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

Uh-oh!!!

I'm scared. Tomorrow is the beginning of a two day holy festival that happens across the entire country. All I really know about this festival is that it consists of throwing paint at random people in the streets. I also heard that by day two people can get really drunk and high on bhang lassi's (special yogurt drinks mixed with cannabis). The other thing I know about this festival is that it's holy, well obviously! The main difference with this holy festival, among the parade of millions of other random holy festivals in this country, is that it is actually called 'Holi'. I just learned this. Before I was confused when I tried to ask the Indian people what was going on tomorrow and they would just reply "holy, it's a holy festival". I guess this one is especially holy for some reason. This is a little ironic as I've heard (as I just mentioned) that people can get pretty wasted in the streets during these two days. And Rishikesh is a holy town to begin. Both the eating of meat and drinking of alchohol is prohibited in this town.

So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do as of tomorrow. The guy I just spoke with at the jewelry shop said that my hair will be multi-colored for the next few months after this festival. I'm not sure whether to brave the madness, or to just stay in and hibernate. Really, I think there's no way of getting out of this. I think I will just embrace it; and run whenever I feel it is necessary!

So that's it for now. I will update the blog later when the madness has passed. I'm sure whatever happens it will be fun!

Rishikesh

I have arrived in Rishikesh. I am staying in a nice room with a porch overlooking a big monkey playground. I will have 3 weeks of yoga training here with two different teachers. One of my teachers will lead me with basic yoga asana practices in the morning, and another will teach me about yoga therapy in the evenings. I am alone on the journey now. I miss my friends who are now on their way to the Taj Mahal. I could have joined them on that journey but decided instead to make the most of my time here in Rishikesh before I go to the meditation center at the end of the month.

The camel ride was amazing!! I will post pics when I get a chance. Camels are so cool. And sooo peaceful. I was told that camels never sleep. They just sit all night and make some strange noises. Other things I learned about camels: they live until about 25 years, and will spend about 20 working and the last 5 alone in the desert; if the males don't get a chance to have a lady friend they will be considered a full power camel and will foam at the mouth if in contact with a female (this was the case with the camel I rode).

Well my time is up now on this computer. I will write again soon :D