Recalling the same feelings of wanting to leave the city I took the advise of my friend I gave it a 7 day test trail. It was in this period where I started to accept the place, and things just flowed so harmoniously. I found my amazing Nada yoga teacher, Sanskrit teacher and slowly the connections with locals began.

  I started to see that being in this chaos is the real practise. What I mean by practise is that of allowance, acceptance, and not comparing to back home, to what I am familiar and comfortable with, letting go and simply allowing it to be what it is. Seeing the teachings in the chaos, finding the peace and the contentment, each day got easier and then I found a quiet room on the top of a families home with a view of the rising sun and the Holy Ganges river.

 

(The city of Varanasi is known for the Holy river Ganges and it is a Hindu belief that those who die in Varanasi and ashes are given to the Ganga with have a free soul.

 
This is the city of impermence as its seen every where, birth, life and death. May it be the new born babies having there first Ganga dip, the new born puppies situated along side street, newly born monkeys attached to the mother swinging from roof top to roof top looking for food, holy cows wondering aimlessly along side with their calf on the streets or where ever they choose to wonder. It really shows the reality of life in the raw. There is struggle for the survival of supporting the family feeling there is not enough to the point I seem to get cheated on a daily basis. The families stay together until married in India and then they simply have an extended family all living in the same house all supporting each other.
The jobs are many because the people are plenty. The jobs that people have due to there devotion to support there family is amazing.
 The wondering holy men choosing to loose all possessions walks along side the other who wants all the possessions. One seeing it as a practise the other suffering.
Thousands come from all over India and abroad to pay homage and respect to the Holy waters. Cleaning and purifying there bodies, their clothes or simply enjoying a boat ride along the Ganges. The waters might not be so “nice looking” but energy of devotion is constantly being feed into the vibration of the water as energy is felt not seen hence the many Dolphins who have gravitated to the high spiritual vibration who are living in the river.
 
Death is also seen everywhere. Many are bodies are brought to be  burnt in front of the Ganges there are two locations one has more fires burning the bodies then the other location. In both places the energy is intense! The other day I counted 17 fires burning meaning 17 bodies burning, there are line ups for the bodies to be placed upon a fire. As the bodies are carried through the street by foot, or placed on top of rickshaws, or cars it doesn’t’ matter they find a way to the Holy River. The body is covered in cloth and flowers as they pallbearers all chant “Ram Nam Sathya Nam” as they bring burning ghat .  Watching some one being burnt to ash is a very interesting sight, the waves of thoughts which pass through my head are like the many drops of water which resides in the Ganga. The smell also is very intense unlike I have every smelled before. Here in India one starts to gets used to the shocking smells of stench in one moment and pure heaven the next.
The hardship of Varanasi is not only with such a huge population but the state Gov’t is running out of electricity so the result is a city of 5 million being with out power 6-10 hours a day. The housing is also a huge problem so you will see many people sleeping on the street in the cold, in the shop they work on, or even in their rickshaws(bike or auto). Really I don’t think there is a place in which they wouldn’t sleep in. India seems to experience for heat then cold for the most part of the country and so there is no central heating system, in the houses. It really toughens up a being to live with out the comforts in the west. The temperature in the winter months are low of 1degree and high in the day of 27 degrees it brought my pranayama (breathing) exercises to practise with my early morning cold water bucket showers. 
I have learnt more about my self and the hardship of many peoples lives living in the big class room of Varanasi then I ever thought possible. I am truly blessed and grateful for this experience. ……Its all in the eye of the beholder ..
I have some thought to create a tour to India with emphasis on Nada Yoga (Yoga of sound) and healing. In the late fall of 2007 if any one is interested please let me know .

For the next part of the journey  I reside in Thailand for 3 ½ months on a yoga teachers training program.

 
 
 

Chapter One My return to the  Holy land 

I have embarked upon my ninth  visit to the land of mystics, magic and monkeys, Mother India.  The past one month was spent in a small Holy town called Chitrakoot, U.P. with my Indian friend uruswati. Where we focused on our personal practice.

 This Pilgrimage town has daily visitors, arriving to respect and dip in the Holy water's where it is said  “Lord Ram” lived while in exile.

 The town is very simply and it is  reflected every where , as they only have basic accommodations and the restaurants don’t even offer menus as they serve the same thing meals of rice, dhal chapattis and veggie curry. I found a hard time adjusting to the breakfast items as everything is deep fried. The big choice was samosa’s, fried potatoes, or stuffed chapattis with potatoes or the abundance of home made sweets where always ready and available any time.

I tried the local way a few times then, created a simple routine of eating one big meal at lunch all you can eat for less then one dollar.

Chitrakoot is a very happening Holy spot as the town awakes before the rising of the sun (Usually between 3-5 am) as there is alot of power in the cosmos due to the stillness and the silence, but  in this town loud speakers were located through out the village which played spiritual songs, mantras, or spiritual talks in the early mornings.

  The sound of ringing bells are heard through out the town which is a call to awake the Gods and Goddess, in conjunction with the blowing horn of a the conch shell another symbolic sound instrument used to invoke the ritual of prayer.

One of the many things attractions for me to spending one month in the village was the way people greeted one another, with the name of the lord you would either hear “Ram Ram” or “Sita Ram” as the hands were placed in a prayer position in front of the heart charka, showing great respect to each other. The sound of Ram or Sita Ram has much more vibration and power behind it then simply saying hello. The only time I heard hello was when the kids were trying to get my attention.

Not so many educated people in the area, one night I had three people all say good morning to me, which made me laugh only at my self as I probably get laughed at more then I know with my simple Hindi.

There were moments where I felt I was going back in time as the Shepard (usually a very young child or old man) would be herding goats of 50 or so through the village. Then one would always have to be on alert as the untamed wild packs of monkeys wondering aimlessly would come up and surprise you as by taking your food if you were not aware. The count of homeless dogs is most likely the population of Canada as they are everywhere and they are packs of them wondering aimlessly eating what ever they find on the street. Then the famous and well to do Holy Cows who’s Karma brought them to be treated like royalty and given much respect are free to roam where ever they feel , the when on the road the cars simply just go around them. 

Observing how basic living has enriched many of the people with contentment, the thoughts of dishwashers, washing machines are not even heard of in places this simple, everything is done by hand including the sweeping of the streets, the collecting of the Holy Cow Dung which is used for fuel.

Everyone is trying to survive in the village including the help of the small children who sell flowers to who ever is giving an offering to the water.

The Holy town of Chitrakoot seems to have more temples then houses and many houses with the temples also inside.

I was fascinated to know one temple has been chanting the Lords name of “Sita Ram” for over 25 years, 24 hours per day there is someone there all the time taking shifts of reciting the mantra. Sita Ram, Sita Ram, Sita Ram….. The devotion is astonishing and so inspiring . I found one great guru who is a true saint , a 87 year one man, I know him as Maharaji photos can be viewed at  www.jantaseva.dk. He hands out food, money and love to all who come, never refuses any one to come into the ashram. I enjoyed his presents and his genuine being. I received my first Mantra initiation ceremony from him, which was a big fire puja, which included mantras, herbs, and holy water which was shared into a fire and then at the very end Maharaji whispered my personnel mantra into my ear. Traditionally this is the way Mantras are given from a master . In his ashram which I visited daily , there was a fire which was burning for over 50 years, extending the fire into so many rituals, prayers and blessings . The fire is sacred to the Hindu’s as they honor and worship the elements seeing them part of us and not separate.

Since I was one of the small amount of tourist that was in the village I did happen to get a lot of attention, Some people were curious other just wanted to share the little English they knew. After one month I felt I wanted to pursue my love for sound in the form of vocals and mantras so I said farewell to the Holy town of Chitrakoot.

 My time shared with Uruswati who speaks fluent Hindi was enriched many experience’s  both in the town and near by village’s we explored .

We left the village by bus which only took us to the half way mark of our next destination we wanted to spend the second half of the journey on a train, so we found our way to the station, arranging the bags and discussing the plan of buying the ticket we noticed an Indian girl who was also the last to get off the bus from our bus journey, coming up to us just after we arriving at the station. She was scared and shared with us that she was in trouble and wanted to know if she could come with us?

We wanted to know where she was coming from, and the details of why she is in trouble ect. After many questions and answers we found out that she had just left her village as her life was in danger as we found out later she was going to be sold, having no mother, father, sister, or brother , she has been taken care of  from her uncle who abused her.  We allowed her to join us feeling our company would be uplifting and helpful. She had joined us to the city of Varanasi . After great amount of time invested in helping her we found her a place to stay which she is now taken care of and is now out of our care.
 Adjusting to  Varanasi  for the love of knowledge. I am getting familiar  with the area. There are three ways to get from one place to another , first the loud main road, then small narrow streets which are shared with bikes, motor cycles and Holy Cows and if they are coming down the street you best get out of the way as there horns are dangerous, and then the walk along the Ghat which is along side the Ganges river, it’s the most peaceful.  Being in this city at times can feel like stimulation over load.
 The Holy river of the Ganges are the tranquility of the city especially before the sun rise and the masses are offering prayers mantras and song.

The journey of India is constant, I have decided to stay in Varanasi because of my love for knowledge. I have found two amazing teachers and now I am studying Dhrupad vocals and the science of Sanskrit Mantras.
If anyone writes I promise to respond if I don’t that means I never received your email . until then may the light of eternal sound guide you in the light that you are.