There's no worry, there's no stress, hanging out in Rishiskesh
~from a song, Anon
December 20, 2009
Remember how the Beatles tripped out in India, getting their world all turned upside down and their music all spiced up? Well they came here, to Rishikesh, to an ashram about a ten minute walk from where I am sitting, in the so-called Yoga Capital of the World. The Ganges here is lined with ashrams and yoga halls and ghats (stairs or steps) where locals and tourists (mostly Indian ones) alike go down to the river to pray. Sunrise and sunset are heralded by devotional singing over loudspeaker (not to mention the umpteen hundred? thousand? of yogis and yoginis in scattered yoga halls bending over backwards in sun salutations).
With all the showmanship, Daniel, Keely and I were expecting Rishikesh to be a grand lesson in spiritual materialism - we certainly had no intention of involving ourselves in an authentic spiritual practice... and yet somehow we did.
Trika Yoga is a branch of the international Agama school of yoga with its HQ in the sunny southern isles of Thailand. They are not afraid to call themselves a 'tantric' school, but it's not what you're probably thinking. By definition, a 'tantric' practice embraces the world, as opposed to a 'vedantic' school which renounces the world. Accordingly, ANY yogic practice that acknowledges or works with the body (that would be ALL yoga in the west, you devotees of Bikram and lululemon) is tantric yoga. Otherwise, it's time to toss out the lycra and buy yourself a one-way ticket to a cave in the Himalayas. See?
We started with a five-day workshop, and loved it so much we stayed for Trika's month-long introductory program. They teach quite a selection of yogic techniques: hatha, kundalini, jnana, ashtanga, nidra, laya, kriya, bhakti, and karma yoga! After nearly every evening lecture, our teacher would summarize by saying something to the effect of: "And if you dedicate yourself entirely to this technique, it will take you to samadhi (liberation)." This is a very classic viewpoint in Indian culture, where all spiritual paths are respected as valid means for reaching God; Though some people are more suited to some paths than others, all have the goal and should be tolerated. We even saw these stationary packages for sale with Jesus and Ganesh on the same sticker! The divine has many names and forms, they're all right and they're also all wrong, since the divine is ultimately formless and nameless. So why fight over details?
Another fantastic note on Trika is how Christmas was honoured: we had special lectures about the teachings of Jesus (from a yogic viewpoint), we watched the movie Jesus of Nazareth, we stuffed ourselves at a festive rooftop potluck, we sung Christmas carols by candlelight, and we even decorated a charmingly small artificial tree on the altar in the yoga hall. I don't think Christmas has ever carried so much spiritual meaning for me before. The whole experience was lovely.
Daniel and I rented a flat near the Ganges, it was nice to have a home together for the duration of the one-month course. It was hard to leave the friends and the stability of Rishikesh, but we had other holy places to visit and other holy people to see - with our next stop being Mother Amma's ashram in Kerala, via Delhi and Bangalore... TBC!
jewel
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Mama Amma :-)
giggle ;-)