The Beatles Ashram
There was one small obstacle that we had to overcome in order reach the famous ashram. The ashram was not open in the wee mornings hours, which is exactly when we wanted to go. Furthermore, where we wanted to go, the rooftops, were off limits. This being the case, we only had one solution to our predicament. We had to sneak onto the grounds in the early morning hours before the guards showed up. This meant that we had to navigate up the side of a mountain on which the ashram was located in order to find a "creative" way of entering. We moved through the trees oh so quietly as the darkness of the night slowly shifted into the mornings light. I wasn't sure what the consequences would be if we were to have been caught, but I had no intention of finding out. We crept silently, not saying a word as we little by little moved through the forest surrounding our intended point of entry. Eventually, without too much trouble we found our way. I'd like to say that it was some epic badass journey to make it, but in reality it was just a hike - nothing crazy. I was surprised at how easy it was to avoid the guards and enter the way we did. It seemed too easy.
The energy at the ashram was powerful. Or maybe I was projecting. Either way, I could only imagine what amounts of introspective change had occurred within the many people that had come there in the past to study. What big questions did they have answered? What big answers led to even more complex questions? Did they find what they were seeking? Which lyrics (by The Beatles), that we know by heart and have sung thousands of times today, had been conceived on these mystical grounds?
The sun was beginning to approach its rise in the sky. We spotted a multi-leveled building and decided that we had to do our 108 sun salutations on the top. After climbing carefully (the structural integrity of the building wasn't anything to boast about), we found ourselves on the highest possible location available. At the very top of the building that we were on, we found something that we called an "Om dome". What is an "Om dome" you ask? An "Om dome" is a stone dome that can only be entered in through the top. When inside the dome, all of the sounds that are produced are intensified and accentuated. The three of us sat in a circle, took to our individual seated meditative positions, and one by one began to repeatedly chant "Om". The vibrations, because of the physics of the structure we were inside of, could literally be felt. We stayed chanting and allowed ourselves to be carried deeper and deeper into the meditative practice. My skin tingled, my mind quieted, and my physical body went on autopilot. Little by little I became "the observer". Before long I was completely embalmed in the tangible vibrations, feeling my whole being pulsate with life. I don't know how long we chanted. Again, when you go into these states of consciousness, time doesn't feel the same. A moment can feel like forever and forever can feel like just a moment. It's trippy. As always, these experiences are tricky to try to articulate. This practice of "Oming" was something that we practiced most days at the yoga shala. Although I had my uneducated preconceptions about chanting before arriving in India, my time dabbling in these practices revealed to me the simple power of sound. I still have my skepticisms about many things in Yogic philosophy and practices, but I will say, that always after trying them for myself (chanting, eye/fire gazing, different cleansing methods, breathing techniques, the physical postures, aspects of lifestyle , etc.) - I always find some glimmers (or chunks) of truth. As with most things, it's always best to try it for yourself and then make your own conclusions.
After finishing chanting, we all in our own time climbed out of the "Om dome", unrolled our yoga mats, and moved through the 108 sun salutations. Again, letting the constant repetition of a mindful action take us deeper into the land of awareness. The sun began to rise epically. As the suns light awaken the vast forest before us, so too were our sun salutiatons awakening us. It was a synchronistic awakening of both the micro and macro worlds.
From waking up on the beach along the Ganges river, to sneaking onto the rooftop "Om domes", to practicing our sun salutations - all before the day was even half over, in fact it had just begun. This span of a few hours would remain a lifetime memory. The lack of sleep and risky business of trespassing was all worth it.
***On another occasion, I tried to return to the "Om domes" with two other friends. Instead of hiking our way onto the grounds in the morning before the guards showed up, we stupidly went in the middle of the day. Sure enough, we were caught like deer in headlights by a patrolling guard. He shouted, "Give me your passports, I'm calling the police!". The three of us looked at eachother, looked at the guard, and then back at each other. With a sly smile creeping across our faces, in unison, we shouted, "RUN!". We dashed and smashed through the forest that we had just so delicately traversed through. With every step we heard the shouts of the security guard slowly fade away. We didn't rest until we had made it back down to the bottom of the mountain. Oops. That was a close one. On this occasion we were lucky. Further on down the road in my future escapades, luck would evade me in much more dire situations...
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