all wrapped up in a neat little package
delhi--> jodhpur--> bundi--> ujjain--> mandu--> omkareshwar--> varanasi--> rikhia/deogarh--> kolkata--> gokarna--> hampi--> chennai--> pondicherry
i can make many excuses for not writing in so long, but the reality is that the days have just felt too FULL. tristan just departed a few days ago and now i'm left to my own devices. what to say? four months have now passed of my fourth trip to india. four jyotilingams visited in the span of 2 weeks. one mahayajna attended and partially not attended due to vomiting etc. a few new places, namely gokarna and hampi, but mostly returns to old haunts. i can't possibly go back and share all of the amazing/ crazy/ wonderful things that have happened since i last wrote. that would exhaust my fingers and likely your interest as well. so let's talk about now.
this marks my first return to south india. i spent some good times and hard travels through this area on my first trip (2006), particularly here in tamil nadu. again i am struck by the natural beauty, slower pace of life and shocking quantity of rice that people can consume at one sitting. i am currently in the former french capital, pondicherry, primarily to visit the samadhi place of shri aurobindo.
it's funny to recall my first time here, totally ignorant of where i was. i stayed in one of the ashram guesthouses and ate in the dining hall and wondered every day: who are this man and this woman (his disciple, The Mother) who's portraits stare down at us while we eat? and what is with all the secrecy regarding auroville, city of the future, and their giant golden geodesic dome? five years later and i've become somewhat acquainted with shri aurobindo, including a year and a half mission through his 1000+ page opus, the life divine. i still can't say that i really understand his teachings, but i know enough to respect him and what he did. as with so many things, the deeper i go, the less i feel that i understand. but also, the more i want to know.
the rest of my trip will primarily consist of a 2 weeks "yoga vacation" (and a vacation it truly is) at the sivananda ashram in kerala, followed by a 60+ hour train odyssey to munger. beloved munger. where i will scrub toilets, because i'm convinced that it's somehow good for me.
today i had to send two parcels. i laughed. i cried. i got yelled at. i yelled. i was really really grateful and ecstatically happy to be given an empty cardboard box from someone. if anyone wants to test their advancement in yoga sadhana- make a parcel in india. it will show you all the horrors of your mind. or maybe that's just me and it's not really a big deal. it's funny now, and probably was at the time, and i just didn't get the joke. ha. ha ha.
i can make many excuses for not writing in so long, but the reality is that the days have just felt too FULL. tristan just departed a few days ago and now i'm left to my own devices. what to say? four months have now passed of my fourth trip to india. four jyotilingams visited in the span of 2 weeks. one mahayajna attended and partially not attended due to vomiting etc. a few new places, namely gokarna and hampi, but mostly returns to old haunts. i can't possibly go back and share all of the amazing/ crazy/ wonderful things that have happened since i last wrote. that would exhaust my fingers and likely your interest as well. so let's talk about now.
this marks my first return to south india. i spent some good times and hard travels through this area on my first trip (2006), particularly here in tamil nadu. again i am struck by the natural beauty, slower pace of life and shocking quantity of rice that people can consume at one sitting. i am currently in the former french capital, pondicherry, primarily to visit the samadhi place of shri aurobindo.
it's funny to recall my first time here, totally ignorant of where i was. i stayed in one of the ashram guesthouses and ate in the dining hall and wondered every day: who are this man and this woman (his disciple, The Mother) who's portraits stare down at us while we eat? and what is with all the secrecy regarding auroville, city of the future, and their giant golden geodesic dome? five years later and i've become somewhat acquainted with shri aurobindo, including a year and a half mission through his 1000+ page opus, the life divine. i still can't say that i really understand his teachings, but i know enough to respect him and what he did. as with so many things, the deeper i go, the less i feel that i understand. but also, the more i want to know.
the rest of my trip will primarily consist of a 2 weeks "yoga vacation" (and a vacation it truly is) at the sivananda ashram in kerala, followed by a 60+ hour train odyssey to munger. beloved munger. where i will scrub toilets, because i'm convinced that it's somehow good for me.
today i had to send two parcels. i laughed. i cried. i got yelled at. i yelled. i was really really grateful and ecstatically happy to be given an empty cardboard box from someone. if anyone wants to test their advancement in yoga sadhana- make a parcel in india. it will show you all the horrors of your mind. or maybe that's just me and it's not really a big deal. it's funny now, and probably was at the time, and i just didn't get the joke. ha. ha ha.
posted by natalie at 4:39 AM
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