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Saturday 05 Sep 2009
In every moment
I recently completed the Learn to Meditate level 3 course with Swami Shankarananda at the Shiva School of Meditation in Mt Eliza. As always, Swamiji’s wisdom, humour and teachings were uplifting and inspiring. My friend missed the last week of the course so I have captured a coupld of the key learnings I took from the night here.
The first topic which really resonated with me was when Swamiji spoke of Gurdjieff’s method of Self Remembering. Wherever we are and what ever we are doing, look inward to the self as well as outwards to the outer world. Swamiji said don’t leave your self out of it – practice self remembering in every situation. We spend out time looking outwards but need to learn to keep a focus inwards at the same time. In the week since the course, I’ve tried to practice this technique and have found it really centering and powerful.
The next teaching of Swamiji’s which I really enjoyed was when he described the meaning of the terms Atma Vyapti and Shiva Vyapti. Atma Vyapti means entry into the self. Swamiji described it as spreading into the self. In Buddhism, this is called Tranquility – the ability to sit peacefully, to be tranquil. In Atma Vyapti, we attain inner peace independent of what is going on in the outer world. Shiva Vyapti means the pervasion into the outer world, into everything. Buddhism calls this Equanimity, the ability to have equanimity in our lives and to function in the world.
In every moment of our life, there is a possibility. In every moment, we have two choices. If we are present in each moment, we can see there is a choice to take the energised view or the depleted view. The energised view uplifts, is buoyant and abundant while the depleted view drains our energy and contracts our feeling. Swamiji said that meditation lets us understand that in each moment the choice is actually ours. We may think things happen to us but in the moment our action, our reaction, the way we see and respond to that moment is our own choice.
As we strengthen the connection with the self through meditation, self inquiry and self remembering, we develop with power to make the uplifting choice, the one which brings us closer to peace, happiness, love, contentment and balance. As we continue our practice, we will make the right choice more often.
Swamiji read a Zen quote:
If you distill your vital energy,
protect it to the utmost
and nourish it constantly,
then the whole universe becomes
a divine elixir.
Wednesday 11 Feb 2009
A parade through Model Town
Dey’s party was all we anticipated it to be and much more! About 20 of us waited at the Singh Sahib hotel for the bus to arrive, filling in the time by taking photos of each other dressed in sauve Indian attire. Even the bus trip there was great – Jorge, Prasad, Nirunjan and Viju sang some fantastic chants to get the mood lifted more than it already was!
Once we arrived in Model Town, we picked up Monima’s family and friends and headed closer to where we were to meet the parade. We left the bus and walked up a dark street, unable to see what was waiting for us. Suddenly, musicians started playing and bhangra dancers leapt into the street. Absorbed by the sound and movement of the dancing and music, I was suddenly surprised to see two enormous elephants step into view.
The elephants were beautiful – they were decorated with paint and color and slowly ambled through the streets as we walked to the restaurant, still surrounded by the dancing and musicians. Prasad was the only person courageous and agile enough to ride on one of the elephants – the rest of us where either wrapped in saris or worried about the overhead wires which the mahouts were ducking under. The whole experience was awesome and overwhelming – the colors, sounds, excitement, elephants and sense of celebration were amazing.
Once we arrived at the restaurant, more dancing took place with the bhangra dancers performing acrobatic moves and the guests joining in. Dey welcomed each of us with a garland of flowers at the door as we finally made our way up to the restaurant. The rest of the night followed in the same fashion – a Chennai band, more bhangra dancing, disco and fantastic food. Dey managed to throw an incredible party amount the color and craziness of Delhi – a totally memorable and amazing night…
The following morning, we packed and made our way to the airport to catch our flight to Ganeshpuri. We made it here and have filled the last 10 days with more incredible experiences – palkis, yagnas, sannyas ceremonies, aratis, satsang and even a tinsy bit of meditation!! Ganeshpuri is a place which is so removed from the ‘real’ world that it is difficult to focus on reading and blogging so I’ll work up to more detail of our time in this amazing village over the next couple of days…
Sunday 01 Feb 2009
Painted elephants
Friday was the day we had reserved for a rickshaw tour of old Delhi. I remembered catching a richshaw tour on a previous visit near the Red fort so we decided to head out in a couple of autos and meet outside red fort, at the bottom of Chandni Chowk. We sent Joh and Gary off in one auto, Maria and David in another and then it took Dey and I another 20 mins to find an auto who would take us into old Delhi.
Unfortunately we didn’t plan for how busy the bottom on Chandni Chowk is and just how hard it would be to find each other. Joh and Gary had been literally been taken for a ride and were not dropped off near red fort – their auto driver took them up into Chandni Chowk in the hopes of getting a commission if he took them to a shop. But all worked out and we met up – we’ve used our mobiles more in a few days in India than in a month back home!
While we were waiting for the others, Dey and I met Poorna, a rickshaw driver and arranged a few bikes to be ready to take us on the tour. Poorna and his team turned out to be fantastic – they kept us all together, took us to the places we wanted to see and didn’t push us to shop at places where they would get a commission.
We headed up Chandni Chowk and turned left to access the narrow, winding lanes of old Delhi. The colors, crowds and bustle were just as I remember – completely filling our senses. The first stop was a Jain temple tucked into a small side lane. Most of the walls were covered with beautiful murals and mosaics but some had been painted over with thick cream gloss paint. Luckily, an Indian man living in Belgium has sponsored work to have the temple repainted and we met the artists who where working on the massive task.
We were shown the mineral rocks which are used to make the colors for painting the temple – Lapus, ochre and others. The process is amazingly labourous – the rocks are crushed in a morter and pestle and then gound for over 8 hours until they are a thin liquid like watercolor. The work to repaint the temple is estimated at 6 years and when we saw the care and effort which went into the preparation of paints, researching the designs and painting the murals, it is not surprising.
Then we walked on through the lanes to find the oil shop where Maria needed to buy oil for Swamiji. Amazingly, Poorna was able to locate the shop so while Maria bought loads of Heena and other oils, we stocked up on essential oils, watching as they poured the fragrant liquids from their larger storage bottles into the small ornate bottles we would buy.
Next stop was the spice market at the top of Chandhi Chowk. As we approached, the pungent spices can wafting through the streets. leading us closer to the market. As we enter the enclosed market, the smells were overwhelming, making us cough and our eyes water. Heading up the dark, worn stairs to the top of the spice market, we could look down into the enclosed space which used to be an elaborate palace in far gone times or take in the breathtaking views across the old Delhi skyline.
That night, we met Jackie and David in Connought Place for dinner. The Banana Leaf is a South Indian restaurant which serves great dosas so we had a fun night exchanging tales of India. We caught the Metro home which turned out to be a great option – remarkable clean and organised and much calmer and quieter than an auto.
Yesterday, Joh, Gary and I headed back to the Jain temple in old Delhi as Joh had arranged for us to have a painting lesson with one of the artists. Jenul is one of four brothers who are working on the repainting of the temple. Jneul is originally from Udaipur, the latest of many generations of artists in his family. Knowing we would have limited time, Jenul had drawn us each an elephant which we then colored. The process is quite slow but we were all very happy with the results. After 3 hours, we were only a third of the way through so Joh and Gary went back that night to continue the class. None of us finished the intricate brush detail on the elephant so we have a project to work on once we get home!
Last night, more people arrived for the party, Kylie and Roger, Devindra - Dey’s trekking guide from Nepal, Rosie and her family from Ganeshpuri, Vinod – a travelling monk and some of his friends. Dinner up on the rooftop terrace was a great way to spend the evening with such a varied group of people.
Today, party preparation have hit full steam. My arms and feet are colored with henna peacocks, drawn by the mehendhi artist who I met earlier in the week and Dey has headed off to Monima’s to finalise the arrangements. With promises of parades, elephants and banghra dancers, it should be a great night!
Friday 30 Jan 2009
Another world
Well, we made it to Delhi, to the smog, the noise and bustle. When we left Melbourne, the temperature was 40 degrees celcius and we had to wait on the plane for over an hour while they unloaded 9 tonnes of cargo as the weather was affecting the runway. Good old bitumen doesn’t really do well in the heat!
Once we took off, the flight was uneventful and we arrived safely in Delhi at about 9.30pm on the 28th Jan. Maria’s bag was one of the last out onto the carousel- late enough to make us have niggling thoughts about what really made up the 9 tonnes of cargo which was offload back home. But all was well so we headed out to meet out driver, one of hundreds who were crowding around either genuinely waiting to collect people or hopefully waiting to make someone think they were there to collect them!
The drive to the hotel was a typical introduction to India. Honking, pushing, veering and squeezing through spaces small enough to make us think that cars are made of some forgiving, flexible material here which molds into the needed shape on demand. The hotel was expecting us and Dey’s smiling face popped around the stairwell to greet us before we headed up to her room to meet the others.
Our rooms are again typical India. A boxy feel to them but lots of wasted space, rudimentary bathroom but the water was hot (most of the time). The quilt on the bed looks as though it is from the 70’s – brown velour with a trim of fluffy imitation Dalmatian! Looking down from the one small window, I can see a family living in the back lane under a tarp…
After breakfast of Aloo Parantha and curd, we headed to the Hanuman temple just down the road. As we approached it, a massive statue of hanuman rose into sight – at least the size of a 4 storey building. The entrance to the temple was through an open monkey’s month. Inside, a man was chanting beautiful rajas from a large ornate book, setting the scene perfectly.
Dey was feeling a bit sick so we headed back to the hotel and I took the opportunity to complete the superannuation form which Shell needed – I’d picked up a call while I was settling onto the plane back in Melbourne, before I had turned my phone off. It was amazing to observe how my stress levels rose while I was doing it – definitely some stuff there I need to process!
Maria and I headed out to do some shopping, buying a couple of salwaar kameez and arranging to have them stitched. Our sense of direction was off and twice we found it hard to find out way back to the hotel – but the 2nd time, we had taken the hotel address with us which obviously helped a lot!
We had a quiet night last night. David, Joh and Gary returned late from Vrindavan and Maria and I listened to David’s excited tales of the trip and the swami they met. Today we are off to Old Delhi to visit the spice market and weave our way down the packed lanes on bicycle rickshaws… A classic experience in this wild town of Delhi!
Tuesday 27 Jan 2009
Air Hockey rules…
India, here I come! I’m packed and ready to head out on a 5 week holiday in that amazing country we call India. Starting with my friend’s 50th birthday party in Delhi, we will then be heading down to Ganeshpuri (about 80kms north of Mumbai) for a meditation retreat with the Shiva Ashram from Melbourne. Once we are all blissed out, Western Rajasthan will be ready and waiting, including the Rat temple in Bikaner.
Colors of India
I’ve only just returned from a business trip to Houston, Texas which was probably as far culturally from India as you can get! Houston is flat, filled with signs for lawyers and fast food chains and sound of massive V8 pickups can be heard everywhere. Having said that, it was fun. I went to my first ice hockey match and saw the Aeros win in a shoot out, drank margaritas in a TexMex restaurant, shot up my team mates during lasertag, visited Mission Control at NASA, watched Obama’s inauguration live and discovered the awesome game of air hockey! In case anyone doesn’t realise, air hockey rules!!
Saturn V
Will try to write more when I get to India…
0 comments Nadine | Ganeshpuri, India 2009, Meditation, Travel