Vedanta Camp with Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati March 8 - April 4, 2008

To be in the presence of Pujya Swamiji is to feel a freedom and gentleness from him that is unlimited, every expanding, vast and so deeply grounded in knowledge that thoughts of any issues or problems melt away as the snow in spring. This thawing of the heart is so difficult to articulate since the intergration of wholeness, remembrance takes it time like a garden whose life is welcomed in stages leading to a blooming that leaves one speechless in the greatness of life.
The three camps were attended by many people from all over the world including Indian nationals from the various states. In camp one we focused on one verse from the Bhagavad Gita, in camp two we focused on two and in camp three we focused on ten verses. They were all a surprise for us and Pujya Swamiji who prefaced and shared his toughts before leading into the study and deep meaning of each of the verses...
The day's began with the invitation to attend the temple for morning puja followed by meditation lead by Pujya Swamiji. Breakfast was at 730am and the first class of the day was from 830am-930am. One had the choice to then attend a yoga class before the next morning class held from 1130-1230pm. Lunch was then served and the afternoon had Vedic Chanting and Sanskrit classes available in various levels. From 5-6pm the next class with Pujya Swamiji was held and evening puja and aarti for Mother Ganga was 630-715pm. Dinner was served at 730pm and the evening would end with Satsang and Bhajans from 830-10pm. The days were fruitful to say the least...
Each camp would end with a Guru Puja to Pujya Swamiji. This event saw the gathering of every in the hall after the last morning class. A couple would be selected to perform the ritual of washing the Guru's feet and making offerings to him in gratitude for the teachings shared with all. Donations were accepted so as to continue to fund the ashram and all it's charitable works spearheaded and nurtured by Pujya Swamiji.Pujya Swamiji would then give prasad to everyone when the crowd individually offered pranams of gratitude and the gift of their donation.
There were a few days where a Bandaram was also held leading up to the end of each camp. This was an event when all the Swami's and Sadhus in the area and around, joined together until a huge tent set up in the open space between the temple and the lecture hall. Here they were all given blessings of Pujya Swamiji, served luch by the ashram staff, given a new shawl and money from Swami Suddananda who is the director of the ashram. It was an amazing to see the rainbow and hue of orange among the hundred or so who came and witness the clear depth in their eyes, foreheads covered in sacred ash and various puja markings symbolizing their life of renounciation...Rishikesh itself is the home to so many who slept under Mother Moon with the rushing Ganga as their host and neighbor...
During the closing of the second camp Pujya Swamiji inquired about me while I was offering him my pranams and accepting his darshan. After I answered his questions and had a photo snapped of us, I moved on with my day greatful for those precious and intimate moments. Later, Swami Aparokshananda approached me to say that Pujya Swamiji had asked about me and that I should meet with him. This was moving for me and I immediately wondered what the karma was in this relationship. It was during the closing of the third camp that I had the courage to create a puja offering for him and request a meeting. This was a special time and we talked about a few things I had on my mind with such a clarity and gentleness received from Pujya Swamiji...
Pujya Swamiji left the day after the last camp and I am profoundly grateful for all that I have received. I will meet him in May in Coimbatore for another two month camp of Vedanta studies which I am immensely joyful about...
xoxo
Om Santi Santi Santi Om
Jennifer

Maha Sivaratri at Sri Swami Sivananda Ashram .... March 4, 2008

Maha Shivratri or Maha Sivaratri or Shivaratri or Sivaratri (Night of Shiva or "Great Night of Shiva") is a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Maagha (as per Shalivahana) or Phalguna (as per Vikrama) in the Hindu Calendar (that is, the night before and day of the new moon). The festival is principally celebrated by offerings of Bael (Bilva) leaves to the Lord Shiva, all day fasting and an all night long vigil.
Here the evening began with leaving the Dayananda Ashram at around 630pm for the alnight celebration. We climbed out of the ashram at the gates to enter Sivananda Ashram. Through the gates and up, up, up the stairs to the temple at the ashram. The charming, clanging and drone of the bells rang throughout the night preceding the chanting of a few hundred people gathered in the temple. Surrounded by flowers and two gaint banana plants which formed an entrance to the inner temple (the banana plant is auspiciously used to symbolize prosperity), the gaint marble temple was surrounded with pictures of Sivananda in all his glory...
Throughout the night bhajans and devotional hymns to Siva were shared and the melodies between the musicians had that magical quality of other worldness about them. The priests in the inner temple with the deities of Siva, the Siva Lingam, Krishna & Radha, Ganesha and others were intoxicated in chants that had been going since the evening before. Flowers and offerings, aarti and the chiming, the ringing of the giant bells took place numerous times with an intense rhythm and sound that reverberated throughtout every cell of one's body.
The lines would then form so as to give individual offerings and receive prasad from the temple priests. This carried on and on until the final celebatory offerings at 430am with the wave of joy, the requests of prayers and wishes to be bestowed on each and everyone's intimate request to Lord Siva - to destroy all that in one's life that is preventing the evolution and growth towards the fullness of life and the reaching of one's potential...
Next the lines cued to the dining hall where a full, and I mean full, prasad of food was given. Tali plates were heeped with various dishes and I did my very best to consume it all without waste and the understanding of this precious gift...
Manisha, Subash and I walked back from Sivananda Ashram to Dayananda Ashram and the 25 minute walk was a reprieve from the night's activity with time to settle the beauty shared by all...
I look forward to next year already.......
xoxo
Om Namah Sivaya
Jennifer

Freedom......

With the departure of Mother Maya and the promise of her return next year, I realized that I now ad a week on my own to do as I liked!
I made a new friend in a Brahmacharya, Subash, a monk awaiting his enter into Sannasyin, and we spent a great deal of time together along with other friends during this time...
I was shifted to another ashram just behind the Dayananda Vedanta Ashram where they have a beautiful cow and her newborn calf, a little boy...so beautiful...
Monica, from Bolivia, needed a place to stay and she had attended both the conference and the studies with Mother Maya so I had no problem offering my room to her as I had another bed...
Monica and I spent alot of time out walking around Rishikesh visiting Ram Juula and Lakshman Juula, both places with numerous shops and lots to see! We found a couple of wonderful restaurants cooking ayurvedically and enjoyed our meals there immensely!
It was wonderful to have time to ourselves to digest, process, experience and rest after such intense periods of study and in preparation of the fast approaching one month camp with His Holiness Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati on Vedanta studies.
We frequented Mother Ganga and morning pujas at the temple in addition to morning snanum dips to wake us up!
The days included time for studies and enjoyment of afternoon naps. The sound of the bell rings through the ashram signaling meal or teatime is ready! We scurried over to the dining hall for a hot cup of masala chai tea and bathed in the cool shade of the Banyan trees by the garden...
The week was coming to a close and the intensity of the ashram was definitely picking up with the arrival of the international participants. There are to be 242 participants in the first of the three camps with the addition and subtraction of those that couldn't make it and those in the area wanting to drop in and behold the teachings of Swamiji. Numerous students from Japan, Brazil, various states in India, Portugal, Germany and French arrived with a few Americans as well. Many of them adorned in white Kurta outfits as white is the symbolic color of peace and clarity imbibing positive energy and flow for a student.
Subash took me to a lovely shop in Ram Juula area and bought lovely material so as I would have a few white outfits made by his tailor. So kind and thoughtful...
One of the most special events of this week was attending Sivaratri celebration at the Sivananda Temple with a number of friends here at the ashram. This deserves a discuss all on it's own....
Om Namaha Shivaya
xxooxx
Jennifer
Love and blessings

Sacred Reality Tour with Sri Swamini Mayatitananda - February 21 - 25, 2008 Sri Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati Vedanta Ashram, Rishikesh

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

Land of the Rishi's...Rishikesh International Conference on Ayurveda & Yoga February 21 - 25, 2008

So here we are in the foothills of the Himilayas with an atmosphere that is both one of calm and chaos...
Rishikesh appears to be inundated with the amenties offered of larger cities as well. The opportunity to buy and browse is on many streets that have grown over the years with the ever increasing visits of the foreigners and pilgramages of pilgrams throughout the years.
Rishikesh, the holy city in the Himalayas , is located in the district of Dehradun in the north Indian state of Uttaranchal. The name takes the meaning from Rishi (Sage) and Kesh (Mount), meaning the Mountain of Sages ; or the spiritual abode, the home of spirituality. Rishikesh is supposed to be the starting point for the spiritual journey to the four important pilgrimage centers...
On the night of arrival I was blessed to share a room with Blanca and Renee at Parmath Niketan Ashram, the venue where the International Conference on Ayurveda & Yoga is to be held. Grateful am I to have such lovely friends who generously accomodate me until morning when my room across the hall will be ready. We all stayed up chattering away and shared storied since last meeting at the Ancestral Conference with Mother Maya in Massasschuetts last October.
The following day we are greeted with a lovely cool morning and head out to Rishikesh market but stop at Madras Cafe for a lovely nutritious meal. Then we are off down the road with the cows, the monkeys, the street dogs, the pigs, the three wheel cycle rickshaw, the auto rickshaw, the scooter, the motorbike, the bicycles, the transport trucks, the cars, vans, SUV's and all else in search for a bank that my friends can change currency at. It is a level of busyness and musical dance that begets such respect for the efficiency shown on such a narrow road!
The heat got to us all and therefore the luxury of an auto returning to the Ram Julla bridge is necessary! At this bridge, where we were let off the previous evening, we make our way pass the numerous and unending shops that spill out onto the street and then in crossing the bridge one beholds the Mother in her glory...
The Ganges River is said to be revered and is the sacred physical incarnation of the Divine Mother. Every evening on her banks and all along her journey to the Bay of Bengal, she is honored and worshipped in the ritual of Aarti. This ritual involves prayers, chanting, offerings of flowers, fire (in the form of dipa candles which are actually lit pieces of camphor sometimes sitting in ghee or wax), bhajans (sacred songs)all with deep reverence and honoring for all that a Mother provides. In this case, it is a river that nourishes, nutures and sustains a people and all the lands that rely on her for their survival, their life...
Back at the ranch, I am moved across the hall to my room overlooking the Mother Ganga river...how beautiful. The room itself is sparse, austere and simple in it's offerings but with a generous space for my beloved roommate Ellen and I to share in splendor. Ellen is a lovely woman, also a devotee of Mother Maya and a happy grandmother. Such a blessing to have her presence with me there.
All the Wise Earth Sadhakas (seekers/students) of Mother Maya are in rooms within the same area on the third floor of this building at the ashram. My neighbor is Mother Maya herself! The great Dr. David Frawley and Dr. Robert Svoboda are also a couple of doors away with a few amazing Swami's and Swamini's rounding out this 'dorm mate' situation! It is amazing to think that this opportunity to share space with your guru, along with other Masters of Ayurveda and Yoga, Swami's and Swamini's, Sadhu's and Saints exists to place us all in the remembrance of oneness, equality and understanding of that which is more then 'title', more then 'success in a material aspect'. A great blessing in friendliness and love...
And so we are off to the beginning of the conference for which I share a link describing the keynote speakers (http://www.ayurvedaconference.com/keynotespe.html). The evening begins with Aarti on the bank of Mother Ganga and Puja (blessing ceremony)to commemerate the occasion and honor with reverence this special time and coming together of such great teachers. The sharing that will happen from both sides between teacher and students opens up the possibilities for a deeper understanding and commitment to perserving the sister sciences of Ayurveda & Yoga.
This celebration was amazing and so moving with it's devotional offerings. It is so challenging to find the words to capture how the soul is stirred with these rituals for it is something to experience within oneself, it's own awakening and surrender to the sraddha and believe in the fragility, the preciousness of life...
After the Puja and Aarti we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the dining hall. The venue itself, set on the grounds of the ashram, the largest ashram here in Rishikesh, it clorful in its pure white, gold, yellow and orange drapery throughout the tents that house the Ganga confernce tent for keynote speeches, the dining hall and the Expo of vendors supplying offerings of innumerable ayurvedic and yoga products including sacred study texts and beautiful handloomed shaals to comfort in the evening under Chandra, Mother Moon...
The opening ceremony which included the glorious introduction of all the keynote speakers and how the conference will unfold. It is incredibly moving for me and I feel so tremedously blessed to have this precious opportunity.
The events include morning and evening Homams (fire rituals where 108 special ayurvedic herbs are offered in honor of the ultimate healing power of nature) on the banks of the River Ganga (Ganges), including a Dhanvantari Homam (an oblation ceremony for Lord Dhanvantari – the God of Healing) and a Maha Mrityunjaya Homam (an oblation ceremony to invoke the healing powers of Lord Shiva, Rudra Abhisheka (a special offering to Lord Shiva) on the banks of the Ganga, chanting of devotional songs and mantras on the banks of the Ganga, evening Arathi (worship), where oil lamps are floated on the Ganga, cultural programs in the evening on the banks of Holy Ganga.
The location of this ashram faces the west and as the hot Indian sun sets, Aarti begins with the chanting, the songs, the fire, the oil lamps, the offering in a magnificient ceremony of devotion...a challenge to sum up in words but I do have pictures to share...
The days schedule is a sample of below and includes my awaking at 4am for personal practice, a snenum (a dip in Mother Ganga)...
5 - 7am Homam
6 - 7am Mantra/Pranayama/Dhyana (meditation)
7 - 8am Patanjali Yoga Sutras & Ayurveda, Modern Concept of Ancient Indian Knowledge, Shri. Mukunda Stiles, Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan
7 - 930am Registration
930 - 1030am Inaugural Session
1045 - 1215pm Wise Earth Ayurveda's Inner Medicine Healing, Sri Swamini Mayatitananda
1215 - 115pm Re-Awakening Intelligence in the Consciousness Era : Value of Traditional Knowledge Systems, Dr. J. M. Sampath
230 - 330pm Ayurveda and Yoga Psychology, Dr. David Frawley & Ms. Shambhavi Chopra
345 - 445pm Ayurveda and Yoga Psychology - cont:,Dr. David Frawley & Ms. Shambhavi Chopra
500 - 600pm Asana classes - Shri. Mukunda Stiles, Ms. Shakta Kaur, Ms. Sama Fabian
600 - 630pm Ganga Aarti
800 - 900pm Cultural Programme - Sant Venu Gopal Goswami

So that gives a sample of my days and hopefully clarifies why I hadn't ventured to update my blog during that week and the coming days!
The information and the presentation was wonderful from the speakers. Their sharing and wisdom, profound...
During our breaks we would venture to the expo, take some needed rest in our dorm rooms and enjoy a cup of masala chai tea...
The presentations had not only us as international delegates and participants as the monkeys always seemed to know the important parts of the speech and made their presence known with their little heads popping out from the roottop to take in the view! Always to the roar of laughter and the understanding from the speaker that patience and concentration would get us through it!
The time flew by in moments of deep insight and community sharing and I loved every minute of it... The speakers were gracious and so incredibly respectful of the Sastra, the scripture, and each other, for which they had shared in such a powerful way...
Rishikesh is amazing in it's manner of meeting another. Always the greeting conveys such respect and love from the heart. The hand is brought up and rests on the heart with a 'Hari Om', 'Om' or a prayer in Anjali Mudra (hands in prayer at the heart) with the gentle 'Namaste'...it is deeply touching to me and holds my heart so...
And so the moments, the days unfolded and soon it was time to pack up our things for the next faze of the journey here with our beloved Guruji Mother Maya at her Guruji's ashram, Dayananda Vedanta Ashram. This would be another journey that blesses one's heart and mind with such clarity for the practice of Ahimsa, nonviolence, and the beauty of life...
With love and blessings always...xo
Om Om Om
Shanti Shanti Shanti
Jennifer

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ... Rishikesh

We arrive in Rishikesh...
Hiro gets off at the Main Bus Stand in the entrance of the town and I continue on to the bridge at the edge of Mother Ganga where I run into three of my friends here from the Wise Earth School also attending the International Conference - Ayurveda & Yoga 'Where Science Meets Consciousness' for five days as well as the following five days with our Guru, Mother Maya, for the Sacred Reality Tour here in Rishikesh and the surrounding areas. What good fortune! After popping my bags on the same manual rickshaw with the very strong and sweet carrier, we head towards the bridge that takes us across to Parmath Niketam Ashram where we are to stay for the first five days in attendance of the conference.
Walking over the bridge which does not allow cars or autos, (cows, dogs, people, sadhus, seekers, scooters and motorbikes are ok!) one first hears Mother Ganga rushing before you see her in her glory. It is a power that has been revered, is nightly crowned with the arrati puja and a gift that keeps on giving to the plains, the lands, the peoples throughout this area on route to its mergance with the Bay of Bengal.
I have run out of time to continue at this moment but I will...be back...
With love from the Land of the Rishi's and with deep gratitude for all
Om
Jennifer

Hyderabad...

Many things in life cannot be explained...We typically want to know and are at times impatient...I know I can be in that mind space at times.
It was nice to take pause with friends for a few days and I had the opportunity to visit some amazing sites there as well...
The days were met in coolness which was a divine experience...So welcomed after the heat of the south.
It was interesting to see how much I needed to rest upon arrival to Hyderabad and I tried my best to honor that request from the body.
I did visit the temple there but was informed that foreigners Nadi Leaves are kept in Tamil Nadu state. That is where Chennai is located and so I will have to wait until I head back there for that invetigation ala 'Sherlock Holmes'...
Spending time with Manyam and his family, whom took me to the temple for Nadi Leaves, gifted me with the opportunity to meet their guru fondly known as 'Baba'. This was a unique experience to say the least and I was asked back again prior to my departure. We went back again and Baba and I shared in private conversation. The long and the short of it is that he has invited me back to stay with him for awhile so as he can share his teachings with me. An unordinary invitation from an, apparantly, extraordinary healer...I hope for a translator because he speaks Telugu! I have decided to return and head back in April after short visits to Varanasi and Agra...
I left Hyderabad on an early, early train at 625am heading back to Delhi. It was on this train that I noticed my continuing train to Hardiwar was not for the following day when I was to arrive in Delhi but the next day. I really did not wish to spend a day in Delhi to be honest. It would be a great deal of energy and cost to move away from the train station, to a hotel/guesthouse and then back again. I was able to cancel my ticket with a small loss and then rebook another ticket onward that same day.
After checking my baggage into the cloakroom there at the train station, amongst the scurrying mice, I headed out to find an auto to take me to Connaught Place for lunch. I was hungry after not having ate since the previous afternoon.
Down a dark alley among a dozen or so fading signs I found a cyber cafe to respond and send some emails then it was off to catch the next train to Hardiwar leaving at 325pm!
This time all I took was a chair coach as the trip was only 4 hours and I shared my area with Hiro, a photographer from Japan also heading to Rishikesh. He is taking photographs of Mother Ganga from Rishikesh to Kolkatta (Calcutta) where she returns to the Bay of Bengal in full flow of sacred reverance.
After arriving in Hardiwar Hiro and I hired an auto to complete the 45 minute journey further north to beloved Rishikesh. The temperature reminds me of a cold winter night in Vancouver but feels even colder when I remember where I have just traveled from. The auto is thrusting forward in full speed and I wrap my shawl around me even tighter including my head. Having never experienced the 'Outback Journey' I get a sense that it is probably like this! We travel so fast I am trying to acclimitize to the new place I am in, the place I have dreamt of, the place I have sought, the place I have yearned to see, to smell, to feel, to witness and a smile creeps across my face as though I am 'in the know' of a fabulous secret...
It is a beautiful, humbling feeling that is a challenge to articulate. I only wish I could show you my heart as it is flowering, blooming and beating to the song that has carried me here for an experience, an unfolding of collective understanding, love and surrender...
Om Namaha Shivaya
Jennifer