#rikhiapeeth

[mamamahayatra]

Rikhiapeeth to Bodhgaya

After packing my bags once again, I got to bed around 10:30pm, a little later than I had hoped because I got back up at 2:15AM to finish getting ready and pack the last of my things.  My ride showed up a bit early, around 3AM and we were on the road well before 3:30AM in time to catch my train an hour later.

We arrived at the station in plenty of time.  In fact, my train was 20 minutes late, so I had no worries.  When it arrived I made my way to the correct platform but accidentally got on the wrong coach.  For some reason I thought I had a seat on the 2AC coach, but I was actually on the 3AC coach.  Unfortunately and much to my embarrassment, my mistake awoke a sleeping couple when I tried to take over the extra bed they had covered with their stuff.  I soon found the correct compartment and settled myself into my bed.  Lying in this compartment, I was concerned for my luggage and only nodded off for about an hour.

By 9AM I had gotten just a little sleep, but the girl in the bunk above me was gone so I could put the bunk down and sit up like the two girls across from me had done about an hour earlier.  For the first time I was able to actually look out the window while we moved along toward Patna, the capital of the state of Bihar.  I spent the morning chatting with my friend Yossi in New York City which was really nice because I needed to connect with that reality a little bit after the ashram.  We arrived in Patna sometime after 10AM which was perfect since it was getting late in NYC by that point.

At the platform, I stepped off the train with my luggage and found a chair to sit on while I wait for my next train.  I didn't know which platform I needed to be on yet, so I figured I might as well stay put until I heard an announcement.  Sitting there I drew quite a bit of attention, many friendly looks, and some off-putting ones too.  I didn't have to wait long though, because about 40 minutes later, my train arrived on Platform 10, which was a bit of a walk through the overpass as I was on Platform 2.  Walking to the platform was difficult holding my heavy bag in one hand, my backpack on my shoulders and the bag I got with my prasad in my other hand.  I walked down to the platform and looked for my coach which required me to walk almost the entire length of the train.  Eventually I found my car and took my seat storing my big bag in the overhead storage.  This car was a bit different because it was for day travel and had rows of seats like an airplane instead of beds.  A large family sat across the aisle from me and the grandfather took the seat next to mine.  As we waited for the train to depart, two young men stood over the grandfather and I looking at my iPhone watching as I put my passport away after showing it to the conductor.  I've found it difficult in India to tell when people are sincerely curious about me or looking to rip me off.  I was a little unsure about these two guys because they seemed so fascinated by me and they were acting a little odd.  But Indian's don't seem to have the same sense of personal space that westerners do.  Still, the two seemed to be ok and we chatted for a while as the train departed until they were told to take their seats.  When we arrived in Gaya, the two guys also got off, and were helpful in getting me a porter and guiding me in the right direction, wishing me a pleasant trip.

Outside of the station was total chaos, something I was expecting as I was forewarned that Gaya is very different than Bodhgaya.  I was expecting a driver that was arranged for me by Raj, my guide in Varanasi.  Umesh arrived late, but he wasn't alone, there was another man driving the car, which was actually a small SUV with a small Buddha statuette on the dashboard.  After loading my bags, we took off for Bodhgaya through the noisy and crowded streets of Gaya Junction, and past the bustling markets of Gaya City.

Before long we had left Gaya proper and entered a forested area that was much quieter, less busy, and more peaceful.  I felt a very distinct shift in the energy and noticed how beautiful this area was.

As we approached Bodhgaya the energy became a little more intense as the streets were busier, but still more peaceful than Gaya, Varanasi, Agra or Delhi.  While I'd hesitate to call Bodhgaya clean, it was far cleaner than the other cities I'd seen, albeit terribly dusty.  It was also the first place outside of the ashram where I didn't feel like I was in a fish bowl being observed by everyone I encountered.  There were many tourists here, as well as pilgrims from all over the world.  The population included westerners, Indians, Tibetans, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and many other cultures where Buddhism plays an important role.

We arrived at my hotel and Umesh quickly spoke with the staff there which sped up the check-in process.  We agreed to meet the following day to discuss tour possibilities, and then he was off.  One of the hotel staff took my big bag and led me to my room which was not luxurious, but certainly adequate and comfortable.  I got settled and relaxed for a bit, struggling with the terrible wifi in my room.  After some time in great frustration, I decided I had enough and ventured out to get something to eat.

I left the hotel and headed to the Tibetan Quarter where most of the better restaurants are, near the Mahabodhi Temple.  Along the way I saw several temples, monasteries, monks in saffron robes, tourists snapping pictures, and Indians and Tibetans selling baubles of all sorts.  I found my way to where the restaurants were and recognized some of the names from the Rough Guide and Trip Advisor.  I made my way to Be Happy Cafe, where I was told at the ashram I'd find the best cup of coffee in Bodhgaya.  The place was quite small, but clean and cute.  I was greeted by three Indians inside and seated at a table.  There were two other tables occupied by other tourists.  The menu was very simple comprised of standard American breakfasts, Italian pasta dishes, pizza, coffee and several delicious sounding desserts.  I ended up ordering a latte and a slice of carrot cake.  The cake came out first and I slid the fork gently into the end lifting a moist piece of cake with loads of fresh carrot embedded in a soft brown cake with smooth white icing delicately spread on top.  The cake entered my mouth and I almost reached enlightenment.  Now keep in mind, this was the first taste of food outside of the ashram, but it was by far the best piece of carrot cake I've ever had.  The coffee came as I had devoured about half the cake, served in a clear cup with a generous amount of frothy foam on top.  The coffee was every bit as delicious as the cake, and best part is the two together cost me less than $3, worth every penny.

Having had dessert, it was now time to find some dinner (this order occurred pretty regularly on the ashram).  I located another name I recognized from the guides as a "must try" place, Mohammad's Restaurant.  I sat outside and pored through a rather large menu comprised of multi-national cuisines.  Their Tibetan selection was pretty substantial and I was anxious to try that.  I ordered a Thukpa soup, vegetable momos (dumplings), aloo pakora (fried potato), mango lassi, and a bottle of water.  I noticed that the restaurant was very tourist friendly, using filtered water for everything instead of tap water.  There was a clear sense of attention to hygiene and cleanliness, which is not always so common in India.

The soup came out first and it was huge.  The broth was a beautiful dark yellow and there were piles of what looked like bok choy, carrot, and spaghetti-like noodles.  It had a strong cabbage flavor which I enjoyed, almost like a soup made out of egg roll.

Next up was the aloo pakora, a traditional Indian dish, but one I hadn't tried before with potatoes.  The were like mini-knishes, very filling but tasty.  There were 6 large pakoras on the plate and I only managed to eat half of them.

Finally the momos came and once again I tasted heaven.  The filling was similar to the contents of the soup and the dumpling was thick, delicate, and flavorful.

The dinner was one of the best I've had in a long time, and by far the best in India so far.  I ended up with 3 pakoras and a momo left over which I was able to give to a woman and her children on my way home.  Walking back to the hotel I saw several vendors selling jewelry, malas (religious beads), bags, scarves, shawls, key chains, and countless other souvenirs, crafts, and spiritual implements.  During my walk I was approached by two teenage boys who spoke in almost perfect English.  The were telling me a story that they worked with an orphanage teaching children, and that they could show me around to earn a little extra money.  I wasn't really buying their story as Umesh had warned me about talking to locals.  They will try to earn your trust and then somehow liberate some of your cash and valuables.  I had a firm grip on the bag that held my money and camera, but played along for a while.  They asked me to come to tea, which Umesh warned me was one of the tricks, but I refused and continued to the hotel.

Ending the night in my hotel room, I spent quite a while writing in my journal, and too much time futzing with the crappy internet until my frustration and exhaustion overtook my determination.

[mamamahayatra]

Rikhiapeeth Days 2-3

I slept well the first night, for the most part, but I did have a very strange dream that my clothes had somehow offended the local villagers.  The dream was so vivid that I found it highly disturbing, and it woke me up early in the morning.  I fell asleep quickly after and slept soundly the rest of the night until I got up at 5:15AM.  I was under the impression that there was a 5:30AM yoga class and I didn't want to miss it, so I quickly got up, dressed in the dark so as not to wake up Dimitris, and headed outside.  It was very dark and quite cool, and almost completely deserted, save for some people working in the kitchen.  Deciding that maybe I had made a false assumption, I went back to the room and crawled back into bed.  I wasn't able to get back to sleep so I sat up and meditated for about a half hour before getting up for the day.  After freshening up I headed down for breakfast which was very similar to lunch and dinner the previous day, but they did serve some chai which was nice.  At 8:30AM I met up with Sumit and Madhukar and walked back up to Akhara where we would have a chance to meet our teacher for the Kriya Yoga class, Swami Yogakanti.

Arriving a little early, we were directed to sit on a circular bench that had a tree growing through the middle, where a few others were sitting.

Once Swami Yogakanti arrived she sat us all on the "grass" which really was more dirt than grass, and much harder than in Central Park.  She introduced herself and told us that she had no preset agenda, but that she just wanted to take the opportunity to meet all of us and take any questions we had before the course began.  She took several questions and over the course of the next 30 minutes explained that this year they timed the Kriya Yoga and Tattwa Shuddhi (chakra purification) course to occur during a yajna (pronounced yag-ya, a ritual involving the burning of various herbal preparations and reciting of various Vedic mantras). That this was requested by Swami Satyananda before leaving his body.  The expected effect of combining these three practices would be to amplify each other.  Following our talk with Swamiji, we were told to clean the Yajnashala, the building in which our class would take place.

As the day progressed and we went back to Patanjali for lunch, only to return to Akhara for a puja (ritual) later in the evening.  I came back earlier to retrieve a set of keys I accidentally stored away in the safe deposit box.  I had to wait before I could collect my keys, so I visited the Christ Kutir, a shrine that was setup for Jesus.  I was told that Swami Satyananda would say that this is where Jesus came to rest because everyone in the west wanted something from him.  While waiting I met a woman named Atma Lily who was from California and Sweden.  She came to the ashram two years ago and never left, loving it so much.  I was shocked and fascinated, unsure if I would ever do the same.  After finally being able to retrieve my keys I was tapped to help bring some blankets over to the Yajnashala which were rolled into large burlap bags that couldn't be lifted by 4 strong men.  A group of people decided to roll one over while another group including myself opened up a sack and each took as many as we could carry.  We set up the blankets in the room as requested and then headed across the street for a Havan Puja (Fire Ceremony) was about to begin honoring Lord Rama, hero from the Indian epic Ramayana and incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu.  As part of the ceremony, the 1000 names of Rama were chanted which took a while.

Patanjali Campus

After the puja we headed back to Patanjali for dinner and bed.  Before I headed to bed I pulled out my water filter, which is what I needed the keys to get at.  Earlier in the day I discovered that the water on campus is not filtered, despite being told that it was and drinking it for the last day.  I filtered enough water to fill a 1 liter bottle and a little more left in a plastic container I had brought with me.  It was a fairly laborious process so I was very ready for sleep after I was done.

During the night I began to experience some stomach discomfort and had to visit the bathroom a few times.  Trying to remain optimistic I figured it would pass, but woke up at 6AM, unable to sleep any more.  Breakfast was still an hour away, so I did some yoga asanas and took a freezing cold shower.  By the time it was time for breakfast I still wasn't feeling well, so I only ate a small amount, and followed it with some Pepto Bismol which helped quite a bit.  We had our first class scheduled at 9:30AM, but a group of us were asked to help peel carrots in the kitchen first, and then walked back to Akhara.  I was still uncomfortable before class so I went find a bathroom.  The only toilets available in this area were of the Indian variety, a squat toilet.  I was not impressed and decided to take an Immodium to avoid excessive bathroom runs.

In class, there were about 40 of us.  I got there last because of my stomach woes, but found a spot in the back right in between Madhukar and Sumit.  The class was interesting consisting of meditative techniques that required us to move our awareness between senses, and then around the chakras.  I left class feeling quite a buzz and headed back to Patanjali with a group of people.  At the ashram they have a lot of rules to follow, one of which is no walking unless you have a group of at least 5 people.  We broke that rule quite often, sometimes with someone yelling after us "Namo Narayan", the standard greeting at this ashram.  At Patanjali we ate lunch and rested for a bit before heading back to Akhara for our second class.  This back and forth continued throughout the run of the course.

In the afternoon class, we did a practice called Yoga Nidra which is a state of sleep where the mind is still conscious and alert.  We were lying on our backs and moving our awareness around our bodies and given various directives to feel our bodies get heavy, or light, or warm or cold.  I found the experience exhilarating, and the rest deep and energizing.  Despite the positive feelings I had about the experience, it was somewhat marred by how my stomach was feeling.  There was another Havan Puja scheduled for after class, but I decided to skip it and head back to my room to rest.  I crawled into bed around 4:30PM and slept all night.

[mamamahayatra]

Rikhiapeeth Day 1

Again I woke up at several points throughout the night.  Indian trains are not very conducive to good sleep.  The bunks were not long enough and the door to the bathroom compartment was at my feet.  So not only did I have many people passing by throughout the night, but also there was the sound and rush of the door opening and closing, and the curtain refused to stay closed.  Regardless, I managed to get about 9 hours of sleep, off and on.  In the morning I purchased some chai, which normally costs about Rs 10.  I handed the vendor Rs 100 expecting some change, but he disappeared after giving me a sly look.  At first I thought he just needed to get some change, but then I realized he swiped it, and I let it go.  A little while later another vendor came by with bread and omelets.  Gurdev asked if I wanted one and bought it for me, his treat.  Since we were both awake, we put my bunk down so we could both sit up on his bunk.  He gave me my omelet and I thanked him for his kindness.  He also offered me some apple slices and bread with jelly.  We talked over the next hour exchanging the usual introductions, where we were from, what we do, etc.  Gurdev spoke excellent English, very clearly with less of an accent than most I've spoken with.  As it turned out, he was a bit of a linguist, speaking English, his native Punjabi, Hindi, a little Spanish and likely more.  He had worked at Hewlett Packard as a technical support engineer which explains why his English is so good.  He told me tried learning Spanish because those calls pay more, but he found it more difficult than he anticipated.  However, the last couple of years he has been working in real estate in Kolkata (Calcutta), and he told me some interesting stories about that.  We also spoke much about our spirituality which is very similar despite me being raised Jewish, and him being raised Sikh.  Our conversation ended abruptly because we had arrived at my station, but we exchanged phone numbers and Facebook, and he told me to contact him before I got to Kolkata and that he would show me around.  We took a picture together and I exited the train.

Jesidih Junction station was busy and it was a beautiful day.  I didn't have to walk far to be inundated with offers to take me to Rikhia.  Several tuk-tuk drivers offered to take me, but I chose to take a taxi which I felt would be more comfortable with all of my luggage, even though it was more expensive.  We drove through Jasidih and into the outskirts of Deoghar, a very holy town and site of Baidyanath Shiva Temple, a jyotirlinga site.  Unfortunately, we didn't drive near the temple.  The area reminded me somewhat of the area of Agra around the train station, except I could see more because it was morning.

Before long we had moved on from the busy streets of Jasidih and Deoghar to more serene countryside where villagers tend to the land and homes are small handmade structure made of wood, brick, mud, and straw.

We arrived at the ashram in about 25 minutes.  There were long walls on either side of the road with a gate and an attendant on each side as well.  I was ushered through the gate on the left and told to remove my shoes, put my bags down, and wait.  A tall woman in orange pants and an orange kurta with curly light brown hair and an accent (Serbian as it turned out) approached me and asked what I was at the ashram for.  I explained that I had come for the Kriya Yoga course and she asked my name.  She and two other women, all dressed in orange, looked for my name but couldn't find it.  Eventually they did and one of them apologized and exclaimed that their English is not so good.  Several of them seemed to speak in a Slavic tongue, which I later discovered to be mostly Bulgarian, Serbian, and Slovenian.  One thing I discovered about ashram life is that though there are more Indians than any other ethnicity, it is very multicultural.

Again I was told to wait before collecting my passport and valuables and crossing over to the other side.  I found security to be very tight at the ashram, sometimes making feel like I was being herded like cattle.  The area across consisted of offices (known as Akhara) and an area known as the Samadhi area where Swami Satyananda spent his last years.  Samadhi in Hinduism is one of the highest states of consciousness and awareness.  I was brought into one of the office rooms where several comfortable looking chairs sat one side of the room and 4 desks with chairs on either side across on the other side of the room.  Here I was asked to wait yet again.  A few minutes later another woman in orange clothes sat me at a table and had me complete a registration form for foreigners.  Then another woman in orange (detecting a pattern?) came in to put my valuables in the safe deposit box.  I had to fill out a form identifying exactly what I was putting in the safe including how much of each currency I had, which she double counted for me.  I followed the ashram rules and put away my iPad, iPhone, camera, and all of my money figuring that I wouldn't need money at the ashram.  We finished just after noon and I crossed back over to the other to collect my luggage and go to my accommodations until course registration began at 3PM.  There was an Indian man named Sumit who was also waiting, and he had a driver outside.  We were given temporary name tags and directions to get to the other part of campus called Patanjali that was located about 1km away.  Patanjali was also split into two parts, one on either side of the road.  The main Patanjali area and the Anapoorna kitchen side where our accommodations were located.  They had temporarily placed us in a dorm style room that had about 10 beds, some just mattresses on the floor, in a building called Kolkata Bhavan.  Over the course of the next couple of hours I had the opportunity to get to know Sumit a little bit.  He is from West Bengal, an eastern state bordering Bangladesh whose capital is Kolkata (Calcutta).  This was his first visit to the ashram as well.

After settling in to our accommodations, where I had begun unpacking not realizing that they were temporary, lunch was being served.  Food was served cafeteria style and it consisted of rice, potato, some things I didn't recognize and some papadam, a crisp bread made from lentils.  I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty the food was.  After lunch I freshened up which felt great after the long train ride.  When I headed back outside there was a crowd of people that had gathered around.  They were serving chai and everyone was getting to know one another.  I found Sumit who was sitting with another Indian man named Madhukar.  This was Madhukar's third time at Rikhiapeeth, and he had previously been to another Satyananda ashram in Munger twice before.  Madhukar told us some fascinating things about his research, including the fact that he is a sun worshipper and can stare at the sun without blinking and without going blind for an hour.  His interests are in proving some of the claims made about yoga scientifically.  I was fascinated as he spoke, and the three of us sat talking for quite a while.

At 2:30PM we got ready to head back to Akhara for class registration and the three of us decided to walk together.  It was a really nice walk, the sun was shining and we passed by a few dozed local villagers on the way.

Once we arrived at Akhara we entered the gate to the right and were directed back to the same office as I had been in previously.  One by one we sat at one of the desks to check that all of our paperwork was complete, pay the balance of the required donation, and finalize our enrollment in the program.  We were then ushered back across the street to arrange our final accommodations.  We were met by a beautiful woman with an orange scarf hanging off her shaved head, looking like Mother Theresa, and a red bindi painted between her light blue eyes.  She was one of the women speaking in Bulgarian earlier.  She assigned our rooms and then Madhukar, Sumit and I headed back to Patanjali to get settled in our new rooms which were doubles instead of a large dorm.

At 5PM, dinner was served which was very similar to lunch except for a few different items.  It was just as tasty as lunch.  After dinner I was informed that I had a roommate, and sure enough I found luggage outside of my door.  They also told me that I was to leave my key in a key closet near the gate any time I left the room so my roommate could get in and out when he needed.  I freshened up a bit and headed back outside where I met Madhukar by the front door.  We started talking and then a tall bald man walked up and looked at us.  I greeted him and asked if he was looking his key, which he was, and his room number was the same as mine, my new roommate.  His name was Dimitris and he was from Greece in a small town near the Bulgarian border.  He was at the ashram with his wife, Kalliope, and two of their friends.  I escorted him to the room and we talked, getting to know each other for about an hour.  He got his bed ready and organized his belongings while I wrote in my journal which I knew I would need without the benefit of my iPad.  We made our beds as comfortable as we could and had the lights out by about 8PM so we could get an early start the next day.  I was pretty tired and I fell asleep pretty quickly.

[mamamahayatra]

Deoghar: Home of the Gods and Goddesses

Deoghar is the capital of Deoghar District in the state of Jharkhand, India.  A holy city that is the site of an annual pilgrimage primarily among Shaivite Hindus.

The main temple in the city is the Baba Baidyanath Temple, home of one of the Shiva Lingas.  

It is said that when Brahma (the Creator) and Vishnu (the Preserver) had an argument over who was supreme over creation, Shiva (the Destroyer) appeared as a Pillar of Light emanating from several Lingas throughout the three worlds.

Outside of the city of Deoghar is a small village called Rikhia.  In that village is an ashram founded by Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati and dedicated to his guru Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati.

Today, Rikhiapeeth is one home of the Bihar School of Yoga.  A place where tantric methods are studied and practiced.

I will be visiting this ashram for about 10 days during my trip to India.  While there I will be studying the ancient art of Kriya Yoga.