Dropping into the flow
There is something that happens when you step foot in India - everything is so confronting on the physical plane. The smells are strong, the colors are bold, the noises and the flavors are intense, and yet there is an air of mysticism around every corner. You turn the corner and stumble onto an unassuming yet wildly beautiful temple, cared for and worshipped by the families living nearby. Paintings of the divine grace the walls of dirty alleyways amidst the smells of sewage and cow dung, and shrines adorn the local chai stand where children run by - playing, laughing, and asking for money.
Then, there is the river Ganga. When you meet the Ganga in person, you feel her pulse. Birds fly differently over her, as if they are performing a triumphant dance of joy. She births the sun from her horizon as a glowing pink pearl. Like a mother, she holds her people - nourishes and caresses them, carries their prayers to God on banana leaf marigold boats, bathes their souls. Bodies are burned publicly on her shores so that you are no longer able to ignore the reality of your own body’s eventual dissolution. The intensity of this physical reality nudges you to go deeper - to find the true expansive reality of your essence.
Meeting India forces you to meet yourself.
What do you fear? What is fear and what is it underneath that fear?
Who do you love? What is love, anyhow? Who loves you?
Who are you, and what is this world?
For the mystic at heart, India is a swim in the waters of the in-between - a deep drop into the flow. We sense the vibration of the sages and the seekers who come here and who came before. Their questions float unanswered on the morning breeze, begging you to grab ahold and get carried away, if only for a while. The sky feels closer, the sun seems brighter, the moon sparkles more clearly, and universal truth hides in the nooks and crannies of everyday life.
And, if what I have with India could be described as a love affair, of sorts, Varanasi would be where we consummated our love. Raw. Sensual. Transcendent. Til Death do Us again unite.
