6 weeks in

Namaste/Namaskar/Hari Om,

Hope everyone is doing well wherever they are and whatever it is they may be doing. Well, after 30 days, I have finally left Yoga Niketan Ashram to see what else the city has to offer in terms of classes, facilities, and scenery. While I had quite a good stay at YN, met a lot of really great people, and learned a good deal about yoga, philosophy, and myself, I figured that confining myself to the first place I stumbled across would kind of limit my perspective of the city and what teachings it has to offer. Now, of course, this goes against the philosophy of being happy wherever you are and doing whatever you're doing, but...well...F it. My last week here was a good one though, despite getting a nasty, somewhat debilitating cold for a couple days. I met a ton of Japanese people and S. Koreans, who were all very friendly, and quite an animated group. I will say that meditation was not their strong point for the most part, as they were a very restless and excitable bunch, but a really happy and nice group all the same. By the time I left, the Occidental to Oriental ratio was about 1:10, which was quite different from when I arrived, but it's very nice to converse with different cultures and see what they're all about, and I'm glad to be able to get a taste of some other parts of the world, even if only through talk, besides just India. I had some intense religious and political philosophy discussions with a big group of Koreans, which I honestly think may have scared them a little bit, but I learned alot about their country, and told them a lot about mine. Let's just say I wouldn't make the best US Ambassador, as I have a lot of mistrust of certain governmental programs and policies, but they at least got a taste of the more hippie liberal perspective, that was probably a little different than what they were used to. I tried to explain to one Korean girl who had lived in Alabama for a year back when she was 11 why Alabama was one of the poorest and least respected states in the country, and I have to say that it was pretty interesting to explain that to a foreigner, who has very little perspective on the issue.



I finally got the rubber hose used for clearing the nasal passages all the way up my nose and out my throat with the help of the sadistic yoga teacher Naveen, who forcefully held my hand while my fingers were about a mile down my throat searching for the other end, with me violently gagging and protesting the whole time. No pain no gain though as they, whoever they are, say. Altogether the yoga was a good challenge, mentally and physically, and I was introduced to some things I didn't think I could do, and had never seen before. Overall though, I just felt the teachers didn't really teach many basics at all, and their style of instruction was to perform a ridiculous posture or action that no one was capable of doing, and then simply say "do it", despite numerous dumbfounded stares. Also they had us doing a lot of somewhat dangerous pranayamas (breating techniques) and energy raising techniques, with very limited instruction, and afterwards a couple times I found myself very off-balance mentally and physically, which is the opposite of what should be experienced. Anyway though, I might come back at the end of my trip to revisit all the teachers and staff and stay a few days. Really a very nice and interesting group of people, despite the sometimes militaristic attitude of the ashram and classes.



Anyhow, I wandered up the road and found a place to stay (briefly), called the "Namaste Peace Cottage" that cost $3 a night, and let's just say it cost $3 for a reason. Toilet didn't work, room was full of bugs (guess the geckos in the room had more than their fill), bed was damp, there were 3 dogs living right outside the room who would bark all day and night, and the faucet dripped constantly. I stayed there, or at least my stuff did, for all of 15 hours, most of which I was out exploring the city, looking for different ashrams and classes. For dinner I went to this Ayurvedic "restaurant", which was basically this family's home, who served Ayurvedic based health cuisine and also sold different herbs and essential oils. They had a big herbal and vegetable garden in their yard, so I expected I would be getting some fresh, healthy cooking, and I have to say I was very pleased. I went in and there was only one table with about 8 chairs around it, which I assume the family uses as their dining room table. My Tai Chi teacher Misha, who is a very experienced world traveler, advised me to never eat in a place where you're the only one, but I thought I'd take a chance on this place, as it's not your traditional restaurant. I ordered some tea and a good sounding meal, and watched the woman cook it in front of me, all the while hearing the sound of the grandmother clapping and singing constantly in the other room. Right as I was being served, the father and children got home, and just went about their normal family business like I wasn't there. Quite a weird experience, but I would go back in a second. It's amazing how some of these people support themselves with the meager business they seem to do, but I guess everyone gets by somehow.



After sleeping on top of some clothes and using my yoga mat for a pillow, I headed out at 5am for Anand Prakash Ashram, which I had stumbled upon the previous day, after deciding a quick change was needed. While this place has much smaller grounds than Yoga Niketan, and is located in a slightly more developed and residential area (it's hard to explain how the sprawling sections of developments are here, but let's just say...it's not very organized in any way, and quite different than what I'm used to), it is actually very quiet, and the views of the mountains far surpass those of YN. This place is only 400 rupees (<$10) a day, and you get two two-hour yoga classes, 3 fresh, healthy meals a day, and a clean and modern room that has hot water, with an absolutely amazing view of the mountains on all sides. The asana classes are much different than what I'm used to, and more "happy yoga" style, though we do a good deal of advanced stuff, and a lot of stuff I'm not used to. The classes are not very strenuous for the most part, and any time we do anything moderately intense, we take a good relaxation break for a minute or two before moving on. The classes are a good mix of meditation, asanas, pranayama, and chanting/toning, which keeps things interesting. I honestly have felt amazing after every class though. Super blissful and full of peace, and the teacher is a very animated, loving, and happy woman. In the mornings, we practice on the roof of the ashram, to the view of the sun rising over the Himalayas, which is incredible, and breathing in the mostly fresh pre-dawn mountain air is quite an experience. Right now there are only 5 people staying here, which is really awesome, and the place is ultra quiet, with very few distractions, which was not always the case at YN. I've taken to practicing a couple extra hours of asana and different body awareness techniques in one of the big yoga rooms every day, as I like to make sure I still work on more basic and advanced things excluded in the other classes, and it's a very nice, quiet, and spacious atmosphere to do so. This place doesn't have monkeys unfortunately, or large and beautiful grounds, but the mountains surrounding you on every side in the distance makes up for it, and the location is in a much more remote area on one end, as well as fairly close to a huge hub of activity on another end. I talked to an old Israeli woman named Edna who's been staying here the past couple weeks, and she told me the guy who founded it was actually an ex-teacher at Yoga Niketan, until he met a Canadian girl that he fell in love with, started this place, then moved to Canada. He comes back 2 or 3 times a year for a couple months to do Teacher Training courses, but in the meantime, every employee is one of his relatives, and I have to say they keep the place in tip-top shape, despite there being so few people here. The place has a decidedly more "new age" feel than YN's strict and militaristic attitude, and seems more "spiritually nurturing" (alright, I know that's gay, but, well, it's true) overall. I'm meditating more than ever here, and my mind seems incredibly quiet and centered pretty much all day long. I don't know if it's never talking, or if it's doing less strenuous physical activity or what, but whatever it is, it rules. My room is actually meant for two people, and if the place fills up, that would mean a roommate, and I'd probably leave at that point, but we'll see what happens. I think I'll probably stick around here for another month or so at least. It's definitely a bit creepy how few people there are staying here, related to how many staff members and family of the Yogi who started the place there are, but it's cool I guess. Sometimes I'm the only foreigner in the yoga classes, with the teachers relatives being the other members, and sometimes she'll just tell me to do whatever I want, and talk in Hindi to the others for a good 10 minutes. They have a kirtan twice a week, and on Monday I decided I'd give it a go, as I enjoyed the ones at YN a good deal. It was me, an old French guy, an Indian grandmother, 2 of her grandchildren, and her 30 year old son who is the office manager. I'll just say it was pretty awkward and weird, but hey, it is what it is.



The neighborhood this place is located in, if you can call it that, is very diverse as I mentioned earlier, with a hotel here, a small shack there, and a bunch of middle-class abodes scattered around. Everyone seems to have a deck on their roof, and in the evening times when standing out on my balcony, I'll see people eating up on the roof or singing songs together, which doesn't seem uncommon. Also see a lot of little kids playing cricket (India's national sport), in the street, which is fun to watch. This is definitely a whole other side of Rishikesh, and it's kind of nice to be living more among the locals than in the more touristy district, where everyone just wants your money. Lots of people own cows, and one guy owns a pack of mules, who walk right by my room every day carrying load after load of vegetables and grain, and leaving nasty little presents all along the way.



All in all I'm very happy to have found this place, and think it will be a very ideal setting for continuing physical, mental and spiritual development. I'm pretty much meditating something like 4 hours a day on my own, doing 5-6 hours of some kind of physical body awareness practice, reading tons of Vedanta, Yoga, and Buddhist philosophy books, and am even turning my meals into a meditation, taking close to an hour to eat (which definitely gets some strange looks). Life is quite excellent right now I'll say, and there is really no greater sensation than peace of mind. I'm starting to miss my friends and family on occassion, but I think I will be sticking to my one year resolution of stay. Too much good is coming from this to turn back now, and I would really recommend doing something like this to anyone serious about this kind of a pursuit. I think at some point before I go to Nepal before I can re-enter the country (every 6 months you have to leave the country for at least a day to stay in compliance with the "multi-entry visa"), I'm going to head to Bodhgaya, which is southeast from here about 800-1000km, to study some Buddhist meditation practices, and participate in at least one 10-day Vipassana meditation course, which I've always wanted to try. Bodhgaya is the site of the famed tree the Buddha sat under whenhe attained enlightenment. Not that I really care about that kind of thing, but the city has many learning opportunities for meditation, and I figure I shouldn't just limit myself to yoga philosophy while I'm here, and should see what other techniques for transcendence exist.



Finally, I have a few pics to show you of Yoga Niketan and some other Rishikesh sites taken from various people I stayed with. It's not exactly the view I would give, but on the other hand, there are a couple really good shots. They're located in a post right below this one. Hopefully I'll be able to acquire more as I meet more people who take photos and post them online.



Take care everyone. Love and miss you, and hope to come back and see everyone happy and healthy.



Love,

Adam