Posts Tagged ‘Spirituality’

Photo of the Week

The Golden Temple, Amritsar

BreatheDreamGo is thrilled to welcome photographer Dave Bouskill and his glorious photograph of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India as Photo of the Week. The Golden Temple is the centre of the Sikh religion and one of the most sacred places in India.

Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India

Dave is one half of The Planet D – the other half being his wife Deb. Together they are Canada’s Adventure Couple and their travel blog is one of the best on the ‘net, if you ask me. Dave also has his own photography site, Picture the Planet, which you really have to see. The photos are truly gorgeous. It’s an honour to have one of Dave’s photos on BreatheDreamGo — thanks Dave!

Aarti (evening ceremony) during Kumbh Mela Festival in Haridwar, India, 2010

The Kumbh Mela Festival in India

“No,” said the khaki-clad policeman. “You don’t have the right pass.” It took me a moment to grasp that I was not going to be able to join my colleagues on the media platform. The spectacle of hundreds of naga sadhus parading into the centre of Haridwar, India was the pinnacle of the Kumbh Mela, the largest spiritual gathering on earth, and I wanted to see it

That morning, I rose before dawn and walked 13 kilometres into Haridwar with a group from the ashram to take a dip in the Ganges River. It was the most auspicious moment to bathe during the festival, and millions of devotees were streaming into the city to take part.

After bathing, I separating from my ashram group to join my journalism colleagues on the platform. When I was turned away, I was stunned. The sun was climbing in the sky, I didn’t know the route back and the city was completely closed and packed with pilgrims.

Buoyed by the intense devotional energy, I somehow found the winding route back to the ashram. Arriving, I felt exhilarated and realized I would never be the same.

That morning, I discovered the truth and power of ritual. It’s not about the achievement. It’s about how a peak experience can change our idea of who we are and what we are capable of. Which is a lot to get out of a long walk on a hot day in north India.

This post has been entered into the Grantourismo and HomeAway Holiday-Rentals travel blogging competition.

Photo of the Week

Naga Sadhu at the Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India

Naga Sadhu (naked holy man) at Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India

I took this photo in the Naga Sadhu’s camp during the Kumbh Mela in April 2010. I went into Haridwar for the day with two men who were also staying at Aurovalley Ashram — Lalit and Jean-Pierre. We spent an amazing day together, hanging out with the sadhus, swimming in the Ganges and having a lot of fun. I could never have had these experiences without the help of Lalit, who is a large, gregarious Punjabi man who speaks Hindi (and English and French). We spent a long time in this camp, where I bonded with this incredibly sweet young man (but I don’t remember his name!). I wrote about another Kumbh Mela day — the main bathing day — in Alone, and at home, at the Maha Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering on earth.

Spiritual wisdom of India: Mallika Chopra on stage at IdeaCity

Goddesses of wisdom:

Lakshmi Pratury and Mallika Chopra

The spiritual wisdom of India was well-represented at the IdeaCity conference in Toronto, June 16-18, 2010. Mallika Chopra (daughter of Dr. Deepak Chopra and founder of Intent.com) and Lakshmi Pratury (TED India conference organizer, India-U.S. relationship builder and organizer of the upcoming INK conference in India) both spoke about taking a positive and proactive approach to life. They are both of Indian origin or ancestry and both live in California — and both told stories about their grandmothers. But it was the essence of Indian spirituality and wisdom, which they shared and embodied, that made them stand out, for me, among the many stellar presenters at the conference. Read the rest of this entry »

I took this video from the media platform in the middle of Har-ki-pauri, Haridwar (north India) during the Maha Kumbh Mela — which is the world’s largest gathering of humanity on earth. To read about this massive Hndu spiritual festival — and my harrowing adventures finding myself alone in the midst of millions — click here.

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Front gate of "the Beatles ashram," Rishikesh

All you need is love

This blog is dedicated to my older brother Matthew. If it wasn’t for his Beatles obsession in the late 60s and early 70s, I might never have come to India. I used to follow him around when we were children, which meant listening to a lot of Beatles music. I remember looking intently at the pictures of the Beatles — especially George Harrison, my fave  — wearing long hair, flowing shirts and marigold garlands. I had always loved anything “Oriental, exotic and mystical,” and when the Beatles went to India, I was entranced. I secretly wished I was old enough to be a “hippie” and join them. Read the rest of this entry »

Har-ki-Pauri, Haridwar during Maha Kumbh Mela

A sea of humanity, an ocean of bliss

April 14, 2010 was the highly auspicious final Royal Bathing Day at the Maha Kumbh Mela – the biggest and perhaps most important spiritual festival in the Hindu world, and the largest gathering of humanity on earth. As I was staying at my spiritual home, Aurovalley Ashram, just about 10 kilometres upstream from Haridwar, I found myself caught up in the excitement. And on the morning of the big day itself, I found myself alone, smack in the centre of the Kumbh Mela, at the extremely sacred Har-ki-Pauri ghat in Haridwar, surrounded by millions, probably tens of millions, of pilgrims, devotees, tourists, naga sadhus, babas, sunnyasis, pandits, swamis, VIPs and god knows who else. All the roads into and out of Haridwar in every direction were closed for miles around, the sun was climbing and the temperature was starting to soar to above 40 C. It was one of the peak experiences of my life: In that moment, I had to face my fears. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh no, it’s the “s” word!

Hahaha, not the “s” word you thought! But another one that should be the source of just as much joy, if you ask me.

Can spirituality be fun? Does it have to be a serious subject? Read on for a tale of two religions and the joyful vs the sombre.

Read the rest of this entry »