Wow. Wow. Wow. I could live in this place. I would love to live in this place. I need to go get a 10-year visa and move to this place. I’m not even exaggerating. If Jovanna would move here with me, I would move here and live here forever :-) If Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Burning Man and Stormwind from World of Warcraft and the picture I have in my head of what “Heaven” would look like (the one with the white sand beaches and the sunset glowing on the water and the beautiful angels floating around, perpetually smiling and exuding pure love) all got together and somehow had a baby, it would be Amma’s Ashram here in Amritapuri, India. Wow. A few hours ago, I went downstairs to find the “orientation” group, to get a sense for where everything is around here. I went down to the steps leading up to the Kali Temple. Looking around, I spot the group, sitting around on the stone steps. Relieved, I look up, and, startled, quickly step aside as a giant, beautiful, tranquil looking, colorfully adorned elephant lumbers silently by, looking me straight in the eye as she continues along on her way. I can’t even begin to describe this place, without crazy nonsensical analogies and silly-sounding vignettes. Right now, as I lie here on my bed on the 11th floor of the 15-story accommodation building, looking out over the Arabian Sea, indescribably beautiful Hindu music drifts up through the window. The sound of the sea is audible as an ever-present, low-intensity background roar, punctuated by the squeals of laughing children, socializing hippies, and the ever present music. Harpsicord? Harmonium? I have no idea honestly. Really cool instruments though. Beautiful sounds. There are no other tall buildings around; this is the only one for miles. Looking out my window, I can see miles and miles of jungle treetops. I can see as far out into the sea as the dusty atmosphere will allow. When the sun set over the sea, it really did look like heaven. Jovanna described it as “like the light you see when you die.” Sounds like hyperbole, but somehow, it’s actually hypobole (is that a thing?). Words can’t touch the beauty that is this place. I really want to film here. I really, really want to film here. If a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is 30 frames per second, then a video is worth 30,000 words per second. That might not work in most scenarios (like if you’re filming a blank wall, for example), but honestly, in this case, I believe it to be absolutely true. I have a Canon T6i with two really amazing lenses. If I could film here, I could capture some serious, serious beauty. But alas, the only strict rules in this place are: no photos, no videos, no recordings. When that beautiful elephant sauntered past me this afternoon, I turned to the nearest hippie in the orientation group, and with wide eyes asked her “so, we’re really not allowed to film here?” She laughed, and said, in a soft Italian accent, “I know, it’s like...” She pulsed her fingers on her temples and made a sound, miming something between “mind blown” and “having an aneurism.” (The photos I included in this post are from googling “amritapuri” ... I chose the ones that actually look like what I’m seeing here with my eyes and communicate the beauty of this place in a reasonably effective manner.) When I pictured an “ashram” in my head, I pictured a hot, dusty, sweaty place, with some old Indian men walking around with orange robes hanging around their waists, telling people what to do. I pictured people sitting and meditating all day, fasting, enduring all kinds of austerities. This place is like exactly the opposite of that. Aside from the dust. It is pretty dusty. But it’s a good dusty. This place is less like the Ashram I had in my head, and more like a small city, filled with beautiful, happy people from around the world, just enjoying life, walking around smiling all day, and working together, and loving each other. That sounds like super, super hippie when I describe it like that, but it’s really more of a Disney World kind of vibe. There are little cafes all around the ashram/city, all serving the most delicious vegetarian food. There’s lots of great Indian food (much of which is served free of charge, compliments of the Ashram, to thousands of people every day). There are even some little coffee bars, dessert shoppes, and there’s lots of western food available for sale. Jovanna just bought a delicious chocolate brownie-cake and a large bottle of water for 50 rupees (less than a dollar) at the cafe next to our building. The seating around the cafe is beautifully lit, with lights attached to the palm trees in a way that lights the palm fronds from underneath, creating a kind of heavenly, other-worldly ambiance. The air smells delicious, with a mixture of baked goods, coffee, chocolate, and incense hanging lightly in the air. The music is, of course, ever-present, with soothing melodies and deep base notes drifting throughout the ashram/city, emanating from huge, curved, acoustically optimized decks of speakers. It really is like Disney World. Or Islands of Adventure. Or Stormwind, from World of Warcraft. Or that image I have in my head of what Heaven would be like, if that were a real thing. And Amma is just... wow. Google her. She is actually, literally, a saint. She’s up there with the pope. Like literally, she works with Pope Francis to make things better on the world stage. And she gave me an amazing, wonderful, warm hug. Look her up. She’s pretty amazing. Anyway, Jovanna is reading over my shoulder right now. She really wants to eat that brownie. I gotta go. I love you :-) Namaste. -- Kevin
