we have been in India for one week

one day at the very tip of the world: Kanyakumari

took a train ride from Madurai to Kanyakumari which was really fun… had a whole sleeper compartment to ourselves and we all hung out in a big circle on the beds. sharing about India, God, the wildness of our adventure and just being together. Hezekiah took advantage of the “sleeper” part…. he, as Eliana said, has been fortunate to sleep from transition to transition as his little body gets the rest it needs from all the intensity. we all enjoy the experience of journey by Indian train… aware that the other cars are a bit different than the one we are fortunate to travel in. we ate a 5 dish meal that was packed that afternoon! delicious.

and Kanyakumari?
home of Mother Divine. meditated in the temple: heat, bells, talking, stone floor, and yet a deep, soft, endless silence more silent than any silence experienced. Matthew notes that meditation in the temple is the most important part… and while for a moment it feels odd to sit and close eyes in the middle of everything… the experiences are unbelievable. after we meditated, we go back to get the kids, then all of us, together, witnessing Abhishek as she is bathed and cleansed, so are we purified as her witnesses. Kanyakumari (matthew says) is one’s own individual ego, or “point” in one’s life. many of india’s greatest saints have come here before starting world movements—like maharishi had done. bathing Kanyakumari is washing one’s own individual path and giving a new direction to one’s life.

Dania, sadly, has woken with an episode… she sweats and weeps during the Abhishek then sleeps for the day, and wakes feeling better. she wonders if she has been purified and that’s why she feels better? thank goodness (thank God, thank Matthew, Jai Guru Dev) none of us have gotten sick from the food (no stomach aches or diahrea)… only the intensity? the huge change in place, climate, time, everything? it is quick and done, and doesn’t involve pain or illness… it is amazing to me how the kids insist, no matter how they are feeling, that they don’t want to miss a thing. as I write this, Matthew reminds me of the moment when they told us that making an offering with the pundit for Meenakshi was only for Indian Hindus, not for tourists, and Dania wept, making me cry and bringing tears to his eyes… and ultimately moving them to help us.

as Dania rests, the rest of us go from the Temple to a boat ride to witness the place where the stone formed a footprint where Kanya stood when she desired to marry Shiva. we then go and bathe in the spot where all three oceans come together: Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea.

I am constantly moved by my brother’s efforts on this trip. every moment of every day he is planning and adjusting so that we are most comfortable, most exposed to the wonder, most fulfilled, our needs met, that we live not as Indians, not as Americans, but as Rajas (kings) as we go through this journey.

and we are off, by car, to Varkala.

Varkala: little oasis by the sea

this morning we wake to a beautiful view of the ocean… and right in front of the hotel there is a large crowd performing a ritual. we later find out it is the one day of the year, in one of the only (5?) places in India where people can come to perform a ritual honoring their ancestors and furthering their and their families movement towards enlightenment. at sunset, Matthew quickly calls mom on our way (it is 5:15am for her but we have waited for the last possible moment!) she helps us with names we don’t have, and then she and Dad meditate at home while Matthew and I perform the ritual together led by the pundit.

it is amazing to hear Matthew speak fluent Hindi and to help us navigate this place that is so foreign to us and so familiar to him, his home. we do not only travel the land, we have insight to the people and the places, while each state presents a different language, culture, ritual, food, etc.

the kids play in the pool, at the beach, David plays catch-up with work, and Matthew and I traverse Varkala arranging for… elephant ride! how amazing to ride atop an animal so gentle for it’s size, so beautiful. the kids are thrilled. we all are.


the backwaters

this morning we wake up and drive to our next destination: the backwaters of Kerela. it is actually really nice to be driving from place to place, as we drive through towns, villages, and cities, really seeing what the countryside looks like.

everyone in southern India has been so sweet to us… kind and warm. David observes that it takes very little to elicit a smile from someone that simply glows from the inside. One of Matthew’s friends tells us that one of the sayings he grew up with was: always tell the truth but always tell it sweetly, and the sweet part is most important.

midday we board a houseboat and begin our journey… past the homes and villages nestled along the rivers and canals. it is so picturesque, as people travel by boats, or by foot along paths and over footbridges, wash their clothing along the edge, and go about their lives among the coconut trees, goats, and chat with each other along the way. we dock to eat lunch and some school children on their way home stop to chat with us. their smiles are beautiful. the evening is lovely but buggy. we are all relaxed and gently rocked.

we have been here one week today.

David comments that he is “walking around India with a sheet wrapped around my ass” but we all note how regal he looks alongside Matthew, and how most of the men here in this part of India wear dhoti and how brave he is to go ahead and wear one too… so he fits, somehow, even though, of course, we often stand out as the only non-Indians around. I am proud of the kids for wearing the clothing daily and happily… and finally they are beginning to get used to the food and to eat a little more…. even enjoy it. I breathe a sigh of relief (as does Matthew). they learn how to get clean(er) without toilet paper. how to say “yes it’s good” (with a little shake of the head), Namaste, “it’s okay” (tik hai). they are absorbing, becoming comfortable here, we converse about the aspects of God and they know each name. they are eager for the stories… and the stories teach, teach, and teach us all.

I am finding it such a challenge to accurately portray the experience of being here! I ask the kids: was this what you imagined it was like before you came? they all say that there is no way they could have imagined this. I am enthralled watching them changed and transformed by this experience, this place. every day a new experience unlike any other they have ever had… every day something new they learn, take in, become. and me as well… as Matthew says, we can only just catch a glimpse of how much we will be changed by this experience… changed in who we are, our spirit, our connection to God, to others on this planet, to our own lives, our own assumptions about life.

I am so emotional. at times filled with wonder and joy. at other times feeling emotional and like I could cry at the drop of a hat. sometimes irritated and angry. in the Meenakshi Temple when I meditated I was filled with an unbelievable bliss unlike anything I have felt before… it filled me up and then overflowed and I wept.

Matthew helped us to begin this journey with pooja and a sankalp: our deepest desire and intention for our lives. we are to understand that all that happens to us on this trip is about that sankalp manifesting. I have no doubt of that, and as I see us transformed I see why he was so intent on focusing us on the highest before we began.

a word from the others:

David:
The Third Lane
Indians don’t drive as much as dance in traffic. Like dance, someone leads, which is the person in front. Like dance, the movements aren’t always choreographed. In India the rules of physics are what guide the driver’s decisions. The lane divide means pretty much nothing. If there’s no oncoming traffic, then use that lane. Even if there is oncoming traffic and they only need some of their lane, go ahead and use the rest. Mass, velocity and available space are the predominate rules. That, and if given the choice, stay to the left. Yet despite what might appear to be total chaos, if you realize that everyone really is dancing to the same tune, then it’s easy to relax. It only seems like a steady stream of “close calls” if you don’t know how to dance.

Dania:
It is very fun and adventurous. I learned a lot from India so far. I am really enjoying myself. some things I learned was walk into traffic, you should eat with your hands, walk barefoot, water bottles at the table, wearing no shirt in a sacred place and do not say please or thank you.

Eliana:
It is very beautiful and spiritual but it is also very hot and sweaty. I like India a lot even though it is. After I come back home I think I will want to come back again. I definitely am changing a lot. We are going on a lot of adventures and I love it.

Hezekiah:
India is very wonderful! It is very hot. And California is very cold, that’s a nice change! The Meenakshi temple is awesome! Then, you can go to another temple and there is a elephant in temple the elephant will only eat temple foods of the temple. When the elephant gets an Indian coin, it gives the coin to its owner and it gives you a blessing.

India is very different than San Francisco. India is Hot and has big traffic. I even rode a scooter! And when they drive, they always drive so close to each other. Not only did I ride a scooter, I rode an elephant! The elephant was very bumpy.

Matthew:
to be here with my family is to see india from new eyes…so much love we are feeling, such deep integration—
seeing my nieces and nephew touch the feet of sanyasis and my Indian friends out of respect, exploring Indian food with family, meditating in the silence and wonder of huge temples altogether, discussing God, laughing in richaws, shopping in the market, looking up at the stars on a boat in the backwaters…with my family…what an adventure and powerfully integrative experience…what can be said of this magic…?