Backtracking a bit... highlights from Varanasi and Haridwar

Although I'm almost home (!) and should probably be using all my remaining time to soak up India, the internet connection here is just too good to pass up. I'll go for a long hike after just one quick blog... :)

My last day in Varanasi was excellent. Not overwhelming any more - either I just needed a couple days to adjust to the craziness, or maybe I had an unfair share of hassles on my first day, who knows. I spent the day with Chantal, my French friend, and her boyfriend's friend Sanjay who turned out to be a pretty well-known and popular guy and also showed us around the city. The day included:

- chai (just translates as tea) by the Ganges at Chantal's favourite 'Baba Chai'.
- visits of several temples, a fort, a museum, and Sarnath (where Buddha gave his first teaching).
- lots of dust and grime on the autorickshaw ride.
- buying a book of some of the Dalai Lama's teachings (lectures given in N. America, circa 1980) - I love this book; definitely the highlight of the day. When I bought it, a Western man in the red Tibetan monk's robes came up to me and said it was an excellent choice, that I had good karma. I thought this was funny but appropriate.
- relaxing by the Ganges with my new book.
- visiting a silk shop owned by Sanjay's friend. Had a good time chilling with the guys there while Chantal bought some fabric. I offered to help tidy up and fold the bolts of silk she rejected; they then offered me a job as Fabric-Roller Supreme. Too bad I really want to be a doctor.

After Varanasi and Agra I took a night bus to the holy and quieter city of Haridwar. Remind me never to take back-to-back night transit again, especially not buses (even 'sleeper buses'... I had a love-hate relationship with the railing next to my bunk, as I alternated between clutching it with white knuckles and being thrown against it on the particularly bumpy parts. I was only slightly bruised the next day.)

I spent my few days in Haridwar living at an ashram, Shantikunj, a religious and spiritual community of several hundred Indians (and three of us foreigners). It was a special atmosphere - very peaceful, inclusive, and condusive to reflection and meditiation. Highlights:

- meeting Tineke, a very wonderful young woman from Belgium who's been wandering on a spiritual journey for a while now doing yoga and meditation and retreats, and who is very down-to-earth. We had some good conversations and I felt comfortable with her, even though we're on different paths.
- the Shantikunj campus - gardens, music, and a meditation hall with a large model of the Himalayas inside.
- having some time and nice bathroom facilities to start getting over some stomach problems!

I didn't interact much with the Indian students, teachers and visitors at the ashram but preferred to spend my time with Tineke, or on my own, reading etc. I think this is partially because I still find it easier to relate to Westerners and speak in a common language - not just literally, but we're also spiritually more on the same page. For example, one of the very intelligent Indian students I met talked about the importance of mediating on the Gayantri mantra over the rising sun, saying the mantra silently 540 times to connect with Sabita, the sun deity, which is also the life force or spark and is awakened by the Gayantri mantra. I personally think it is important to meditate in a peaceful place and at a peaceful time, to try to reach and touch your inner consciousness and through this self-awareness, work at improving yourself. These are probably essentially the same thing, just put in different terms by people with different backgrounds. So while I still don't feel entirely comfortable around many of the religious aspects and lingo and rituals of Hinduism, I felt welcomed and happy there. Who knew my trip through India would take me to a full-out, genuine ashram? Certainly not me.