I have not been in a picture taking mode lately, so no more to show all of you. When I get to Rishikesh there will be some. Varanasi has got me in a daze. At this point of the trip, I feel that I am finally slowing down a bit and have been able to think about everything that has happened in the past month. I have been so caught up in traveling and seeing so many interesting, new things, I have not really had the chance to pause and look at everything as a whole. About a month ago I was at Dulles airport boarding a plane to Amsterdam, it seems like another lifetime. As I started to recollect the last month in my memory, it is all a kind of blur. So many places, so many people, soooo much in general. I am really proud of what I have accomplished on my own, and feel like I have learned and grown so much, more than I can see at this point. I have thought people are indeed really different here. Life seems to move slower, people are more laid back than anywhere else I have seen, and the culture is far removed from my own. Religion plays a much bigger role in everyday life more most people. But still people are much the same as they are anywhere else. They want the same things. People work hard, and need to make money, though maybe very little, to scrounge by. There are many people that have little, many people who have much. Just like anywhere. But it puts into perspective, the people who have little in America are often times rich compared to some of the people here. But as much as I would love to see poverty disappear from the world, and as much as I believe that we have the resources to feed many, clothe and shelter many, I am starting to think that poverty is just part of life on this earth. Suffering is part of life, and will continue through the ages much to our dismay. I can give a beggar 10 rupees but I cannot really make a change, as much as it pains me to say it.
Perhaps the little things are enough though. Perhaps love is really enough. Compassion and Love, jut like all great sages have taught. Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Mohammad. There is no difference of where one is, love is the most powerful thing in the world. And seeing things as they are here, seeing the humanity.. people sleeping on the streets in rags, and lepors begging for change, mothers with their babies asking just for some food, all of the ugly things... and then all of the beautiful things right on the same street, you can see a lot in someone just by looking in their eyes. You see people working so hard, with no thought of a different life, no thought of picking up and traveling to other lands as I am doing, but in their sweat and tears there is such great love. They work only to provide for others it seems. So their family can eat, so they can live another day in this world. And children always are happy, as long as they are fed, no matter where they are on this planet. Because they are innocent and uncontaminated, and they can play and be entertained by almost anything. No need for video games, a stick is perfectly fine. It really pierces you right to the core, because everything is so in your face here. Nothing is hidden. Varanasi is perhaps one of the greatest examples. Death is so in your face for one. Seeing burning bodies is something that never leaves you I am sure, as the image of what I saw is perfectly clear in my mind. But even this is part of humanity, and cannot be denied. Perhaps in America we like to push things aside, and not think about the darker points of life, but not so much in India. We all are part of this existence and all have to deal with poverty, with affliction, sickness, hunger, greed, desire.. even if we do live relatively comfortable, we all have to deal with death. And so Varanasi forces you to look right at it, and look in yourself at the same time, and realize your body is nothing, that it is fragile and temporary, and is going to pass away and be no more. So then you have to really think about who you are and what you are. If not the body then what? Perhaps just spirit, just pure spirit built out of love. If God is love then we must be love as well. And if God is universal, then Shiva is God, and Christ is God, and Allah and all the rest. The name is beside the point. A name is like a body and has no eternal value anyway. When you sit on the ghats by the Ganges river and look at everyone bathing and offering worship to the river because it represents God himself, you recognize it's holiness as well, because it goes behind the Hindu religion, it is the energy that is put into it that makes it holy. Perhaps all of us are just cosmic balls of energy, free to decide where to put this energy to work and how. So this becomes our task, how to spend our energy. Of course use the energy in evil ways, or in good ways. The only energy that really gives back anything worth keeping is love. Love in all of it's forms and varieties. So after being here and traveling for the past month, I guess what I feel is a desire to spend this energy in more ways. I do not have a clear vision of my purpose in life, of what I am going to do when I get back. Although it is nice to not hear the question of what I am going to do for a good while. Now I kinda just think who cares??! So what if I have a 401k or health insurance. Man, these people here don't even know what that is! And most of the world's population too.. So these things, material things really, and financial security and all of it, these things are really not important. I already knew this, but now I am confirming it. What I do must be guided by the energy of that which we all are at our core. And that does not have to be anything huge, just something that is good for me and good for others. What else is there? I don't think I will ever look for my happiness in a paycheck, this trip has shown me behind a doubt that money is not the source of happiness. And so much more it has shown me. So many people have showed me kindness, and have welcomed me into this country. I have been exploring the depth of Indian music and the incredible dedication of it's pioneers. True artists in every sense. And it makes me want to be a true artist as well, because you can feel the truth and power in every note they play. The same it can be with every action we perform, not just in music.
This whole month of traveling, I have become confident in myself, and I know that I can make it alone in this world and not get lost. And I have been so opened up, to so many things and all kinds of people. And all the people from so many different countries have shown me that love is present every where. And that this is the core of humanity. We are all very different but mostly similar. So now I have three more days here, and then I leave for Rishikesh. It is hard to believe I have a whole month to go. By the way I have decided to come home in November for Thanksgiving. I am having great time but miss home and am satisfied I think with one more month. Traveling really wears you down and I do not know if I could do this for so long at this point. So it is set. Hope this is happy news for all of you. One more month I think will be spent even more so looking inside myself. What better time than now to examine the self than up in the mountains. Hope you enjoyed my rant, perhaps I have trapped you all into thinking a lot more than you wanted to... Peace
Perhaps the little things are enough though. Perhaps love is really enough. Compassion and Love, jut like all great sages have taught. Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Mohammad. There is no difference of where one is, love is the most powerful thing in the world. And seeing things as they are here, seeing the humanity.. people sleeping on the streets in rags, and lepors begging for change, mothers with their babies asking just for some food, all of the ugly things... and then all of the beautiful things right on the same street, you can see a lot in someone just by looking in their eyes. You see people working so hard, with no thought of a different life, no thought of picking up and traveling to other lands as I am doing, but in their sweat and tears there is such great love. They work only to provide for others it seems. So their family can eat, so they can live another day in this world. And children always are happy, as long as they are fed, no matter where they are on this planet. Because they are innocent and uncontaminated, and they can play and be entertained by almost anything. No need for video games, a stick is perfectly fine. It really pierces you right to the core, because everything is so in your face here. Nothing is hidden. Varanasi is perhaps one of the greatest examples. Death is so in your face for one. Seeing burning bodies is something that never leaves you I am sure, as the image of what I saw is perfectly clear in my mind. But even this is part of humanity, and cannot be denied. Perhaps in America we like to push things aside, and not think about the darker points of life, but not so much in India. We all are part of this existence and all have to deal with poverty, with affliction, sickness, hunger, greed, desire.. even if we do live relatively comfortable, we all have to deal with death. And so Varanasi forces you to look right at it, and look in yourself at the same time, and realize your body is nothing, that it is fragile and temporary, and is going to pass away and be no more. So then you have to really think about who you are and what you are. If not the body then what? Perhaps just spirit, just pure spirit built out of love. If God is love then we must be love as well. And if God is universal, then Shiva is God, and Christ is God, and Allah and all the rest. The name is beside the point. A name is like a body and has no eternal value anyway. When you sit on the ghats by the Ganges river and look at everyone bathing and offering worship to the river because it represents God himself, you recognize it's holiness as well, because it goes behind the Hindu religion, it is the energy that is put into it that makes it holy. Perhaps all of us are just cosmic balls of energy, free to decide where to put this energy to work and how. So this becomes our task, how to spend our energy. Of course use the energy in evil ways, or in good ways. The only energy that really gives back anything worth keeping is love. Love in all of it's forms and varieties. So after being here and traveling for the past month, I guess what I feel is a desire to spend this energy in more ways. I do not have a clear vision of my purpose in life, of what I am going to do when I get back. Although it is nice to not hear the question of what I am going to do for a good while. Now I kinda just think who cares??! So what if I have a 401k or health insurance. Man, these people here don't even know what that is! And most of the world's population too.. So these things, material things really, and financial security and all of it, these things are really not important. I already knew this, but now I am confirming it. What I do must be guided by the energy of that which we all are at our core. And that does not have to be anything huge, just something that is good for me and good for others. What else is there? I don't think I will ever look for my happiness in a paycheck, this trip has shown me behind a doubt that money is not the source of happiness. And so much more it has shown me. So many people have showed me kindness, and have welcomed me into this country. I have been exploring the depth of Indian music and the incredible dedication of it's pioneers. True artists in every sense. And it makes me want to be a true artist as well, because you can feel the truth and power in every note they play. The same it can be with every action we perform, not just in music.
This whole month of traveling, I have become confident in myself, and I know that I can make it alone in this world and not get lost. And I have been so opened up, to so many things and all kinds of people. And all the people from so many different countries have shown me that love is present every where. And that this is the core of humanity. We are all very different but mostly similar. So now I have three more days here, and then I leave for Rishikesh. It is hard to believe I have a whole month to go. By the way I have decided to come home in November for Thanksgiving. I am having great time but miss home and am satisfied I think with one more month. Traveling really wears you down and I do not know if I could do this for so long at this point. So it is set. Hope this is happy news for all of you. One more month I think will be spent even more so looking inside myself. What better time than now to examine the self than up in the mountains. Hope you enjoyed my rant, perhaps I have trapped you all into thinking a lot more than you wanted to... Peace
Hear hear. I considered going home early at some point... but at the ashram I learned that part of my challenge is in the overcoming of time. Now I am at the point of not knowing how I am ever going to be able to go back to the life I used to live. I miss a home, a place to come home to, but there are so many things I cannot relate to any more that are part of that place and life I used to call my own. So I guess the next challenge is gonna be the redefining of 'home'. Anyway!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Rishikesh, the teachings are in every little nook over there. Hugs! x