BreatheDreamGo » Spirituality

What is Immersive Travel?

Mariellen — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:08:02 +0000

Bada Bagh, Jaisalmer: India is my soul culture

Immersive Travel column on Travel+Escape

Last month, I started writing a bi-monthly “column” for the new Travel+Escape website — which complements the new Canadian TV channel — about immersive travel. What is immersive travel? It’s travel that takes you deep into a culture and changes you. Immersive travel can be voluntourism, solo travel or long-term travel. It can be embarking on a spiritual path or a going to a health & wellness retreat. Or it can be simply an attitude. It’s about being open to a new culture, learning from it, and letting it change your ideas, beliefs and assumptions about life and the world. If you go on a trip, and see things differently when you get back home — then, you have probably experienced immersive travel. Here’s a synopsis of my first three columns.

Are you a tourist or a traveler?

If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them, I want men who will come if there is no road at all.” ~ David Livingstone

There’s a difference between a traveller and a tourist. Maybe I’m old-fashioned: I prefer reading to television; trains to jets; long sojourns to quick getaways. I love reading stories about travellers who went abroad for months, even years, and became completely transformed. Like Ibn Batutta. He left his homeland, Morocco, to make a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca in 1325AD that should have taken 16 months. He didn’t return home for 24 years.

In total, Ibn Battuta traveled for 30 years. He covered most of Africa, Europe, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, all the way to China, for a total of 75,000 miles (121,000 km) – a mileage record that held for more than 400 years. Batutta recorded his travels in a book called The Rihla (Journeys) of Ibn Battuta.

I think of the 19th century as the golden age of travel. People packed steamer trunks and ventured out into the world before there was any kind of tourism infrastructure. These people had adventures!

To read more, please visit Are you a tourist or a traveler? on the Travel+Escape website.

Three hotels that off the comfort of luxury with the joy of cultural immersion

When you think of immersive travel, you may think of living in a local’s house, eating home-cooked food and following the family’s daily rhythm. I do like staying in small guesthouses and homestays when I travel, but I also enjoy finding higher-end accommodation that tries to preserve the spirit of cultural authenticity.

The three hotels featured here ― the Bhakti Kutir in Goa, the Windamere Hotel in Darjeeling and the Uma Paro in Bhutan ― each combine the best of both worlds, the comfort of luxury with the joy of cultural immersion.

To read more, please visit Comfort and Joy on the Travel+Escape website.

Have you found your soul culture?

There are many ways to experience “immersive travel.” You can travel somewhere to live for a time, or volunteer. You can study the culture, learn the language or master the arts. But the type of immersive travel I am writing about today cannot be engineered. You cannot make it happen.

I call it finding your “soul culture” and it’s like falling in love. It just happens.

Sometimes, people discover a corner of the world where they feel most at home. It is often in a country and culture far away, and far different, from their own, and it doesn’t make a lot of rational sense.

People who found their soul culture always intrigued me. And, I admit, I was a bit jealous. Though I had traveled to many parts of the world, and lived in Tokyo, I had never felt that special affinity, and didn’t know if I ever would. Then, in late 2004, at about the same time the tsunami struck Southeast Asia, a personal tsunami of sorts hit me.

I was trying to recover from a series of devastating losses that had left me feeling flattened, and was enrolled in a yoga teacher training program. That’s when the idea of going to India for six months grabbed hold of me.

To read more please visit Have you found your soul culture? on the Travel+Escape website.

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The 5 spiritual ideas of social media

Mariellen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:06:54 +0000

Social media is a spiritual discipline

Learning how to “do” social media effectively is a lot like learning a spiritual discipline. There are paradoxes involved, and you have to abandon the traditional western approach of applying ego-based will-power to get results. Here are five spiritual ideas and how social media exemplifies them.

1. The law of attraction

The more you try to “get” results — such as increased sales or traffic — using social media, the more likely you will fail. If you come across as too pushy or too self-promotional, you will be shunned. You can’t use traditional selling or marketing techniques that rely on pushing your message out. Instead, you have to be like a light, a beacon. You have to be attractive, to attract.

This is the paradoxical nature of the law of attraction. The more content, confident, happy you feel as you engage in social media, the more likely you will be to attract attention. Neediness and greediness will have the opposite effect.

2. Letting go of attachment to outcome

If you are concerned with the bottom line, and with the results of your efforts, you will miss opportunities for engagement, for community building, and for nurturing long-term customers and readers. Letting go of attachment to outcome also frees you up to discover what you enjoy, and to do more of that. Plus, it leads you to be in …

3. The moment

The gift of social media is ironic — given that it is done largely when people are alone in front of an electronic device, and their pixels are engaging with other people’s pixels in cyberspace. But if you are truly engaged in social media, having conversations, sharing interesting, important or entertaining information, you are in the moment. Social media gives you the opportunity to interact with others; to notice others, to get interested in who they are and what they have to say, or what they want to share. The more you are able to JUST BE, the more likely you will have satisfying exchanges. It also helps to accept that you have little or no control. Just like life.

4. To give is to get

One of the best uses of social media is curatorial: looking and finding things to share, plus adding your own take and embellishing. The social media net is like a matrix; in fact, it is a lot like the connectedness that spiritual masters teach is at the base of all reality. Movements take root, people inspire each other, they help each other to reach a wider audience, new connections are made, even friendships. The effects of sharing are instantaneous, unpredictable, creative; and the more you give, the more you benefit, both because sharing and being generous are highly valued in the social media world; and also because of the nature of social media and how it works.

5. Go with the flow

Yoga teaches that going with the flow of energy creates efficiency and harmony, and puts you in a more spiritual and creative frame of mind. For example, I am writing this in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep. I am going with the flow of my restless energy — and creating a blog post! Likewise, on social media, it is more harmonious and satisfying to go with the flow, and join in conversations, trends, organized chats. Once you accept that you cannot make things happen — you have to let them happen — you can relax and enjoy … and trust that social media will help sweep you and your business towards your destiny.

And like any spiritual discipline, you don’t just learn these ideas once. You continue to learn and practise, always getting a little more awareness, a little more mastery, until the knower and the knowing meld….

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A new era for Breathedreamgo

Mariellen — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:33:40 +0000

I want to transport you!

Changes to Breathedreamgo bring it to completion, and the start of a new era

In Hindu mythology, there is a concept of vehicle — an animal that transports a god or goddess. Ganesh has a rat, Durga has a tiger and the goddess of the arts, Sarasvati, has a swan. To me, as a blogger, Breathedreamgo is my vehicle: it is the means by which I am transporting my work and my passions. And it is also the means by which I hope to transport my readers — to travel adventures; personal transformation and a world of beauty, where the spiritual traditions, history and living mythologies of India come alive.

When I first imagined Breathedreamgo, I wanted it to be a site rich in evocative writing, useful information and engaging resources. I wanted to create a community and a font of inspiration for people to help them realize their own personal dreams, and to share my view of the world, and especially of India, as alive with possibility and magic.

Breathedreamgo has grown slowly, as I have added to it and refined it — along with the invaluable help of my WordPress goddess Jennifer Johannesen from lowtotheground.ca, — and it has now reached a stage of completion, and a new era.

Adding ads to the mix

The major changes are outlined below — but the biggest is the addition of advertising. Yes, Breathedreamgo is in the process of becoming a commercial site! To date, I have never sold a text link, sponsored post or ad on Breathedreamgo — it has been almost 100% commercial free. The only commercial activity on the site was the sale of my book Song of India; and affiliate links to books I love.

Please be assured that I will keep the advertising to a minimum, and that ads will be chosen that are in line with the site’s mandate and values. You will see ads for several charitable organizations that I volunteer for, and believe in — notably World Literacy of Canada and UNICEF — and ads for books, services and products that I hope will offer value.

What’s new on Breathedreamgo

Here are the main changes and additions to Breathedreamgo:

GO BOOKS. I have started a new series on Breathedreamgo called GO BOOKS. See the menu bar, under BOOKS, for the main landing page. GO BOOKS will review books, new and old, that I love and highly recommend. Where possible, I will include a link to Amazon so that you can easily purchase the book. I will only write about books that I truly, madly , deeply endorse. And that is absolutely guaranteed. If you buy a book from Breathedreamgo, on my recommendation, and you don’t like it, I will invite you over and cook you dinner and you can tell me why (some conditions apply).
MAP. I’ve wanted MAP functionality for a long time! Finally, I have a MAP (listed on the menu bar), and I will be plotting all my destination-related blog posts to the map, over the next few weeks or so. I am intending for this MAP to be a main navigation tool — and I may get a bit creative as I plot my posts. For example, my blogs about Shahrukh Khan will all be plotted to Mumbai — though (so far) I have only met him in Toronto. But, hey, he lives in Mumbai and that’s where Bollywood is.
RELATED POSTS. I have added a RELATED POSTS plugin, to make navigating the site easier. The RELATED POSTS are all in the same categories.
ADVERTISE. There’s a new menu bar category, ADVERTISE, and the sub pages all have to do with advertising and sponsorship on Breathedreamgo. On the page ABOUT BREATHEDREAMGO, I have outlined in detail the site’s demographics, metrics and other information about the site’s popularity — including testimonials, speaking engagements and media coverage. There’s also a Sponsorship Proposal PDF — which outlines some great opportunities.
RESOURCES. I started a RESOURCES page awhile ago, and I am continually adding to it. I want this to be a great round up of useful info about travel and culture in South Asia. The latest addition to the page is travel and tour companies that I recommend. Please feel free to make suggestions about what else I should include.

That’s essentially it for now. I am continuing to dream this site into existence, with the inestimable help of Jennifer, and the suggestions of friends and colleagues, especially Red Hunt of RedHuntTravel, Warren Talbot of Married with Luggage, Gary Arndt of Everything-Everywhere, Dave and Deb of ThePlanetD, Evelyn Hannon of Journeywoman, Janice Waugh of Solotraveler and Carsten Knoch. (and all the people on the Global Bloggers Network FB group and who belong to the Toronto Travel Massive).

Breathedreamgo will continue to evolve, as I evolve and as online publishing evolves. Thank you for being part of this process and part of Breathedreamgo’s success and evolution. Let me know what you think, and what you would like to see; what you think I am doing well, and what I could be doing better. I would love to hear from you — leave a comment below.

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Thank you for reading. Please visit BreatheDreamGo or stop by my Facebook page at Breathedreamgo.

Top 5 ways my India travels differ from Eat, Pray, Love

Mariellen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:31:24 +0000

Me, Liz and the subcontinent

I traveled in India and studied yoga, but there the Eat, Pray, Love similarities end

Because I travel in India and write about it, many people ask me if I was influenced by the book Eat, Pray, Love, and they try and compare me to author Elizabeth Gilbert. Here are the five key differences between my story and Gilbert’s.

1. I did not have a hefty book advance to subsidize my trip. My trip to India was not research for a book, and I had to subsidize it myself out of my meager resources. I sold 1/3 of my possessions, gave up my apartment, moved into a small room and scrimped and saved for a year. After I returned, and realized how much I’d changed, I went through a lot of financial instability. The whole experience was a “real spiritual quest,” in the sense that I threw myself into it without any attachment to outcome. A big part of my journey was about throwing myself off the cliff to find out IF a net would appear. Read on for the other four.

2. I did not go to India because of EPL. I was already in India when the book was published so it didn’t influence me. For the record, seekers and travelers have been going to India for many generations. Steve Jobs went to India. The Beatles went to India. Mark Twain went to India. There’s even some evidence that Jesus went to India.

I went to India originally, in 2005, because of two reasons, carrot and stick. The carrot was that I always wanted to go; that virtually since childhood I have been drawn to the “mysterious east” — I painted Maharaja Palaces on my walls, practised Indian dancing, mooned over photos of The Beatles in Rishikesh (especially George) with marigolds around their necks, went out for Hallowe’en in flowing harem pants and a sequined top, etc.

The stick was that over the course of a few short years, I experienced a series of losses — both my parents died and my fiance and I broke up — and I fell into a lengthy and profound depression. I needed to do something to shake up my life, and at the age of 45, decided to go to India for six months to travel, volunteer and study yoga.

3. Gilbert went to three countries; I only went to India. My version could be called Pray, Pray, Pray because I only went to India; I didn’t go anywhere else. And my spiritual journey was a big part of my trip.

Part of the reason I went to India, and one of the things that drew me there, was yoga. But I have to say, I learned as much about yoga just by traveling in India as I did by studying at an ashram. In order to deal with the crowds, chaos, delays, I learned how to:

go with the flow,
find inner stillness,
trust in the universe.

In other words, I learned many of the teachings of yoga.

4. This is not a love story. EPL ends with Gilbert meeting the love of her life, Philipe. I actually did meet a man in India, and became part of his big, fat Indian family, but that wasn’t the point, it wasn’t the ultimate gift of that trip.

I gained so much from that trip, and my subsequent four more trips to India, that I could write a book about it (hey, I did!), but here is the top 3:

I gained a completely new awareness of the world and my place in it. Traveling in India was really the first time I have ever left my “middle class bubble” and stepped out of my comfort zone. It gave me a completely new perspective on life and on myself as a global citizen.
I gained a new career. I started travel blogging and now I publish Breathedreamgo, write travel stories for magazines and newspapers, and I published a book, Song of India.
I gained a new spiritual awareness that includes recognizing the power each of us has to manifest our dreams and remake our reality. We have more control over our minds than we think we do, and less over the circumstances of our life. So the other big spiritual awareness for me was around realizing that I am part of a much bigger consciousness, that we’re all connected, and that everything turns out the way it’s supposed to.

5. Going, going, gone. Gilbert came back from Italy, India and Bali, married her man, and wrote a book about commitment. I never really came back from India. I’ve traveled to India on four lengthy trips since my first trip, and have a career that is largely based around writing about India. Part of my journey has been to open up to another culture in a very profound way, and it has given me so much in terms of meaningful adventure. In fact, in India I discovered my soul culture, and parts of myself that I never knew existed.

Moi on the morning of the Kumbh Mela 2010 in Haridwar

My top travel tip

If you really want to travel, and be a traveler, not a tourist, consider going alone; or if not alone, then make every effort to open yourself up to the experience and let it affect you, let it change you. Let it shatter your biases. Let it provoke your compassion. Let it change you. I call this respectful travel — and it really means not only respecting the culture you are traveling in, but also respecting yourself too.

NOTE: This speech was given at the Toronto MeetPlanGo event on October 18, 2011.

If you enjoyed this post, you can….

Get updates and read additional stories on the Breathedreamgo Facebook page.

Buy Song of India, a collection of 10 feature stories about my travels in India.

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Thank you for reading. Please visit BreatheDreamGo or stop by my Facebook page at Breathedreamgo.

What spirituality is

Mariellen — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:19:21 +0000

Scene from the Mahabharat: Krishna and Arjun at the battle of Kurukshetra

You don’t have to remove yourself from life to “be spiritual”

Yoga philosopher tells an ancient story to illustrate a universal truth

Yoga philosopher, Kirtan leader, Sanskrit teacher, Sitar artist and the writer / blogger behind Akshara Yoga blog: Ram Vakkalanka is accomplished in many things. He is also my friend, I am proud to say. Ram and I have bonded over our deep love and respect for the wisdom traditions and culture of India. We have many shared ideas and notions about yoga and spiritual philosophy, and feel that the essence of these teachings is largely lost, overlooked or misunderstood in the west (and sometimes even in India).

Some time back, I wrote a blog, What yoga is, after attending a workshop with internationally known yoga teacher Mark Whitwell at the Yoga Festival of Toronto. I was delighted to discover that Mark Whitwell really “gets” yoga; and I feel the same way about Ram. Over dosas at a Toronto South Indian restaurant, we discussed the essence of spirituality and Ram told me the story of Kaushika, which I loved. He said, “In the great epic Mahabharata, there is the story an aspiring yogi called Kaushika who meditates for many years but fails to attains self-awakening.” I feel the story expresses a truth about spirituality that many people don’t seem to understand. Here it is.

Kaushika’s story as told by Ram Vakkalanka

There was a young man called Kaushika, who practiced meditation and yogic austerities for a long time in a forest near a city called Mithila in northeastern part of India. One day, while Kaushika was resting under a tree after a long stretch of meditation, a crane landed on top of the branch directly above Kaushika and defecated. The bird’s excretion fell on Kaushika’s head. Kaushika felt uncontrollable wrath at this and looked at the bird severely. As if Kaushika’s angry looks were a deadly arrow, the crane fell down dead. Seeing this, Kaushika thought to himself that be due to his austerities, he attained some kind of extraordinary powers and was proud of himself.

Scene from the Mahabharat: Krishna and Arjun at the battle of Kurukshetra

People practising spiritual austerities in those days were enjoined not to spend time on any worldly activities such as earning money, having possessions and cooking, but devote their time entirely to meditation and other spiritual practices. During this time, it was incumbent upon the householders in the community to support the spiritual seekers with life’s necessities such as food and clothing. This practice served two-fold purpose: the spiritual seeker has to practice control of senses and eating whatever was donated by others rather than entertaining desires for specific, tasty food, helped in that; and, it forced householders to practice charity, communal sharing and promoted a spirit of service. This process of collecting food is called Madhukara.

Poster for the TV version of the Mahabharat

Just as a honey-bee collects honey little by little from many flowers, the spiritual aspirant has to collect his food little by little from different households, without being a burden on any family. The aspirants are allowed only one meal a day and they can ask for food only three times. As per the tradition, Kaushika went into the city to get some food later that day. As luck would have it, Kaushika didn’t get any food from the first two houses he chose that day. Kaushika stood in front of the third and last house for the day, hungry and tired, and asked for food. The lady of the house was busy serving a meal to her family at that time and didn’t respond promptly to Kaushika. Having asked for food three times and not getting any response, Kaushika was about to move on with a little disappointment, when he saw the lady of the house hastily coming out with some food to donate. Starving and impatient, Kaushika looked at her angrily for the inordinate delay in serving him food.

The lady, sensing Kaushika’s anger, looked at him quietly and said, “I was busy serving my family and hence the delay. Besides, I am not a crane to be killed by your angry looks.” Kaushika’s consternation knew no bounds! How did this lady know about the morning’s incident, to which there were only two witnesses: himself and the crane! The lady, as if reading Kaushika’s thoughts said to him, “Yoga is not just about sitting under a tree and meditating. You can attain enlightenment by discharging your responsibilities perfectly and being detached. If you have further doubts, please see the town butcher Dharmavyadha and he will give you all answers.”

Kaushika, quite humbled, silently walked away from there looking for Dharmavyadha, the butcher. As soon as Dharmavyadha saw Kaushika, he smiled, addressed Kaushika by name and remarked about the latter’s encounter with the lady as if he were a direct witness to the incident. This was the second shock for the day to Kaushika. Reduced to dust by the so-called commoners, Kaushika humbly asked Dharmavyadha what kind of yogic practices he practiced to obtain such miraculous spiritual powers. Dharmavyadha said to Kaushika, “I never practiced any spiritual austerities, meditation or yoga like you. All I know is how to do my duty well. I serve my parents and elders, take care of my family, fulfill my obligations to the society and I practice detachment from all this knowing that I am the eternal self and always free.” Kaushika received Dharmavyadha’s teachings with utmost reverence, realized his folly in talking the life of an innocent bird and left with a perfect idea of yoga philosophy.

Yoga philosophy from the masters

Ram Vakkalanka

Adi Shankaracharya, one of the most renowned yoga philosophers, said: Svasvakarmanushthanameva Bhagavataha Puja - fulfilling one’s duties and obligations constitutes highest spiritual austerity and leads to spiritual liberation. Bhagavadgita, one of the most authoritative works on yoga, offers an interesting definition of yoga: Yogaha Karmasu Kaushalam – yoga is perfect fulfillment of one’s duties. In other words, a plumber who does a great job is practicing yoga, an athlete who brings medals to his country is a yogi, a mother who raises a healthy family is a yogi, a leader who leads his community towards progress is a yogi. Yoga is the birthright of everyone; no country, no culture, no color, no race has an exclusive right to it. The housewife, the musician, the mechanic…anyone can (and should) be a yogi.

In fact, one of the most sublime teachings of Bhagavadgita is: Yogasthaha Kuru Karmani - being established in a state of yoga, fulfill your role in the world. If you are a teacher, strive to be the best teacher you can be; if you are an electrician, be the best electrician you can be, if you are a soldier, be the best soldier you can be. Balance your head and heart, realize that you are not simply a name and a form, but the Divine itself and approach everything and everyone in life from a love-based higher view point. Then you will find imperturbable peace and harmony inside and outside. This is the quintessential teaching of yoga philosophy. In the great epic Mahabharata, the story about Kaushika illustrates this point perfectly.

Not that postures and meditation don’t constitute yoga, but that’s not all there is to yoga. Yoga can be practiced by everyone at every walk of life, any every moment of life, on and off the mat!

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Understanding the Indian rope trick

Mariellen — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:00:59 +0000

Sylvia Fraser in India, 2000

An interview with Sylvia Fraser

Author of the transformative travel classic, The Rope in the Water

In 2005, as I was getting ready to go to India for the first time, on my six-month “trip of a lifetime,” my friend Chrissy gave me a copy of The Rope in the Water. As I read about Toronto author Sylvia Fraser’s pilgrimage to India, I was struck by the many similarities between us; and completely flabbergasted to discover that we share the same birthday (March 8 – International Woman’s Day).

I loved the book and decided I had to meet Sylvia Fraser; that somehow my destiny demanded it. Well, it took me five years to finally connect with her and I am happy to report that we are now friends. I interviewed Sylvia in February 2011 about her many transformative travel experiences and her reality-defying “rope in the water” story (see below and find out how a non-existent rope saved her life when she was being carried out to sea by a riptide, off the coast of Kerala in South India). Here are the highlights of our interview.

Mariellen Ward: What is travel to you, and why do you prefer being a seeker and going on pilgrimage?

Sylvia Fraser: Travel is something I love to do, it’s a need, not a luxury. If I’m not happy, planning a trip is absolutely the best.

Sylvia Fraser at the Art Gallery of Ontario's Maharaja Exhibit, February 2011

A pilgrim is a seeker … someone who seeks something larger than the life one is living. You have to go on your own. If you go with people that you know, there tends to be a desire to recreate what you left behind, maybe a little bit better. If you’re going to find your own kind, or better your status, that’s a different kind of travel than what I’m talking about; it’s a vacation.

There’s ways of opening yourself, but retaining a sense of who you are, and that’s what I think is the most exciting kind of travel. Could one include seeking and finding a mate – like Eat, Pray, Love? I suppose so – whatever opens up your world. It depends on what stage you’re at in your life.

In travel books, women are always pulling that one. I notice a lot of travel books by women are like that, “My thousand days of love in Venice.” With men it’s all about derring do and extreme adventure.

MW: What attitude do you recommend seekers take?

SF: I think it’s a matter of going with an open mind. Being willing to put aside your own beliefs (though not values) and see what other people, what other cultures have to offer. Then decide what works for you and what doesn’t work for you. The more choices you allow yourself in terms of who you want to be and what you want to do, the more you will lead a fulfilled life.

My advice … try and know what stage you are at in your life. See what countries, what interests, draw you. There are many keys, follow your greatest interest. Do your best to understand what draws you. It shouldn’t be because someone writes a bestseller, like Eat, Pray, Love … it doesn’t mean you should go and eat, pray and love. And it’s all right to change your mind enroute.

MW: What makes a person a seeker?

SF: People who have experienced trauma in their life, and especially people who have experienced it as a child, tend to have to look a little bit deeper, and higher, for purpose in life. The ordinary, usual things may be quite delightful … but wounds that make one suffer, make one look deeper. In my case, it was incest, sexual abuse by my father, and though I blocked it out of my conscious mind, it was a motivating force all my life. The incident that pushes you down, can give you wings to fly higher – and that’s when you become a quester.

The question that intrigues me most – and I’m always looking for the answer – is what is reality? I really want to know, in the deepest sense. It goes well beyond physical reality… then we get into the big “M,” mystery. And the thing about mystery is that you can’t define it.

MW: What did you learn from finding the rope in the water, when you were in India?

SF: One thing I’ve learned through science and philosophy, is that the material world that we in the west believe in so powerfully is fragile. This became emphasized to me when I was in India, most specifically when I was being carried out to sea by a riptide and reached down and found a rope in the water and pulled myself ashore. That’s a very condensed version of the story I told in my book, but that’s what it boils down to. That rope felt extremely real to me, and to everyone watching me being swept away. How I came to be here now only was because I found that rope in the water.

That was a very dramatic demonstration to me of what I already believed in … the physical world is not as real as we pretend it to be. Quantum physicists know this, they’ve known it for 100 years. It’s very slow to seep into our consciousness in the west.

The description of the universe given by the seers of Asia is that of a non-material universe in which all material is illusion – which is essentially the one now on the drawing board of quantum physicists.

The experience of the rope in the water was so overwhelming, at first I denied that it happened. I’m not sure it could’ve happened anywhere else. I definitely think that things like that are much more likely to happen in an environment in which people believe they can happen.

We should pay a lot more attention to our emotions, relationships, the things that are most valuable to us, that are not physical, that aren’t something you can buy and consume – that come about through caring, compassion and through living one’s life as well as one can in a meaningful way.

Mariellen Ward and Sylvia Fraser, July 2011

MW: What is it about India that makes it special?

SF: There’s certain countries where I instinctively feel at home, and India’s one of them; I can’t really explain why.

India is one of the few countries in the world that has an unbroken spiritual tradition going back 4,000 or 5,000 years. India gives travelers like us another gift, and that is English – which is spoken all over the country. And India is India. Unlike other countries in the “mysterious East,” that are following the American model, India had had a taste of Europe (i.e. Britain), absorbed it and remained India. Even if you just looked at a crowd, you saw people, especially women, dressed as they always were. It’s a large complex culture that has kept in touch with itself.

When I went to India, I decided to adopt Indian philosophy – which is that anything that happened to me, happened for the purpose of teaching me a lesson. I’m not sure how much I believed in that when I started out, but I was totally amazed how well that worked. One thing led to another and things that didn’t look like they would add up, eventually did. Also, I noticed karma – if I did something nice, something nice would happen. If I lost my temper and got crabby, that would reverberate in some unpleasant way.

India is a jewel box of all that. Many drawers, many cabinets. And the people are wonderful.

MW: What about the return home?

SF: I’m always happy to come home. I’m not escaping anything; I’m enlarging. I like my life here in Toronto. I have even been known to cut a trip shorter because I just want to come home. I always tell myself, I can go back. Maybe it’s about having faith in the future.

But if a country really draws you and you don’t want to leave, maybe you should go and live there … maybe you’re not finished …

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Top 5 things I’ve learned after traveling a year in India

Mariellen — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:56:16 +0000

India is a teacher; travelers are students

People often ask me why I am so interested in India, why I like traveling there so much. There are lots of reasons, of course — from the warmth of the people, to the taste of the food; from the adventure of travel to the colourful festivals; from the flowing, feminine clothes to the sunny skies. The single most compelling reason, however, is probably the attitude towards god and spirituality — and how that attitude affects almost everything about the culture and atmosphere of India.

And what does that difference mean for me (and other spiritual seekers from the west)? It means that when I am in India, not only do I feel more alive than anywhere else (for the reasons listed above), but I learn a lot. I learn a lot about myself, about the world, and about spiritual truths. Here are the top five things I’ve learned in India.

1. Don’t worry, be happy

Door at Roopanghar Fort, Rajasthan

I’ve traveled for well over a year in India, most of it by myself. I’ve had to deal with crowds, chaos, delays, unhygienic conditions, culture shock, large insects, small rodents, illness and unwanted attention. Among other things. What I’ve learned from all of this is that everything works out. Not only does everything work out, deviations from your original plan sometime turn out far better than anything you could have planned. In fact, letting things happen, instead of trying to control them all the time, is the best formula for magic.

And even if it appears that things are not working out AT ALL, sometimes, it’s just our perception and understanding that is off. In fact, the universe is unfolding exactly as it should. When viewed through a certain lens, everything is perfect, and the universe is 100% supporting us; gently (and sometimes not so gently), guiding us towards our destiny and the lessons we need to learn to grow and learn. And best of all, it is absolutely within our control to view the universe through this lens, which some will call rose-coloured. I don’t know if it’s rose-coloured or not, but I do know that it makes for a much less tense, anxious, unhappy experience of travel, and thus of life.

I wrote an entire article about our control over our perception for Brave New Traveler, called Travel is an exercise in perception. To summarize, “we do not see the world the way it is; we see the world the way we are.” But not only do we see the world through only our own little window — which completely influences the way we see things — we can control how we see the world. India is a particularly good teacher of this truth because India is a very soft, pliable and responsive place: whatever attitude you travel with will be reflected back to you. If you’re frightened, you will have scary experiences. If you’re suspicious, you will be ripped off and even robbed. There seems to be a kind of instant karma at work.

This is why I always advise people to go to India with an open and trusting attitude. I genuinely love India, and genuinely trust (most) Indians, and this is why I generally have very good experiences there. Of course there are times when instinct teaches us to be cautious — and I always listen and respond to these feelings. It also helps that I have learned to trust myself, and that is the root of trust. Traveling in India is one of the most challenging things I have done, and the degree of self-confidence I have built up because of it is incalculable.

2. People are good

Okay, yes, there are exceptions … but when you put yourself in a vulnerable position, and when you open your heart with trust and faith and a feeling of goodwill towards your fellow man/woman, you will largely be rewarded with kindness. Sometimes extraordinary kindness.

Men helping me replace my mobile phone in Mumbai

I have so many stories of people helping me, feeding me on a long train ride when I didn’t pack enough food; walking me to my destination when I didn’t know the way; inviting me into their homes and even families. And I’ve heard loads of other similar stories from people traveling in India, and elsewhere. When you travel, you open yourself up in a new way, and give people the opportunity to help you. It’s a lesson in the interconnectedness of life.

India is, unfortunately, known for con men, touts and other unscrupulous characters who try to rip people off by over-charging and other shady practises, but even many of these people would help you if you needed it. Many Indians are poor and this explains their behaviour to a large degree. I have seen people change in front of me when they realized I was treating them with respect, or when I needed their help. There are very few “bad” people, in my view. (And of course if you think you have come across one of them, you should be appropriately cautious.)

3. Yoga is not about putting your leg behind your head

Giving alms to sadhus in Rishikesh

I studied and practised yoga for close to 15 years, even gaining a certificate in yoga teacher training, before going to India for the first time. I discovered that I had been swimming in a yoga pond; in India, I discovered a yoga ocean. There is no way to communicate how vast the difference is between the way yoga is taught and understood in India, as compared to in the west, if you haven’t experienced it. My understanding of yoga completely transformed in India.

The point of yoga is to still the mind so that you can experience the truth of your being. And what is the truth of your being? That we are all part of one god-consciousness; that we are made of bliss; that love is the basic substance of the universe.

Can you reach this understanding through the intense asana (physical) practise of yoga? Maybe. But that’s not the intention. Asana practise is intended to help you relax the body, and keep it fit and healthy, so it won’t distract you in your higher pursuits. It is a means, not an end. I wrote about this in What yoga is.

4. God is love

In India, I discovered a vision of spirituality that makes more sense to me than anything else I’ve come across — the advaita (or non-dual) idea that all life is part of one god-consciousness; that duality only exists in the field of time and space, and is illusory.

I agree with Mahatma Gandhi, who said, “I used to believe that god is truth; now I believe that truth is god.” I agree with Joseph Campbell who said, “People are not looking for meaning in life; they are looking for an experience of life.” I agree with Carl Jung who said that, “The purpose of human existence is to light a candle in the darkness of mere being.” And I understand why Buddha gave a teaching in which he simply held up a flower and said nothing.

My teacher, Swami Brahmdev of Aurovalley Ashram (who is a disciple of Sri Aurobindo), teaches something very similar: he teaches that the purpose of life as a sentient being is to increase our consciousness. We do this by having experiences, reacting, learning and growing. Life is basically a series of experiments, and, with the right attitude, you can see each one as an opportunity to learn.

5. Money does not buy happiness

Children at a Mumbai train station

In the consumer-oriented and materialistic west, we have come to equate money and happiness. However, in more traditional societies, like India, this link is not so resolutely forged (although that is changing with the rise of the urban middle class). It has been my experience that some of the happiest people I’ve met are also some of the least materially well-off. As long as people are getting their basic material needs met, they can be happy — with the right attitude.

The religious tradition in Indian teaches people to be content, to be grateful and to regularly thank and celebrate god for the gift of life and the beauty and abundance of nature. In traditional India, nature is considered sacred. And the society places a great value on family life and relationships. People know who they are, they are connected to their extended families, their communities and their roots. All of this makes for a base of people who are warm, generous and helpful, and who know what’s really important in life. And meeting people like this has been my experience traveling in India.

Every study on happiness shows these are the things that contribute far more to happiness than a big-screen TV, late-model car, huge house, fancy phone, designer shoes, wrinkle-free face and fat-free figure.

And for people who are afraid to travel to India because they don;t want to face the poverty, please read my Matador article India, poverty and the fear of traveling to poor places.

Summary

Seeing the universe as a loving, intelligent force that always has my best interests at heart — and learning to let go of the need to control, to let go of the need to “be” a certain way, and to surrender to the flow of life — has had an enormous impact on my experience of life. It’s made it much easier. And I am just a beginner on this path …

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Help a soul to grow at Aurovalley Ashram

Mariellen — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:39:23 +0000

Teacher and program manager Adriana Gonzalez with pupil

Adopt a Soul program helps children grow in an atmosphere of peace and love

In the morning, golden sunlight pours through the broad-leafed trees lighting up simple, white buildings, masses of vivid red tropical blooms, profusions of delicate butterflies, wide expanses of scrubby meadow and flaxen wheat fields. In the distance, the rolling hills of Chilla National Park fade into a misty hue. Birds fill the trees cackling, calling, singing and chirping. At any time, you can hear four or five distinct songs. The feeling is peace, harmony with nature and sweet sacredness. Here, you can hear yourself think, feel your heart’s stirrings and sense the movements of your soul. Here, the divine force lives almost unimpeded by man’s systems and notions.

chanting Gayatri Mantra in the ashram temple

I have written many times about my spiritual home, Aurovalley Ashram in north India. You can read my original post on Travelblog.org here, Peace on earth – this is the one that compelled at least three people that I know of to come to Aurovalley. Two of them are here now, Andrea (Ireland) and Charlotte (The Netherlands). Or, you can read the post I wrote last year, when I was here, Aurovalley Ashram: A haven of peace and conscious living.

But Aurovalley is not just a beautiful retreat, a haven of peace for spiritual seekers and a fountain of yoga knowledge for sincere students. It is also a community, and a part of the local community, Rishidwar, which includes several villages such as Raiwala. Aurovalley founder Swami Brahmdev (Swamiji) takes his responsibility to his community to heart, and he has established many worthwhile projects over the 25+ years he has been here.

Notably, for the past 15 years, Aurovalley Ashram has run a school for local children on the ashram grounds. These are children who might not otherwise have the opportunity for education. The education system in India is spotty, and if you can’t afford to send your children to a private school, you are sometimes out of luck.

To make a donation, and Adopt a Soul, click this link to get to the Aurovalley Blog and click the DONATE button in the header.

in the new playroom, learning to play with toys

Please contribute to Adopt a Soul

To fund and expand the educational opportunities for local children, Aurovalley Ashram initiated the Adopt a Soul program. For $20 USD per month ($240 per year), you can pay the expenses for a single child at the Aurovalley school. Under the Adopt a Soul program, donations provide a bus service, uniforms, books, toys, supplies and the salaries of several teachers, young women from the community. Aurovalley made the decision not to allow donators to sponsor just one child, but to share the benefit among all the children. Aurovalley volunteer teacher Adriana Gonzalez explains that, “It can create problems to sponsor only a certain child. It creates a ‘chosen child,’ who is often shunned by the community. Then, if the donations stop for whatever reason, the child loses the opportunities and his or her community.”

To make a donation, and Adopt a Soul, click this link to get to the Aurovalley Blog and click the DONATE button in the header.

Swami Brahmdev: Saturday afternoon ritual

With the guidance of Swamiji, Adriana, 31, manages Adopt a Soul. Originally from Mexico, Adriana grew up in Austria and traveled to India on a journey of self-discovery. She spent time at the Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry and the Mother´s Mirambika School in Delhi, before arriving at Aurovalley in 2009. Adriana is a trained teacher, but found she needed to abandon her preconceived notions about teaching to really be with the children.

At Aurovalley school, children are encouraged to follow their own interests and find their own rhythm, and their own strengths. And, of course, spiritual growth is included. The objective is not to make children ‘artificial,’ but to draw out what is best in them. Aurovalley school seeks to create an atmosphere in which the children can learn.

The children are from simple families,” Adriana says. “They grew up with no toys; they played with each other, using stones, whatever was available. They are very open, very free.”

The playroom building on the ashram grounds

Aurovalley school is currently teaching children from 2 ½ years to 13. The school gives them opportunities they would otherwise not have: dance classes, sports, art, yoga.

“Under this program, we recently built a new play room, and we have plans for a new art room, playground and sports uniforms – a revolutionary idea for these simple people,” Adriana says.

The day I was with the children, Adriana and the teachers spent time with them, taking them around the light-filled room, showing them how to take care of all the toys and art supplies; how to treat them and put them away. These are all new materials, and all new concepts, to these kids.

: on the Aurovalley school bus

Afterwards, we all trooped off to another part of the ashram grounds, where the kids chanted the Gayatri Mantra ( a central prayer of the Hindu faith, somewhat like the Lord’s Prayer in Christianity). Then, because it was Saturday, they ran to Swamiji’s house where he handed them each a candy.

The children looked happy, loved and at home. “We view these children as souls trying to grow,” Adriana says. “And that includes me and the other teachers. In fact, I don’t identify as a teacher. I just think we’re all growing together.”

Under the Adopt a Soul program, Swamiji would like to raise funds to build a new playground and, ultimately, a new school. People who donate to the Adopt a Soul program can rest assured that every rupee goes to the project – there are no administrative or marketing costs.

Please consider contributing – and helping these young souls to grow.

To make a donation, and Adopt a Soul, click this link to get to the Aurovalley Blog and click the DONATE button in the header.

Thank you for reading. Please visit BreatheDreamGo or stop by my Facebook page at Breathedreamgo.

First recording was of the Rig Veda in Sanskrit

Mariellen — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Image courtesy of Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues

Song of creation: first words recorded

The gramophone (aka record player) was invented by Thomas Alva Edison in the United States in the 19th century. For the first recording, and to demonstrate the new machine, Edison asked Professor Max Muller, an eminent scholar of Sanskrit in England, to speak in front of an audience.

After recording Muller’s voice on a disk in the morning, Edison played it back to the audience on the gramophone in the afternoon. The audience was thrilled to hear the voice of Max Muller coming from the instrument. After several rounds of applause and congratulations to Thomas Edison, Muller came to the stage and addressed the audience and said, “You heard my original voice in the morning. Then you heard the same voice coming out from this instrument in the afternoon. Do you understand what I said in the morning or what you heard in the afternoon?”

The audience fell silent because they could not understand the language in which Muller had spoken. Muller explained it was Sanskrit and the words he recorded was the first sloka of the Rig Veda: agni meele purohitam. The Rig Veda is comprised of hymns, or songs, of creation.

Pandit with lotus flower in Bangalore

Max Muller explained his choice to the audience. He said, “Vedas are the oldest text of the human race and agni meele purohitam is the first verse of Rig Veda. In the most primordial time, when the people did not know how even to cover their bodies and lived by hunting and housed in caves, Indians had attained high civilization and they gave the world universal philosophies in the form of the Vedas.”

When agni meele purohitam was replayed the entire audience stood up in silence as a mark of respect for the ancient Indian Sages.

Thanks to Krista for sending me this tale.

Thank you for reading. Please visit BreatheDreamGo or stop by my Facebook page at Breathedreamgo.

South Asia travel plans for spring 2011

Mariellen — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 03:58:09 +0000

Moi at Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India, at sunrise 2006

Capturing the magic and mystery of travel in India

My first trip to India was a six-month odyssey in 2005-06 that took me from volunteering in Dharamsala in the north to watching the sunrise from Kanyakumari at the southern tip of the subcontinent. It was a life-changing trip, and I have been writing about India and the transformative power of travel ever since. Since then, I’ve been back to India three times (2007, 2009 and 2010), and shortly I will be leaving for my fifth trip. I will of course be blogging as I travel. My itinerary is below, but first a few words about my philosophy and mission.

Travel writer’s manifesto

There are many benefits to writing or blogging about one subject or place. For one thing, you gain a lot of knowledge and you are perceived as having expertise. For another, you develop contacts and build relationships. In my case, I write about India, South Asia, yoga, spirituality and transformative travel. From a strategic point of view, this is my niche. But I don’t write about these things for strategic reasons; I write about them because of genuine interest and pure passion.

Traveling in India really did change my life in many positive ways, and I have grown to truly, madly, deeply appreciate India, Indians and Indian culture, including yoga. For me, traveling to India in particular, and Asia in general, is not like going other places. I feel a profound sense of connection to that part of the world, and I tend to have charmed adventures.

For more than a year altogether I have traveled in India, mostly by myself, and I have been protected — like Rudyard Kipling’s Kim. I am extremely grateful. I don’t take it for granted and I don’t really understand it. I believe life is mystery, and that’s how it should be.

And like Kim, I move between cultures with a somewhat fluid sense of identity: I live some of the time as an Indian, with my Indian family in Delhi, and some of it on the road, where I am perceived as a foreigner. But India doesn’t feel all that foreign to me. I feel happier, more alive, and more connected to my imagination when I am in India than anywhere else.

So I write about India and I try and capture the magic and mystery I feel and perceive — that child-like sense of wonder that’s so easy to lose as we grow older — and the feeling I always get in India: that life is not always how it seems, that there is a mythical element underlying life, and we are lucky when we get an occasional glimpse.

So, keeping these principles in mind, I am planning my next trip — which includes visiting a Maharaja, stalking tigers, seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise, and achieving a long-held dream: hiking in the Himalyan kingdom of Bhutan.

Lake Pichola, Udaipur, India

My itinerary for 2011

March

Delhi
Gujurat and Rajkot – for Mahatma Gandhi-related sites and a visit to the estates of the Maharaja of Rajkot
Mumbai
Bandhavgarh and Kanha Tiger Reserves

April

Bhutan
Rishikesh
Rural tourism in Uttrakhand
Delhi

Thank you for reading. Please visit BreatheDreamGo or stop by my Facebook page at Breathedreamgo.

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Help a soul to grow at Aurovalley Ashram

Teacher and program manager Adriana Gonzalez with pupil Adopt a Soul program helps children grow in an atmosphere of peace and love

in the new playroom, learning to play with toys Please contribute to Adopt a Soul

First recording was of the Rig Veda in Sanskrit

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Teacher and program manager Adriana Gonzalez with pupil

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in the new playroom, learning to play with toys

Please contribute to Adopt a Soul

Image courtesy of Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues

Song of creation: first words recorded

Moi at Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India, at sunrise 2006

Capturing the magic and mystery of travel in India

Lake Pichola, Udaipur, India

My itinerary for 2011