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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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.

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Yoga, meditation and spirituality: The 2010 version

Photo courtesy of Dave Bouskill, PictureThePlanet.com

One of the top 10 Google searches in India in 2010 was “how to meditate.” While the debate in the west, especially in the USA, was raging over “who owns yoga,” Indians were using high-tech solutions — computers and advanced, online search algorithms — to reconnect with their spiritual heritage. I think this is one of the top stories of 2010. We humans are all about connection — hence Facebook’s popularity — and connecting with yourself at the deepest, or highest, level is the epitome.

Connecting with myself, in retrospect, was probably the main reason I went to India in the first place, back in 2005. Before I made that first six-month trip, India seemed like such a far-away place, such a mythical land, that I did not really believe you could actually get on a plane and fly there in a matter of mere hours. But now it feels like India and Canada — the east and the west — are coming closer together in so many ways. I’m not sure how I feel about this. (more…)

snake charmers in Jaipur, India

Myth #1: Traveling in India is dangerous

Before I went to India for the first time, I was warned to my teeth about how dirty and dangerous India is, especially by the doctor at the travel medical clinic. She really tried to put the fear of disease into me, and I went to India the first time loaded with precautionary supplies, pills and additional health insurance. Then I landed in Delhi at the very civilized home of my friend Ajay, who lives with his family in the Delhi equivalent of Forest Hill (one of the most upscale neighbourhoods in Toronto), and they laughed at all my stuff. When I did get sick I went to the local Max Medical Centre and after waiting about 10 or 15 minutes I got to see the British-trained head of internal medicine. The medical centre was spotlessly clean, modern and efficient, better than almost anything I’ve seen in Canada, and the visit cost 500 rupees or about $10.

At this point in my journey, about 10 days in, something began to dawn on me. I realized that many people in Canada, including me, were of the idea that India is a barbaric place. In fact, I found it to be very civilized. I no longer carry all those supplies and pills, I no longer buy extra health insurance. I practice caution, but I don’t assume the worst, I assume the best. And guess what? (more…)

On the ghats in Varanasi, India

Capturing the concept of karma

Karm cola, karma chameleon, karma co-op, karma account, increase your good karma, it’s your karma baby … Karma has become an all-purpose word in the west that is used fairly indiscriminately without much understanding of what it really means. This is probably a pretty common phenomenon when words migrate from another language / culture. I can tell you that, as a serious student of yoga, Hinduism and Indian culture, I have been trying to wrap my mind around the word karma for years, and I have barely gleaned its meaning.

I’ve been thinking about karma for a couple of reasons lately. One, I just finished reading the book Karma Cola. (more…)

Outdoor yoga class at temple, Varanasi

India hits most foreign visitors with sensorial overload, especially during the first few weeks after arrival.  It takes time to become acclimatized to the crowds, noise, pollution, language, culture, religious practises and the way people relate to each other, and to foreigners.

When you visit or move to any new country, there are so many things to get used to. This is especially true if the new culture is extremely different from what you’re used to. And India is about as far from orderly, efficient, sparsely populated, wealthy and cold Canada as you can get.

However, one of India’s most popular cultural exports, yoga, was readily available in my hometown (Toronto) and I practiced and studied it for well over 10 years before I set foot in India for the first time.

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Swamiji entering one of the gates of Aurovalley Ashram

Harmony is the hallmark of consciousness

One evening at Aurovalley Ashram, I walked out of the circular white meditation hall and into the verdant Rishidwar valley soaked in a mauve sunset. The air was filled with devotion. Devotional chants came from both the nearby sadhu’s ashram on the Ganga and from the Kumbh Mela 12 kms down the valley, in Haridwar. Even from the ashram grounds, I could see the lights of Kumbh Mela temples blazing on the hill tops around the sacred city. Many varieties of birds added their songs of love to the devotional mix, as did the warm breeze that blew down from the Himalayan foothills. (more…)

[NOTE: Originally published on Humantimes.com, September 2008.]

Mark Whitwell

After studying and practicing yoga for about 15 years, predominantly in Canada but also in India, I had the pleasurable experience of listening to a very outspoken yoga teacher pierce the veil of western illusions about yoga. He basically said the emperor has no lululemons.

I don’t know what it was like for others in the room, but listening to Mark Whitwell at the Yoga Festival of Toronto in August, 2008, was, for me, a sound for sore ears. I am at a point in my yoga journey when I want to try and understand the original intentions of yoga – without the overlay of western thinking, ideas and culture.

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