We all met at 2pm in the afternoon on February 21 to make our way across to the other side of Mother Ganga River in the continuance of studies with Mother Maya held at her Guruji's ashram, Dayananda Vedanta Ashram.
Bags abound were carefully placed in the rickshaws that were to be manually carried by the porters. These men are small, strong, sinewy and with a light of happiness and joy in their eyes. Off we went leaving the glory of Parmath Niketan Ashram and the profound experience of the International Ayurveda & Yoga Conference in our hearts and memories.
The journey to the travel bus, hired for our time with Mother Maya, was on an uphill back road and we assisted the porters by pushing from behind as the weight of our bags was immense. Monkeys abound with no fear to close in on the baggage carts that awaited at the top of the hill! Mother's with their little ones holding on tight swung from tree to tree and joined their community of monkeys hanging out on the brick walls surrounding the road. Such humour in watching their sparkle and ease in approaching for the odd banana and snatching anything lose or bags that were easy to carry!
The travel bus followed the windy road up, up and up further still, with views of Mother Ganga in the distance and the town of Rishikesh in all it's busyness. The street taking us down into the ashram was sooooo narrow one wondered if we would need to levitate the rest of the way there! How would it be possible to moneuveur our way past the goats, the cows, the rickshaws and the sounds of laughter from the children beholding these western faces!
Well, we did arrive and rooms were arranged. Bags unloaded and a much needed rest on the bed to acclimitize for the next five days of wonderment... We were all given private rooms which was really lovely and I set up my altar first thing and smugged the room with fresh sage I brought from home as well as lit my beautiful beeswax candle while initiating this time with some Vedic chants.
Orientation shared the outline of the journey ahead and the Guru protocol as well as the protocol while here as a vistor to the ashram. Distance was to be kept from the Swami's and Swamini's as well as the Vedic priests and pranams (the bowing forward and touching of the right foot with the right hand while stating 'Om' or 'Hari Om') as a sign of respect offered to all that were met.
A sample of our daily schedule as follows -
Morning snenum (dip in Mother Ganga) - 330am - 430am
Early morning Tea/ Coffee - 430am onwards
Morning Temple Puja & Arati- 515am - 615am
Breakfast- 730am
Wise Earth Ayurveda Japa Meditation with Mother – 8am – 830am
Vedanta Discourse: Living Ahimsa with Mother – 900am -1030am
Lunch- Noon - 100pm
Pilgrimage to Sacred Sites -100pm -500pm
Afternoon Tea/ Coffee -300pm
Evening Temple Puja & Arati- 600pm - 700pm
Dinner- 730pm
Although Morning and Evening Arati at the Ashram were not compulsory for us to attend, Mother strongly encouraged that we make it a point to attend these profound Vedic ceremonies. She did not wish us to miss such a unique opportunity to offer the necessary sankalpa for our and our family’s wellbeing. It is rare to find the perfection of Shakti (awakening of Mother Divine power) with which the Pujaris (Vedic priests) of Pujya Swami Dayananda’s Ashram conduct these ancient rites.
On our first day out, February 22, we visited two Devi temples that were divine and that are connected by rope bridges - Manasa Devi and Chandi Devi in Hardwar: Although, over the recent years, Hardwar has become a tourist hot spot with people selling everything on the promenade as you venture in to the city. We also took Arati at the Mother Ganges in Hardwar, a holy city where thousands of Hindus gather every evening to receive the Darshana of the Goddess Ganga. We had the opportunity to join in the offering by floating a dipa on a sacred leaf down the Ganges River. It was heavenly and it is hard to capture the words with which I can express such a moving experience...
The evening Satsanga with Mother (on 2 evenings) 8:00pm-9:00pm was always enjoyable to ask all the necessary questions that one had been holding onto.
Our pilgrimage, while in the Holy City of Rishikesh, was in seeking the Darshana of Lord Shiva. We will visit Neelkanth (Nilakantha)-a very famous and sacred temple of Lord Shiva, located approximately s 25 kilometers by road (or a 10 kilometer hike).
The second Shakti Pitham we also visited, on another day, was Kunjapuri: A most serene Shakti Pitham, located approximately 32 kilometers from Rishikesh which Mother visited and blessed and took the Darshana of the Goddess many years ago.
The sites all held such a powerful feeling of peace and once again the winding roads were unimaginable in regards to how we managed to reach the top unscathed! For the most part I was concerned about the brakes on the way down!
Mornings on the Ganga River chanting with my japa mala set the day and more and more the time with Mother and the other Sadhakas opened my heart and mind to a remembrance of my dharma here in this life - to help and be of service to others...
The days cumilnated with a morning group photo of all Sadhakas and Mother Maya before she headed off to her next place of duty... Mother has booked our studies for next year here at the ashram from March 16 - 29, 2009 and I will definitely be here...
Jai Jai Ma!
Om Namaha Shivaya
With love and blessings
Jennifer
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