He who thinks he is the doer, is also the sufferer ~ Shri Ramana Maharshi
Once one begins to acknowledge the identity as rubbish and watches it’s conditioning play out like a movie instead of embodying the role of the identity; there is space between oneself and the identity. By constantly watching all the appearances coming and going on the screen as a witness; the mind is not involved in interpreting every appearance on the screen. For example when a thought or emotion appears as anger towards somebody or an incident – the mind would usually interpret it as an attack, put the identities defences up and add more fuel to the anger by exagerrating the situation. But if the mind is not entertained in that instance and one remains solely as a witness – just watching it merely as an appearance on the screen of conciousness; the anger eventually dies out without the fuel of the mind.
The wise can nohow deem as real a world divided and destroyed by time’s wheel. Whole, eternal, perfect, ever-shining and transcending time and space, such is the nature of reality. Ramana Maharshi
Anything which involves time and space is objective and is experienced as an appearance with a beginning and an end. These appearances can be manifested as emotions – feelings – sensations – sounds – visions – thoughts – people – the weather etc. All of it eventually passes by and does not stay forever. When one dreams at night all the experiences seem very real; sometimes so real that one doesn’t even realise that it’s just a dream while their body is actually in bed unconscious. Similarly everything that one experiences in waking life is also just an appearance on the screen with a linear context as there is a continuation to the dream.
The world that hides the self is but a dream. When the phenomenal world is hidden by the Self’s bright light, Awareness pure, the Self, abides. Ramana Maharshi
So if the linear story of ones waking life is not believed to be real or given any value; as one continuously witnesses the story as it is being played out; at some point the illusory nature of what is seen on the screen becomes evident. Once it’s clear that the images appearing on the screen are not real – then the attention can be shifted towards the only reality that exists – the ultimate watcher – the one in front of which everything appears – the subject. As the attention is directed from what’s seen to the seer- the light of the self shines forth and the world disappears. This light is formless and eternal. It does not come and go, it does not have a date of birth or personalities or characteristics. Just like how a painter cannot be absorbed by its painting – one finds oneself not absorbed by what appears in front of them.
You are the source from which everything appears and disappears.
Let the waves of the universe rise and fall as they will. You have nothing to gain or lose. You are the ocean. Ch-15.11 ~Ashtavakra Gita~
“Your mistake lies in your belief that you are born. You were never born nor will you ever die, but you believe that you were born at a certain date and place and that a particular body is your own” Nisargadatta Maharaj
As we take birth into this world – at the beginning there is no identity at all just a sense of presence.. this pure presence is radiated by every child before they begin to learn how to communicate. Through language the mind comes in to interpret everything absorbed by the 5 senses and gives it some form of meaning. Over time – we are all conditioned to believe that we are a body with a sense of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. We begin to develop a memory with a record of everything that we have picked up from the exposure to our environment being upbringing, schooling, university, work, media, internet etc and over time a whole identity is created with a collection of memories.
This identity belongs to the body which is time bound – it only exists until the body lives. Actually it doesn’t really exist at all – it’s merely an illusion – a mirage. Just like how a rope can be mistaken to be a snake – this body too is mistaken to be real. Imagine yourself playing a game like Grand Theft Auto – where you have forgotten that you are not the character in the game and believe it to be real. Same way we have forgotten that everything we experience in this life is merely a hallucination projected by our senses. In Hinduism they refer to this as “Maya”.
It is important to acknowledge the fact that this identity that is being played out with eons of conditioning and patterns is basically rubbish. The belief that one is a body – that is anything other than God – Source – the One Infinite Creator is not true. Even the very quest of self realisation establishes the existence of a seeker which is really just another identity. It is important to disassociate with all these identities playing out and stop entertaining all the mind games which come with that.
By acknowledging all this rubbish (the identity) that one believes to be true as bullshit; one is free from having to bear all the burdens of personhood. One can drop all the luggage which one is holding on to for no reason and just be free.
The fool who knows he’s a fool is that much wiser. The fool who thinks he’s wise is a fool indeed ~ Buddha
Being as artisan, I like to collect raw materials from my travel destinations around the world – From Nepal I wanted to find the source of Rudrakshas. From a little research I did on Rudrakshas I read somewhere that they traditionally come from the forests around the Kali Gandaki River. Researching more into the Kali Gandaki River I come across a place called Muktinath which is meant to be a pilgrimage destination for all Hindus and Buddhist. I told Jimmy and Brett about this and they too were quite intrigued about this place.
We speak with the people at Freedom Cafe and they tell us that we need to take a bus to Beni and then another bus from Beni will take us straight to Muktinath. This sounds quite straight forward to us so we find ourselves on the 1st bus to Beni.
We arrive in Beni and find it quite dull and boring.. have thali for dinner and decide to go to bed early so we can catch the 1st bus out of there to Muktinath anticipating an exciting new destination to relax at the end of next day. The next day we get up, eat breakfast and get on the 1st bus we found to Muktinath – the bus driver told us that there isnt really a direct bus and that we will need to catch another bus from Tatopani. Okay this was news that its not 1 direct bus but two buses to Muktinath but still find it quite okay knowing that we should be there by the end of the day.
The journey begins and Brett – Jimmy and I are on a bus driving on a very scary one lane road which can only handle one vehicle at a time – but the journey is amazingly scenic.
Tatopani
We arrive at Tatopani and then get on another bus towards Dana.
Hot Springs at Tatopani – photo credit: Greg Willis
Tato in Nepali means Hot and Pani means water hence the village is named after the beautiful hot springs it is situated near.
Beautiful views from Tatopani
We keep walking from Tatopani towards our next bus. We get on our next bus and at one point everyone has to get off the bus as it is too heavy to cross over a landslide. The bus has to go back reverse a long way and come back in full speed to finally make it over the landslide. Here’s a video:
After passing a huge waterfall as we get closer to Dana – there happens to be a huge landslide not allowing the bus to move forward any more. Now this is something I definitely was NOT EXPECTING… we all have no choice now but to walk and cross the village to find another bus to take us to Ghasa.
All these unexpected surprises is starting to get outside my comfort zone – but lets face it – its a bit of walking but look around you – the amazing paradise you have manifested yourself in.. how can you ruin your mood with this lil’ hiccup just ‘cuz you dont like walking? So I take a deep breath – and soak in some beautiful Himalayan mountain energy and keep walking towards the Ghasa. After all Magic does happen outside your comfort zone doesn’t it?
Ghasa
After a good two hours of walking – we finally find ourselves in Ghasa. Its almost the end of the day now – we are exhausted and we decide to spend the night here and make our way to Muktinath the next day. My mind up until now was always focussed on the destination which was Muktinath – but arriving at Ghasa I realise once again the essence behind the famous saying “Its not about the destination but about the journey”
Following morning – we go and sussed out the bus situation and find out that the next bus leaves at noon.. we decide to start walking anyway to get on the bus when it arrives – as we keep walking there happens to be a checkpoint just past Ghasa where some security guards ask us to show them our trekking permits.. We had no idea what he meant by that and we told them that we don’t have any. So then they replied that we need to Pay Rs. 8000 for two tourist passes and Rs. 1500 for a local pass as Indians are not considered tourists. Normally the permits costs Rs. 2000 for tourists but since we failed to get it before the checkpoint we had to pay double. So please remember to make sure that you have your permits before you set foot into the Annapurna Range.
That hiccup now costs us most of the money that we have on us before we get access to the next atm. We get our passes and start walking around towards Marpha hoping to manifest an ATM somewhere along the way. As we keep walking we come across two travelers Jitka and Andre from Czech Republic. They told us that they have 2 friends whom they are hoping to meet at Marpha. The four of us start walking towards Marpha and at some point a bus finally arrives behind us which we get on.
Marpha Valley
We get off at Marpha along with Andre and Jitka and quite spontaneously decide to spend another night there instead of traveling more. We meet their friends Lalit and Wally at Neeru Guest House.
Photo Credits: James
I highly recommend visit Neeru Guest house while you are visiting Marpha. The owner is a very lovely lady and a beautiful host. We try the locally brewed apple ciders here and really love it. The food here is absolutely lip smacking.
Marpha is known as the Apple Capital of Nepal is full of apple orchards where the apples are used to make apple cider vinegar, apple ciders, Jams.
Nyingma Monastry is one of the only tourist attractions of Marpha Valley besides the beautiful valley itself.
Photo Credits: Jitka Cardova
Photo Credits: Jitka Cardova
Photo Credits: Gerd Eichmann
The Streets of Marpha Valley
Mar means hardworking and Pha is people so the Marpha is basically named after the hardworking locals who live there.
Locals of Marpha Valley
This place is less touristy than Jhomsom which is only a 5 km trek from here. I would recommend having a stop over here instead of Jhomsom as its much more prettier and the locals are much nicer as well.
Jhompsom
Next day we start walking towards Jhompsom where at last we find an ATM..
View from Marpha to Jhompsom
Relieved to have found a cash machine we go out shopping – only to find out much later that the ATMs are all cashed out and to make things worse we need to pay for another three permits to move forward from Jhomsom.
So our options were to either spend the night in Jhomsom until the ATMs are cashed up or sneak out of there.. We take the 2nd option – we tell the guards that our friends are waiting at the Bob Marley cafe who have the cash so to let us through for 1/2 hour and ask them to keep my pancard as security.
We get through the check point and meet our new friends at Bob Marley cafe and decide to keep walking towards Kagbeni. Lalit tells us that he can loan us some money and we can pay him back later and so we continue our journey on foot..
After about 3 hours of walking – a tractor passes by and we all raise our hands for a ride – we get on but the journey was quite bouncy.. He drops us off about 2 hours of walking time before Kagbeni.
We found a ride yay!
Kagbeni
We finally arrive at Kagbeni after 6 hours of walking and hitchhiking and spend the night at a hotel which was previously a monastery. It’s called Red House Lodge. After having lovely thalis – we pass out to wake up to a beautiful morning.
This is my view from the rooftop of Red House Lodge.
What I love about the Annapurna Ranges is how the prayer flags add so much colour to the landscape. These pictures actually dont really do justice.
So far from all the villages – Kagbeni is my favourite. I am completely taken aback from the breath taking views.
When you look at the stones closely there are Buddhist Scriptures carved on it.
After lunch – we decide to leave Kagbeni and keep walking towards Muktinath
This is what Kagbeni looks like when you are further up.
Annapurna in all its majesty!
Zoomed in..
Muktinath
We finally made it to Muktinath
Muktinath is a sacred place for Buddhists and Hindus which means “place of liberation”.
The Muktinath Temple is considered to be a Shakti Peetha for a yatra. Shakti Peethas are sacred abodes of Shakti (primordial cosmic energy), formed by the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Lord Shiva carried it and wandered. ( Wikipedia)
We take our blessings from this sacred place and then the six of us split into threeways – Jitka and Andre keep walking to complete the full circuit – Brett, Wally and Lalit decide to take the jeep back to Pokhara – Jimmy and me decide to walk all thew way back to Beni – via a small village called Jarkot.
Jarkot
Jimmy and me take a 5 hour trekking route from Muktinath to Jarkot which I find a little bit challenging but not too bad since it was 50% downhill. As you start to get closer towards Jarkot – we look at the ground to see that it is very shiny. We look closer and pick up one of the stones to realise that they are actually crystals. This spot is full of all kinds of crystals – this completely blows me away.
Getting closer and closer to our destination – we come across a river – with a really strong current. Only way to cross over a 1 foot by 12 foot wooden plank. Our option is to either cross it or head back all the way where we came from..
It was definitely dangerous but kind of adventurous .. but I dont recommend any one to try this as it can be life threatening!
Welcome to Jharkot
The little temple was a beautiful entrance to the village
This is a real mission to get to – but it is completely worth it to be here.
Life here is pretty self sustainable. It might be very minimalistic – but they have the luxury of fresh organic food and really clean air.
There are many caves on the opposite side of the village.
Beautiful locals of Jharkot
Local Buddha.
Streets of Jharkot
The carvings on these stones are more visible as the colour is not yet faded.
This is how chickens are transported here.
Way back on foot.
So I didnt come across any rudrakshas but I found my spirit. Before this trip – my laziness would not allow me to walk for more than 1 km MAX – ask Jimmy – I was the biggest wuss – but on the way back I was adamant to walk the parts that I missed while I took the bus on the way in.
Thankyou – Shiva.
After spending about 6 weeks in Had Yuan – Coh Pan Gan in Thailand. It was time for some serenity in the Himalayas in Nepal. Plan was to spend two weeks exploring all of Nepal and then making our way down to North India.
We arrived in Kathmandu on the 1st day of Shravan which is is the 5th month of the Hindu calendar. Known as the month of Shiva, Shravan is regarded to be the holiest month of the year and this time is considered to be auspicious for religious festivities and ceremonies. Usually all the babas from India start their pilgrimage to renowned Hindu temples such as Pashupatinath, Barinath and Muktinath in Nepal. Brett and me felt blessed to step foot into the City of Temples at such an auspicious time.
Kathmandu also known as the City of Temples is the capital of Nepal and the most densely populated city in Nepal. Kathmandu was very relaxed as compared to India and I fell in love with how there are hundreds of temples scattered all over Kathmandu giving the city a traditional touch…
Photo Credit: Magnus Manske
We stayed in Thamel while we were in Kathmandu which is the most popular junction in Nepal. Flying in from New Delhi Kathmandu’s hustle bustle still felt 10 times more serene than India – Thamel being one of the busiest streets in all of Nepal was quite relaxing to stay in. However when we went to Kathmandu from Pokhara we definitely didn’t feel the same way.
Stupa of Bothnath Temple
Pashupathinath
After a few days in Kathmandu we made our way to Pokhara which is a 6-8 hour bus ride away – we got on the bus at 8 am in the morning and arrived Pokhara by 4 in the afternoon. As we got closer and closer to Pokhara – time began to go slower and slower.
As we arrived at lakeside Pokhara we were stuck in this mesmerizing wormhole where it felt like time literally stoped. The gardens around Pokhara are filled with thousands of fireflies which makes the twilight time after sunset even more magical. I have seriously never saw so many fire flies like that in Pokhara. It is also surrounded by many waterfalls – the locals are actually more accustomed to bathing on a regular basis in the waterfalls instead of their houses.. Hows amazing right? I’d love to have such a lifestyle where my usual shower is amazing pristine water from the Himalayas except of the winters!
The Lake midst the Himalayas
Beautiful colorful boats
You can also take a ride in the innumerable boats all along lakeside or go kayaking – the water is really still so its quite a peaceful experience to explore the lake on a kayak. If you find yourself exploring the lake on a boat of a kayak – make sure to visit to the hidden waterfall on the opposite side.
There is a temple in the middle of the lake that you MUST VISIT. For me this temple visit was a really sublime experience which invoked a stillness within me which words cannot describe.
The perfect time to visit would be around sunset to catch the ‘Aarti’ which is the routine ceremony to worship the Goddess Durga.
Pokhara is full of restaurants with very yummy food – one place that I highly recommend is Silk Road which not only serves very yummy food and cocktails but also has amazing live music. Check out the vibe in the video below:
After revisiting the Daintrees – we left Hannah at Cairns and kept moving towards Townsville past Mission Beach. Just before we left – some fellow travelers told us about a waterfall called Murray Falls that we just could not miss before we make our way towards the center of Australia. They told us that they met many people there who were also heading towards the center for the 21st Dec 2012 end of the world gathering.
So Murray Falls was obviously the next destination on our list. We arrive at Murray Falls to meet our family on wheels towards the center of Australia. This spot is amazing and a must go for all waterfall lovers.
Murray Falls – Photo Credits: Uwe Dedering
So we drive into Girramay National Park – to see a bunch of nudist hippies lying around – drawing, painting, making henna tattoos and just being outright crazy. They had solar powered speakers blaring out music which really amused me when it occurred to me that these hippies really seem to have their shit together.
They had an abundance of food that they picked up from dumpster dives and 2 (which later became 3) of the cars were running on vegetable oil. These guys were pirates breaking free from the system just doing whatever they felt like doing.. which shocked me a little to begin but at the same time something I found quite interesting.
We spent two nights with them at Murray Falls and then we went back to Cairns to pick up Hannah again. It was great to have her back on road and then our next stop was Townsville. Our convoy had about 6 vehicles which increased to about 9 in townsville.
Pitstop in Townsville – Bindikats jeep was being converted to veggie oil while we were getting the Eagle ready for the big deserted drive between Townsville and Alice-springs. A journey of about 2100 kms. The Eagle was not doing very well at all – the engine kept overheating and and it was chewing way too much gas. We got an mileage of 2kms per liter and the car kept breaking down every time we raised it above 70km/hr. After meeting several mechanics – we felt a little more confident but not so much but we were really grateful to have Rex and Peter who are two awesome mechanics in the convoy which gave us the assurance to just keep going.
So the journey begins – nervous but excited at the same time – we find ourselves driving on an never ending straight road with beautiful skies during the day and endless streams of shooting stars at night. It was truly magical and its only just the beginning.
Next stop was Mount Isa where the Eagle completely ran out of fuel. One of our mates needed to go back to the closest fuel station and fill two jerry cans so we could resume. When our mates got back with the fuel – they woke us up to show us 3 Eagles going round and round in circles right above us and then they present to us some dead eagles… which was really bizarre. I guessing one of the cars on the highway hit a kangaroo and the eagles were probably eating that and all got killed by another car. I did a little meditation to relieve their souls and we kept going.
Roadhouse on the way
Pittstop
Next stop after Mt Isa was Tenent Creek near which is a really scenic destination called Devil’s Rocks which is really similar to Hampi in India.
A storm brewing at Devils Rocks
After Devil’s Rocks – was Wycliff Well which is claimed to be a UFO capital of Australia. I think its just a tourist gimmick to get more people to visit it.
UFO Zone at Wycliff Well
After that stop – we are only 380 kms away from Alice Springs which was broken down with a stop at a Roadhouse called Barrows Creek and overnight stay at Aileron.
Eagle syncronicity
Owner of GFD happens to have a pet eagle
The next destination at last was Alice Springs!!! We made it but the Eagle collapsed and we had to rent a car to catch up with the rest of the crew at Trorala – Gosse Bluff Conservation Reserve.
And we made it to our final destination – on time to celebrate the end of an era and the beginning of a new one…
On the 22nd of Dec 2012 – we visited Red Rock Canyon – and I was completely blown away from this place. Its one of my favorite travel destinations and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Alice Springs. A climbers paradise – if you love climbing you will love this spot specially because you can climb up to the caves hundreds of meters high. Since this spot is right in midst of the desert – the weather is really hot and dry – but if you can make it to the oasis where the water body is which is about 1/2 hour walk from the car park you will find the water so super chilled and its the most amazing dip to escape the heat in Alice Springs.
Christmas by far has been my favorite Christmas of all times!! It was at an oasis called Ellery Creek Big Hole. Another spot you must NOT miss if you visit Alice Springs. Loads of climbing to do here aswell and if you can swim past all the way as far as you can go – there is a mini beach with really rich mud that you can cover your body with and sunbathe for hours before you get back into the water again. So for Xmas – we obviously got the solar powered speakers pumping out awesome tunes and all of us brought out all our goodies to munch on and just have the time of our lives. I am sure everyone present there agrees with me (;
Ellery Creek Big Hole, West MacDonnell Ranges – [http://www.flickr.com/photos/princeroy/2080876234/in/set-72157603344330983 Prince Roy’s Flickr] |Author=|Author=[http://www.princeroy.org Prince R
The year is 2012 – and the Mayans are predicting the end of the world counting down to the midnight of 21st Dec 2012. Meanwhile Brett and me are been gearing ourselves up to take off. I quit uni at the start of the year and then I find someone to replace my position as the Head of Accounts and Administration at my job to hand it all over to Ken! Brett too gives up his some of his shares in his company over to his two business partners to say good-bye – once and for all to this “corporate lifestyle”. Its October now – and Brett and me are leaving on a jet plane off to Brisbane and two trains to finally get to Eumandi – to pick up our new portable home – “The Eagle”
The Eagle
Our kitchen
Our bed..
As we arrive in Eumandi we get a call from the mechanic who was adding a new engine to make the eagle as good as new – asking us to not arrive yet – that he has discovered some major problems that need to be fixed. Brett and me just have two pairs of clothes as our plan was to get to Eumandi pick up the Eagle and drive back to Melbourne to quickly pack up and leave for Cairns via the Blue Mountains near Sydney where we were booked in for Vipassana.
So with two pairs of clothes – we are stuck here in Eumandi – until the Eagle is good to go – the previous owners Tim and Sally put us up at their house and cooked us some amazing food. Tim told us that there happens to be a vipassana centre just 1/2 an hour away from where they live in Pomona and we could just transfer there instead of the Blue Mountains.
So we head off to Pomona to embark our journey with a 10 day silent meditation – Vipassana. Here I am introduced to the notion of ‘annica’ – which means impermanence or change -is drilled into my head of not having any cravings for anything to be a certain way – or any aversions to way things are as they stand. Having harnessed the power of equanimity – I start my journey feeling limitless and free – confident to face anything and everything that can come my way. Little did I know what the universe had in line for me!
Vipassana at Pomona
We have our portable home and we have just completed Vipassana – next mission is heading back to Melbourne – and coming back all the way past Brisbane to head to Cairns – for a 7 day solar eclipse party. We have 1 week to drive to complete about 4200 kms..
He looks tired doesnt he?
We make it to Melbourne (1600 kms) in 48 hours – really knackered and delirious. Now we need to pack and make our way back to Cairns which is another 2000kms.. Good news is that we are not on our own – Jason and Terry will be joining us!!! The drive back is definitely exciting – except for 1 fact – the eagle is not feeling too well – and she needs a doctor! Every 200 kms we find ourselves rushing into the driveway of the nearest mechanic to give her a doze of his magic to keep her going. About 400 kms from Cairns.. 4/5th of the way the Eagle broke down and could not move any further! Here is where the universe is definitely forcing me to apply the principles of Vipassana. I must not crave my lovely portable home and I must not have an aversion to a rented car. Embracing the fact that at least we have the option of a rented car to take us to our party we jump ship and finally make it 1 day late to Cairns for a very exciting 6 days!
One of the most magical festival that I have ever been to – there are some memories that will never leave my mind such as watching the 3 shooting stars as Fat Freddy’s Drop was playing live – the main dance floor after the eclipse – the chill stage which was full of crystals – the tree art house art decor that you could climb on and the eclipse itself!!
We all gathered together at about 5 in the morning and found a comfy spot on the mountain.. The sun rose.. the birds started chirping and it was really like any other ordinary day. The sun was shining brightly in the sky and when we looked at the sun through our eclipse glasses – you could see part of the sun slightly covered in black. Over the next hour – this shade over the sun grew larger – as the moon began to come closer the sun. As this happened I felt the temperature dropping as it became colder while the daylight reduced to sheer darkness. The birds became silent and when you looked at the sun – you could see that it is completely covered by the moon – it was pitch dark and all you could see in the sky was this:
I heard someone say at a festival – that once you witness an eclipse – you never want to miss another one ever again – and I feel like I definitely would agree with that. Maybe its something about the feminine energies of the moon uniting with the masculine solar energies which brings out within you some form of an orgasmic awakening which can never really be described by words.. its something you have to witness for yourself to know what I am really talking about. But you could definitely feel a certain kind of ecstasy from that experience.
Empire of Love – Photo Credit – Jess Dales
By the end of all of it – I was just glad that I made it 🙂
Time.is.happenin
Byronfilm.com
Guerillabyte Media Resources
Shot on 5Dmk3 by Oliver Claude Buckworth and Sean Patrick McAuliffe
Edited by Sean Patrick McAuliffe
Music-
SWAMPRATT
OFRO – soundcloud.com/rohithabraham
TEMPLE STEP PROJECT- soundcloud.com/temple-step-project
Special thanks to MoonArt Collective – moonartscollective.com/
Shrine On – shrineon.com/
The Bongo Bus – threeworlds.com.au/l
Auroville has been in the making since more than 40 years and is founded in the memory of legendary freedom fighter Sri Aurobindo. The birth of Sri Aurobindo takes place in Kolkatta in the year 1872 after which he spends a significant part of his early life in UK. After coming back he is based in Vadodara where he works as a personal assistant to the Maharaja of Vadodara; whilst being a writer where he writes a series of articles to a weekly in Pune called “New Lamps for Old” expressing very revolutionary ideas. Sri Aurobindo infact is a revolutionary and ends up in jail for being so where he begins to practice Yoga and Pranayana which initiates some kind of an awakening within him.
This awakening is expressed by Sri Aurobindo via his poem Adwaita:
Adwaita
I walked on the high-wayed Seat of Solomon
Where Shankaracharya’s tiny temple stands
Facing Infinity from Time’s edge, alone
On the bare ridge ending earth’s vain romance.
Around me was a formless solitude:
All had become one strange Unnamable,
An unborn sole Reality world-nude,
Topless and fathomless, for ever still.
A Silence that was Being’s only word,
The unknown beginning and the voiceless end
Abolishing all things moment-seen or heard,
On an incommunicable summit reigned,
A lonely Calm and void unchanging Peace
On the dumb crest of Nature’s mysteries.
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo makes his way to Pondicherry in 1910 where he spends most of his time meditating and “establishing himself in awareness, which he termed ‘supramental’ and to assist everyone around him to achieve this level of awareness” (Dua, 2004). Mira Richard also known as Mother – joins him in 1914 and devotes her life to Sri Aurobindo, Auroville and of-course to enlightenment.
Founded on February 28, 1968 – The Foundation of Auroville – a township named after Sri Aurobindo is a living embodiment based on the ideals of Sri Aurobindo.
Today earthlings from all over the world gather in Auroville to reside in the awareness that Sri Aurobindo writes about in his poem Adwaita. These earthlings are known as Aurovillians where they have found a nest around the Matrimandir. The Matrimandir is a golden circular dome surrounded by twelve petals. Inside within the center is a big crystal bowl on which one ray of sunlight enters from the top of the dome that allows the Matrimandir to be lit up with natural lighting. When you enter this divine space it’s meant to be pin drop silence where all you can hear is the inner stillness of peace and serenity if the universe wills it. Its architecture is based on sacred geometry and it resonates a really intense energy (in my experience) which is radiated for a circumference of upto 5 kms around the Matrimandir.
Auroville – Matrimandir
Google Maps view of the Matrimandir
Being the idealist that I am; discovering Auroville – is a dream come true. As a student of Global Studies – my dream is to see a world where all is one – where we are not identified by our religions, our nationality, our skin color or our wealth. Most people would argue that this dream cannot be true and is quite unrealistic. Like John Lennon’s legendary song – “Imagine” I guess I am a dreamer and am so very delighted to have found in my dream a place like Auroville.
An Initiation
So it is the end of the year of 2010 and my boyfriend Brett’s birthday is coming up and I am very keen on making a visit to Auroville as I had heard that it a place that attracts many spiritual seekers. Brett and me thus find ourselves in a car being driven to Pondicherry from Bangalore – I really would not recommend this drive to anyone as the roads happen to be really bumpy and a single lane highway with way too much traffic. This is back in 2010 so maybe it’s different now.
Pondicherry being a colony occupied by the french in the past still retains its french charisma from those colonial days where even now the streets names are french. We spend a night there and the next day we make our way to Auroville. As we register ourselves to visit the Matrimandir – the gentleman notices Brett’s date of birth on his i.d and tells us that if you happen to be in Auroville for your birthday you have the privilege to go and meditate in Sri Aurobindos private chambers. Brett is really determined to do this as he knows that it is meant to be and it makes sense why we are here now (I swear I never planned for this).
So the next day we make our way to Sri Aurobindos personal chambers and while we are waiting on the stairs outside his room for the doors to open – the healing has already begun for Brett where he begins to feel all forms of intense energies. We are then escorted to enter Sri Aurobindo’s room – where we spend about 15 mins sitting down silently and meditating. Once we get out it seems like Brett has received a direct initiation from Sri Aurobindo because he is completely knocked out – he is feeling nauseous, light headed, hot and cold at the same time and a range of other sensations. We head back to the hotel room and he starts purging and his body temperature is high, body is tense and everything is coming out.. from everywhere… Looking at him I sense that he needs some healing or a massage or something that can help transmute whatever he is going through and so I start surfing the web for healers in Auroville and I find out about about this place called “Quiet Healing Center”. I ring them and explain to them what Brett is going through and they tell me that they have a couple of healers and masseuses coming in a various times and they recommend one who is does deep tissue massage as well as sound healing with singing bowls and vocals that can help Brett. Sounds too good to be true and divinely perfect so I go ahead and book an appointment with this healer and a room for ourselves to stay there while Brett’s “processing” is being complete.
While Auroville happened to be a very powerful experience for Brett – for me I find myself basking in waves of intense electric energy where I am just soaking it all in. It is similar to an experience of receiving pranic healing or reiki but ten times stronger than any healing I have ever received in my entire life.
Locals on the beach outside Quiet Healing Center.
Bibliography:
Dua, Shyam. The Lumunous Life of Sri Aurobindo. Delhi: Tiny Tot Publications, 2004. Print.
Turiya Tatyana 
