When I first started practicing Vipassana meditation I never imagined I would find myself 5 years later, spending 30 days in a Buddhist monastery in Lumbini, the birth place of the Buddha, in Nepal, observing complete silence, not eating after 12 noon and practicing intensive meditation from 4AM to 9PM. It was not an easy experience, facing me with such harsh and simple conditions, but nevertheless, it turned out to be one of the most deep and profound experiences I have had since I set foot on this wonderful path.
Lumbini is one of the 4 most important places to the Buddhists and is filled with temples and monasteries from all Buddhists countries in Asia. The monastery was beautiful, full of blossoming gardens, lotus ponds, vegetable gardens & banana trees (from which we ate every day), lots of colorful birds & butterflies and four cats. The place is run by a team of tireless Burmese volunteers nuns and a few Nepali locals who took care of us faithfully and cooked some delicious meals, catering to the variety people from different nationalities who were practicing with us (lots of seaweed and shitake mushrooms for the Japanese and Koreans, yum!). The people who come to retreat in Panditarama are an interesting mix: Burmese, Korean and Taiwanese monks and nuns along with people who came from the US, Germany and other European countries who left their jobs and lives in the west for periods of up to 6 months, to take up a life of intensive meditation practice.
The teachings were led by a German monk named Vivekananda (bliss caused by seclusion of the mind, in Sanskrit) who was trained and ordained in Burma 20+ years ago and teaches the vipassana meditation known as the Mahasi Saydaw tradition, one of the many branches of Theravada Buddhism in Burma. The practice is very logical and almost scientific: It entails applying full attention of the mind on one point, in this case it's the breath noted by the rise and fall of the abdomen, for lengthening periods of time. in this time, the mind gradually becomes calm and clear, but above all focused and sharp. It becomes very sensitive to very subtle movement taking place in the body. It is then used like a microscope to penetrate other physical sensations in the body. Choosing any physical object in the body, like pain, and looking into it deeply, with the bare attention which has been developed, it is able to penetrate into its true nature. It is no longer just pain, as perceived earlier by the coarse, untamed mind, but just as a flux of constantly moving pulses and vibrations arising and passing away. By applying this on different physical and mental objects for a long period of time, one is able to gain insight into 3 main characteristics of human existence. One, is the fact that everything in the universe is constantly changing, always in motion, phenomena arising and passing away. It is true regarding everything in nature, including our own bodies, mind and even consciousness itself. Second, and deriving from the first, is that none of these phenomena which are in constant flux has any self, or inherit identity. Even ourselves, which we perceive as fixed and continuous personalities in the way in we usually function in the world, are merely sequences of matter and mind, energetic reactions constantly arising and passing away. This looks sustained and real our everyday minds, but when one practices meditation for a long enough, he begins to see the reality behind the mind-body phenomena. It's like taking a drop of water and placing it under a microscope. Under the the lens we don't see water as we know it, we see movement of tiny particles in constant reaction to one another. This is what we are made of as well as is everything else in the natural world. The third one is that our whole human predicament, the reason for suffering in the world and for our own unsatisfactoriness in different situations in our lives is all caused by our ignorance in seeing this true nature. We cling onto our perception of reality and expect it to act according to our expectations. Understanding the first two, it is easier to comprehend how silly it is to expect a reality which is in constant change and flux to suit the wills and needs of a mind which is derived in itself out of a false sense of self, and in its essence is made up of exactly the same stuff, particles as the reality from which it is in demand of. So ultimately, there is absolutely no separation between me and the world around me. I cannot manipulate reality to serve my egotistical needs because I am reality, reality is me. So who is serving who? This false notion causes us to divide, conceptualize, and judge everything that happens to us as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, trying to prolong the good, indulge in it and stop the bad, creating stress and addictions which are unnecessary once we understand the true and objective nature of things. This has tremendous implications to the way we live, from the micro cosmos of our own bodies' health and well being, to relationships, family dynamics, societies, nations and humanity as a whole. It is a true healing of the human mind.
So the practice here is of letting go of this clinging on to reality and tapping into this natural flow of events, only to learn that we are part of it, and can flow in it with great ease and comfort. This is something which can be studied endlessly by intellectualizing and philosophising about it, but this practice is all about actually experiencing it, first hand without analyzing and filtering reality through our conditioned minds, smart as we may be. Just having the bare senses in touch with what is happening, without creating a story around it and associating it with with my sense if self. The more I practice, the insight into this reality becomes deeper. Being cut off all sensual distractions for 30 days, allowed me to open up to the subtle and fine reality of my body, mind and how it reacts to the world around me. It was a lot like going back to being a baby and experiencing sight, sounds and smells as they are, as if I'm experiencing them for the first time. It's not just a mere sitting in bliss and cutting myself from the world to perceive calm and peace. It's true, calm and tranquility of the mind are part of the fruits of the practice; Deep, one pointedness of the mind can bring tremendous amounts of relaxation and peace to the body and mind. This is why meditation is prescribed to many people suffering from stress disorders and stress related illnesses. It does require a still and calm mind & body to look deeply into oneself and gain insight. But the thrills of meditation are also just momentary events, arising and passing away in and out of the stream of consciousness just like everything else in the world.
When it comes down to it, I'm practicing in this method in order to apply these insights into my life. Seeing these realities and other aspects in a direct and experiential manner, changes the links made in the brain which are have been enforced by my habitual behavior on a daily basis. Once these links, or behavioral patterns are seen as they are, and not as a fixed psychological reality, then something changes, lets go and behaviour patterns start to change accordingly. Things which used to upset me or make me nervous or agitated no longer do. Relationships change, the ability to function under pressure and more. Reactivity to exterior events changes and it becomes easier to see through the true intentions of people and other influencing powers like the media and governments, pick up on the "game" they are playing with my mind and and decide for myself, according to my own personal experience, what matters and what doesn't; What is conducive to living a happy, wholesome and well-balanced life and what is not. It's a process, a life long one which has many turns and surprises, but it keeps unfolding itself in a fascinating way as life goes on and insight deepens. It's no fixed doctrine to believe in, no system of rules or ideology. It is merely pausing our high-speed lives for a moment to sit still and look at what is happening in a pure, clean and objective way.
Being on retreat for a month was not at all easy. All the needs and comforts I'm used to and the speed and absent mindedness I was used to in everyday life (even while travelling) caused agitation and restlessness at start when I bring it down to slower pace and try to be mindful in every action I do. Making note of the physical sensations while walking, eating, going to the toilet in every minute of my waking hours. It was hard especially coming from a long 10 hour bus ride from India, followed by a border crossing where I had to bribe a clerk, getting cheated by a drunk money exchanger at the border and spending the night in a crappy hotel which was located right near a bus station where large groups of noisy Indians were getting on bus continuously from 3AM on. The next day there was a demonstration by the Maoist rebels in Nepal and the roads were blocked by burning tires. We had to take a cycle rickshaw with all our baggage to Lumbini in the blazing sun with a drunk driver. After these experiences we reached the monastery, tired, hungry and extremely agitated, only to find everyone there immersed in deep silence and mindfulness, walking at snail pace, mirroring to us exactly how agitated we really were.
The form and style of retreat was also something I wasn't very used to and tended to be very rigid, monastic and lacking the heart and sensitivity I believe has a crucial part of meditation practice. It was deep and straight forward and I was able to go deeper than i have ever gone before, but at the same time made me truly appreciate the way Vipassana is practiced in most places in the west, and the Israeli teachers specifically, with their warm, heart filled and embracing approach to the delicate matters of life which this practice touches upon.
We are now in Kathmandu, the bustling high pace capital of Nepal. Our senses are all open and sensitive and so are out hearts. We are trying to take it easy for the next few days. There is a new wind blowing in the air and a light and magical feeling of travelling these fascinating parts of the world and seeing life in its intensity, hardships along with its beauty and joy and the ongoing quest of mankind to simply be happy.
Thank you for being in my heart during this precious time of self exploration.
Happy Hanukkah to most of you, Merry Christmas to part of you and a happy new 2008 to everyone.
Peace & love,
Daniel
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Fields of Basmati
Namaskar!
We are in Rishikesh now, back in tourist land and in the first place I came to in India on my last visit, almost 4 years ago. It's funny how things change from travlling alone to travelling with Gali. We checked out the same guesthouse I was staying in on my last trip and it didn't fit our needs, it was to basic even for me, and of course for Gali. Last trip I was much more mitkaleving than this time. I think it's a god thing, we desreve some kind of relative luxury (I mean very relative) if we are travelling for so long.
So i'l tell you a little about these past 10 days. We left Jibhi on the morning of the 4th practically with tears in our eyes. We love that place so much it is really a home for us in India. We said goodbye to the locals and the good people we were with there, the dogs, the birds, the river and the forest and started our journey to Chandigarh, a big city, with all the hardships of big cities in India. It's hard to leave the peace and quiet of the village and get back into dealing with hardcore India again - the bad roads, the old creaking uncomfertable buses, the honking, the filth, garbage and lack of proper communication with the locals. Oh, and the food. We got so used to cooking for ourselves that going back to the heavily oiled, heavily spiced food was not easy on our sensitive stomachs (we're OK now).
So the bus going down to Chandigarh was actually the first time we left the Himalayas for a bit. Suddenly we found ourselves in Punjab, one of the richest states in India, mostly due to the growing of Rice and Surgarcane, and "Hero" Bicycles, the biggest bicycle company in the world. The people there are moslty Sikhs, so al the men wear turbans on their head. It was completely diferent scenery: endless fields of rice and sugarcane and all flat! On the roads, turbaned ppl of all ages riding fancy cars, trucks, bicycles, motorbikes and crappy cars too (God Bless Tata!). Entering the city we were in shock, a real mordern city with huge roundabouts, green clean grass, big brand name shops and fancy houses, of the kind you would see in Ramat Hasharon or Hezelia pituach. The Rich indians or very rich, and very much living the western lifestyle with all it's abundance. When a refrigirator was a luxury for the villagers in Jibhi, here the locals have the hardship of having to choose what fancy chinese restaurant they should eat in tonight. the gap is huge and sometimes hard to grasp. This city, Chandigarh was built in the 1950's by a french architect and is very organized. It was the vision of Nehru, India's first PM who wanted it to be an example for India's modernity and to prove that it is capable of growth. The truth of the matter is, that it's just a facade, they still can't handle growth if they don't dispose of their garbage properly and let their cows walk around the city streets. The beautiful buildings that were built in this city are all deteriorating because they don't have the skills to maintain them properly. this is why India is so poor and is having a hard time getting our of that loop. And this is also why the middle and upper class want less and less to do with the traditional Indian lifestyle, even though it has a lot to offer. But they look at the west, at us as the ideal desired lifestyle. While I find myself looking for the traditional and the authentic in India, i find India more and more trying to look like me. It's as if we are both sailing in eacother's direction to look for something our own culture cannot provide us. These are some of the thoughts I had while going thorugh this city. Besides that we went to a very interesting outdoor museum called the Rock Garden. It's a huge complex of gardens, pools, waterfalls and bridges built all out of rocks and recycled waste that the artist, Nek Chand, found in the forests during his work as a park ranger. there are hundreds of small statues made out of ceramic and plastic resembling people, animals, gods and all kind of weird stuff. it was the refreshing part of the city.
The same day we head to another big city - Dehra Dun, the capital of Uttaranchal. Also a big city soaked in the Modern lifestyle. So here we gave this life style a try and sat in an espresso bar that looked much like Starbucks in the US. They had good coffee and ice cream (very rare in India) and the atmosphere was that of an Aroma Somewhere in Tel aviv. There we met the indian meduim-upper class who work in hi-tech and walk around with their laptop and drinking cups of coffee to get through the day. They had posters on the wall of Jazz artists and white people and I was wondering to myself if this is actually a life they live or did they just see it in the movies and think it cool enough to adopt as some kind of style or trend. I don't know, India is such a diverse country it can be very confusing.
So after Dehra Dun we got on (another) bus to Mussourie, a small hill station the british built when they ruled India and used as a cool and breezy getaway from the hot plains in the summer. It was our first ascent into the Himalayas again after leaving Jibhi. It felt god, the air was clean again and it wasn't so hot and sticky. This was a very touristy town, but only Indian tourists who come for the cool weather and mainly for the shopping. I personaly got sick, not physically but from the commercialism and shopping culture we were in and was longing for some quiet time in nature, the faraway snowy peaks we saw from the balcony of our hotel were calling out to me. But we stayed there for 3 days because we needed a rest from travelling. These bus rides are very long and energy draining and you can't do them more the a couple of days in a row.
So after relaxing we got on another bus to a small town high in the mountains named Uttarkashi and then head on to Gangotri, a small village near the source of the ganga. On the ride I felt modern india washing away with the cool air of the high mountains and only high peaks and small vilages were in sight. This was the India I was missing and longing for at hard times. The cows in the fields and the women carrying stacks of hay on their backs, the long winding roads through the mountains, streams and endless patches of rice fields - Yes, basmati rice! The best damn rice in the world watered by the fresh waters from the himalyan glaciers. It was exciting. And the river Ganga flowing along the road was a reminder that we are approaching one of the holiest places to the hindus. So we reached Gangotri, at 3000 meters altitude and freezing cold. A tiny village with no inhabitans, just big temples, restaurants and shops for the many indian tourists who come from all over India just to do their Pooja on the river, bottle some holy water or climb up to the Gaumuk (mouth of a cow) glacier Where the holy river ganga starts it's journey at almost 4000 meters, before descending down to Rishikesh and then to the vast indian plains crossing them from Haridwar in the west to Calcutta in the east and pouring into the ocean. So we started the trek to the glacier together with the pilgrims. We stayed one night at the midway ashram in the freezing cold and suffered from some altitude sickness and stomach issues, so the next day we decided to give up the sight of the holy cow-mouth glacier and returned to Gangotri.
The next day we spent the whole day travelling in shared taxis, 12 hours all the way down to here, rishikesh at an altitude of only 300 meters, where the waters of the ganga are quiet, the river is wide and the pilgrims are plentyful. We met a lot of interesting people on the way, many Europeans, for a change. Not seeing Israelies for 10 days was very refreshing. Now I have hebrew on my keyboard... Rishikesh has changed since I was here 4 years ago. Unfortunately, not for the better. More shops, hotels, and huge building constructions along the river. But Rishikesh has it's special vibes. This is also a holy place and with all the filth, you can still feel it.
So we're going to do some Yoga here, because there is a Yoga supermarket here, all kinds for all types so it will be intersting to shop around and maybe find something of value. In a week I will be heading on to Naini Tal, about 9 hours from here to a course in the Sri Aurobindo ashram. Aurobindo is the one who Auroville, in south India is named after was a world renouned guru in the late 1800's. He devleloped the Integral Yoga and had a very interesting view on the evolution of human conciousness. So We wil be splitting up for the first time in our 4 months here in India. Another faze of our journey is beginning now.
Sorry for such a long letter. We miss and love you all.
Metta, peace and harmony, Hare Om,
Daniel & Gali
We are in Rishikesh now, back in tourist land and in the first place I came to in India on my last visit, almost 4 years ago. It's funny how things change from travlling alone to travelling with Gali. We checked out the same guesthouse I was staying in on my last trip and it didn't fit our needs, it was to basic even for me, and of course for Gali. Last trip I was much more mitkaleving than this time. I think it's a god thing, we desreve some kind of relative luxury (I mean very relative) if we are travelling for so long.
So i'l tell you a little about these past 10 days. We left Jibhi on the morning of the 4th practically with tears in our eyes. We love that place so much it is really a home for us in India. We said goodbye to the locals and the good people we were with there, the dogs, the birds, the river and the forest and started our journey to Chandigarh, a big city, with all the hardships of big cities in India. It's hard to leave the peace and quiet of the village and get back into dealing with hardcore India again - the bad roads, the old creaking uncomfertable buses, the honking, the filth, garbage and lack of proper communication with the locals. Oh, and the food. We got so used to cooking for ourselves that going back to the heavily oiled, heavily spiced food was not easy on our sensitive stomachs (we're OK now).
So the bus going down to Chandigarh was actually the first time we left the Himalayas for a bit. Suddenly we found ourselves in Punjab, one of the richest states in India, mostly due to the growing of Rice and Surgarcane, and "Hero" Bicycles, the biggest bicycle company in the world. The people there are moslty Sikhs, so al the men wear turbans on their head. It was completely diferent scenery: endless fields of rice and sugarcane and all flat! On the roads, turbaned ppl of all ages riding fancy cars, trucks, bicycles, motorbikes and crappy cars too (God Bless Tata!). Entering the city we were in shock, a real mordern city with huge roundabouts, green clean grass, big brand name shops and fancy houses, of the kind you would see in Ramat Hasharon or Hezelia pituach. The Rich indians or very rich, and very much living the western lifestyle with all it's abundance. When a refrigirator was a luxury for the villagers in Jibhi, here the locals have the hardship of having to choose what fancy chinese restaurant they should eat in tonight. the gap is huge and sometimes hard to grasp. This city, Chandigarh was built in the 1950's by a french architect and is very organized. It was the vision of Nehru, India's first PM who wanted it to be an example for India's modernity and to prove that it is capable of growth. The truth of the matter is, that it's just a facade, they still can't handle growth if they don't dispose of their garbage properly and let their cows walk around the city streets. The beautiful buildings that were built in this city are all deteriorating because they don't have the skills to maintain them properly. this is why India is so poor and is having a hard time getting our of that loop. And this is also why the middle and upper class want less and less to do with the traditional Indian lifestyle, even though it has a lot to offer. But they look at the west, at us as the ideal desired lifestyle. While I find myself looking for the traditional and the authentic in India, i find India more and more trying to look like me. It's as if we are both sailing in eacother's direction to look for something our own culture cannot provide us. These are some of the thoughts I had while going thorugh this city. Besides that we went to a very interesting outdoor museum called the Rock Garden. It's a huge complex of gardens, pools, waterfalls and bridges built all out of rocks and recycled waste that the artist, Nek Chand, found in the forests during his work as a park ranger. there are hundreds of small statues made out of ceramic and plastic resembling people, animals, gods and all kind of weird stuff. it was the refreshing part of the city.
The same day we head to another big city - Dehra Dun, the capital of Uttaranchal. Also a big city soaked in the Modern lifestyle. So here we gave this life style a try and sat in an espresso bar that looked much like Starbucks in the US. They had good coffee and ice cream (very rare in India) and the atmosphere was that of an Aroma Somewhere in Tel aviv. There we met the indian meduim-upper class who work in hi-tech and walk around with their laptop and drinking cups of coffee to get through the day. They had posters on the wall of Jazz artists and white people and I was wondering to myself if this is actually a life they live or did they just see it in the movies and think it cool enough to adopt as some kind of style or trend. I don't know, India is such a diverse country it can be very confusing.
So after Dehra Dun we got on (another) bus to Mussourie, a small hill station the british built when they ruled India and used as a cool and breezy getaway from the hot plains in the summer. It was our first ascent into the Himalayas again after leaving Jibhi. It felt god, the air was clean again and it wasn't so hot and sticky. This was a very touristy town, but only Indian tourists who come for the cool weather and mainly for the shopping. I personaly got sick, not physically but from the commercialism and shopping culture we were in and was longing for some quiet time in nature, the faraway snowy peaks we saw from the balcony of our hotel were calling out to me. But we stayed there for 3 days because we needed a rest from travelling. These bus rides are very long and energy draining and you can't do them more the a couple of days in a row.
So after relaxing we got on another bus to a small town high in the mountains named Uttarkashi and then head on to Gangotri, a small village near the source of the ganga. On the ride I felt modern india washing away with the cool air of the high mountains and only high peaks and small vilages were in sight. This was the India I was missing and longing for at hard times. The cows in the fields and the women carrying stacks of hay on their backs, the long winding roads through the mountains, streams and endless patches of rice fields - Yes, basmati rice! The best damn rice in the world watered by the fresh waters from the himalyan glaciers. It was exciting. And the river Ganga flowing along the road was a reminder that we are approaching one of the holiest places to the hindus. So we reached Gangotri, at 3000 meters altitude and freezing cold. A tiny village with no inhabitans, just big temples, restaurants and shops for the many indian tourists who come from all over India just to do their Pooja on the river, bottle some holy water or climb up to the Gaumuk (mouth of a cow) glacier Where the holy river ganga starts it's journey at almost 4000 meters, before descending down to Rishikesh and then to the vast indian plains crossing them from Haridwar in the west to Calcutta in the east and pouring into the ocean. So we started the trek to the glacier together with the pilgrims. We stayed one night at the midway ashram in the freezing cold and suffered from some altitude sickness and stomach issues, so the next day we decided to give up the sight of the holy cow-mouth glacier and returned to Gangotri.
The next day we spent the whole day travelling in shared taxis, 12 hours all the way down to here, rishikesh at an altitude of only 300 meters, where the waters of the ganga are quiet, the river is wide and the pilgrims are plentyful. We met a lot of interesting people on the way, many Europeans, for a change. Not seeing Israelies for 10 days was very refreshing. Now I have hebrew on my keyboard... Rishikesh has changed since I was here 4 years ago. Unfortunately, not for the better. More shops, hotels, and huge building constructions along the river. But Rishikesh has it's special vibes. This is also a holy place and with all the filth, you can still feel it.
So we're going to do some Yoga here, because there is a Yoga supermarket here, all kinds for all types so it will be intersting to shop around and maybe find something of value. In a week I will be heading on to Naini Tal, about 9 hours from here to a course in the Sri Aurobindo ashram. Aurobindo is the one who Auroville, in south India is named after was a world renouned guru in the late 1800's. He devleloped the Integral Yoga and had a very interesting view on the evolution of human conciousness. So We wil be splitting up for the first time in our 4 months here in India. Another faze of our journey is beginning now.
Sorry for such a long letter. We miss and love you all.
Metta, peace and harmony, Hare Om,
Daniel & Gali
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