A loose, comparative exposition.

The next journey: A detailed day, of my life in India.

I have chosen no particular day, only the one consecutive to the last one I previously spoke about. Lana and I had purchased two train tickets to Jaipur with intentions of going to Pushkar, which eventually happened. Unbeknownst to the both of us the train from Amritsar to Jaipur was an overnight train. It left from Amritsar station at 1:00. Lana and I decided to sleep in until 12:00. We farewelled Stephen and Sheridan, who had now made the decision to change their route and come to Pushkar, after a few more days at the golden temple. We caught a taxi to the station after Lana bartered with an Indian driver for some time. We arrived on time. The train ride was considerably easy going and safe in comparison to other journeys I have been on. We both made it through the night unscathed and with all belongings in tact. Lana didn’t quite understand the concept of what was about to happen at first. I reassured her that sleeping two metres above the ground on a plastic/wooden platform suspended by chains was safe. She fell asleep eventually. We awoke on the train around 6:00am falling in and out of a scattered consciousness (I call it Indian train lag). The train arrived in Jaipur at 8:00. The next train to a town called Ajmer (close to Pushkar) left in three hours. Lana and I had decided that we would have breakfast in Jaipur and see what the city had to offer. To say that Jaipur shocked us would be to say the least. We walked out of the station down a main road of that “particular” part of the town and passed some very seedy restaurants/shops. These buildings looked as if a strong gust of wind would befall them. Arriving at a somewhat “less seedy” restaurant, I say less seedy because it was busy. How bad could it have been if it was busy? We ate some food; some really hot food. After eating I touched my lips against my t-shirt, which began to heat up (I could feel the warmth my lips generated, they were red). I left the restaurant for about ten minutes in search of a local phone calling shop (std dukan). On my journey I came across the first dead person I have seen, laying sprawled in a gutter, not breathing. Everything seemed to compile on top of this moment whilst we were in Jaipur. We soon made our way back to station and found that if we had turned right instead of left that we would have found a nice, clean restaurant to eat at. Jaipur had dismissed us. We then boarded the train to Ajmer.

 On the train I met a holy man on a pilgrimage to Pushkar. Sitting with him was a local Ajmer man who spoke English and could translate the conversation between the holy man and myself. I told him of my experience in Amritsar and that I would like to try and “read” his energy. I crossed my legs and let my hands feel what existed within him. This was the first time I had tried to do this. Instantly, without inhibition I began to feel this man’s energy. It felt almost too natural, it’s very easy for me to do what I did and am continuing to do. The holy man told me that he “felt” me when I began. I could feel him, letting me in. This is a man that doesn’t speak a word of English. After I had read his energy I told the man that I felt a very pure energy and that I could feel that he was on a path, and the path he was on, was true. He smiled and held my hand. I then told my new friend that after I do these things that my stomach tenses up. He lay me down on a chair. My stomach was in significant discomfort; I’d rate my discomfort at about 60%. This man then asked to perform yoga on me. Of course, I told him I was ok with it. He massaged a number of places around my abdominal and intestinal regions. When he was done, my discomfort had retreated to around 15%. I was blown away. He acted as if it wasn’t a big deal and that it worked all the time. I exchanged contact details with my interpreter and the pilgrim just before getting off at Ajmer train station. In Ajmer I called a local man whom I had met in Amritsar at the golden temple. He said he’d love to help me find some accommodation when I arrived in Ajmer. Upon our arrival, it was raining. Ajmer train station was about as busy as Flinders St station in peak hour. This was due to the camel fair that was being held one town over in Pushkar. We met outside the waiting room at the station and decided to go for a ride on his motorbike to a few hotels to “suss” out the cheapest price in town. We went to a few places before realising we would find a cheaper price if Suresh went in to these hotels alone and asked for a price. After some time we eventually found a place for 400 r/s per night ($9-$10), this is considerably expensive in India. But it was so, due to the camel fair. Lana and I checked in and set out into Ajmer. Ajmer is a quiet little city suburb similar to what would resemble an impoverished Cheltenham. Actually, I could not compare it or any place in India to any other part of the world. We found a nice place to eat in the Lonely Planet (we had only used it for restaurants and maps really). It was called “Mango Masala”. Here, in the middle of a typical Indian city suburb was a middle class restaurant/bakery/ice creamery/café/hotspot. In the restaurants rear courtyard; up some steps, was a separate “diner style hangout”. Where the teenagers of Ajmer hang out. Lana and I decided to put some chairs on the roof of this small restaurant complex and look out over the street. We were probably the first customers to do so. We’d purchased some 60r/s ($1.15) vodka from across the street and slipped it into our soft drinks, because we can. We had a great meal watching the sunset over the city, enjoying each other’s company. The meals were expensive by Indian standards, Club sandwich with chips (60 r/s) and a pizza (120 r/s). But we had been slowly weening ourselves off continental food and decided to “splurge”. From the rooftop we could see a small sign across the road that said “Tibetan refugee market”. I saw this and thought “Awesome, it’s going to be a quiet place, that will certainly not be ‘Indianised’.” I thought this due to my experiences with Tibetan’s and their culture. We went to the market, after purchasing some ice cream and found that it was not what we expected. I should have known better. I mean, I do know better. It was a series of stalls that all sold the exact same, low quality clothes that wouldn’t last a person longer than a year. I was shattered. Haha, really. After finding our way back home Lana and I kicked back in the hotel room for a couple of hours as Lana was feeling a little sick. Poor Lana started to feel more unwell and decided to rest her body for the remainder of the night. I went out. 

The streets of Ajmer were alight with celebration by night. There were marriage celebrations and religious festivals parading throughout the streets, like it was nobody’s business. I walked down a busy road into the markets, where vegies and fruit were being sold. Amongst sweet makers, flower sellers and standard phone shops/computer shops and restaurants; I stopped at one sweet makers stall and sampled a few of his products. I purchased a few for the road. I had intentions of finding kerosene for our proposed stay in the desert tomorrow, near Pushkar. I asked the Halwai (sweet maker) where I might find some Kerosene. He told me that he could give me some of his. But that I couldn’t put it in a plastic bottle, of course. I told him I’d return with my bottle later that evening. I then attempted to make a phone call to a friend of mine (Cynthia) who I had intentions of meeting up with once I got to Pushkar. The phone call attempt was a fail after having multiple Indian men approaching me, trying to figure out why the number I had was “no good”. Getting spoken at by the Indian men for a good ten minutes. “This number, no good.” Damn these situations make me laugh. I made my way home after this, being stared at by all the curious Indians surrounding me on the way. I got home, where Lana was overjoyed to see me, a most incredible feeling to come home to J . Where, we proceeded to shower and slide into bed early and watch a movie. I can’t quite remember what we watched; I believe I fell asleep during the movie.

My thoughts: a day in the life of.

I had hoped to bargain with a taxi driver, but Lana had already. She has quickly picked up bargaining with Indians, she didn’t get the local price, though she did do well. I had really worried about the train journey; I thought that someone would try to nab my possessions for sure. Surprisingly I slept very easily, I had great control over my consciousness during my sleep that night. It was partly (I felt) due to the fact that I had slept a mere 5-6 hours sleep the night before. I like to sleep. I could easily sleep in intervals of thirty minutes, waking myself up every now and then on the train. I also worried for Lana’s being, as her sleeping problems are bad enough already. I slept more so through the morning when there was more movement about the carriage. I also knew that if someone had tried to take something from me, that a passenger would put a stop to it. Arriving in Jaipur I immediately knew that I wouldn’t be staying long. That feeling may have been partly due to the horrible pollution crowd hanging over the city. Though, I felt a “cold” (I use that word loosely) energy rise from within the city, unto me.  This was immediately upon arrival. Walking through the streets, I immediately regretted not doing up my pack properly. It was uncomfortable.  We then intended to find a restaurant close by. Lana and I walked out of the station and across the road to purchase some bananas. There, the fruit salesman told us that good restaurants weren’t possible here. He asked if we liked Indian food. Then, food was possible. He was not joking. Of course I like Indian food, why do you think I am here? Do I not clearly have no choice in the matter? I walked further down the road, banana’s in hand in search of good chapatti. We passed some very “seedy” eateries, swarming with flies and chefs who looked at me like “what shower?” I eventually found a place that was busy enough to be safe. We were sat down at a table sitting across from a religious Hindu man. Immediately he had looked at me with these eyes. I will never forget his eyes. I felt as if he looked through me. I didn’t exist in his world. He continued to look at me until he had finished his meal. I didn’t mention it to Lana, she was having an experience of her own. We had begun eating our food; when halfway through, Lana gave up. I continued to polish off what tasted like oil and masala. I told Lana I’d be right back as I would go and try to make a phone call to my friend Dolma in Delhi. I exited the eatery and made my way around the corner to an std shop. On the way though I saw a person, laying sprawled in a gutter, not breathing. I’ve seen a dead person once before, a child in Agra. This time I got the exact same feeling. To describe it I’d say that it was the complete opposite of a child being born. Reverse every emotion that becomes when the beauty of birth occurs and then multiply those emotions by an ugly reality. This is how seeing this person made me feel. Now, he may have overdosed on drugs. He may have had other recurring problems. But nonetheless I thought to myself “If society wasn’t the way it was, then this would not have happened.” I sucked up the experience and moved on. The std shops phone wasn’t connecting to my friend in Delhi, nor to my French Canadian friend waiting for me in Pushkar. I made my way back to the eatery where Lana was waiting. She told me that she was ready to go. We paid for our slop and pushed on. I told Lana what I had seen, she didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t let her look.  Upon our arrival at the station we saw that if we had of turned right we would have found a neat, clean restaurant to eat at. We had turned left. As Lana and I entered the station it began to rain. I began to laugh. It was the first time it had rained in this area for over twenty years (at this time of the year). The two of us rested on the platform our train was to leave from, it was late. 

I looked back on the experience I had just had and felt that a lot of the things that happened were a result of my being unaware in particular moments. Or identifying problems, negative energies. In doing so, that’s all one sees. A collaboration of identifications along the same line of energy, in this case “a pessimistic outlook”. Which attracted, exactly that. I couldn’t trace it exactly, or it may simply be to early in the morning to do so. Our train then arrived. On the train I could immediately sense that the journey and the energy we were amongst, had changed.

 When I met the pilgrim on the train I felt at ease with where I was. I also felt at ease due to meeting an Indian man named Rakesh; who could speak English. When I felt this pilgrims energy, I immediately tapped into my conscious level of connectivity, with the universe. It was not at all difficult for me to do so. This was the second person whose energy I had connected with, but the first I had intentionally chosen to read. The first was Stephen, in Amritsar. Within him I felt a connection or his awareness of the journey he was embarking upon, his being was light spirited and healthy. I was overjoyed to feel what I felt, as not only was I feeling his energy I was also meeting someone of an aged balance. I could feel that he knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going. That is to say that he had no idea where he was going. I felt consoled. When the pilgrim performed his yoga techniques on me I felt as if my inner “weighted energy was literally being pulled out by this man. I felt the weight of the energy demanded by my body to “read” someone’s being, leave. It also felt very natural, partly due to this man’s simplistic approach and view of what he was doing.  I borrowed a phone from my translator train-met friend to call my local Ajmer friend/guide whose name I forget. 

When we met at the station I dressed in my waterproof clothing as it was still raining. We got on his motorbike, Lana waited at the train station. Sitting on the back of this bike, flying through an unknown town, I felt invincible. “Look at this moment”, I had said to myself. I let my head tilt back and look up at the sky, moving amongst the chaos that was Ajmer. Thanks to my friend, we eventually found a place to stay. Lana and I quickly set out to a Lonely planet listed favourite eat spot. Here there were three different sections one could eat at. We sat at section four, our creation. We pulled out our cheap vodka and sat back, invincible.

The feelings that India allows one to feel could never be done justice by words, you have to experience it yourself. One minute you’re here, the next, you’re flying through the universe at warp speed. You can find yourself walking down a street and by the time you’ve reached the end, you’ve learnt a life lesson. Revelations occur when you’re on a bus, train or even in a rickshaw. It’s not as if these things don’t happen when you’re not in India. But they happen far more often when you are here. I wish that everyone had the desire to travel. Yet people find themselves in positions of comfort in which they tie themselves down to a routine. It begins with the purchase of a car, a loan, a house or a family. Society, or the people in it begin relationships with people, in love or in friendship before they know themselves. Building foundations around a system of constant disrepair. In which, people believe they can find happiness in the latest gadget through a paper note that is “hard earned”. How many people take themselves out to the bush these days, to simply be?  Or to connect with nature as mother earth had originally intended. Here I’d like to share a story.

I came back from Falls Creek for a weekend in Melbourne about five months ago. I immediately left suburbia because I couldn’t be there. Partly due to the fact that I had been living in a fairy tale land where I could snowboard and smoke weed every day. With an enormous group of young people, who were doing the exact same thing. I recommend doing a season to anyone. Nonetheless I didn’t want to be around what the concrete jungle represented. So, I drove out to my favourite place in the world (thus far), the Mornington Peninsula. There is no place like it. If you have ever walked through Greens bush you’ll know what I’m talking about. I left the car by the side of a desolate road in the bush and set out into the dense scrub. I came into a clearing where I stood still and everything was quiet. It was sunny, the best day Melbourne had seen in about two weeks.  I took off my shirt and let my skin soak up the sun. Then, something incredible happened. I took off the rest of my clothes. Why did I have these clothes? I then had nothing left on me. I went for a walk. I began to run, flip, spin, climb, jump etc through the bush. Without anything I existed amongst a small wilderness, simply being. I observed wildlife, trees, dew on the grass, soil beneath my feet, wind on my skin and the warmth of the sun completing me. I have never felt as content as I did in that moment from anything that society has ever offered me. After a few hours I reluctantly put my clothes on. I disliked everything I owned, I wanted to harvest my own cotton and produce my own clothes, which I intend to do once I learn how to do so. As I slowly found my way back to the track I noticed some birds perched on tree, they chirped. I wondered what they were saying, I chirped back. More birds came, more birds chirped. I continued to chirp also. The trees began to move and rustle in the wind. I could never do justice with words as to what happened next. For about two minutes the sounds of the bush came together in symphony. I heard what we call “music” and it came from the nature surrounding me. The birds chirped in perfect harmony, the tree’s squeaking held a steady, slow tempo and the wind sounded like an orchestra of strings. I fell to my knees. I bordered on tears and I sent my gratitude to the moment. I got up and made my way back to car.

I share this moment only to share what is possible. These days I would probably be monitored by someone from the government, out of their fear of free creative minds. Back in India as I meandered throughout the streets of Ajmer I thought about how cheap it was to do exactly what I was doing. I wondered why people are so satisfied with their lives amongst the chaos created by the general population interests (societal values). To which there is a simple answer, which I know may anger some. People don’t know any better; they haven’t been taught alternate ways of living, of enjoying their time here on this planet. I mean, seriously, what is everyone doing? We are slaves. Wake up. There is no plateau. The existence that we find ourselves amongst is an insult to our intelligence. We are institutionalised. From organised religion to governments and from schools to workplaces. It’s all very inaccurate and up until about a month ago I thought that it would never change. Lately I realised that it only would not change should I let it continue to be this way. Here I am and here I stand. 

Becoming

Trekking in the Himalaya

It was ten o’clock in the morning when we departed for Triund. A small settlement of mountain shepherds living in the Himalaya at 2700m. Triund sits 14km from the small town of Dharamkot (1600m) where Lana and I had been staying for a few days. With a 5-6 hour journey over 14km and a climb of 1100m ahead of us Lana carried around thirteen kilo and I carried fifteen. The hike up to Triund was incredible, the trail hugged a cliff face for the most part and was built to switchback at least 40 times on the final climb. We rested just before the last leg of the climb at a small café at which; a number of things happened. First, Lana and I encountered a group of three people, two Australians from Bellina and a French Canadian woman, Cynthia, who we had met three days earlier at a small café in McLeodganj. Life had it that Cynthia had two spare seats in her taxi to Amritsar which she was going to catch in four days time, we had been in Dharamsala for two weeks now and were planning to catch a bus to Amritsar as soon as we were back from our Trek (we had no intentions of staying any particular amount of time). Cynthia had climbed up to Triund earlier that morning and was on her way down, though she was returning the next day to stay at Triund the night. I then met an American named Matt, unbeknownst to me, my life would alter its course here. When I first met Matt at the Café he was purchasing quartz crystles from a café owner named Sunjit, a man I had met two years earlier. Matt came across as laid back, happy and funny. He wasn’t out of the ordinary, a very nice guy. After being praised by the Australian couple who had lived in McLeod 30 years ago for a period of 10 years, for camping in the Himalaya and carrying our own gear, we made our way onto the last leg. But not before purchasing some hash and a pair of blue woollen mittens from Sunjit (who let me pay his wife in Dharamkot after the trek as I had little cash on me). I was going to buy the same mittens in Dharamsala. But, the only pair that I could find were damaged. There are about 60 shops in McLeod selling the same kinds of mittens; I happened to find the exact ones that weren’t to be found anywhere else except in this moment. I had looked in every shop in McLeod. The two of us also purchased walking sticks, made from sugar cane.

The mountain in the background is the one we climbed, the pass is at the furthest point left you can see. The café I spoke about is on the ridge of the hill behind us.

We arrived at Triund around 4:30 and set up our tent on the west face of a small foothill. Triund is spectacular, the small settlement of three shops and a guest lodge are spread out over a grassy ridge plain about 1km in length, the flat ridge is neighboured by two enormous steep valleys. Just two valleys over, fourteen kilometres away is the snow line. At the snow line there Is one “café” that sells basic supplies, as it sits five kilometres from the first mountain in the Himalayan Dhauladar range. That night at Triund I met Nick, an American traveller. We also met a local café owner/guide Sunil. Sunil’s café was where we had dinner and came to sit by the fire. Around the fire sat Lana, Nick, An English Lady, Matt, Sunil and Myself. Lana and I cooked our own meals that night with our stove (thankyou Marco). After dinner a pipe was passed around. The group conversation moved to global warming, the monetary system, and philosophy and eventually to awareness. I began to discuss with Matt (who didn’t smoke) my philosophies, or “feelings” rather, towards my being. We spoke of truth and identification, errors and labelling and the human condition. I told him that I felt as if there is far too much unawareness in the world in regards to the condition and state that we have led our planet to, clearly. We spoke of the ZeitGeist movement, previous movements, ism’s, global warming, general observation of changing weather patterns, the simple clear problems we are experiencing due to increased carbon emissions etc. Eventually I spoke about unawareness and it’s abundance in today’s society, in the form of Materialism, Ideologies, perceptions, identifications and labelling. I told Matt that I’ve been struggling to come to terms with the way people are living. I also spoke of the doubt in my mind that the world is going to change, though I felt and believed that everything was and is possible.  One can see where my doubt had planted its roots. Whether it be the fact that society places value on sweatshop branding, exclusive fashion, looking good cosmetically, physically living a life in a box (a house) with a television, surrounded by the media who are about as reliable for true news as a politicisation is true to his word. From fast food, to large-scale shopping centres, steel companies, oil companies that have more money than a large number of countries in the world. From the Federal reserve bank of America that literally creates money out of thin air to millions of starving people across the world living in poverty, without medical care or a roof to sleep under. Matt and I didn’t actually discuss those points, as they did not need to be said. We moved to the point where he told me that he had been “studying” at a place called the oneness university (a place about 90km’s above Chennai) Matt described the Oneness university as a place where one goes to attain a higher awareness. To study at the oneness university you must first have a reference from an awareness teacher, most of the time, though there are exceptions. At the oneness there are two head guru’s and founders, or as Matt described them, enlightened beings. These two beings, Bhagavan and Sri Rama have been enlightened and performing miracles since birth. The university is prestigious and well known amongst the “one” community. Essentially one will take classes with Bhagavan, Sri Rama, or an awareness Guru to further their consciousness, awareness, fulfil their higher being, if you will. This is done through intense meditation and confrontation amongst a number of things. Confrontation of fears is essential in attaining a higher state of being, for it allows one to “be” as Matt had put it, without being blinded or saddened by doubt. If one fears something, he or she will suffer from that thing. In a state of higher consciousness, being or whatever you want to call it, one will not suffer from a fear as one does not identify themselves with the fear directly. This is very difficult to do and may sound confusing, but is a very simple process, providing you are apt. In these classes at the Oneness University people have been known to and Matt saw as he himself broke down. He told me of men and women, breaking down, literally crying in pain, sadness whilst confronting themselves, or their fears. He told me that when people have these moments of realisation they may break down, laugh, convulse sometimes even vomit. The goal of these confrontations is that, you no longer suffer from a fear or fear at all after having studied for enough time. No longer than about 15 minutes depending on the situation or moment or fear, regardless of what the fear may be. I feel and know that I can see truth within a Human being, everything Matt is and had spoke about, was true. Matt told me of when he sat in a room with Bhagavan for some time. I quote Matt here “you could literally feel your awareness being raised just from being in the same space as Bhagavan, he raises your awareness for you. (Matt smiles, laughs and shakes his head at the absurdity of his sentence).” The purpose of the Oneness university is to raise the awareness of the world, and I never knew this place existed, why didn’t/doesn’t everyone know about it?  Matt told stories of people that studied there or lived there that he described as “walking orgasms” as they have no fears, they are so pure, true, they understand. Matt told me that I shouldn’t doubt whether the change is happening. Because it already is happening, the awareness movement and it’s spreading is already in motion. Matt went on to explain that he was an enlightened being (Obviously not to the same extent as Bhagavan or as highly as some others have attained) but he rarely suffers from fear, if he does, it’s never longer than five minutes. I had so much to ask him. We spoke for at least four hours till 2am in the morning, in the Himalaya. He consoled me, confirmed and cleared a lot of things that I had on my mind. We spoke about enlightenment and the fact that it is not something that should be viewed as unattainable, because the level at which it is attained is attainable. Haha, I truly hope I don’t sound crazy as that may not make sense to some. He taught me how to confront a fear and also did something very special for Lana. Lana told Matt of her sleeping troubles and why she believed she had them. Then Matt did the most amazing thing. As Lana said “Yeahhh, I’m not really sure” Matt said “I just checked your Chakra, it’s already in motion”. That is that her sleeping problems were already changing for the better, and that he blessed her. I’m sitting there, around this fire in the Himalaya feeling my awareness and being going somewhere I’ve never been before, this was as far as I had been, and everything was so simple, clear and easy. Everything, being my understanding of Matt’s being, my being and the moment. Matt was leaving the next day to Delhi to fly back to America as he felt that he needed to help his immediate environment, he had been in India for six months If I remember correctly. Good timing, or? The purpose of the University is to raise the awareness of 70,000 people in the world to such a high level that there will be a ripple effect across the world. This is already in motion. Now that I’m aware of this, I can see it.  I can also see it’s need for occurring, as I’m sure anyone can, should they choose to be or are made aware of it, to truly see it. Matt also explained, and I’m not going to do his words justice, the Universal calendar. In 2012 December 23^rd all the planets are going to align, this is the first time this will happen in millions and millions of years. It is said to be the marking of a new era as this is when multiple ancient civilisations stellar calendars end. Matt feels (knows) that within the next four or five years we are going to experience a big change, globally. Not particularly on the actual date of planetary alignment. Towards the end of the night I told Matt that before coming to India this time I felt a draw towards Chennai, which I told many of you reading this, my parents and Lana. I’d felt that I should go to Chennai to do some volunteer work or something of the sort. When I told Matt this he beamed, he looked extraordinarily happy and then said, I knew there was a reason I came here. He went on to tell me that he feels and can sense that I am aware of the journey. I felt his acknowledgment of me and this and of myself. I can’t explain the feeling, words won’t work. He told me that if I wanted to go the Oneness, I could and I intend to do so. He told me it’s not a walk in the park, that It will be the most difficult thing I do and that my life will never be the same, for the better of course. At this moment something gold flew across the valley behind us, at about the speed of a shooting star, shaped like a boomerang, only it was not spinning. Matt and Nick saw it the first time then Nick and I saw it for a second time. Matt commented that gold was good, nothing more was said of it. Lana and I eventually lay down next to each other in our tent speechless. Both of us fell asleep within minutes.

The next morning we cooked ourselves mushrooms, tomato and onion on fried toast, amazing. 

We decided that we would attempt to climb the pass that day (the pass is at 4300m). After saying a wonderful goodbye to Matt and the others we made our way up to the snowline (3300m)

Saying goodbye, left to right. Matt, Ryan, Nick, Guy from Israel.

 It took us around two and a half hours to reach the snow line, where the wind began to bite. I spoke to the café owner about climbing the pass and was told that it would take five to six hours at a steady pace to reach the pass. Lana and I then decided to stay the night at the snow line to acclimatise. Before setting up camp we trekked back to Triund to retrieve the rest of our belongings as we only took the things we needed for a return trip.  After two hours we were back in Triund and co-incidentally met up with Cynthia. We gathered our things and Cynthia, Nick and Cynthia’s guide/cafe owner Sunil, Lana and I made our way back up to the snow line. We arrived at the snow line about 2 hours before the sun set, the snow line is incredible, it’s where water starts to freeze over and the grass crunches beneath your feet. Lana and I climbed the hill that sat next to the snow line in search of firewood. We found a shrine on top of the hill surrounded by prayer flags and photos of westerners and trekkers alike, trinkets and other miscellaneous items. Just below the shrine was a large boulder, with a perfectly shaped lounge chair edge big enough for two people, so we sat down/lay back and had a pipe. Looking over the valley I had a surreal moment in which I observed the daunt of the Himalaya to my right, the vast Indian plains beneath me, the rolling hills in the distance and the birds flying through the forest surrounding the near boulder valleys and what was once a flowing river. I stopped. Everything moved, and I took a step back, a really big step back, looked at Lana and felt complete contentment. 

  Contentment

Lana looked back at me with the same look, we smiled, kissed and returned to camp with our firewood.

That night Nick, Cynthia, Sunil, Lana, The snow line café owner and I all had some “Old Monk” rum inside the café accompanied by an abundance of blankets and chai. That night was cold, probably the coldest I’ve endured thus far in my life, It would have gotten down to about -15 to -17 degrees, not including wind chill. I slept fine, though Lana did wake up a fair few times. The next morning we awoke around 8:00 to find that Nick, Cynthia and Sunil we’re setting off for the pass at 8:30. Slowly gathering our things together Lana and I had breakfast and left all our gear at the café, only taking water, raincoats, food and the camera up to the pass. We left at 9:00. The first part of the walk was my favourite. The walk dropped about 400m into what is the lowest part of the highest peak at the beginning of the DhaulaDar range. The result of the geography of such land is large boulders ranging from half a metre to five metres in diameter scattered amongst a wide and long grassy plain. There were a few attempts at stone buildings and small caves along the way, one of which I had slept in two years earlier with some guys I had met from Adelaide. As we crossed what used to be a glacier (I saw it when it was one), now boulder country, the altitude started to take effect and our pace slowed from about four or five kilometres an hour to about two or three. Basically the next three or four hours were intense. Despite acclimatising our bodies at the snow line the inclination of what was about to be another 800m required “full power” as the Indians say. Every step was a journey. The track wove around boulders, hugged cliff faces and climbed straight up the entire way. At about 4100m Lana thought she wasn’t able to go on, we could even see the pass about half an hour away. Lana broke down (hard and heavy) and wasn’t too sure why, but we stopped for about five minutes to regain some energy and then proceeded to climb. After a final, committed push we arrived and met the others. The view was spectacular. Beyond anything I had ever imagined, the path would have continued to plunge into an enormous valley that eventually rose into what is known as the Dhauladar range. My descriptions could never do its mammoth size or beauty justice, so here a photo. Possibly a movie to if I can upload one.

We only stayed at the pass for around half an hour, as it was far too cold. We ate lunch here, the best cucumber, cheese, tomato sandwich we’ve both ever had. I climbed around some of the boulders that sat on this “roof” that was Laharesh pass, took a few photos and proceeded to head back down. The walk back down showed us really, how steep the walk we had done actually was. I think everyone tripped up, including the guide, at least three or four times. We rested at Lahesh cave three quarters of the way down where Sunil jetted off ahead of us to have Daal and rice prepared for our arrival at the snow line. We got back to the snow line about an hour before the sun was about to set and the four of us had intentions of making it back to Mcleod tonight so that we could catch the taxi the next morning. Mcleod was at least 20km away. Needless to say we only made it back to Triund just after the sun had set where we set up camp for the night. We were completely wrecked. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired. Someone then had the idea of Nutella pancakes, I think it was Lana, I’m not too sure, but we all agreed that it was a good idea. Each pancake was at least 2-3 cm thick and 20-25cm across, we all ate two each, this was after Daal and rice two hours earlier. After our feed the four of us quickly retreated to a deep slumber.

The next morning our trip back to Dharamsala was to leave at 6:30, we said goodbye to Sunil and began to make our way down. Lana and I picked up our speed and glided down to Dharamkot where we had left our belongings in what was our room at a small guesthouse. There, we showered very quickly, gathered our things, changed our clothes and were on our way to McLeod. Not before paying the wife of the café owner who had sold us buds, walking sticks and mittens, radical blue mittens, I love being trusted might I add. We then continued to glide down (I say glide because everything became easy after reaching the pass) to McLeodGanj. We arrived at Café “Coffee Talk” and met Nick. I quickly made a visit to the monastery I once taught at around the corner to say goodbye to a few old friends. I returned to the café and had the largest breakfast I’ve had on this trip yet, Spanish omlette, numerous pieces of toast and a few banana cakes. Cynthia was running an hour late, and just before she arrived my American Indian friend (Mikhail) I had met earlier on in Dharamsala walked past. You know those people that you meet when you’re travelling that are not only on your level but are all up in it, Mikhail was one of those for me. It was like I had a Pierce Collins to hang out with for a while. Mikhail had just been on a ten-day abstention retreat. Here, did not smoke, drink, eat bad food, write, read or speak, he didn’t really do anything. He told me that it was like a ten-day acid trip and that he had a lot to tell me. Which he’d now have the chance to do because I got his details, which I didn’t have, and he had actually just finished his retreat, JUST finished. I was stoked to have bumped into him in my last minutes in Dharamsala. About ten minutes had passed since meeting Mikhail when Cynthia pulling up, we piled our things into the taxi and said our goodbyes. I also said farewell to one of my old monk students who had renounced his monk self and was working at the café we were eating at. I bought some banana cake for the road too. The taxi ride was great, I could not have asked for anything better, the last thing I wanted to do was get on a bus.

To Amritsar

The taxi driver was phenomenal; I’d go as far to say that he’s the best I’ve had thus far. He got us to Amritsar in four to five hours, most drivers take at least six and he was smooooth too. As I lay on Lana’s lap eating my Kela (banana) I looked out the window and thought, reviewed my perception of everything I knew. I thought about everything material I could see, natural, unnatural things, people, air, oxygen, water, wind, existence, colours, perceptions, ideas, beings etc, etc. I had a very clear picture of all the things I regarded and knew in my mind that existed, to me. We got out of the taxi in Amritsar close to the golden temple, the reason we had come to Amritsar in the first place. The golden temple is the holiest of temples for the Sikh people of India. It is like no other place in the world. Any single person that visits it can and will feel its energy. Around the temple and within it’s quarters sleep 10,000-15,000 pilgrims, every night. The temple also has an enormous kitchen and feeding hall, two feeding halls actually. In which a team of 25,000 volunteers feed 60,000 people every day. EVERY DAY. 60,000 people. Think about that. Imagine. Cynthia, Lana and I put our belongings in a room where tourists can sleep for free within the temple quarters. We were even lucky enough to have a room to ourselves, the three of us. Then, the three of us proceeded to walk around the temple, where we sat down and meditated for some time. The golden temple is unfathomably beautiful. The temple is coated in 500kg of pure gold and sits in the middle of an extraordinarily large body of water.

After walking around for some time we peered into the enormous kitchen through a murky window and bars that resembled those you’d find in a jail. We discussed amongst ourselves how incredible it would be to check it out. Just as we said that a very kind lady had walked by and heard us, she told us she was a volunteer here and would be happy to give us a tour. What a score! We moved through to where the chai is brewed in enormous pots, where I met a Sikh man who asked me where I was from.

Sikh man (S)

Ryan (R)

S – Sir, you from?

R – Australia

S – Why your people kill my people?

R – Excuse me?

S – Your people kill my people, why?

R – My people?

S – Yes, many Indian persons dead because of your people.

R – You mean in Melbourne, there have been some attacking and this sort of thing?

S – Yes.

R – You must understand that this happens everywhere in the world.

S – No, 100% of Australia people, bad.

R – Even me?

S – No, not you.

R – Please sir let me explain

S – Ok

R – The reason for this is that there are a select few people in Australia, drunk fools, jealous ego-centred people that do this sort of thing.

S – No, all people bad, I know, one friend I have and he knows many bad Australians

I went on to explain and elaborate my point that there are a few people in Australia that don’t like Indian’s because they work harder than Australians and are therefore given the work. But it’s only a select, ignorant rude few that act on this inaccurate jealousy. He eventually understood.

R – I must leave this conversation (it had been 15 – 20 minutes) with you knowing that this is not the way we are. (I had to say a lot of things to convince him)

S – Yes sir, ok. I believe

We shook hands and parted ways, I’m still not sure what he was thinking when I left.

I have since learned that the first incident involving an Indian coming unto harm was as follows. An Indian man walked through a park in the outskirts of Melbourne city at nighttime, it was dark and not a thing could be seen. Co-incidentally there was an Australian man who robbed the Indian of his money. The Indian could have been any person; it was not a racist attack. The media blew this out of proportion and what followed was a series of taxi driver attacks, not only on the Indian community but also on the taxi driver’s community. The media made it look otherwise and there have since been a handful of individual attacks on Indian men/students that could possibly be “labelled” as racism. All throughout India people are starting to get the idea that it’s not all that safe in Australia, let alone Melbourne.

Your people kill my people, why?

We continued to walk through the kitchens, which were of phenomenal size. Oversized (an understatement) pots and other oversized kitchen items were spread throughout a large but somewhat empty room.

I met a really nice young man there, my Hindi is getting quite good so we had a chat and he showed me around and introduced me to a few of the workers, an inspirational experience. He told me that most of the volunteers have no home, or family and those that come here make a new family and that the temple becomes their home, mother and father. Which regardless of any philosophy or religion is a beautiful, true thing. We also got to see a machine that makes 10,000 chapattis in an hour; this machine was a gift from France. The only one of it’s kind in the world. Cynthia was to leave at four o’clock the next morning so we went to bed rather early that night. The next morning Lana and I awoke and Cynthia had gone, if you’re reading this now Cynthia thankyou so much for shouting us a taxi and for the experience, I will never forget it and I hope that I’ll see you again. I’ve also just remembered another story that Cynthia told me about a man she met in Manali, an enlightened being just like Matt whom we had met in the Himalaya. She became friends with this man and went for a walk with him and few other travellers. To cut things short, using the energy of the three people this man was with, one being Cynthia, and not including himself, this man performed a miracle. By harnessing the energy of these people he balanced a rock on its tip on top of another rock, and Cynthia I ask to you if you could send me this photo if possible to my email so I could put it here. This feat was phenomenal. The rock looked like it weighed about seven to ten kilograms and was shaped similar to the way India is shaped only it balanced on what was literally a pinprick. I saw this photo and thought that “said rock” would have not stood there without the aid of some kind of energy.

That day in Amritsar Lana and I decided to book a train to Jaipur from Amritsar, so we made our way to the railway booking office. In the line we met a couple that both had dreadlocks and the hippie look down, they also looked well travelled. We sparked a conversation and asked where they were from, Australia it turned out. Not only were these two from Australia but also they were from Victoria. Where in Victoria you might ask? Sandringham. Yes, one postcode over. They live eight streets up from me. Their names are Stephen and Sheridan. They purchased their tickets before us and said they’d wait for us and that we’d go have some chai together. After the computers crashed at the booking office for ten minutes in a room packed with Indian men and being told our tickets weren’t possible, we got our tickets to Jaipur. We then went to a restaurant for a snack and some chai with Stephen and Sheridan. How bizarre was it that we had met and probably knew a lot of the same people. Not to mention that we were on the other side of the world. We all hit it off straight away and proceeded to lose ourselves amongst the streets of Amritsar. Stephen and I started to share philosophies and I told him of my recent experiences in Dharamsala and of the oneness and my belief in it, which Stephen completely understood and also believed in. We spoke of our fears eventually and confrontation, I told him that mine was that I hadn’t accepted the human race for the way it was. I’m sure that a lot of you reading this may have noticed this trait in me. The four of us all got to know each other a little better that day, sharing music and showing each other documentaries, movies etc. I showed them the Zeitgeist movement, which blew them away. That night we went to the temple together. I have come to the point by now where I put my hands together in the “Namaste” position to concentrate my energy in acknowledgment and gratitude to the universe, when I feel that it’s necessary. I put them together whenever I entered or left the temple, now when I eat and so on. We circled the temple and came to its entrance, it was about 9:30 and it closes at 10:00. There weren’t many people around so we decided to go in. Now, the golden temple as I said is a very holy place for the Sikh people and anyone, really, everyone that I have spoken to that has been there, that was there, felt its energy. I walked into the temple and a Sikh man sat the four of us down. There were about 70 people praying at this time in this small but magnificent temple.  There was one man cleaning the marble in the middle of the temple (with milk, as it helps keep the marble white), inside an area gated off for the holy men, and he was leading the prayer. As we sat down I looked around and observed my surroundings, every thirty seconds or so everyone would join in the prayer for a line or two and you could feel their connected presence. I looked across at the man next to me whose eyes were fixated ahead of him; no particular direction or spot was he looking at. In his eyes I started to see something, actually I noticed it instantly, if subconsciously almost. My subconscious for me is something that has always been very tangible, I can pick up on observations very easily. I observed within this man, in his eyes; a sense of belonging, a need for hope, a want for change, sadness, despair, hope, more hope and awareness. I looked at the man in front of him, who had the exact same look on his face. I saw all the same things, I could feel what they were feeling, I could feel it, but wasn’t part of it, then I started to feel the same thing coming from every side of me, I looked around, everyone had the same look in their eyes. The Sikh man then told us to stand, as there would be seven minutes of prayer. We stood and I started to feel heavy, my hands then faced each other at waist height and my eyes shut. I cannot describe the initial feeling but over a minute or two my mind and body put themselves into a state which I have not been in before.  I started to feel an incredible energy between my hands, it was enormous and far beyond anything I could have ever comprehended. I started to feel my body moving slightly back and forth as the prayers went on, when everyone came together for the one or two lines of prayer the energy would get heavier and heavier and became more and more tangible. I could feel this energy as much as I could feel my feet on the ground. It grew and shrunk; it was circular and so heavy, really heavy and tangible. I was conscious of this happening the entire time and moved my hands around it, touching it and feeling it. The prayer ended and everyone sat down, I moved behind a pillar to continue what had begun. It was really hard for me to take those three or four steps to behind the pillar. I could hear people what I thought was laughing, or something of the sort at me from behind me. But then I remembered what Matt had told me of confronting an emotion or feeling. That was to go with it, whatever it may be. I was to do exactly that, go with it, no matter what it is/was, even if I didn’t know what it was. I completely forgot about judgment, anything of the sort. I continued to feel this energy; I could feel my connection with it coming to a close. The session behind the pillar lasted about five minutes, I raised the energy up to my chest and back down and then let it be. I stumbled out of the temple, about thirteen or fourteen steps that took every last bit of energy I had. Also whilst this was happening I could feel the energy that was demanded of me to be aware of this connection and energy. I could feel it in my core, in my gut, inside, wherever the middle of me is. Anyway, I made it outside and leant against a wall. I had no breath left, I was struggling to breathe and everything was slow, very slow. It was about four minutes before the others came by and Lana noticed me. Lana says that I looked “frazzled, shocked and drained” which is exactly how I felt. The Sikh man that sat us down then took my hand because I could not walk alone. I was unable to keep a steady pace, couldn’t walk straight and walked very slowly. We got to the gate of the temple about eighty metres from the temple and then, something beautiful happened. I started to cry. I felt like I had never cried before. I started to cry and cry and cry and cry, this lasted what felt like a few hours. I wasn’t just crying, it wasn’t a standard cry. I convulsed as I was in extreme pain. I had never hurt like this before. Lana has just told me that when she first saw me my eyes were red and watery, news to me, I had no idea of that. Lana also told me that I cried for about twenty minutes; Stephen and Sheridan also saw this. The reason I cried was that one – I had no idea that this potential had lay within me all along, but I didn’t really cry because of that. I cried because of two – the oppression that exists in the world, the poverty, the unawareness, the shame, the ridiculous governments, the systems of control, false religions, the state that the earth is in and the ignorance of the fact that we are all one. Then something else really beautiful happened, I stopped crying and started looking around, we are all one, I am you, you are me, I am god, you are god (if one was to label something) I am this air, this air is me. I then looked to my left. I was sitting down. To my left was a big red dustbin, I am the big red dustbin and it is I. And then, I started to laugh. I started to laugh for what was about the same amount of time, probably longer. I laughed because it’s all so simple, I have seen. I laughed because of the ridiculous proportions of things, the distractions, the inevitabilities that encroach our beings and I laughed at what we had created and what has been created and laughed at what is, at me, at you, at us, at everything. I felt incredible, an inexplicable connectivity. I continued to walk around the temple and laugh. I was still able to feel that energy in this state, then Stephen asked me to open one of his Chakras, now this was a ridiculous task to ask of me. I had no idea what to do and we both knew that. I’m not sure what I did to Stephen, but I did something. I felt some of the energy or some energy go to Stephen and something of his came to me, through me even. But I did concentrate on doing what he asked and Stephen says that he was positive that he felt it. Which was “strange” as when I was performing this feat he walked about ten metres in front of me and turned around about three seconds after I had finished.  We then went to the big eating hall where they were still serving free food at around 11:00pm (as they serve 24hrs). I needed to eat. I was hungry, really hungry. I felt like if I weren’t able to get food soon I’d be in trouble. My stomach pained and craved for food. We ate daal and chapati’s in the eating hall where I continued to laugh, feel and be.

Those silver things are plates; there are four times more than that amount in similar areas.

I don’t think the Sikh man understood what was happening as people were coming up to him during the entire process and were asking if I was drunk. I hadn’t drunk in weeks and was not under the influence of anything. We then made our way back to our room where we decided we’d leave, as we didn’t want to sleep in a room with a drunk, snoring German guy we had met earlier that night. So we checked in to the same hotel as Stephen and Sheridan that night, quite late actually, maybe 2:00am, shared a few pipes and went to bed.

Looking back on the experience, I feel that it all happened very consecutively. That is to say that every thing that happened seemed to fall into place, piece by piece, over a small period of time (about six or seven days). Meeting Mikhail in Dharamsala. Then meeting Cynthia in Dharamsala and bumping into her on the way to Triund resulting in a free lift to Amritsar. Then meeting Matt on the way to Triund and having that amazing conversation around the campfire. Only a few days later was I sharing a “becoming” or “connected” moment with some new friends from Sandringham and my one and only, Lana. To me it was an abolition of an unnecessary energy, if you will. Which was replaced with awareness, and being. I end this blog entry here. Thankyou for reading, email me at ryanwhatford@gmail.com if you’d like to ask me anything :)