The Lotus Mudra

Guess who is actually writing when she said she would? This girl! Enjoy it while it lasts.  (I started out on time. But obviously it didn't make it).

I want to talk a little bit about the things that I am learning, not just the things that I am doing. I realize that I don't add in as much about that, if anything, when I make these posts. SO if you are looking for an easy post to read and know what I am up to, please refer to the previous post: Incense and Peppermints.

I have been meaning to write this all weekend, but I just never got around to it. Sorry! I am done pretending that I can actually post things on time. So let's just go with the idea that if I post: Great! If I don't post: Great! It will be a surprise for all of us when I actually get something up.

So, I don't know exactly what you want to hear about what life is like here or what I am learning. But I will just write, stream of consciousness style, and I pray something will eventually make sense.

I am realizing just how young and immature I am. I am like a new star, I feel like I have been around forever but when I am compared with the other stars I find that my lifetime is nothing compared to theirs. I am still a star, which is wonderful, but I am no where near the maturity level of the others. The people I talk to and interview are the old stars, the sages, the gurus, they who have had a glimpse of what all is out there. Through their knowledge I can find a peace of my own and can settle into my 'starhood' and be okay with my short life. I know there is so much more to follow; I need to take this part slowly and allow it to fill me. The important thing is that I am learning to pick what I allow to fill me. There is simply too much to savor it all; it is a shame but it is the honest truth. We have the agency to choose what fills us and makes us who we are, I want it to be good things.

So I meditate. I do yoga. I find the things that I truly and honestly enjoy. Yoga is a passion that I am only realizing that I have. I used to do it back in the States, but not like here. Here, yoga is a way of life; it is a passage to finding the Ultimate Truth. No, it is not 42. It is 42 plus some. And then some. And then some. It is a part of your everyday experiences, it is a part of you. I believe that God is too merciful to allow there to be only one path of truth on the Earth. Every religion has an aspect of truth for people to cling to and to love. When you love the Ultimate Truth, you learn what that feels like so you can recognize it the next time it happens. You feel that spirit and you know that feeling comes when you interact with the divine in some way.

You know this interaction. It is when you feel the chills run up and down your spine and you just know something is right, or perfect, or especially beautiful. Maybe you feel some kind of burning in your heart that it feel you have suddenly been filled with an inexplicably transcendent mood. You feel as though your mind encompasses the entirety of the cosmos at once and that you had a glimpse of something bigger than you are. The feeling is subtle and sometimes you can miss it. This all happens in an instant, you feel it and then it is gone. The reason I bring it up is because I feel it here constantly. In mundane conversation, in the interviews that I hold, in the pooja (prayers to deities), in meditation mantras, in the examples that I see in people's lives, in my own thoughts. For some reason this environment is much more conducive to this kind of thought. There is a poem that I am reminded of: Derrick Brown's "A Finger Two Dots Then Me".

I say to him… why do I call you God?

He says ‘Because Grand Poobah sounds ridiculous.’

(Who knew he was so witty?)

I ask him ‘Lord, so many poets have tried to nail it and missed, what is holy?’

At that moment,

the planets begin to spin and awaken

and large movie screens appear on Mars, Saturn and Venus

each bearing images I have witnessed

and over each and every clip flashes the word holy.

armadillos–holy

magic tricks–holy

cows’ tongues–holy

snowballs upside the head–holy

clumsy first kisses–holy

sneaking into movies–holy

your mother teaching you to slow dance

the fear returning

the fear overcome–holy

eating top ramen on upside-down frisbees

cause it was either plates or more beer–holy

drunk beach cruiser nights–holy

the $5.00 you made in vegas

and the $450.00 you lost–holy

the last time you were nervous holding hands–holy

feeling God at a pool hall but not church–holy

sleeping during your uncle’s memorized dinner prayer–holy

losing your watch in the waves and all that signifies–holy

the day you got to really speak to your father cause the television broke–holy

the day your grandmother told you something meaningful

cause she was dying–holy

Everything can be holy if we make it, if we intentionally think of something and lend it meaning. How much more meaning would any of these experiences have if we had thought they were holy at the time? What would we have learned? 

The reason I called this post the Lotus Mudra is because that is the mudra for opening your heart and for intentioned thought. A mudra is a position that you hold the hands for yoga in order to access a subtle aspect of the body. Here is a  picture of a lotus mudra. I want everyone who reads to try to open their heart to feel that embrace by the cosmos. Open your heart to the holiness around you and feel it now, not after the fact.

I have more thoughts, but I think this should do it for today. I'll try to post more stuff like this, not just what I am doing.

Incense and Peppermints

It has been too long! And that is entirely my fault...I know I said I would write on Saturday. I just didn't know what to write about, and so I have left it until today. Wednesday is the day that the guilt of not writing overwhelms me to the point that I actually do something about it.

Update on stuff I have done:

 HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT?! That, my friends, is Araku Valley. One of the most incredible places on planet earth. This is the view on the drive up. Reminiscent of more tropical Blue Ridge Mountains. Oh yeah, and there were monkeys on the side of the road.

BORRA CAVES

These last few are from a service we attended at a local mosque this morning! I will try to upload some of the singing on Youtube later. The pink veils are what the women sit behind. The reason we went today was because it was their spiritual leader's birthday. Celebrate good times!

Sorry this is brief! I WILL have one on Saturday and it will be good!

Seashells from the Bay of Bengal

I promised I would write, and here I am.

In my opinion, there is nothing that sounds quite as magical and romantic as "seashells from the Bay of Bengal". I just love saying it, reading it, thinking about it. Rebecca and I spent part of the morning on the beach today collecting seashells and trying to avoid the waves, quite unsuccessfully on both accounts. Well, that isn't completely true because we did find some shells. It is quite unfortunate that India doesn't have a good way to deal with waste; I say that because we can't swim because of all the bacteria and small crawling things that could infect us that live in that water. The water is just so beautiful. There are some rocks out and around in these outcroppings that would be perfect to climb when the tide is low. However, I value my life just a bit too much to do so.

I'm trying to think of things to mention or random incidents to describe...Brace yourself for this adventure into my mind...

Not too many nights ago, there was a thunderstorm that was unlike any I have been in for a long, long time. I don't think that I've mentioned this before, but forgive me if I have. It was about eleven at night and I had just drifted off into sleep. It was hot, so sleep was not restful. When I woke up, about half an hour later, it was POURING outside. The amount of rain that was coming down was ridiculous. Imagine a poorly filmed movie where they take all the water they can and just dump it and dump it to the point where you laugh because it was so unrealistic. That is how it was. I couldn't see to the end of the street. The palm trees around us were swaying in the wind and you could hear the rain as it hit the palm and magnolia leaves. Then the thunder. I went out onto my porch and watched it, the entire sky lit up with the lightning. I don't think I've ever heard thunder sound as though it came from the splitting of the sky before. It was as though the entire seam of the universe was coming undone with a horrendous ripping sound. I loved it!! Every time it happened, there was a reaction in the pit of my stomach that instantly reminded me of nights curled up under the covers clutching my stuffed animals. It was a kind of primal fear, it was beautiful and so exhilarating! Linsey and I were both out on the porch when those thunder claps happened and it was all we could both do to not scream. Wish you could see what I saw! But, I wish that about everything. So we must do what we can.

Oh! Here is something pleasant. If you have a weak stomach, I can promise you that you do not want to read on. So just skip to the line and all will be well. No, this is not about feces (which, again, is everywhere. I keep seeing it and the first thing that goes through my head is 'I hope this isn't human' and sometimes it isn't but then sometimes it is. Delightful). This is about my yoga class this morning.

As you see in my hand, there are two things in my hands. The one that is white and looks like a tea pot is what we, in America, know as a Neti Pot. This is something which you use to clear out excess mucus when you are sick or just have, well, excess mucus. You dissolve some salt in lukewarm water, put it in the pot, sick the spout in one nostril and turn to that side so that the salinated water runs up one side and down the other. The key is making sure that you tilt your head correctly so that it doesn't go through your mouth. I've done this at home before and it works wonders! It is really rather pleasant when all things are said and done (even though it feels like you are drowning your first time). It is a little crazy, but nothing like that little, red, rubber tube you see me holding. Now that is something I've never tried before in the whole course of my life, nor had planned to. However, the opportunity presented itself and I figured it would be good to try out. What you do with that little guy is you stick it down one nostril and you pull the end you stuck in through your nose out by way of your mouth and then you have an end coming out our nose and one out your mouth. Then you proceed to do a push-pull maneuver to get out excess mucus. Then repeat on the other side. I was a little nervous during this whole thing because I had always thought it was something that immature and crazy little boys did with noodles...but no. Here I was surrounded by people who thought it was the most normal thing in the world and I was expected to snake it down my nose. So I did. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have been blessed with a gag reflex that is not very active, so while I gagged enough to cry.. I didn't gag as much as other people! So, bonus?

Also, to complete the scene: there is another yogic technique for purification that involves the drinking of saline water on an empty stomach and then vomiting it all back up. So while we were doing this, there were more people around us actually throwing up and not just gagging. It was a lovely scene. Everyone critiquing the various methods of how to stick fingers down the throat to induce vomiting. One man was rather vocal when he would vomit, it sounded so exaggerated. Yet, I could look up and there he was. Puking on the side of the path. When we had finished our neti procedures, we went into the yoga hall and sat down in a meditative pose. While we were there beneath the fans in a peaceful mudra, you could hear the sounds of people throwing up outside. It was delightful.. It was one of those moments when I looked around and thought I am here. Not in America. Not going to classes. Not worrying about school and such. I am in India. Wow. Slightly crazy, but I loved it! People here don't think those things are weird, vomiting and nose things. Their attitude rubs off and I found myself just enjoying the culture.

                                                  

You may begin reading again here if you avoided those last few paragraphs.

In the course of the next few weeks I am hoping to get some interviews and things done. There is a school around here for mentally handicapped kids and I am really excited because I get to volunteer there! The girl who was here before we were (well, we overlapped a week) went there every day and helped out. I just can't wait to do some good in the community! I thought there would be some NGOs or charities around here that I could get involved in when I got here, but there aren't any that I have found. Service is more a part of every day activities instead of a big deal like it can sometimes be in America. Also, since everyone has a job to do and a place in society it can be hard to get stuff done because you have to wait for the right person to come and do it. Service isn't the same because there is always someone to do something instead of needing a person to just help out.

Mmmm while I write I can hear the afternoon thunder rolling in. I love it, however, it means that the autos will be charging extra when we go to institute because of rain. Shoot.

I don't know..what else do you want to know? Just message me if there is an experience or thought that you want to hear about more or at all. We have a lot of deep discussions here about various intellectual concepts, so if you want those I can add them. I figure I'll just write about experiences and if you want to know my opinion on somethings that you can just ask me.

OHH I can Skype! So if you're reading this and you just can't bear the distance between us or you just want to chat or whatever the reason..we can skype! Honestly, I love skyping so if you want to then I am down. Add me: emilyywillis   Whenever I'm online, I am available. Easy rule to follow.

I think that about does it for today. Talk to you soon. Have a wonderful week. I'll end with a quote from one of my favorite movies: " Even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you. I love you." I hope that you are getting something out of my experience here in India. The reason I keep a blog is for you, in the hopes that something I do might make the smallest impression in your life to do something differently or better. If you just laugh at my stories, that is enough!

Till next time.


PS Linsey (one of the girls I am with) is a photography major and is basically a boss. If you want to see some REAL pictures of India check out her blog: http://wewillsurelyfindit.blogspot.com/

Janglin'

The title for this post comes from "Janglin'" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes who I've been listening to on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. Love those.

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post! I just haven't had that much to say. But I shall try to make sure that I write each week. I'll get another post up  this saturday or something and get back on track. 

This post will just have a bunch of pictures and I'll try to get some of the stories down. But Saturday's post will be better. Hope everyone is having a great week!

This is a market that we stopped by one time. People come from miles around for these one-a-week markets. They bring goats (which you can see here), fish, metal workings, ceramics, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Apparently the black and white spotted goats are 'auspicious'. (Everything here is auspicious to some caste, clan, goddess, god, etc)

 As we were driving along the road we came across one of the many strikes that are going on. These are the dentists protesting outside the dental college. Fearsome.

Really, all they do is burn tires and yell stuff. Even the people yelling lack the enthusiasm that should be a requirement for strikers. Only 2 out of every 50 know what the strike is about; each one is over in about 20 minutes. No harm done.

 A rice field that we drove by. Imagine white birds in the sky and mountains in the distance and you would have a fairly good idea of what I saw on the drive to Sri Mukhalingam. Still can't believe I live here.

 Siddhu (named after Siddhartha) had a ceremony up at Simhatchelum one day (he is finally of age to begin learning and therefore supplication must be made on his behalf to the goddess of learning and books). We all went up in our saree's. Everyone thought we looked so good, we even ended up in the newspaper the next day. #fifteensecondsoffame. Left to right: Rajhu (Durgha's husband and Siddhu's dad), Rebecca, Linsey, Me, and Durgha (seven months pregnant!).

 Found this little gem in the Yoga Village for Andhra University. This is the most incredible country because you can get your bachelor's in yoga here. Uhm. Okay.

 Here is the sign outside the village.

 En route to my house. All of these trees have delicate blossoms on them and here you weave them into a string that you pin to your hair. The flowers are so fragrant, it is really very pleasant. They do it with jasmine too, those are my favorite flower strands.

 A bunch of stray dogs just curling up in some cement mix before the rain came. There are packs of dogs everywhere. I live in constant fear that I will at some point be appealing to them and they will attack me. They are ferocious and sometimes their fighting wakes me up in the middle of the night.

 Krishna's birthday was last week! So the festivities were riotous and extravagant. He is a god, that is meant to be worshiped by fun and parties. Every morning he is woken up with singing and playing of music and he goes to bed after more music and the offering of sweets.

This is a mantra tent. There were 108 steps on the ground and on each step you recite the mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

 Each one of those steps represents a bead on a japa maala (a necklace of prayer beads...kind of like a rosary). Devotees of Krishna recite that mantra 108 times every day because it is supposed to bring your mind closer to Krishna and freedom.

This is a picture of something that I was able to do: rock the Krishna idol. He is in a sort of a cradle and devotees pay to pull the rope back and forth to rock the cradle because Krishna is supposed to find amusement in this. I was able to do it for free because there were TV cameras and I was white. It was fun!

 We went to these ruins of a Buddhist monastery the other day: it was the most incredible place. Each place you went here felt as though it was holy ground of some sort. You could tell that peaceful people lived there. It was quiet, secluded, and calm. It is one of my favorite places so far. There are some pictures of me doing some yoga asanas on them, but with my face about the color of the bricks I chose not to post them.

What you can see specifically here are the rooms for the monks. Each room is about ten by ten and would house two monks. We think...

 Rajyalakshmi and Madhu! These two hang in there for everything. We put them through a lot. They are our translators and are a huge blessing. Without them we wouldn't be able to do anything, really. Madhu is putting up his "Shanti" hand. He always says that when we seem in the least bit annoyed/stressed/anxious/excited/or if we show emotion in the slightest. "Shanti! Shanti!" Shanti means peace and calm.

 Here we are! All in the salwar kameezes that are so common here. Mom, that is the bag you sent me with that I didn't think I would use...I use it all the time! I have fallen deeply in love with these pants. They are the most comfortable things I have ever worn and they conduct breezes like nobody's business.

That is a giant Buddha behind us, it was in a little alcove in the trees. We decided it would be a good place to stop.

PS Objects in picture are shorter than they appear.

 A shot from our time in Bheemli. You will definitely see more pictures of there because we are planning on going back soon. There is a university with a new meditation hall that I want to check out (it is a part of the philosophy and Ghandian studies department) AND there is this incredibly mysterious looking cemetery that we didn't have a chance to go into. The cemetery is owned by the local Catholic convent and I guess all the sisters had a day off when we went.

Oh. And the water is the Bay of Bengal.

 Here are some fishermen working on making their nets. They were all over the beach and their hands were so deft it looked like no work at all.

 That is one of the oldest buildings in Bheemli (with the tree growing out of it). It was built by the Dutch settlers, I believe. Hard to believe that it is still standing today. There are some more of the fishing boats!

 I just love this picture. It is an accurate representation of how things looked while we were there. Magical and perfect.

 A woman at the market! Those artichoke looking things in the middle have become my new favorite fruit: custard apple. Sounds really nasty, but you just split one open and it is like passionfruit meets an apple meets mangiis (sp?). I pick some up every time I see them. The last ones I had were really ripe and man...so good.

I found Narnia/Diagon Alley. NBD.



















That is all I have for right now, but I hope that I can get you some more information about my time here! Talk to you soon