face, head and body can be a little annoying as well, to say the least. Although it can also be loads of fun too!. But with all the laughter and excitement I must admit that near the end I was finally brought to tears (and not happy tears). A big group of boys covered in black saw me approaching with the look that I was trying to evade the situation. I knew something was up but it was like walking toward my own doom with these boys. They launched theirselves on to me and smeared motor oil all over my face and neck! It was discusting. And I just started crying cause I finally had enough.

After reflecting on this experience with my friend Aruna I have come to see this reaction of mine in a symbolic way. I had no problems accepting the colors as they were smeared all over me; big, bold and bright pink, green, red, yellow and violet colors. It was amazing to see the world so bright and colorful. But it was the black that I had a problem with. And this I see as being one of my struggles in life; accepting the darkness (the darkness within me and within this world). So for me this was really a powerful learning experience which gave me deep insight into my own being.

But wow was it amazing how much of a natural high I felt just from being surrounded by so many colors!! So that's it for me now. I have many pictures to post soon!!
:D