I came back to Rishikesh in the lap of my father Himalaya, just like a little boy who goes in his father’s lap from time to time for some re-assurance. I was going through a lot of spiritual energy movements at that time, all possible emotions hitting my mind wave after wave. The body felt like a blast furnace, but a faint understanding that my body was being baked , my mind was being processed so that my soul could shine, prevailed. My system was boiling and the waters of Ganga doused the fire with Love, like only a mother could.

I was sleeping on the banks of Ganga at that time on the ghat next to the Tera Manzil Temple above Laxman Jhula. It is a buzzing area full of domestic religious pilgrims coming in hoards to visit this multistory temple. Here, early morning is the best possible time for meditations and deep absorptions, just before sunrise when the portals of universal consciousness open for the ones who can connect with it, as they say. It’s a very delicate time, the active energy ( rajas ) around is in its nubile blossom, the mind treads slowly and picks up this energy ounce by ounce just like a nymph would pluck flowers in  spring blossom.

After my morning kriyas and meditations I used to walk along the back alleys behind the temple and hang out at one particular Chai stall. The man making the chai was your average Indian man in his sixties, unless you “experienced” what he had to say. I lovingly called him “chaiwale baba” and he certainly was a wise old man. This man, who I never met again in my repeated attempts to find, was one of the most important influences on me when it comes to “questioning” and forming my own definition of spirituality and devotion.

My usual 10 minutes chai break used to last for hours here, this is the best part about wandering, no desires to chase and no time chasing you. I used to be probably the first person to have chai at his stall every morning. On one such morning whilst sipping the fresh brew, trying to understand what to make out of baba’s pregnant pause, I looked at him. His gaze was fixed on the tall temple in front of us, with cloudy tearful eyes he immediately in a heavy guttural voice exclaimed “The God doesn’t live there!” I still had no clue where this was heading. I asked him what he meant. Looking at me with strong but heart full energy he burst out sentence after sentence in Hindi, it truly felt like the cry of a true Bhakta (devotee), he went on and after five minutes or so quietly started filtering the brew as if nothing had happened. His spontaneous out burst was a living testament of a man who had lived his whole life in simplicity, devotion and ruthless questioning of beliefs thrust upon him by religion and society. The clarity of his wisdom and his detachment was evident from the fact that he moved so smoothly between his spontaneous out burst and regular act of chai making.

The Tera manzil temple is a huge temple. But for some reason it doesn’t appeal to my heart. The statues of Gods and Goddesses have been installed in such a way that it looks as if they are sitting inside an office cubicle. Each God or Goddess has his/her own little room closed with an iron gate. A wooden box in front of each God calls for a generous donation. Busy road in the front, loud noise from the passing vehicles and the crowd and clamor does not go well with my idea of “peaceful ambience”. This was exactly the point that troubled the baba.

“Look what we humans have done to the Gods”, he said in exclamation. “Do we really believe we can hold them in iron bars, and capture them for their qualities? Do we really understand that no amount of bell ringing will invite the God in our hearts, no amount of blind faith and rituals will instill the divine grace in our mind? How blind are we, to believe this! Real God is in the hearts of people, and real worship lies in service of this God amongst the hearts of people, if only these people knew. When will the masses awaken to this God within? When will the humans stop thinking that they can capture the limitless in the limited, hah, what an illusion this one! How our society and religious dictates make us believe and do something that is a sheer waste of time. Beta (my child), divert all our attention to service, awaken the God within peoples hearts, only then will you really sense The God.”

His words still ring in my ears whenever I get lazy. They make me jump up and focus my energies on what I believe in. What an impact this man had on my life. Really, how some people meet us for such a short time and yet leave a deep impact on our life. I believe my meeting with chaiwale baba was not some random coincidence. He came in my life at the right time and gave me the right message and some how gave a direction to the turmoil and confusion I was going through. I have never seen him again, I asked around in my later trips to Rishikesh but no one could give me a coherent answer. His memory still remains in my heart and his words still inspires me and keep me going.

Prasad at the Samadhi of Matsyendranath

Since the childhood there has been a desire to be alone, in some way or other finding my own space. The spiritual inspirations and stimulants were around me all the time. Sometimes I realized them, other times on recent reflections lot of it makes sense, how subtly these stimulants worked on my soul and mind. As I grew up and could handle myself maturely, this bird found his wings. I started taking breaks and investing my time to visit places mostly pilgrimage sites to be on my own and explore, within and externally.

In the last 6 years I have associated a lot with the wandering monks. The inner Sadhu does exist and is vibrant. My primary association has been with the Natha sect. The presiding deity of the Nathas has always been around in the house. The picture of the beautiful Guru Dattareya was in the home temple, always looking at me with a smile. Every evening when we siblings used to chant and pray with our mother, Dattatreya was watching over me. My eyes were only for him, his four dogs and his cow were a source of love for me, especially the cow, and her eyes looked so caring and full of Love. The majestic Dattatreya in the photo frame was a grand figure, I identified with Him more than the other “Gods” in the Alter. He was always there for me. I remember many instances when I used to go to the alter and have a heart to heart chat with Him mostly when I didn’t fare well in my exams, and He was there, His eyes saw me, His heart heard my fears.

My Natha Bhais (brothers) have taught me a lot and I have no words to express my gratitude, it can only be attributed to the grace of Dattatreya. The life with the Jogis is hard, it took me sometime to get used to it, but really it was simple, like my own second nature. Over the years, whenever I could, I wandered, I met, I visited, I watched, on foot, by boat with any mode of transport I could, in jungles and dilapidated structures in obscure corners of India, thousands of feet above the land in the Himalayas, on banks of rivers in central and western India. I moved with my heart, my soul knew no bounds as I was led by the spirit of the Sadhu, with the fire on my head as they say. The joy of smearing ash on the forehead as if Lord Shiva had himself manifested, the song of the “Gerua” (roughly translated as earth colored) that keeps the Fire alive. The feeling of coming “Home” whilst around the Dhuni and the sparkle of subtle recognition and acknowledgement of another “Natha ka baccha” (son of the natha) is hard for me to explain in words. In fact at this point I don’t even know if I can convey a quarter of the things that I wanted to when I thought of writing this note. But I will try my best all willfully under the grace of Datta.

My experiences in Ujjain connected me much more with the Nathas. I was wandering and living near the Samadhi of Matsyendranath (who is regarded as the founder of Hatha Yoga School). Communications happen here at a very subtle level, when the intellect comes in, it turns back without any success there is nothing to reason here.

I was happily accepted here and was allowed to stay as much as I wanted. I was told it was the “Big Boss ki marzi” (Wish of Matsyendranath, who the Yogi lovingly called Big Boss). So true indeed, He is the big boss of the Yogis, where would we be without Him? My days here, passed doing japa, reading and studying traditional Natha texts, sharing experiences with the Bhaktas, praying and watching in wonderment the thousands of parrots and squirrels that clamor on the trees surrounding the Samadhi, what life force and Life truly throbbing in this ambience.

I could not believe when I was asked to tend to the Dhuni of Matsyendranath himself and to sleep next to it in the night. “Dhuni” is a sacred site for the nathas, it is a fire pit used by the wandering sadhus to keep them warm at the physical level. But the real symbolic meaning of Dhuni is in its representation of spiritual fire, the fire that keeps the journey from the physical to spiritual alive. My Love knew no bounds, I was over whelmed and couldn’t believe myself, it is THE sanctum sanctorum for the nathas. All this again and again ascribed to the grace of Datta himself.

All across my wanderings and lodges with the Nathas, contrary to their “scary” “blood shot” appearances I have sensed only their innocence and their devotion. Their practices may be esoteric with which they may not part so easily but their devotion is infectious. The Trust and openness once a Natha “sees” you is very uniting. Their world view is very different as opposed to how they really are, may be it’s their will? The way of the Nathas is of dissolving the metaphysical duality by accepting unconditionally the identity of mundane opposites – good and bad , death and life , dirty and clean , heat and cold and acting it out to sense the Union underneath with devotion and action.

The clan is now reducing starkly; sadhus are reducing in numbers on account of various reasons. In many ways than one saints have come in my life in many forms to guide me, sometimes I heed their call, sometimes this ignorant fool doesn’t understand how to, but again all my success and sin at the feet of Lord Datta.

To be continued…

Yoga, the ancient science of consciousness always had a comprehensive approach towards life and living. The philosophy of Yoga is based on the concept of “Pinda = Brahmanda” (microcosm = macrocosm), which states that the body (pinda) is a replica of the Universe (Brahmanda), or microcosm is a reflection of the macrocosm. The individual was the sub set of the whole. Every experience that raised the consciousness of a yogi made him/her more aware of the surrounding. In fact, if I could summaries the process of yoga it is nothing but broadening of perception and thus becoming more sensitive and accountable for the individual self and others.

Goddess Earth - For the ancient Yogis, Earth was Goddess Vasudha, the cause of stability (adhara Shakti), opulence and their very existence. She sprouted the feed for their survival with nutritious sunlight from the Sun God .What Goddess Vasudha gave to them was a blessing, she was the source on which the development of their society crucially depended. Goddess Vasudha was not only very much alive but also a spiritual Being. On a gross plain she has a body with rivers, mountains, forests, trenches and valleys. On a subtle plain she is throbbing with Prana driven by a purposeful nature, to take care of the ones who live and thrive upon her. The grace of the Goddess was never forgotten. Whenever the farmers reaped crops or the fishermen had a generous haul, mother earth was always invoked and thanked. Whenever the priests prayed or the merchants made wealth the value and vitality of Earth was accepted with gratitude. Their respect towards the nature and its components is very beautifully described in the hymns of the Vedas which were chanted for thousands of years, deeply allowing this sense of gratitude and respect to sink into the deeper recesses of the mind.

Before the seventeenth century and even as late as the eighteenth century, the nature of our planet was universally assumed to be similar to the organic and spiritual nature of man himself. Not just the Yogis of ancient India but also the esoteric circles from Pythagoras onwards to Gnostic-Hermetic initiates, ancient cosmologists and the Cabalistic-Hermetic believed the Earth to be a living entity. In the eyes of the ancient philosophers the Earth was a living creature, to quote Vasilus Valentius, an alchemist of the middle Ages “The earth is not a dead body, but is inhabited by a spirit that is its life and soul. The spirit is life, and it is nourished by the sun and the stars, and it gives nourishment to all the things that shelter in its womb.”

Somewhere around the 17^th century the West went thorough a decisive phase of rewriting its concepts which changed the way the world was perceived. With the rise of thinkers like Francis Bacon, Descartes, Galileo, Newton a definitive crack in the earlier view of Universe was evident. Under the influence of these scholars humanity developed more decisive and definitive methods of dominating nature, limiting them to rigorous analysis of what is measurable and quantifiable in sensible phenomena. The rise of engineering, a spate of new discoveries, inventions and flirting with the natural resources to tap into excess was the seed of what we call as the mechanistic revolution. The east was influenced by this concept because of the rise and dominance of the west and thus slowly the whole world was under the magic of the mechanistic revolution. The mechanistic world-views have no need for a wider perspective of things, indeed, they deliberately exclude it. They view the natural world like a machine. Rupert Sheldrake the biologist author of The Rebirth of Nature summarizes this beautifully by saying, “According to the new theory of the world, nature no longer had a life of her own, she was soulless, devoid of all spontaneity, freedom and creativity. Mother nature was not more than dead matter, moving in unfailing obedience to God – given mathematical laws”.

Mere two hundred years later we are sitting on a time bomb of global catastrophe. The science is clear: global warming is happening faster than ever and humans are responsible. CO2 (the most important gas) has risen from 280 ppm to 379 since pre-industrial times and its growth seems to be accelerating. Average global land and sea temperatures are rising. The incidence of droughts, wildfires and flooding are increasing globally. Glaciers and the permafrost are melting. Ice at the North and South Poles is melting and breaking up. Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are increasing in severity. Fresh water resources are diminishing. On the social side, people are already being displaced by rising sea levels. Agriculture and food supply is being affected by droughts.

Countries are suffering loss of life, homes, and livelihoods from the increased severity of hurricanes, storms and flooding. Insurance costs are spiraling due to ‘natural’ damages. Disease carrying insects are moving into new areas as temperature increases. Populations of other insects, like the pine beetle are exploding with devastating effect. Poorer countries like Africa will be amongst the most severely disadvantaged as they have few resources to adapt, and the regions are devastated by climate change. Rivers have less regular flow, and water for drinking and crops is drying up.

These facts are alarming, scary actually. But the point is to consciously start acting as soon as possible. This can be done by becoming more and more aware of oneself and the environment. As Mr. Gandhi said, “Be the change that you want to see in the world”. Let us promise ourselves to become more aware and conscious of our habits, attitudes and behavior. Let us reduce wastage of energy both personal and environmental by becoming more accountable towards our body, mind and surroundings. Finally let us all “Believe” that it is possible, because the real change starts in the mind, with a firm resolve and  Love that has power to bind us in a strong support system. This would be the living and practicing of true Yoga philosophy.

Please visit www.350.org for more info and resources.

Om Shanti,
Prasad

The days went by and one day around the people I knew in Rishikesh I heard about a Mahatma (realized soul) living in the jungle of Haridwar. Unlike my city life, I had all the time in the world over here and didn’t want to lose any opportunity to meet such a highly evolved person, so I quickly jumped at the chance to join the group visiting the Mahatma.

The forest in which this man lived is a closely guarded nature reserve with restricted entry. As our group made way through the terrain, the freshness of the wild forest started enveloping us, the sharp noise of the city was left way behind only to be welcomed by the late evening chirps of birds waiting to fly back home. Peacocks seemed to care less of the group but the bird atop the tree did sound a little curious of the arrival of handful of men in this dense forest. The might and grandeur of the forest was evident, humbling us as we walked through the winter chill, reminding me all the time how we humans try hard to dominate the nature and yet how tiny we are in front of her vastness and power. Pondering over this I made my way through the uneven ground.

After a while we reached a small house, surrounded by a fence made out of natural wood and reinforced by thorny creepers, I suppose to keep the wild animals away. We were welcomed warmly by a group of monk-sadhaks with gleaming smile. The floor was dusted hurriedly and cloth baithaks (sitting sheets) were spread out to accommodate us.

In front of us on a charpai (Indian bed made up of naturally made strings) sat one of the most unassuming men I have ever seen. His name was Siddha Baba, the accomplished One. He sat there silently. When we sat in front of him at his feet he looked at us, his look was his acknowledgement, there were no expressions on his face, as if we being there or not being there was the same, it was just the way it was or was supposed to be. One look from him communicated the “matter of factness” of things that are, just ARE. He was a true Siddha as mentioned in the Bhagvad Gita, unmoved and still in his mind.

The only activity around him was that of the species of animals he was surrounded by. Next to his bed was a big cow, sharing her shade were two dogs, a happy yet shy squirrel sat next to his cushion consuming a nut ,a meandering mouse under his bed and a couple of cats lying lazily at his feet on the cool floor. We all were amazed by this spectacle of species. These beasts were so happy in his company sharing his love and deriving a certain power from his silence. The food that we had presented to him was immediately distributed to the animals around him and then was given to the monks to distribute

Later we were told by the monk-sadhaks that after the sunset many wild animals from across the jungle come and sleep in front of Baba’s house, they knew of instances when tiger, foxes, deer and hares slept next to each other in the shade of his compassionate energy. As the dawn breaks they go back to the depths of the greens. Such is the loving energy of Baba consuming men and beasts alike in its tsunami.

Through out our time in Baba’s presence He did not speak. Infact, He hardly ever spoke.

As they say a wise man rests in his silence, this was one of my first instances of actually meeting a wise man who didn’t have to open his mouth to prove his wisdom to anyone. How inspiring !

To be continued…

In Rishikesh

In December of 2006 I traveled across the foot hills of Himalayas. Promptly surrendering my money wallet and mobile phone to a friend I walked to explore the inner through the outer. Dropping all, I walked with a mind of a ‘Parivrajaka’ (wandering spiritual seeker).

Feeling totally light in my ‘freedom’, I explored whatever came my way. The comforts and security of having money in my pocket were thrown and flown in the wind; insecurity and fears were now face to face with power and strength of detachment.

There was no goal and no destination to this exercise; I was ready to face whatever came my way. The days and nights passed as I walked and flew in the freedom. There was no safe roof to come under at night. When the body called for rest in the night I would sleep along the banks of Mother Ganga whilst she sang me a sweet lullaby of her rustling waters. Waking in the mornings to the chirping of the birds and the temple bells, I would continue walking on the goal-less path. In the backdrop the strong and sturdy Father Himalaya kept reassuring me with soft pats of gushing wind on my back. There was no schedule or timetable, every moment was captured spontaneously and relished. I had read about this spontaneity called ‘Sahaja’ by the Yogis, now I was living it and enjoying it, celebrating it with childlike wonderment.

When the hunger struck, food would come from some place or other, either through the Temple Bhandaras (mass feeding for Sadhus) or little peanuts given as Daan (offering) by devotes at Temple corner. If I was lucky, the friendly neighborhood Chaiwala would treat me to a hot cup of chai.

The winters in Northern India are very sharp, the obvious warm spots outdoors are the ‘dhunis’ or small fires the group of wandering Sadhus ( monks) light to stay warm. Around this fire which also is symbolic of spiritual thirst and detachment a lot was exchanged. Sitting with the Sadhus and interacting and traveling with them taught me a lot about the carefree and confident life of a spiritual seeker. Once in a gathering I came to know of a Himalayan Master who had come to Haridwar from Badrinath, it was a rare moment as He would hardly come to the foothills not even in the winter. He was an Avadhoot, the one who has cast off everything. I was very keen to meet him.

The next day I went to meet the Avadhoot Tatbaba with a few people I had met on my way. My meeting with him was very powerful for reasons I cannot explain. A gentle old man, he looked like an Indian Santa Claus especially when he laughed out loud. I knew of the strange ways of the Avadhoots. Now I was experiencing one myself. His pull was so magnetic that I went to meet him every morning for the next three days, just to sit silently and listen to his words of wisdom. On the second day he ‘noticed’ me and enquired about me and my life. He discouraged me, telling me to give up the wandering and go back and make money, get married and live a ’safe’ life. He kept discouraging me the entire time that I was sitting near him. He mentioned that if I continued on the path I was, I would end up like him ‘with no clothes, and no money’. Was this the kind of life that my parents wanted me to live? I kept listening to his views with respect but held on to my belief of keeping on exploring what came my way through a spiritual perspective.

On the second day of continuous brainwashing to divert me from the path, in one quiet moment he looked deep into my eyes, got up from his seat and we went to his modest little hut. There, in that small room it was just me and Him but yet there was the whole universe. Words fail to explain my experience. He invited me to be with him one day when the time was right and said that He was only testing me by discouraging me the last two days. All was silent then, all but my racing heart beats and the bright light inside of my Being. With the touch of his blessing hands on my head and my pounding heart in my hand I continued on my travels.

To be continued…

Helping Recovering Drug Addicts in London

The event was a fantastic success and the life positive philosophy of Yoga was happily accepted by the participants. Participants expressed, shared, danced and gave love. Since then there was no looking back, the participants who were individually going through difficult stages in their lives were hungry for more. As one of them said for the first time in their life they had seen a ray of positive hope in their life, some concept that could help them manage their lives with complete confidence.

Every evening we used to meet in the lush green patches of London’s Hampstead Heath Gardens for coffee and conversations, the participants opened up and shared whole heartedly. The free days were spent doing cleansing practices and basic physical asanas to gain self-acceptance of body and mind.

Over two visits to London, we managed to influence and plant a seed of self-acceptance and self-empowerment amongst the participants. Some of them managed to recover very well from their addictions, some gained strength in holding on to their belief and staying positive in their fight against addiction.

Truly, Yoga is a blessing to the ones who use its practices with faith and dedication.

Working with Street Kids

I started working with the boys at Saathi in October 2006. Saathi is a registered development agency in India working primarily with youth living on the streets and runaway adolescent girls and the various issues that are a part of their struggles.

This was the best place according to me to distribute the gift of Yogic empowerment – The Yogaprasad in real sense.

Over last few years the boys gradually gathered a good hold over their body and mind by regularly practicing physical yoga asanas and meditations. The Yoga practices were done by managing their allocated work, which also gave them an insight on how to make yoga a lifestyle and not just a recreational activity. During the talks and sharing time the questions that they asked me spoke a lot about the “wisdom” that they had gathered by living a hard life. We went for occasional picnics on the beach and spent the whole day doing yoga, meditating, laughing, sharing experiences and digging deep into the questions that Life posed to each one of us.

Working with Street Kids

After 3 long years of diligent yoga, today, two of the boys from this group, Anil and Raju have gone ahead and successfully completed a Teachers Training Course from the Sivananda Ashram in early 2008 and have now started teaching and inspiring other boys and youths to go on the path of self-empowerment. The smile in their eyes and the expression of strength thorough their work and living is the success that speaks for itself.

I thank Mr. ltaf Shaikh who is the founder and all at Saathi for accommodating me in this endeavor.

Let Yoga inspire us to work on our selves and evolve.