A taste of Shiva's challenges!

Who said that India is only beauty and goodness?

We had a taste of Shiva's challenges yesterday. Waking up at 4am to catch our flight from Chennai, we were ready to experience the grand celebration of Mahashivaratri in Varanasi or Benares. The plan was to land by 1.30pm in Varanasi. Little that we knew that we would spend half the day in Chennai airport, the other half of the day being flown to Southern India first, then to North to Delhi, and then South again to Lucknow, and many of hours of the night in a bus for the slowest, most uncomfortable ride of our lives. Yes we did arrive, but it was 3am... The attitude of the group was amazing though, a group of yogis cultivating patience, non-blaming, optimism...

And then the new day came with a morning practice with Arun that fixed it all. What followed? A long walk by the river ghats that was just perfectly interesting and mysterious... a visit to the red colored temple of Durga right when the bells were going and the hindus were performing their devotional rituals... a boat ride to watch the fire ceremony of Aarti at night... corpses being burned at the cremation grounds just as life was going on as usual 10 meters down the river... and a private music concert that may never be forgotten: The family of Vikash Maharaj has been devoted to music for centuries. Listening to Vikash and his two sons playing classical Indian music was one of the most enchanting and healing experiences of my life. The business card of his son Prabhash states: "Tabla Player/Human Rights Activist"

Did you know that music can heal the earth, the water of this earth (through their eco documentary "Holi Water") and all living beings?

You'd be convinced if you had a chance to listen to them... Heavenly!

Pranams!