Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

I enjoyed reading Christine Garvin’s article, Can You Develop Your Spirituality Without Visiting India? on Brave New Traveler (part of the Matador Travel Network).Of course, I whole-heartedly agree that finding or increasing your spiritual awareness is not about location. Spirituality is an attitude and an understanding. You can find it, learn it or increase it anywhere and anytime. In fact, the lessons often come from the unlikeliest people and places. You don’t even have to go to a temple, church, mosque, gurdwara, mediation centre, ashram, monastery or what have you. Once you begin to see the world from a spiritual perspective, you may never need a formal teacher again.

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Originally published in Dreamscapes magazine.

View of the majestic Himalayas from Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram

As I sit writing this on the balcony of my room at the Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh, India, the melodious sound of people singing kirtan (devotional songs and chants) floats up from the yoga hall below. From here, I have a breath-taking view of the imposing foothills of the Himalayas and I can feel the invigorating mountain air as it sweeps into this serene valley, through which the jewel-green Ganga (Ganges) River flows. It is easy to see why legend refers to the Himalaya range as Dev Bhoomi, land of the gods.

Rishikesh is a small and relatively (by Indian standards) peaceful town that meanders along the narrow valley on both sides of the Ganga, connected by two impressive suspension bridges, Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula, which are open for pedestrian traffic, bicycles and motorcycles only. Seers – rishis – and sages have been gathering here, at this picturesque spot on the Ganges, since before recorded history to prayer, chant and meditate. Indian pilgrims and foreign yoga students alike flock here to stay in one of the town’s many ashrams and soak up the devotional vibes. It is often referred to as the yoga capital of the world.

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The Mother of India River speaks in many voices as she travels from the high Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.

Through Rishikesh, Ganga sings as she passes through the enchanted valley ringing with bells. Her song is joyous, full of the the jubilance of youth, the rush of fresh mountain streams, the sincere chanting of pilgrims who wish her well and the excitement of the onward journey. Ganga is gorgeous in Rishikesh, jewel-green, opaque and sparkling. A beauty for the ages, decorated with flower-and-light filled offerings.

At Rishidwar, she slows a little to enjoy the mist-covered mountains, tulsi-filled meadows, low flying birds and grazing cattle. The languid movement of the surface of the water belies the depth and strength of her current and hints at a sonorous voice. Here, her deep, quiet power is felt more than heard and she imbues the surrounding countryside with sacred serenity.

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Lhamo and Ama Adhe at Art Refuge

Volunteering in India

It was the love that got me. Ironically, I wasn’t prepared for it. I landed my volunteer job as an Assistant Art Therapist with Art Refuge more than a year before I actually arrived in Dharamsala, India to begin. To get the coveted position, I had to fill out an extensive application form, write copious answers to numerous essay questions, supply several references and have a long-distance telephone interview with the volunteer coordinator, located in the U.K. It was a long process!

Then, on my birthday in March I got the news – I was accepted, and scheduled to start the following April. I felt elated, both because I had a wonderful adventure to look forward to and because I felt honoured: I would be working alongside program manager Ama Adhe to help newly arrived Tibetan refugee children acclimatize to their home in India.

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When my teacher, Swamiji (Swami Brahmdev of Aurovalley Ashram, Rishidwar, India), says something during satsang that he wants to underline, he says, “catch this point.” It’s a great example of a non-native English speaker using the language in a particularly creative and effective way.

I have been back in Canada about six weeks since my latest trip to India, where, among other things, I spent time at Aurovalley Ashram — my favourite place on earth — learning the wisdom of integral yoga and feeling inspired by Swamiji’s complete commitment to transformation of consciousness.

So I am now home, facing a difficult life situation, and trying to “catch this point.” I am trying to process, integrate and put it into action everything I learned from my recent two-and-half-months in India. In some ways the journey begins when you get home. You realize what you’ve learned, how much you’ve changed, and how differently you now see the world.

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Dr. Deepak Chopra

While I was in India this winter, I read an article by Dr. Deepak Chopra in the Times of India (March 29, 2009) entitled “Over to India,” about what India can teach the west. In it, he says that the modern era is characterized by “a headlong rush into the arms of science and materialism.” Both, he says, are deeply flawed for solving the human dilemma. “The late Robert F. Kennedy put it pithily when he said that the gross national product measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile.”

The human dilemma — which is really about the path to happiness society, and each individual in it, takes — will not be solved by external means, e.g. more oil , a better missile defence system. “If the path to happiness is external, disaster will eventually ensue. This is what Indian spirituality discovered thousands of of years ago.”

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When I was a child I painted huge colourful murals on my walls – always something I considered exotic and oriental like genies coming out of bottles and turret-topped palaces and stone fortress-like cityscapes. Imagination was more important than reality, and I stoked the fires of my imagination with fabulous tales from the Arabian Nights, incredible stories from the Greek Myths and any other magical tales I could get my hands on.

I sensed there were worlds hidden within the known world; things were not as they seemed. I stared beneath the surface of the lake at the cottage and watched the swaying seaweed and the crayfish swimming backwards and the choreographed schools of small fish. In those moments I felt I disappeared, and only my attention on the secret underwater world was real.

Road sign to Bikaner, top, and Jaisalmer, bottom

Real life has its allure and can trap even the hardiest seer with distractions, heart break, loss, struggle. But what happens when you look up; when you look beyond. You can see the world as you did, if you’re lucky, when you had the innocence to see clearly.

You can find a place that, impossibly, looks like your bedroom walls. A place with stone turrets, an ancient fort and a wide open expanse of desert that contains worlds within worlds. Barren beauty is perhaps the most beautiful of all because you have to actively look for it. It draws you in with its subtlety and suggestions, it’s quiet power; and it rewards you with a jeweled night sky beaming love and life.

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A note on the title: “Me Lemon” was the childhood nickname given to me by my little brother, Andy, who could not pronounce my name when he was a toddler. It stuck. Everyone in my family calls me Me Lemon or just Lemon. When I went to India, I added “indi” and became Lemonindi. So, I am Lemonindi at Flickr, my yahoo mail address is Lemonindi and on various other Internet sites and services. As far as I know, I am the only Lemonindi on the Internet.

Welcome to my blog. As I explain on the page “About BreatheDreamGo,” the name says it all. It’s a mantra, it summarizes my own experience, and it’s a formula for others to follow.

I took from the time I start seeking in 1993 to the day I landed in India in 2005 before I began to connect with and live my dreams. In India, I fell in love — with the culture, the spiritual traditions, the people and the land. India inspired me to become the writer I feel I was always destined to be and propelled me a long on my yoga jounrey. I now feel that my purpose is to share the beauty of India’s rich culture and ancient wisdom with the world.

This blog is a way for me to explore and share what I love and what I’ve learned.

But I also want to help others connect with their dreams and find out the joy and power of living with that kind of inner source. This blog is my first step; eventually I want to create on online community.

I welcome comments, I want to know about your blogs, and all I ask is that you keep it lemony clean.

Copyright Mariellen Ward 2009