Spiritual Being on a Human Adventure

I am now enjoying life at the beach. It is wonderful to have no plan each day, to again stay in one spot for as long as we want to, to watch the sun set each night and see the fisherman haul loaded fishing nets up on the shore early each morning. Again, I feel how dramatically environment effects attitude. The rest of the trip has been a lot about maintaining a positive attitude in spite of, (often undesirable), external environments. In this way, once mastered, I can create my own steady internal environment. I'll keep practicing, and for now I'll welcome some ease into my life. But, hanging out on the beach is not really what I want to talk about.

It finally happened. Of course, it was when I had given up wanting it. On top of this, it happened in the midst of a half-assed attempt to let go of a bad attitude. Boarding the Rajdhani Express from Delhi to Mumbai turned out to be a highlight of the trip, and this is the first time a train ride has received such status. It is not because they served us a 3-course dinner on the train, gave us pillows, or supplied mass amounts of tea, though these were all impressive and unexpected. It is because on this train we shared our berth with an Indian female yoga teacher. Sarla, is her name. This name means "straight-forward", and that is exactly how she presents yoga. A tangible, life-enhancing, everyday thing to do and live in.

As I've shared before, I was drawn to India by the path of yoga. I had a desire to practice asana here with a teacher, or teachers that was authentic. My idea of authenticity is apparently different than that of many Indians. I have a need to feel something resonate in my heart from the heart of a teacher. If I don't feel this kind of resonance, I need to have space to practice on my own, a chance to hear my own inner teacher speak to me. The authentic teachers I have had in India have known hundreds of asanas, know yogic scriptures, obviously practiced their whole life and likely for lifetimes, but I felt nothing from their hearts when they taught. The teachers and yogis I have met here also give off the air that they live in constant retreat, rather than engaged in the world. And then there is the quest for money that offers limitless fuel. From these things, I was disappointed, but at the same time reassured that I am my own ultimate teacher. I
stopped looking for yoga classes here, just space to practice on my own, and more than this, different ways to look at living in yoga, taking asanas in the midst of life.

Sarla fits my definition of authenticity, in her own unique way. We talked for a while before either of us discovered the other was a yoga teacher. After only a few minutes of talking with her and her husband Chandra, I was already feeling better and had dropped the negativity, (on this day of the trip I was incredibly homesick, and sick of India altogether), I boarded the train with. What touched me most was Sarla's way of living. Yoga was her life. It did not exist on a mat, it existed in her words, her breath, her heart, the way she opened up to a stranger on a train with pure, genuine kindness. She teaches a class in the upscale part of Mumbai 4 times a week, free of charge, simply because it makes her happy. We spent the following morning practicing pranayama on the train. She taught me things I didn't know and also taught me how to instruct different techniques. We talked about family and travels. We smiled and held hands. I felt I met a dear family member for the first time.

She told her husband that Phillip and I would stay at their home for the night. It is untypical for an Indian woman to tell her husband directly what she wants, but their relationship works this way, and though it was likely an arranged marriage, it appears to be rooted in true love. We stayed at their home in Mumbai, met their family and were treated with great hospitality. Sarla gave us both Neti pots (badly needed in the hazy cities of India!) and booklets she wrote about Pranayama. They feed us healthy, fresh food and let us take showers. These are simple things in life, ones that all American's enjoy daily if they choose to. However, these things are luxurious and never taken for granted in India, or other less-developed countries where half, (my likely accurate guess), of the people live in shacks. We both felt like we were surrounded by family for the first time in over 3 months, and there is really nothing better to cure homesickness than this feeling! That night we slept on the floor with Sarla and Chandra. It was one of the best sleeps I've had in India.

I did not even get to practice asana with Sarla, but of course that is not what yoga is all about. We shared deep yoga through open hearts. And an open heart can exist in any pose, anywhere, any time.

Before coming to India I imagined myself on this great spiritual adventure. Indeed, it has been a spiritual adventure, because the spiritual and human self coexist as one. However, it has been a grander adventure for the human self. I have learned so much about the human side of me, and about humanity over all. This is a country where spirituality is so intricately woven with daily life, that it may go unnoticed to those living here while being strikingly curious to foreigners. One's human position in life, according to Hinduism and Buddhism, is a direct result of one's Karma. This allows one to settle with what is. Contentment with one's life situation is an admirable characteristic, while apathy is the opposite. There is also a tendency for me to believe all my wholly-human mental fluctuations will cease upon changing my external surroundings. This is not the case at all. I've heard it said that "Where ever you go, there you are", and this is always the case. I brought my whole self to India, therefor, no matter what or where the adventure is, I still am only Lis.

So, while this has been a time of connection spiritually with the Universe, it has been at least equally if not more so, a time of connecting to my human self - desires, worries, experiencing a different way to live with awareness and opening to different ways that other human beings live. I see the big picture more clearly. I see that Grace moves, and does so with out separating right from wrong, bad from good, disgusting from beautiful. It has been necessary for me to cultivate this kind of vision, where I can discriminate what I want verses what I don't want included in my life, with out seeing any separation between the two. It's seeing the microcosm within the macrocosm and vice versa, with no dividing lines. Phew.

Yesterday, on the beach I thought of the "umbrella" lessons of our trip to India. I can't, and won't pin down just one thing I've learned from this time; Instead I'd rather stay open and let the lessons continue to reveal themselves in curious ways. I will share this idea though, and I think it is true for both Phillip and me: This trip is grossly about not planning anything, desperately trying to not expect anything, and always, always being surprised.

Question: What do people sell in India, you may ask?

Answer: EVERYTHING


next question: Where do vendors sell their goods and services?


Answer: EVERYWHERE