Monday, January 22, 2007

India Journeys - 1.22.07 - Rishikesh

Hello kiddos! (freaks, family, friends...)

I am loving you here from my beautiful temporary home of Rishikesh. Indeed, still here! (As anticipated :-) I have moved on from my sweet little ashram to a hotel up the hill. It was a gentle and protected way to enter India, to be swept immediately into ashram life, but I am glad for my freedom now. Ironically, I also miss the groundedness of routine (specific sadhana - spiritual practice - and mealtimes each day...). So I am discovering my own organic daily ritual which includes beautiful moments of sadhana in the sunshine (it's still a bit chilly here, but warming up), including yoga and pranayam, as usual... But the spaces in between are filled with wandering...

Visiting the children's school/orphanage to play with the kids, visit my friend Aaron and the other wonderful volunteers there, eat great organic food in their cafe, sing prayers in their evening children's satsang...

Sitting in Tulsi restaurant, my other favorite eatery - not only for the great food, but for the eclectic mix of mostly young foreigners from all over the world...

Wandering the dusty streets and its mix of smells (incense, dung, deisel...), sounds (bhajans amplified from the temples, pop and sacred music from the vending stalls, boundless bubbles of hindi, endless foreign accents, noisy engines, shouts and calls from people selling things...), and sights (I can't even begin to describe!).

I seem to meet new friends each day. A young Israeli woman who we had a good laugh about how funny it is that so many people spend all their energy complaining about life ("but that's how they find meaning!" I exclaim :-) We laugh and "commiserate" about how much we enjoy our lives, both traveling, and back home... Another amazing woman, who I'm just starting to know, from Norway. We met initially when she asked, "were you singing around a fire in Colorado last summer at a Rainbow Gathering?" Indeed, and she remembered it had been Rebecca and I singing "Jai Ambe Jagadambe..." Getting to know the proud owner of Tulsi, a foreign woman who is marrying her Indian husband this Saturday! Her belly full of baby, we talk about education, ways to kinestetically awaken learning in a more holistic way. We talk of spiders, the web of the universe. We talk of anything we can think of, well into the evening, staying out till 11:30 (late by Indian standards - although I was out one night till 1:30 with my American friend Karl, again at Tulsi).

I spent one afternoon in satsang with ShantiMayi and her sangha, just before they headed to Allahabad for three days of the Kumbh Mela. Very sweet community, although striking that everybody is western, all the way here in Rishikesh! That's where I connected with my tribe.net friend Karl, who I had a fun two days being American in India with. Laughing in that way only irreverent Americans do, only minutes before sharing blessings and ancient Vedic chants down by the Ganges...

Another western-woman teacher is here, Candice O'Denver, teaching the "Great Freedom," resting in awareness... Very beautiful teachings, and I may attend satsang again. But I don't feel I'm here to seek teachings and teachers. They are all around me, in every breath of the air, curve of birdwing, scent of rose, laughter of child, deep gaze of friend, cold mornings and achy feet even!

So I continue on here, for another week it seems, before heading to the Mela and then Varanasi. For now, just enjoying living a life here, being simple. Spending time with the children. Breathing in the sunshine in the morning, practicing yoga and bharata natyam on my rooftop in the afternoons, wandering the streets, smiling and meeting as many gazes as possible...

In Peace ~ Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi:

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Sunday, January 14, 2007

India Journeys - 1.14.07 - Rishikesh

Hola beauties!

Well indeed, I have landed in the Motherland. Without fault, and thankfully by Grace, I navigated the airports, the taxis, trains, buses and rickshaws, and arrived in Rishikesh the same day my plane landed in Delhi. Pack on back, intuitively weaving my way through the Lakshman Jhula area of town, which I'd heard was the gentlest (I am on vacation after all!), a very sincere and peaceful woman approached me. Before I knew it, I was sheltered into her sweet ashram, which I then discovered was only around the corner from my one friend in town who's working at Ramana's Garden children's orphanage.

Gently embraced by the sweet gardens at the ashram, my new friend Turiya, a warm "bath" (ie, buckets of hot and cold water mixed and poured...), I set about to a little exploring...

It is different here! Even Morocco didn't prepare me for this level of "third world." Yet here too is permeated with western influence and luxury. For every cowpie there is probably a celphone. Both sides seem equally pervasive.

A bit of culture shock in my first attempt at a shopping experience (it became quickly clear that I needed some warmer clothes!), so I scurried right back to the ashram, and then to find my friend Aaron for a gentler introduction to this new world...

The shock came mostly just from navigating a different way of relating to people. The smells, the dung and urine in the streets, the simple earthy way of living - these are almost immediately familiar. But the way the people take in your gaze - that's where my soul gets shattered, confused... I don't even know that I have the words for it right now. It's becoming more comfortable. I find solace in how easy it is to meet the gaze of women - sometimes warmly, sometimes playfully, sometimes nothing but just being together... But men. Men are like a different species here. Not all, but so many. I've taken to downcasting my eyes most often in their presence. Not out of shyness or shame, but that it is not worth the energy drain to combat what feels like a fairly invasive way of leering at western women. But not
all. I just had a delightful interaction with a young man in a fixed-price shop where I bought a shawl (I tell you, it is cold here!). Somewhat flirtateous on his part, but mostly just in appreciation of the beauty of life. I loved one thing he said...

I told him I had arrived in India alone, but then came here and met a friend. Then in my next journey, to the Kumbh Mela, I will travel alone but then again meet a few friends. After that, I will travel alone to Varanasi, but once again meet a friend! His response: "like life! We enter and leave alone (birth and death), but in between, so many people!" I liked this analogy, reminded me of the sanctity of these moments of aloneness.

So here I am, Rishikesh. Sheltered between two hills, here the Ganga is the color of pure jade. Temples ring nonstop, monkeys play through the rooftops and playfully terrorize the bridges. Flowers bloom and fall. Small cows wander slowly through the lanes, mopeds zip and beep and craze. Families live their humble existence out front of their tiny houses - tending their cows, washing the clothes... The laughter and shouts of children never seems to stop. Tourists come to shop - shawls, spirituality, yoga... Shivananda Ashram sits in the center, a paragon of virtue...

For these few days, I've stayed at this sweet little ashram with Turiya. So far, nobody else is staying there, but one woman, Puja, comes daily to clean and help with the cooking. It is a simple life. We meditate four times daily in the little temple with the big picture of Jesus pouring water from his heart ("but sir, where is your bucket?"), and the little statues of Shiva and the Buddha keeping watch. Krishna resides over the open-air dining room, and Hanuman embraces Shiva out in the yard, but it is a "Christian" temple. I'm not sure what that means here, but it seems as good an excuse as any to cultivate divine love and pray for humanity. The meals and the tea at the ashram are simple and sweet. I had my first cup of "street chai" today, and was glad for the spice!

But for now, the sadhana and simplicity of the ashram is perfect for me. I am happy to help tend the garden - my main task now being to harvest the seeds of the old marigolds. Nasturtiums weave their way around the yard, some roses bloom, some sprouts of new life I am curious to see...

I'm not sure how long I'll be in this little ashram, as Turiya is traveling soon. But for now, and especially since she found that little "Fairy Down" brand sleeping bag for me, I am happy :-) And it is sweetly comforting that I have a friend just literally around the corner. A gentle, if slightly shocking, introduction to this beautiful new land.

My next mission: take a bus to Dehra Dun to buy a guitar!

As always, the songs are calling me home...

I'm sending my boundless blessings...

Om Shanti ~ A

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

To India!!!

Aloha peeps! Indeed, I'm heading off across the great sea...

It’s been a whirlwind month, since the universe said “go!” Believe me, it was quite a surprise to me, even though only this summer I was joyfully laughing with my dear friend Shiner about the possibility...

The “plan,” as it has evolved, is to fly into Delhi (at 1am!) and find my way to the train station to take the 7am train to Haridwar and onto Rishikesh, the self-proclaimed “yoga capitol of the world.” After working more immensely hard than ever this last month, I realized that I need a vacation! So I’ll take some time there to get used to being in a new culture in the most gentle way that India can offer. Spending my days (hopefully!) walking by the clean and beautiful Ganges river, breathing, being still, practicing yoga, going to satsang... And to make my landing even more graceful, I even have a friend in Rishikesh already!

I told a friend I was going to stay in Rishikesh “as long as I feel like it,” and his response was: “if I did that, I’d never leave.” So we’ll see... Already, my friend who’s already there extended his stay by two months! But my intention is to make my way downriver after a week or 2 to the mad and crazy Kumbh Mela ( www.divinerevelation.org/KumbhMela.html ). In case you haven’t heard, it’s the biggest religious festival on the planet. I’ve heard amazing things, and also have been cautioned greatly about it. But I’ve been invited to stay with some friends in Sai Maa’s ashram enclave ( www.humanityinunity.org ), so I’m thinking I’ll risk it ;-)

I could be there anywhere from a day to a week or who knows... And then the plan is to continue downriver to Varanasi to spend the remainder of my trip. I know so little about Varanasi except: it looks beautiful, it’s an epicenter for studying and hearing incredible music, I have another friend (Indriaaaahhhh Maa!) who I will likely be sharing an apartment with there, it’s the city of Shiva (Kashi!), and it’s supposedly the best place on the planet to celebrate Shivaratri (Feb 16th - don’t miss it!). Om Namah Shivaya!

So that’s the flow of it. Following the Ganges the whole way – Ganga Ma! Blessed river. And each stop on my journey offers me friends to meet up with... ...and new friends sure to meet! I feel so blessed, going on this journey. What’s more funny is that I never even wanted to go till now. So it must be time.

I’m loving you all dearly, and am so thankful to fill my heart with this gratitude and love for you as I leap off across the vast ocean. I am certain to bring you with me, and rest assured I will bring a piece of India back to you...

My hugest love, and infinite blessings...

Om Shanti ~ A


p.s.
I seem to have a tradition of completing musical projects just before leaving town. Well, this one’s not complete, but my part is: Tribal Electra is in the final mixing phases of our first EP, due out by spring. In lieu of any new recordings to leave you with, I’ve posted an old piece from the vaults on my website. Affectionately dubbed “Playtime,” it’s an invocation to Sarasvati... www.arianasaraha.com/music.html

p.p.s.
You may have received an invitation to join my google list. This is the only way I’ll be able to keep you updated on my travels (if I can find time to write!). Otherwise, your address is locked up on my home computer. If you didn’t get the email, or forgot to respond, welcome to go to groups.google.com/group/arianas-list and sign up. (The group is configured for maximum privacy, and you will only receive letters from me, not responses from the group) ...I once dreamt that the home I felt most comfortable in had wide open windows to the world. In this way, I invite you to read my stories...

p.p.p.s.
You might enjoy checking out my current design portfolio - www.arianasaraha.com/citmatrix/web.html I’ve been a busy-bee these last few months, and have designed at least 8 new websites in this time, as well as completing several others! In addition, I greatly appreciate and believe in each person I’ve designed for – it’s been an amazing honor! - so please patronize as many of these businesses and artists as possible!

p.p.p.p.s.
Sooo.... It appears I’ve got quite a few gigs lined up when I get back, so ignore all rumours that I’ll be gone to the Motherland forever :-) Please, come chant kirtan with us Feb 23rd, and then come see Tribal Electra in Ft Collins Feb 24th. And lots more events planned for the spring! Please see my website for details...


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...:: http://www.arianasaraha.com ::...

Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

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