BreatheDreamGo » Yoga

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….

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. E-book version is now only $1.99.

Subscribe to the free — and inspiring! — e-newsletter, Travel That Changes You.

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.

Subscribe to the free — and inspiring! — e-newsletter, Travel That Changes You.

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!

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.

Subscribe to the free — and inspiring! — e-newsletter, Travel That Changes You.

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

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 …

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.

Subscribe to the free — and inspiring! — e-newsletter, Travel That Changes You.

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

10 top reasons to visit India

Mariellen — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:07:36 +0000

Taj Mahal, Agra, India 2006

[Note: Originally published on Bootsnall as 10 Reasons to visit India now.]

1. The Taj Mahal. Yup, it is. The world’s most beautiful building. This is one of those rare times in life when all of your expectations will be blown away, no matter how much hyperbole you’ve been exposed to about it; no matter how many pictures you’ve seen; no matter how much poetry you’ve read. Tagore had it right when he wrote the Taj Mahal is, “a teardrop on the face of eternity.” See it at sunrise, put up with Agra, do whatever you can, but make sure the Taj Mahal is on your itinerary or you will kick yourself for eternity.

2. Sensory overload. India is a place to be experienced not visited, and the culture shock that jolts your system – often into a heightened sense of awareness and perspective – is part of the fun. So, throw yourself into the mayhem and learn as quickly as you can to enjoy it. You may find that there’s a lot to be said for chaos – and a lot to be said for learning to let go and go with the flow. At the very least, life back home will seem a lot easier to handle.

Photo of Har-ki-Pauri, Haridwar, India during aarti, Kumbh Mela 2010

3. Yoga. There are many yoga teachers, schools and ashrams in India to choose from, but you don’t actually need to study yoga to absorb its essential teachings about flow, oneness and finding your inner stillness. Just about everything that happens when you’re traveling in India is an exercise in yoga. Train delay? Perfect time for meditation. Aggressive touts after you? Practise accessing your inner witness and not reacting. Dose of Delhi-belly? Go with the flow (literally) and remember this too shall pass.

4. Festivals. There’s a festival just about every day in India. You name it, and there’s a festival for it: elephants, camels, unmarried women, kites, the nectar of immortality, Krishna’s birthday, Rama’s return, etc., etc. Holi is a favourite of locals and visitors alike. Also called the Festival of Colour, people throw coloured powder at each other and eat sweets in a frenzied celebration of spring. Another favourite is Diwali. Called the Festival of Lights, it takes place in the fall. On the big night, the sky lights up in a blitz of fireworks that last hours and hours and hours and hours ….

Photo of Kanchendzonga at sunrise from Tiger Hill, Darjeeling 2010

5. The Himalayas. Many of the world’s highest mountains – including the top three, Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga – are part of this vast range that runs along India’s eastern border for more than 2,400 kilometres. These are also some of the world’s most sacred mountains. A visit to India is not complete without a stop at a touristy hill station like Simla or Darjeeling, or a sacred city in the foothills, like Rishikesh.

6. Spicy food. If you don’t like spicy food, don’t go to India. It’s not that you can’t avoid it …. But what’s the point?! Opinion is divided as to whether the state of Rajasthan or the southern city of Hyderabad has the hottest food, but you can find hot and spicy dishes all over the country. If you’re worried, order some dahi or curd (yogurt) or a sweet or salty lassi (yogurt drink). The yogurt quenches the fire in your mouth.

7. Shopping in a bazaar or market. In India, a trip to the market (or bazaar) is much more than a shopping expedition: it’s full-on cultural immersion. The markets are incredibly lively, full of colourful merchandise and even more colourful characters. And some of them, like the medieval lanes of Old Delhi, are like a journey into India’s storied past. Go with the unhurried zeal of an explorer, enjoy the process of finding a treasure and get into the spirit of the place by haggling over the price. In India, the fine art of bargaining is part custom, part relationship building exercise and part spectator sport. Don’t let shyness or misplaced ethics keep you from partaking in India’s favourite pastime.

8. Beaches. India has 7,500 kilometres of coastline, and though not all of it is pristine, there are some wonderful stretches, especially in Goa (which tends to be touristy) and Kerala. Most tourists flock to the well-known beaches, which means it’s easy to get far from the madding crowd. Try Gokarna in Karnataka, the beaches of the Andaman and Nicobar islands, Tarkarli in Maharastha or Puri in Orissa. Wherever you go, you can find options at each end of the budgetary scale, from tiny beach shacks for $2 per night to seven-star luxury resorts that provide you with your own butler.

9. The caves of Ellora and Ajanta. Ajanta is older and full of Buddhist paintings; Ellora is bigger and features carvings and rock-cut architecture. They’re both within an easy drive of Aurangabad, a nondescript city about a nine-hour train ride inland from Mumbai. But the mere facts do not prepare you for the magnificence of these UNESCO World Heritage sites, second only to the Taj Mahal. The entire two days I spent exploring them I kept thinking, why don’t more people know about these!?

Buddhist cave at Ellora, near Aurangabad, India

10. A long train ride. Preferably overnight. Indian Railways is the world’s largest employer, and the train system in India is extensive to say the least. There are several grades of trains – the best are Shatabdis and Rajdhanis – and three main classes: first, second and third. Second class is usually a good choice with four bunks per compartment, each separated by a curtain; but an overnight train ride in first class on a Rajdhani train is a nice treat (though don’t expect luxury, especially in the bathroom).

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

Celebrating “Travel that changes you”

Mariellen — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:33:47 +0000

Breathedreamgo is taking a new direction

Starting now, Breathedreamgo will be about “travel that changes you” and other transformative experiences like yoga and of course life itself. My yoga teacher in India, Swami Brahmdev of Aurovalley Ashram, says that we are here to learn, change, grow and transform. That’s the purpose of existence. I agree.

The most dramatic transformational experiences of my life have been my Mother’s sudden and unexpected death in 1998; 12 years of Gestalt Therapy training and practise; close to 20 years of yoga study and practise; and traveling to India for six months, in 2005/06, to recover from the depression brought on by my Mother’s death.

The trip to India transformed me in just about every way, which is why I write about it so much. But of course the transformation took place within me. India does have a certain magic, but the personal transformation wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t open to it.

We are here to change, grow and connect

Photo courtesy of Lisa Field-Elliot of Dorrwaystraveler.com

Immersing myself in a foreign culture has had a profound impact on me: among other things, it gave me a perspective on my own biases, assumptions and preconceived notions; perspective on the culture I come from (middle-class Canada); and it opened the world to me – and brought the grinding poverty and other realities of life up close.

We are also here to connect with each other and influence one another. Humans are social animals. I don’t travel to change the world, but to change me – but if by changing me, I inspire and influence others, then I feel I am living fully, or whole-heartedly.

I think travel is an incredible privilege and one of the most transformative experiences you can have (if you’re open to it). And I also feel that if by taking risks, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and actively pursuing my dreams I inspire others – then, I feel honoured. Thank you.

And that’s what this blog is about. Travel that changes you.

If you’ve had a transformative travel experience, or you’ve been transformed by my other passion, yoga, I welcome you to write a guest post for Breathedreamgo.

[NOTE: I deleted a paragraph that I realized later was negative and unnecessary. But it is the paragraph that the first three comments are referring to below. Thanks for your feedback. I made a mistake.]

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

How to meditate: The top story of 2010

Mariellen — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:36:49 +0000

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.

The east and west are each very powerful and effective in different ways. In the west, the power is externally focused. We are very good at so-called “material progress.” We are organized and efficient at creating wealth, technology, infrastructure. Consequently, we have a very high standard of living. But in the east, the emphasis is more on internal efficiency.

My hopes for 2011

Shiva meditating, Rishikesh, India

I hope that western culture does not triumph; that it will not evolve to its inevitable end: a planet completely covered by strip malls, completely given over to consumerism and materialism. I hope that optimistic, spiritual thinkers like Carl Jung and Sri Aurobindo are proved right — that people are evolving towards a higher state of consciousness. In this realm, Indians are masters. Deepak Chopra once called the ancient Indian rishis (sages) “Einsteins of consciousness.” I wrote about his passion — and mine — for Sharing India’s wisdom with the world.

I hope it augurs well that Indians are wanting to know “how to meditate” and that a yoga revival takes place in India. I hope that the Hindu American Foundation’s “take back yoga” campaign achieves its aim of seeing yoga acknowledged as stemming from the Hindu / Indian tradition. In fact, I have an even greater hope — that Hinduism is finally seen in the most idealistic light, for what it could be: a worldview rooted in pluralism, tolerance for all faiths, a respect for mystery and uncertainty, a steadfast belief in dharma (“pattern of noble living”) and the knowledge that, as Mahatma Gandhi put it, truth is god (and not the other way around).

I love Shashi Tharoor‘s chapter on Hinduism in The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone: Reflections on India in the 21st Century (2007) and I highly recommend it for an idealistic and workable explanation of Hinduism. “Hinduism asserts that all ways of belief are equally valid. Hinduism, I assert, is a civilization, not a dogma,” Tharoor writes. I hope there is a “take back Hinduism” campaign that wrests it from both the stereotypes, judgments and biases of the west; and the fundamentalist strain that wants to reduce it to a clique, or worse.

I hope that by understanding what Hinduism really is, what it really represents, people will no longer question whether yoga is part of the Hindu tradition. (Of course yoga is part of the Hindu tradition. It is absurdly nit-picky at best, self-serving at worst, to say otherwise. It’s also absurd not to realize that traditions don’t exist in a vacuum; that they develop through many influences.)

I hope that western yoga practitioners begin to see and understand that the point of yoga is not exercise — it is to still your mind so that you can see the truth of your being and “yoke” yourself to a higher consciousness. One of my favourite quotes about yoga is: “If yoga’s not making you a better person, what are you doing it for?”

I also hope that Gross National Happiness or General Well-Being make it onto the mainstream political landscape in 2011. I hope that Jung and Aurobindo are right, and that we are all becoming more enlightened. And happier.

The power of intention

Photo of moi, courtesy of Christine Lynes

Rather than making a resolution this new year’s, try the power of intention. It’s a force that is much stronger and more effective than a resolution. Rather than imposing a rule on yourself, you align your energies to a wish, a goal, or a dream; or something you want to achieve or understand. It’s application is much broader and more subtle than a resolution. It also resists the failure/shame/remorse cycle that resolutions often provoke.

My intentions for 2011 include increasing my consciousness around certain specific issues — such as food, money and time — and to operate from an assumption of success and abundance. But I am open to outcome — and that’s one of the biggest differences between an intention and a resolution. Do your best and do it with joy — not with an eye to the reward. Pray for the mountain to be moved and push — and accept if it does not move. Accepting your destiny is the fastest route to happiness. As they say in India, “Ram knows best.”

Happy new year.

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

Deepak Chopra and the happiness formula

Mariellen — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 12:50:50 +0000

Deepak Chopra at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto

Thanks to MyBindi, and about 25 Facebook friends, I won front-row tickets to see Deepak Chopra at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto — and I also won seats from Zoomer Media, which I gave to well-deserving friends. Almost two years ago, I wrote a blog post about why I admire Deepak Chopra, and how I feel we have the same mission, which is Sharing India’s wisdom with the world.

Deepak Chopra walked very simply on an almost-empty stage wearing jeans, thick-soled boots, a black jacket and jeweled glasses. With no fanfare whatsoever, he began speaking directly to the audience in a straightforward and down-to-earth manner. He spoke extemporaneously for about 90 minutes, with ease, intelligence and an absolute grasp of his material.

The happiness formula

From the outset, he began building his case for a spiritual understanding of life using largely scientific facts, medical research and quotes from famous scientists, mathematicians and physicists. In other words, he knows his audience – westerners – need a rational and scientific approach to convince them.

In my case, he was preaching to the choir. And though I was relieved and delighted to discover that science is finally catching up to the ancient wisdom of the rishis, yogis and sages of India, I personally don’t need the findings of a medical study or renowned astro-physicist to convince me of the truth of what Dr. Chopra was presenting.

In essence, he said:
- the mind is not in the brain, it is everywhere in the body
- there is a formula for happiness, and we can choose to be happy
- the two best ways to learn to become happy are through cognitive therapy (change your thinking patterns) and meditate
- you can change the structure of your brain, it is called neuroplasticity
- there’s much more to happiness than pure pleasure; to be truly happy you need to be on a spiritual journey – you need to discover your true identity, who you really are: this is the path to enlightenment
- the brain and the body are not structures, they are processes
- we are always in the process of becoming, the body is in the field of impermanence; suffering arises from addiction to permanence in the field of impermanence
- the only aspect of your being that is real is the part of you that is the listener; the part that is pure consciousness
- the universe arises from nothing and at the most fundamental level is a field of pure possibility
- definition of god: everything is created in consciousness
- your own consciousness is the vortex; you need to be a conscious observer to manifest the universe
- science’s biggest mystery – the hard problem – currently is perception (how do we experience the world?)
- best quote of the evening was about the science of perception: “Something unknown is doing we don’t know what”
- the upshot is: we are all part of the same consciousness and we’re all creating the universe – our reality – all the time

Deepak Chopra at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto

This is why yoga (meditation) and intentionality are so important: yoga says, and has always said, your body is made of light, you can change yourself; and the ultimate truth is that you are one with everything. You change your relationship with time by being present and you can change your biology through meditation.

To give the audience a demonstration, he walked us through a guided meditation. The acoustically engineered hall was as quiet as a tomb while we all spent some minutes quietly meditating. It was a refreshing experience.

Consciousness is a singular, it has no plural

I was very gratified that Dr. Chopra gave the wisdom of India, yoga, the Vedantic tradition and teachers like J. Krishnamurti their due. He ended the talk be deviating away from science, medicine and physics to talk about following a yogic way of life, to present a concept of non-duality, to reiterate that the whole universe is in every object of our perception and that we are all part of a divine consciousness. There is no such thing as death; death is just “the offs between the ons.”

I love that he said, live the questions and life will move you into the answers. And I loved his presentation of yoga: the yoga of feeling is LOVE; the yoga of being is MEDITIATION, the yoga of thinking is CREATIVITY and the yoga of doing is SERVICE.

One of my favourite quotes of the evening was from Krishnamurti: “The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judging yourself.”

At the end of the talk Dr. Chopra introduced a woman from the Toronto-based office of his foundation, Wellworld.org and he signed books in the lobby. I asked him to sign the newspaper article that he wrote in the Times of India and that I keep on my fridge as inspiration (the article I mention in my blog post, Sharing India’s wisdom with the world).

Power to the people

It was a very satisfying evening. I wish I had taken a picture of the audience – the large, luxurious hall was full and though some may have come to see a celebrity, in the end, it was an evening of spiritual teachings.

Dr. Chopra has been in for his share of criticism, but I have never really understood. It seems he is criticized for making money and attaining celebrity, as if that somehow invalidates his teachings. To me, it is more important what he does with his fame and his money. He seems to use it to create foundations, to teach, to speak, to write books and arrange conferences, like his upcoming Sages and Scientists conference.

Perhaps he should be doing more to make his teachings accessible to people who can’t afford a ticket to Roy Thomson Hall, or can’t afford to buy his books. But that’s really none of my business. In my estimation, the good that Dr. Chopra has done by spreading messages of positivity and empowering spirituality in a language that westerners can understand and grasp far, far outweighs any judgments about his LA lifestyle, famous friends or expensive glasses. If he came onstage in a white robe and flowing beard, he would be labeled a nut and attract only a fringe audience. He has figured out how to teach the same thing that the yogis of India teach, but to a mass audience of educated westerners. More power to him.

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

Top 5 myths about India

Mariellen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 01:19:10 +0000

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?

This is what I have come to believe through my own experiences and those of many people I know: India will mirror back to you your own attitude, feelings, prejudices, barriers and limitations – and India will evoke your higher self, too. It can be very painful to see how impatient, judgmental, middle-class, naïve and unkind you can be! And very uplifting to discover your compassion, open-mindedness and spiritual awareness.

But I really do believe India knows best. India is like a guru who gives you the experiences you need to move you along your path. I often say that going to India is like that scene in Star Wars when Yoda sends Luke into the cave. Luke asks, “what will I find there?” and Yoda answers, “only what you bring in with you.” So if you are afraid, you will have scary experiences. And if you are open and trusting (within reason), you will find kind, helpful people who can really help smooth over the unavoidable challenges to travel in India.

Myth #2: India is a country

Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

India is often called the subcontinent, and there’s a reason. It is more like a continent or the European Union than a country like Canada, which is fairly homogenous from one end to the other, multiculturalism, natives and Newfies notwithstanding.

In fact, not so long ago – before and even during the Raj, the British colonial period – India was a nation of princely states, not unlike the city states of Italy; and before that, powerful rulers – who often attained that power through conquest and invasion – reigned over vast tracts of the country. The result is that India is an extremely diverse nation. As you travel from one part of the country to another, you meet people with very different linguistic, cultural and even ethnic backgrounds. In the south, the people are descended from the Dravidian culture. In the north, which was subject to many more waves of invaders and conquerors, the people are of Aryan descent. Rajputs from Rajasthan are about as similar to the Christians of Goa as an English peer is to a Greek fisherman.

There are 14 official languages – each state has its own official language – and just about every religion the world has to offer. Four of the world’s great religions were born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Today, the vast majority – about 82% – are Hindus, but with a population of 1.2 billion, that still means that the other religions are well represented. Islam, with 12% of the population, has 144 million followers.

So don’t expect the food, language or customs to remain static as you travel. In the north, wheat is commonly eaten as bread (naan, poori, roti, parantha, chapati, etc.); in the south it’s all about rice. In the north many people speak Hindi – but in the south, very few.

Fishermen in Kerala

Myth #3: Yoga is a system of exercises

Yoga was lost in translation. It did not survive the transatlantic voyage. What we have in the west is but a shadow of yoga’s full stature. You are forgiven for not knowing this; I also did not know until I went to India to study yoga.

Shiva, god of yoga, in Rishikesh, India

Yoga is one of the six schools (darshanas) of Hinduism, and one of the four that adhere to the advaita tradition. This is the belief in one truth, one consciousness, and all is god. Beneath the apparent duality of life – which is illusion, maia – all is one. The point of yoga is to still your mind so that you can become aware of this truth, and act accordingly.

If you did not get this idea from going to a yoga studio in a western country, you would not be alone.

In the classical system of yoga, known as Raja Yoga, there are eight limbs. One of them is asana, or the physical practise of postures. The point of the postures is to create and maintain bodily health so that you have the vigour to follow the other seven limbs, such as meditation.

In one of the most important books of yoga, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, asana is mentioned only three times, while meditation is mentioned many times. Meditation is one of the primary tools for achieving the awareness of truth – thus it is far more “important.”

My teacher in India, Swami Brahmdev, does not teach asana. He answers questions during satsang, chants during evening meditation and founded and runs a beautiful, peaceful, garden-like ashram for people who want to live in a spiritually focused environment. There is an asana teacher at the ashram, but the ashram does not revolve around asana practise. Not at all.

Myth #4: India is poor

Many people in India are materially impoverished compared to middle-class Canadians, but that does not make them poor. I have become very leery of labeling others as poor, disenfranchised and marginalized. I know this is a politically correct thing to do, but it sticks in my craw. Seriously, how dare we? How dare we be so judgmental? And doesn’t that just serve to make so-called “poor, disenfranchised and marginalized” people into victims, further exacerbating any problems they may have? I personally like to believe in my own abilities to survive and overcome, and I resent anyone who tells me I am a disenfranchised woman.

pilgrims watching the sunrise in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India

I have to say my mind was really turned around on this issue by my teacher in India, Swami Brahmdev who said, “Do not judge someone as poor. You do not know how rich a person is inside.” He then went on to tell us about the sweet contentment of the “poor” man who sells vegetables to the ashram and who leads a very simple, but satisfying, life.

In fact, generally speaking, I find the people of India to be on the whole much more content, much warmer and more generous than the materially richer people of the west. I now feel that western spiritual poverty is just as unhealthy and probably a lot more destructive to the planet than material poverty. If everyone on the planet lived that way a middle-class Canadian lived, the world’s resources would be used up by the next Commonwealth Games.

Myth #5: Hinduism is a religion

Krishna at Sivananda Ashram, Kerala, India

Hinduism is the world’s oldest extant religion and has a billion followers, which makes it the world’s third largest religion. But Hinduism is not strictly a religion, as we think of it in the west. It was not founded by one person, it does not have a core doctrine, there is no central authority, it does not require followers to accept any one idea, and no on can agree on when or even where it began.

The origins of Hinduism are lost in time, and are highly disputed. Scholars now believe Hinduism arose as long ago as 10,000 B.C. The earliest of the Hindu scriptures – The Rig Veda – could have been composed before 6,500 B.C. But the word Hinduism itself is not to be found in any of the scriptures. It was named after the people of Sindh, who settled between the rivers Indus and Sindh in what is now Pakistan. The Persians named people of Sindh “Hindus.”

Hinduism is a way of life – known as Dharma, the law that governs action. It is essentially a conglomeration of diverse religious, philosophical, and cultural ideas, beliefs and traditions. “It is characterized by the belief in reincarnation, one absolute being of multiple manifestations, the law of cause and effect, following the path of righteousness, and the desire for liberation from the cycle of births and deaths.” http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/p/hinduismbasics.htm

The principal deities of Hinduism are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, sometimes referred to as the Hindu Trinity. Brahma is thought of as the creator, Vishnu as the sustainer of life, and Shiva is associated with dissolution and death. But many Hindus regard their gods and goddesses as manifestations of the Supreme God, Brahman — and there are as many as 30 million manifestations. After a visit to India, Mark Twain wrote: “India has two million gods, and worships them all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.”

India’s gifts to the world

Sri Ramakrishna, a 19^th century mystic highly revered in India, captured the spirit of Hinduism by saying, “there can be as many spiritual paths as there are spiritual aspirants and similarly there can be as many gods as there are moods, feelings and emotions within the individual believer.”

me in Kerala

Mythologist Joseph Campbell (who I consider to be one of my most influential teachers), expressed the essential difference between the philosophy of Hinduism and the monotheistic religions when he wrote: “The first principle of Indian thought, therefore, is that the ultimate reality is beyond description. It is something that can be experienced only by bringing the mind to a stop; and once experienced, it cannot be described to anyone in terms of the forms of this world. The truth, the ultimate truth, that is to say, is transcendent. It goes past, transcends, all speech, all images, anything that can possibly be said. … it is not only transcendent, it is also immanent, within all things. Everything in the world, therefore, is to be regarded as its manifestation. There is an important difference here between the Indian and the Western ideas. … Hinduism believes in the omnipresence of the Supreme God in every individual. There is no ‘fall.’ Man is not cut off from the divine. He requires only to bring the spontaneous activity of his mind to a state of stillness and he will experience that divine principle within him.”

Finally, historian Arnold Toynbee wrote my favourite description of Hinduism, which sums up what makes it so attractive to me: “There may or may not be only one single absolute truth and only one single ultimate way of salvation. We do not know. But we do know that there are more approaches to truth than one, and more means of salvation than one. … This is a hard saying for adherents of … Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but it is a truism for Hindus. The spirit of mutual good-will, esteem, and veritable love … is the traditional spirit of the religions of the Indian family. This is one of India’s gifts to the world.”

sacred cow in Haridwar, India

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

Collisions with karma

Mariellen — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 02:12:38 +0000

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.

Karma Cola, written by Gita Mehta, was originally published in 1980. The author wrote it in response to the waves of hippies who washed up on India’s shores in the 60s and 70s, to avoid the American draft and the Vietnam War, to follow in the Beatles footsteps in Rishikesh, to find an alternative to the consumer-driven lifestyle of the west and to experience spiritual enlightenment — or at least spiritual understanding (which was — and is — largely absent in western culture, if you ask me).

Karma Cola by Gita Mehta

It’s an entertaining book, full of colourful stories, and she certainly has her own pop-culture-influenced writing style (a bit dated now), but I found her thesis depressing and mean-spirited. The stories in the book describe encounters either she has had, or that she has heard about, between western spiritual seekers and Indian gurus. She seems to think that westerners who travel to India to pursue a spiritual path are gullible at best, and dangerously deluded — to the point of having a fragile grasp on reality — at worst. She shows no compassion for her subjects, no understanding of what might have compelled them to become seekers, and generally no sympathy for the human condition. The book is judgmental and holds to one viewpoint from one end to the other. According to Mehta, people are either idiots (westerners) or charlatans (Indians).

She makes one point that I agree with: it’s very hard for most western minds to understand eastern concepts — they are so fundamentally different. I have seen this phenomenon many times: western yoga students and travelers to India overlaying the western world view with yogic or Hindu ideas. It’s not easy to undergo the fundamental paradigm shift from the dualistic thinking of the west (founded on the notion that you only live once, and therefore must strive to achieve everything you can in this lifetime; and the right-or-wrong view of morality-based religion) to non-dualistic Hindu thinking (based on the notion of reincarnation, the vastness of time and the oneness of the universe).

And I am no exception. Here’s my understanding of karma.

Crowd at the Kumbh Mela, Har-ki-pauri, Haridwar, India

Karma east and west

Karma means action. It is not a reward-and-punishment system; neither is it a cause-and-effect phenomenon. According to the Bhagavad Gita, which is the bible of Hinduism, Krishna instructs Arjuna that he must take his action — his karma — based on his duty — his dharma. He is a prince in the house of Pandava and therefore he must wage war against his cousins, the Kauravas, who are trying to usurp the kingdom. He cannot know or control the fruit of his actions; that is not his responsibility.

Govinda Baba: Toronto-born sadhu at the Kumbh Mela

So Karma is, in a way, based on the actions we take, but not in the straightforward way we might think of it in the west. And your “karma” can be built up over lifetimes. So things happening to me now might be the result of past karma (past actions) taken in a previous lifetime.

I see the difference between east and west largely in the response to the idea of karma. Westerners think they can control karma, so it goads them into action: work out more, be nicer, get up earlier, pay bills on time, work harder, whatever. The ego mind of the westerner springs into action and tries to control the situation, to a desired outcome or effect.

I don’t see the same reaction in India. Indians tend to be more philosophical, more accepting, more resigned you could say. My teacher in India, Swami Brahmdev, would encourage us to increase our consciousness, in other words to learn from the situations we find ourselves in. Not to try and control or change the situations.

But I am still trying to learn this concept, so I am open to more insight — please comment!

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

BreatheDreamGo » Yoga

The 5 spiritual ideas of social media

Social media is a spiritual discipline

1. The law of attraction

2. Letting go of attachment to outcome

3. The moment

4. To give is to get

5. Go with the flow

If you enjoyed this post, you can….

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

Me, Liz and the subcontinent

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

My top travel tip

If you enjoyed this post, you can….

What spirituality is

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

Yoga philosopher tells an ancient story to illustrate a universal truth

Kaushika’s story as told by Ram Vakkalanka

Yoga philosophy from the masters

If you enjoyed this post, you can….

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

India is a teacher; travelers are students

1. Don’t worry, be happy

2. People are good

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

4. God is love

5. Money does not buy happiness

Summary

If you enjoyed this post, you can….

10 top reasons to visit India

Celebrating “Travel that changes you”

Breathedreamgo is taking a new direction

We are here to change, grow and connect

How to meditate: The top story of 2010

Yoga, meditation and spirituality: The 2010 version

My hopes for 2011

The power of intention

Deepak Chopra and the happiness formula

The happiness formula

Consciousness is a singular, it has no plural

Power to the people

Top 5 myths about India

Myth #2: India is a country

Myth #3: Yoga is a system of exercises

Myth #4: India is poor

Myth #5: Hinduism is a religion

India’s gifts to the world

Collisions with karma

On the ghats in Varanasi, India Capturing the concept of karma

Karma east and west

On the ghats in Varanasi, India

Capturing the concept of karma