4. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Within a period of 2 years, I visited this World Teacher 4 x. On 3 occasions it was to experience his 3 ashrams, located in different parts of the south....the main ashram in his birthplace in Puttaparthi known as Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of Peace)...another in Whitefield, Bangalore, a third in the hill station of Kodaikanal. 

My 4th visit was with a few friends who wanted to 'check him out' after an international spiritual conference we attended in Madras. Despite warnings by local Indians that the ride was long and dangerous, we traveled 10 hours by taxi and had a few close encounters with huge speeding trucks, buses and an excavator along stretches of narrow rural roads which became pitch dark as soon as the sun sets for there were no street lighting and no electricity in the villages.
 
We returned to Madras none the worse for our journey much to the awe of the Indians who must admire our guts. 

The lesson is - one's travel companions must be like minded. The 3 of us embraced each moment, we were totally opened to whatever comes and simply Allow. Faith may have something to do with it. These 2 friends are my fellow pilgrims traveling Home together supporting each other on this journey call 'Life.'

I started my search for Truth and its meaning late in life but things seem to be accelerated as I gave my all into researching great spiritual writings by several Masters and their closest disciples who acted as their conduits on the physical plane. I started by reading a few books by devotees passed to me by friends, they were ok, the writers were relating their personal experiences, it was light reading. 

One occasion, a colleague asked if I could accompany him across the road after work, to an Indian temple. He was invited for some ceremony and did'nt want to go alone. A room in the temple was used by a spiritual society, it was beautifully calm and peaceful when I walked in. A large picture was in the middle of that room, I took it to be their guru but did'nt know him. Behind him on the wall were 5 smaller pictures, I recognised 2 - Jesus and Krishna, the rest must be yogis, I concluded. 

As I stood looking at the pictures, the thoughts going through me were ' Who's this man?' 'Who are these people on the wall?' 'Why is Jesus among them?' My colleague was clueless, he was there because he did'nt want to say no to his friend who invited him. When the ceremony began, a lady gave a little speech, they were gathered there to commemorate the mahasamadhi (the conscious exit of the soul from the body) of their guru, whom she referred throughout as Master so I never got his name. Soon after, I left quietly.

That week, I popped into a Sai centre to sing some bhajans - Sanskrit does something to me, I seem to feel lighter. 
A chap I discussed books with once before, placed a book into my hands, saying, I may want to read that. I was stunned into silence. Looking back at me from its cover was the exact same face I had seen in that room in the temple just a few days before.

All the questions I had in mind than were answered in that book, the autobiography of an enlightened Master. 

I plunged headlong into researching this Master's writings and for 2 years was a student of his lessons about Universal truths and right living, human values, meditation and energising exercises to charge the body, and diet. All his writings are published and distributed through the Mother Centre in LA where Master spent 30 years teaching, writing and lecturing throughout the US and Europe.

It has never ceased to amaze me that profound tomes on complex very abstruse esoteric science are written by those who are not from English speaking societies, who become conduits to disseminate this knowledge to earnest seekers of Truth who are led to that source of knowledge when they are ready. 

I never attended University, my life's learning came from the School of Hard Knocks and the Social University. My life experiences are my greatest lessons. Mark Twain once said that he never let school interfered with his education.....I second that.

When I go through such profound writings, I don't have any difficulty understanding them. I became selective in my reading, settling for writings by Masters - straight from the horse's mouth so to speak. In any case, as a member of spiritual societies, the books in their libraries will take me a lifetime to read. 

High education has nothing to do with spirituality - it's an evolution of the person and more importantly, that person's soul. The message to me is obvious - don't waste anymore time, I've started late. Another obvious message - all great Masters belong to the same club, the same brotherhood of evolved souls whose task is to bring the one Truth to earnest seekers.

I may have had special personal experiences with 2 Masters, yet I'm not a fanatical follower of both. I remain open to any other knowledge that may come along and I continue to discover and explore other sources of writings, albeit I do less reading now.

I'm not actively involved with any centres which after all, are in the hands of committees who are more keen to grow their memberships for memberships translate into dues/donations which keep the place going. The committees inevitably preach that their Master and their source of knowledge is the right one, the best one, the only one, and you don't need to look anywhere else.

Among centres, you'll find rivalry, jealousy and egoism, attendees associate themselves only with 'our centre.' It's organised religion all over again.

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'I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell, whilst the great ocean of Truth lay all undiscovered before me.'

Isaac Newton.

3. MY 6th TRIP. MARCH' 04

From Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh,  it's a couple of hours by road to Nepal. Foreigners may cross over from India.....

Namaste!

Soon, in 7 days time, I leave alone on my 7th trip to India. It's winter in the North and temperatures can dip but it's more comfortable in winter than summer (so I've been assured) when temperatures can soar to as high as 45 deg. and there's dust everywhere. I'll melt!
What lies ahead on this great adventure this time round? I shall keep you posted on my return late Jan.'05.

I was last in North India in March '04 where I spent a month in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. (UP) In between travelling the vast distance between the 2 places, I stopped over in Varanasi.

In the early morning hours, standing on the Ghats, watching the sun rise over the Ganges, is a moving spiritual experience. Like the Silent Watcher, my eyes took in the amazing scene that unfolded before me - the daily rituals of the Indians and their special connection to the Ganges. 
 
The Indians must surely be the most unselfconscious people on Earth. Lots of tourists look on and snap pictures of them as they change under a sari or sarong or strip down to their swim trunks, many neither trim nor taut. Bellies hang out, folds of loose skin and wrinkles aplenty as they swim and float and immerse themselves in a cleansing ritual that is as old as the country. All around, bare chested priests chant and performed 'arati' - fire offering - inevitably, the beggars and other hustlers add to the local colour. 

 As I offered a lit candle and flowers to the Sun, I closed my eyes and felt transported as the Sun warmed my body and every inch of me seemed to tingle. 
 I hopped on a boat which takes tourists up and down that stretch of the Ganges where the action is. More and more budget class accommodations have sprung up along the Ghats, they look precariously perched almost one on top of the other. This must be the most lucrative real estate in Benares. 

I chose to stay at Hotel Surya, a cosy, quiet place away from the hustle and bustle of the Ghats. It had a lovely garden with large colourful dahlias in bloom and in the evenings when the fairy lights come on, it becomes a dining area under the stars, complete with candles and plastic green and white checked tablecloths. Looked like some European family B & B. 
The room was about S$25 a night. 

The great Ganges has baffled visitors from all over the world. Every day, all sorts of rituals are performed here, from cremation of the dead after which the remains are dumped into the river; dhobies wash their customer's laundry along its banks, people use it for bathing and as their toilet. 

While on the boat, I spied a human carcass, carelessly wrapped in cloth and plastic sheeting. My host tells me it's the second body he has seen on his visits. Those who don't have the money to pay for a cremation release their dead into the Ganges.
 As the boats moved up and down this stretch, a few swimmers are seen floating in the water, oblivious to the gawking tourists and totally unafraid a boat might paddle into them. They look almost comical, their ample bellies sticking out of the water. They looked more like beached whales. 

Truly, the Indians surrender totally to the Law of Karma.

Ancient rituals down by the Ganges





 

Puja with flowers and candles, washing, bathing rituals

2. JOURNEY TO SELF REALIZATION

Namaste!

10 years ago, I left organised religion as it did nothing for me - no growth, no fulfilment. I wanted to be pro-active, to take charge of my personal spiritual growth, to be in control and take responsibility for my actions. I did'nt want to be an automaton going through the motion of rituals and ceremonies. I did'nt want to be told how to think and what to do.

At the time I did'nt realise what was happening to me, I simply followed my heart. For a while, I was in limbo, until I took up meditation after reading an ad. I thought it would do me good - the 'blurb' said, improve concentration, reduce stress. I did'nt realise I could have learned meditation for free at some temples.

Anyhow, that weekend changed my life and started me on a journey of self-transformation. I discovered I'm not just a physical body, that I could become a body of Light when all feelings of being physical can vanish.

From behind closed eyes, a bright light shot across from my left temple to the right. It was like sunshine streaming into a room when curtains are drawn open. I was able to 'stare' at its intense brightness without turning away. I imagined my head must surely look like a lightbulb. There was neither voice nor vision, it left me wondering what that was all about. The experience did'nt scare me - I wanted more.

A classmate left for business in India and came back with a book about a holy man in the South. It fascinated me. I've always known he exists and knew him as a Guru. After this first book, I read another. That same week, while waiting in line to order a meal, I saw his picture on the stallholder's cabinet. I had a conversation with the cook and she mentioned a group of people were preparing to visit this guru in India. I was given a number to call - there was to be a briefing that night and departure was just 3 days away. My decision to join them was confirmed when the visa was approved at short notice.

Prior to this briefing, there was devotional singing in Sanskrit. It was my first time yet I wondered where I've heard this before. I did'nt recognise the language at first and listened intently to the beauty of the words and music. I was transported, I felt like I'm floating and that I was alone in that room, which was crowded. I took note of some bald patches of devotees sitting below me for I had a fleeting sensation I was looking down at them from the ceiling.

My first experience with the guru was marvelous. I had several opportunities to sit in the front row and could gawk at him up close and personal. I left knowing that he will reach out to me through the subtle levels. It will be through an inner knowing, an inner realisation and lo! it's been that way these past few years.

1. JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY

Curious acquaintances wonder why I visit India so often - my 7th trip is just a few days away - staying for up to a month.
 
Each trip is a journey of discovery about myself. I'm still amazed as to how I could rough it out in an ashram room sleeping on a not too clean mattress probably used by a zillion other devotees. I throw a sleeping bag over it and I've survived. 
At other times, I've spread the bag on the concrete floor if there's no bed, and I've survived. I share the room with fellow citizens whom I do not know but got to know during the trip, and I've survived.

I've travelled without first aid 'cept for BandAid plasters, a few panadols and a tube of Burnol, and I've survived. I've walked around barefooted on sandy paths along the roadsides, and did'nt pick up something awful. I breathe in the dust and diesel fumes out on the streets, I survived. I drank 'chai' - local milk tea from dusty roadside vendors and hot milk in little clay pots, and I survived, not once did I come down with 'Delhi Belly' or 'Madras Stomach' (touch wood, not yet anyway). I eat vegetarian meals everyday and it's the SOS (Same Old Stuff) and I've survived.

I've travelled alone on overnight trains up to 13 hours one-way, with 8 sleeping berths, which on one trip, were occupied by 7 men and I, the lone female, and I've survived. I could'nt sleep that night not out of fear but for the snoring.
 
I use tap water in the trains and non-too clean budget hotels to wash my mouth, and I've survived. India is a constant assault on the senses - dust, fumes, heat, noise, crowds, dirt, poverty, filth - are the daily encounters. 

On every trip, I pushed myself to the limits, returning each time with renewed inner strength, richer for the experience. 

Priceless.