An EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE – THE ‘SADHU TRAIL’, JOURNEY TO THE ‘ABODE of THE GODS’ – HIMALAYAS, INDIA
By Tony Knight
“The world is a vast ocean and a Yatra is the only way to ferry across it”
Hindu scripture.
‘Yatra’ in Sanskrit means pilgrimage, a sacred journey undertaken with the intention of finding your divine Self, thus unlocking your passion and purpose in life. A sacred pilgrimage figures in every major religion as a means to find ‘salvation for the soul’, it is considered one of the most powerful actions you can undertake in your life, to visit holy shrines and natural power vortexes on this Earth.
The beginning of Lotus Journeys
I was in India in 2001 on a journey to the legendary saint, Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram, my 4th amazing visit to his Lotus feet, and I was directed by a firm inner voice to “go to the mountains”. This seemed like a rather crazy directive seeing as I only had 8 days left in India and I was presently 3,000km south of the Himalayas in a tiny rural area! Anyway, after a rather hilarious sojourn involving car and plane travel, I found myself in Dharamshala, Himalayas, (the seat of the Tibetan Government in exile) in just 3 days. After asking for a sign as to what I was here for, a huge Eagle swooped down over my head and immediately the seed of an idea was birthed into me, with the words “now bring people” resonating in my head. Although this seemed kind of crazy, over the next few days, I read a book about the Char Dham (4 sacred sites or ‘seats’) which excited me, and I remember I was also overcome with thoughts and inspiration about the great 19th century Sage, Maha Avatar Babaji. Over the years, I had heard many stories about Him and his legendary cave where he gave teachings to His disciple, Lahiri Mahasaya. I felt strongly drawn to go there, but I had no idea where in India this cave was, only that it is somewhere in the Himalayan region, and this range (Earth spine) stretches for nearly 3,000 kms!
The Lotus feet
By the time I got home to NZ, I was resolved to put the idea of an Indian Himalayan journey ‘out there’, but really had no idea where to start. However it only took a few days, when a client asked for a book on Babaji, which are almost impossible to get as most are printed in India. Just another day later, a client came into my shop bearing a huge box full books, including the ancient wisdom of Shamballa, and a number of books on Babaji, which had maps and instructions on how to get to his ashram, even a phone number for the ashram! To my utter surprise, I noticed that the cave was located in an area that would enable an almost perfect circular journey with the Char Dham pilgrims route!! Not only that, but I also was gifted a set of imprints of Babaji’s feet, all true Masters feet are considered sacred and known as ‘Lotus feet’, for their divine connection to Mother Earth. This was a ‘critical moment’ for me, as Lotus Journeys was crystallised in that moment when I held the masters Lotus feet and I remembered the saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
Haridwar and Rishikesh
After flying into a steaming hot Delhi, we head out of this huge metropolis of around 15 million people for Hardiwar, one of the holiest towns on the banks of the Ganges. This is where the single biggest gathering of humanity happens every 12 years, a giant festival to humanity called the Kumbh Mela. Hardiwar is vital to our pilgrimage, as it is known as the ‘gateway’ to the Char Dham and the place of the biggest public Arti (fire ritual) in India, held every single night. It is said that all pilgrims that pass through here undergo an automatic ritual cleansing of our minds, bodies and souls, a pre-requisite before we reach the high mountain ‘Dham’ temples. Then we head about an hour up river to Rishikesh, the ‘town of Rishi’s’ (wise ones), where we stop for 2 nights at the biggest Yoga ashram there, called Parmath Niketan. At sunset we all witness the beautiful private ashram Yagna and Arti fire ceremonies, which occur on the Ghats (steps) leading to the Ganges River. During these ceremonies, many beautiful bhajans (mantras) are sung to the Gods and the Goddess by hundreds of the resident orphan boys, to accompanying traditional musical instruments.
Traditional village life
As we travel higher up into the mountains, we witness a lot of beautiful greenery and lush fields overflowing with various grains, vegetables, and other crops. The villages in the foothills and above still follow many of the ancient farming and cultivation practices, interspersed with signs of modern advancement. The villages and houses themselves are still often made of mud brick, straw and natural materials and every household has a valuable collection of various farm animals, including the sacred cow of course. The cow is never eaten for food, they are much more prized for their on going supply of whole milk which is used to make Yoghurt and cheese and their dung. Funnily enough, the cow dung is very ‘clean’ of bacteria once dried and is used for many things, from home insulation on the walls, fuel for the fire, fertilizer, even as a skin lotion and medicine.
Gangotri and The Ganges Source
As we travel further up towards Gangotri ‘Dham’ town, the lush green fields give way to huge, peaks, with large fir forests clinging to the side of the sheer mountain sides, and the road follows huge S-shaped ravines with roaring rivers surging thousands of feet below. Gangotri is a picturesque alpine town where it feels like time has stood still. From here we set off for a 19km walk up a huge partly forested ravine that winds it’s way past tiny tent settlements and tea stops, to the eventual sight of a massive glacier, where the river emanates from underneath a huge cave, known as Gaumukh, meaning the cows mouth. We are dwarfed by massive 6 and 7,000 metre peaks on every side and as they rise so close and so steeply, one tends to look up a lot…and down…into the river below. The altitude at Gaumukh is 3,800 metres and although most people have no trouble with the walk, you do feel the effects of altitude up here and good rest is important. Sadly, you can witness the effects of global warming up here, as the glacier is constantly breaking apart and it has receded by over 2 km’s in the past 50 odd years.
Emotional and mental processing
We spend 2 nights at base camp and once we come down from the rigors of this trek, we all tend to feel miraculously lighter and re-energised. The energy is certainly very raw and sometimes subtle, but always very powerful, and it is very common for people to experience outbursts of sadness, anger, fear and indescribable bliss and joy, sometimes all at the same time! Going into this area will bring up many unresolved issues, suppressed emotions and therefore this is a great place to make new goals and release old outdated beliefs and re-frame your life in a new positive outlook on yourself. As the trip settles into an easier experience and we have time to process what we have seen and felt, the trip does become noticeably lighter amongst the group, and we all collectively breathe a sigh of relief! The physical aspect of the trip is the precursor to the emotional and mental purging that happens, while in the rarified atmosphere of mountains we are always supported on our journey. We may feel like we are going to fall into the abyss, but once you are brought “to the edge”, we are always nurtured and thus elevated in spirit at the crucial time!
Balori Village
From Gangotri, to the other main holy place on our trip of Badrinath, we traverse across more lush green village countryside, and a variety of other sights and activities including, large mountain passes, beautiful beech forests, more walks to ancient temples and lookouts, high mountain lakes, hot mineral springs, and lush thatch retreats set amid huge snowy peaks. Balori is a traditional village along the way that we have ‘adopted’ and now we always stop there for a chance to meet and greet the locals, an eclectic mix of young and old. This village, like many others in this area, has no road, and are struggling due to the urban drift as the young adults tend to move away to the lure of the big cities. This is one downside of the massive economic boom that is happening in India. Since our first visit to this town, a new initiative has been instigated by one of our group participants where he has helped build a new building and set up a honey bee project, which is now beginning to produce an amazing quality honey. This initiative has now set other ideas in motion and Lotus is committed to making Balori a pilot project of what we can achieve, with East and West merging together to create a new synergistic, self sustainable community.
Badrinath and homeward bound
By the time we reach Badrinath, everyone has generally found their relative comfort zone. This town has the most amazing, very ancient temple. The people are very fervent in their devotion here and this is indicative of the holy folklore that surrounds this place. It is nestled between a convergence of towering peaks, and large rivers, and is the last town before the Tibetan border, set at around 3,500 metres altitude.. There are many hallowed stories of highly advanced Gurus and Masters that came here and meditated for years on end and built up almost mythical status amongst a few devoted followers. As we say good bye to the huge mountain peaks and ravines and wend our way back down to the lowlands, we complete the trip with a relatively lazy sojourn at some lovely old colonial hotels set in picturesque towns, and of course this pilgrimage is not complete without a visit to the ancient cave, where the Master Babaji gave His teachings as mentioned at the beginning of this article.
The ‘Char Dham’
The Himalayan pilgrimage is known in Sanskrit as the ‘Char Dham’, and is actually a smaller pilgrimage adaption of a much larger journey to the 4 compass points around India. The Char Dham translates as the 4 sacred seats or abodes, from which the heads of the 4 rivers emanate to form the mighty Ganges (Ganga) river. These ‘seats’ are the sites of 4 shrines and have been so chosen by various early Indian sages that traveled there in search of the meaning of Life, to oversee the building of the temples, to progress their own soul evolution, to write the scriptures and to serve God in the spreading of these teachings. Even to this day, you will meet many Sadhus, Swamis and Guru’s traveling these paths who are following in the footsteps of their ancient lineage. The four main Dham sites are called Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath and each one is attributed to male and female aspects of the Godhead, so as you visit each ‘Dham’, you are literally infused with the particular primal energies that are represented symbolically there, and which bring to life our own innately divine human nature. The greatest journey of our spirit/soul, is to learn how to be a true human being, and many highly evolved beings have been all over the Himalayas, to help us light our way ‘home’.
Mother Ganga (Ganges River) is a living being
The Ganges River deserves special mention in this journey, because this river is the holiest river in India as the divine representation of the Mother, and central to this journey, is to travel to her sacred birth place and source(s). It is said that by bathing in her waters you can heal yourself of all your Karmas (attachments) in this life. This was seeded in the Indians consciousness by the legendary story of King Sagara and his ‘sixty thousand sons’ who were burned to ashes by the great sage, Kapila when they disturbed him while looking for their ‘horse’ near the ocean. Eventually Bhagirath, the Kings grandson, was the one who saw Goddess Ganga residing in heaven and brought her to Earth, after praying to Lord Shiva, he allowed the matted locks of his hair to be used to bring the waters to Earth, and in so doing the river liberated the souls of the ‘sixty thousand sons’. This is the reason why millions of Indians, and now many westerners, flock to this river for the cleansing ritual, and the release of the ashes of deceased loved ones into the river, thus the soul is released from worldly bondage. This story is very symbolic…the horse probably refers to our pride and ego; The 60,000 sons are referring to human beings and our ego thoughts, Goddess Ganga is the feminine aspect of us and represents our emotions & her healing waters of life; the King is God and the Sage is divinely realized man. This is how many legends survive, they are told as stories and our subconscious and unconscious mind can translate the story and ‘process’ the archetypal and metaphoric pictures. It is the same with fairy tales and many children’s fables.
Swami’s, Sadhu’s & Shamballa
Sadhu’s seeking the ultimate wisdom and enlightenment have wandered this route for centuries, following a tradition that has been passed down from the original wise ones and masters. Now we are about to undertake this journey for the 4th time, (we leave as this edition goes to print) we have met many beautiful Swami’s and Sadhu’s and they now welcome us into their homes and caves. Sadhu means renounciant, another words they have renounced traditional life and live permanently on the trail (hence Sadhu trail) or in the mountains with just the basic necessities of life and trust they will be provided for. A Swami, or Guru, is a true Master and a teacher of the universal wisdom. This is the land where the cosmic energies of the creator God are anchored and where a great portal is open to access a doorway to heaven, also known in Tibetan wisdom as Shamballa. It is here that the universal cosmic rays from the great central sun are felt and ‘The Will of God’ can be known if we are open and ready! This journey is an extraordinary adventure of our lives, both on the inner and outer planes, that’s for very extra ordinary people!
Tony Knight is the founder of Lotus Journeys to India.
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY – KERALA, SOUTH INDIA.
By Tony Knight
After many journeys to India, I was fortunate to visit the South western state of Kerala, India in April 2007 where I realized the term given to this state, “Gods own country”, is an appropriate and worthy title! This state of 33 million people is a tropical paradise on Earth, the people and the landscape all speak the language of relaxation, vitality and friendly openness. The science of Ayurveda was birthed here and is practiced extensively throughout Kerala, the knowledge of which may just be the key we need to our best health and life equilibrium.
After having spent a lot of time in the hustle and bustle of the northern cities of India and the mighty Himalayan mountains, Kerala was a wonderful experience, and the contrast epitomizes India, a most surprising country with something for everyone within its vastness. Many of the typical Indian traits are of course apparent, but there is always a definite sense that you are in a different land in Kerala. The culture has a greater western influence with nearly 50% of the population of Jewish, Catholic or Christian faith, a leftover from the Portuguese, Dutch and British occupation which had a strong hold in times past. As almost 80% of the population is Hindu in India this is a huge difference, however as in most places, the Hindus are mostly very tolerant and honour other religions. The other thing that is very apparent is that the people here seem very abundant on all levels, not just with food and a beautiful landscape, but also a lot of money is coming in, particularly from the Middle East and Gulf States. Land is very expensive here, and commerce and industry is booming, as with the whole of India in general.
As with anywhere in India, the food is a focal point of the culture and here the local specialties are simply divine. There are the usual spicy curries, but with fishing a major industry, there are many beautiful sea food dishes. Also, with the abundance of fresh fruit, vegetables and coconuts, one is never short of good, nutritious food to eat!
Cochin (Kochi) is a big and busy city, however again it does not compare to the many mega cities in India with 10 million plus people. Busy as it is, it is still a relatively relaxed lifestyle for a city, and with the proximity of the ocean and its lovely tropical setting, I am sure this helps. After taking a look around, and visiting some of the ancient Jewish temples and the local beach on the Arabian Sea, which was packed with Indians frolicking in the incredibly warm sea (about 26 degrees!), we headed south for the real treasures this state holds. We hired a very amiable taxi driver whose smile was about as wide as the ocean we followed. The sights were always interesting as we watched the locals go about their daily business, and as we meditatively admired the lovely languid tropical scenery, you cannot help but relax!
Our first port of call was Alleppy, a town that sits on a major junction of water ways which converge right on the coast. This town is called the “Venice of the East” and for good reason. Many people come here to take a leisurely boat ride up one of the many canals that criss-cross the flat inland areas, where the locals ply their goods, vegetables, coconuts and other necessary wares coning back and forth. These ‘backwaters’, as they are known, have been used for centuries as ‘highways’ for trade and transportation. Now you will see many huge and luxurious houseboats that are in popular demand for the many travelers that are now realizing India and Kerala is like a best kept secret! These boats are a combination of old and new, many of them are made from the local reeds, bamboo etc and yet feature ensuite bathrooms, dining rooms, top storey viewing decks, large bedrooms and full kitchens for your total comfort and service. The relaxation is complete as you motor almost noiselessly down the quiet, tranquil rivers, with jungle and coconut palm forests everywhere to the water edge, interspersed with some locals and their houses, livestock and small agricultural plots. Many of these humble earthen homes are perched on long, narrow strips of land, with the water almost to their front & back doors, and everywhere the eye can see there is a lake or canal/river system feeding it.
As we moved further south on our tour, we took in even more spectacular scenery and huge expanses of coconut palm forests stretching as far as the eye could see. After just a few hours of driving (considering it can take days to get anywhere in India, this is a huge blessing!) we reached a lovely beach resort called Valkayla. Here there are many Ayurveda resorts which double as hotels and the setting on the cliff top, with the many restaurants, overlooks a lovely cresent shaped beach with simply stunning views of the ocean. This beautiful beach is like a step back in time from all worldly cares and worries and as a newer developed beach, it has a lot of charm. We stayed two nights here to soak up the calm tranquility and then set off for Kovalam, which is famous as a major alternate ‘hippy’ destination from the late 60’s. It was around this area that a huge new cultural movement began in the west, the ‘flower power’ generation, where western people began to rebel against their established society. Meditation, yoga, Ayurveda and other timeless spiritual practices began to take root in the minds of many western travelers, the knowledge has since been taken back to their respective countries and merged with their existing society, and this is still happening and shaping our world today. The new world of greater freedom, spirituality, natural health, Yoga and consciousness movement has been spurned, in large part, due to Kerala and India in general.
Kerala is heralded as the birth place of Ayurveda and for which it is famous for to this day, bringing many people from all over the world to learn and experience this ancient wisdom of overall mind body soul health, and rehabilitation from serious physical modern day diseases and stresses. Ayurveda is a perfect science of life, the word AYUR literally means life and VEDA, the science or knowledge. Ayurveda teaches people that ‘prevention is better than cure’ and how to be healthy on all levels which leads to a comfortable life physically, mentally and socially.
There are four VEDAS or bodies of knowledge that form the basis of Indian philosophy and Ayurveda is derived from one of them. Within Ayurveda there are eight specialized branches of care, general medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry and psychosomatic diseases, diseases of the ear, eye, throat, head, nose, general surgery, toxicology, rejuvenation therapy, and aphrodisiac therapy. All living things including humans are made of 5 basic elements, air, earth, fire, water and ether, therefore every cell of our body is infused with life giving properties and is a living thing unto itself. The only difference with the human being and the external environment is the expression of, and level of consciousness.
These five elements can in turn be broken down into 3 principle energies, called Doshas, which manifest as a subtle energy, or personality, body type and mind qualities. The three principles are Vatha, Pitta and Kapha. The Air and Ether elements combine to form the pure Vatha principle, the Fire constitutes Pitta and Earth and Water combine to create a Kapha principle. One or two of these principles are generally prevalent in our body, or some people have all three in equal amount, and this creates our general disposition, metabolism, temperament, body size and ego. In Ayurveda science, each principle needs to be nourished with different foods, live in certain environments and be treated with different methods for optimal lifestyle balance and health.
The mind also plays a huge part in determining who we are and in Ayurveda we have three distinct qualities of mind called ‘Gunas’ and these are specifically called Satwa, Rajas and Tamas. Satwa people are interested in the truth, have good morals, like to keep clean and tidy, have faith in God and are intelligent thinkers. Rajas is a quality of over talking, excessive ego, anger and unhealthy competitive nature. Tamas is an attitude of fear, ignorance, abnormal sleep, laziness and depressive tendencies. Obviously we are all aspiring to become Satwa (hopefully!!) but as we grow and learn, we all have periods where we are acting with a Tamas or Rajas mind set, however the objective is to live life as a Satwa person and this is where Ayurveda comes in to help us!
According to the Ayurvedic science there are 7 basic functional tissues of the body which are, plasma, bone, blood, bone marrow, muscle, semen and ovum and fat. These are called Dhatus. Then there are the Malas produced in the body, which literally means ‘that which contaminates’. These are the metabolic bi-products formed in the body and are eliminated as sweat, urine and faeces. The other major quality to a normal functioning person is ‘Agni’. This is the fire that resides in every living being, and is represented by the metabolism. Food needs to be converted into a form that can be used by the body so that the nutrients can then be absorbed by the cells. This conversion is Agni.
The main causes of disharmony that can lead to disease, in Ayurveda tradition, are incorrect food & food habits, seasonal variations, abuse of the sense organs, incorrect bodily habits and body care, suppression of bodily urges, abnormal digestion, constant exposure of mind to negative feelings and general behavioral habits that are against the natural laws. The basic principle in Ayurveda is to treat the cause and eliminate the internal disharmony leading to disease, by bringing the prime functions and qualities as above into balance. When the Dhosas, Dhatus, Malas, Gunas and Agni are in a state of balance, then the body will be in state of perfect health and this is the prime objective of Ayurveda. Harmony is maintained through living a life in conformity with the laws of nature.
In order to see for myself, I went to visit arguably one of the most beautiful and professionally run Ayurvedic resorts in Kerala and indeed, India, called Somatheeram Ayurvedic Beach resort. They certainly had paid attention to every detail, including eco friendly accommodation, tailor made meals, a stunning private beach, manicured gardens and they are even growing their own herbs for the treatments. Here you can learn basic massage or take a panchakarma course. Panchakarma is the term used to describe a complete series of treatments over a series of days or weeks, where your body is completely cleansed inside and out and various oils and herbs are applied to restore the proper functions for a healthy body. Getting healthy is no quick fix, we must do certain things on a regular basis to maintain our health, such as yoga, meditation and eating the right foods and consultation and knowledge can be given on this which applies to you specifically.
As we made our way back up north again, we had time to veer off the main highway to visit the stunning ashram called Amritapuri, the home of Amritanandamayi, also known as Amma or the hugging mother. True to Kerala form, this place set in an incredible paradise on the most western shore of a narrow sliver of land about 1 km wide, with a large internal waterway on the other side. It was here that the same Tsunami that wrecked many homes in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Eastern India a few years ago, also came ashore after wrapping around the bottom of the Indian continent and caused huge damage to the local villages and surrounding low lying areas. Even the ashram was completely flooded, but luckily only minimal damage was done. Amma travels the world extensively and is involved in a huge number of local and overseas community services, proving that not all ‘saints’ are just sitting around contemplating their navel!
So in essence, a journey to Kerala is not just a traditional vacation, it is in fact the ultimate journey destination where you can have fun & easily relax in a tropical paradise, while learning experientially how you can get truly healthy and live to your fullest expression in body, mind and consciousness, just by being there!
Lotus Journeys is an Auckland based company focused on taking small intimate groups on inspiring adventures to sacred India. We specialize in India only, so we know this country extremely well, from the Himalayas in the far north to Kerala in the southern tropics.
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