Delhi - training patience

One would expect that after having done a lot of Yoga and Meditation I should be able to face almost everything. Well, Delhi is a good place to test patience, resistance, and tolerance. I have never been in a place more crowded, polluted and loud so far, so every small task outside in the heat requires a big amount of will power in order to face the masses trying to communicate with you, mostly in order to make business. I am trying my best to keep friendly and relaxed but sometimes it becomes hard not to loose control and let the pour waiter pay for all the accumulated tension just because he was not able to bring a simple sandwich in one hour ;))) On the other hand this is the place to learn to take things and oneself less seriously and sometimes laugh even in the most annoying and surreal situations.
In the past days I discovered the Delhi Metro as the medium of transport which costs the least amount of nerves. No traffic jams, no honking, just huge crowds of people wanting to feel very close with one and other ;))) Together with a French friend I went to see Humayam´s tomb - the Taj Mahal was based on this building - and walked through Lodi garden …enjoy the pictures.

...if nothing important keeps me from doing so, I will write a closing entry making some kind of balance of the experiences made, things seen and conclusions drawn, so please bare with me for some more time even I am leaving this overwhelming country tonight. See you on the other side…


PS. I published the post about Amrizar 2 minutes ago, so keep reading and check out the photos, you will love them ;)

Amrizar - from gold to dust

As the end of this trip seems to be coming nearer in an accelerated manner I cut the time in front of the screen in order to inhale the some more breaths of the real India. Amrizar, the capital of Punjab certainly is a highlight of every Indian or visitor. The golden temple was found by the ethnical group called Sikhs, who are easy to recognize by there never cut hear and beards with their heads covered with different kinds of turbans according to their social and matrimonial status and not to forget their beautiful knifes hidden under their long, normally white shirts. Once more I got the feeling that I had entered the land of "1001 nights", observing majestic men and stunningly beautiful women walk along the lake surrounding the temple.
The Indians are demographically a very young people, so where ever you look you see babies and small children jumping around, playing, laughing and trying to get rid of their excess energy ;) It was breath taking with how much openness and friendliness the locals welcomed my travel maids and me. Many came to talk with with us with a sincerity and an interest which is hard to find. We ended up being photographed many times holding hands (in India this kind of physical contact forms part of the culture) with total strangers ;) With the perspective of my return home, I guess I will have to get used to the fact again, that in Europe it is not very popular among people if you look or smile at them openly without any apparent reason.
In golden temple more than 13000 people get fed per day for free by volunteer workers. Of course I wanted to experience this and was surprised to taste the best rice pudding, Dal Fry and Chapatis in a long time. Impressed by the friendliness and hospitality of the Sikhs towards what ever religion or ethnic group, I was tempted to stop cutting my hear and become one of them ;)))

Dharamsala - 10 day retreat

Yesterday ended the 10 day meditation-retreat and I am glad I can move freely again, communicate and have my own space. During the past 10 days all students followed a very tight and strict program starting at 4:30 am and lasting until 9:30 pm with short breaks for breakfast, lunch and a little rest. We spent about 10 hours a day sitting and meditating in a big hall learning different techniques while we lived the rest of the time in an monastery like environment in small huts or rooms for two or three persons. Basically the meditation-course was about purifying several levels of the mind by concentrating on the observation of one´s respiration or body-sensations. The fact, that according to the rules we were not allowed to communicate, read, write or do any other activity apart from meditating and satisfying our basic needs helped a lot to calm down the mind and improve it´s capacity of concentration. After a few days I managed to sit for one hour without moving at all, staying present, focusing on the changing sensations of my body. I don´t want to go much into detail here about what the meditation and what it is or is not because it is very difficult to explain something which is rather an experience than a theoretical concept, but I am happy to explain in more detail to those of you who want to know more as soon as we meet in real life again…

The experience of sharing one´s life with about 100 students of different social, cultural and geographical backgrounds had it´s surreal and funny aspects. The lack of movement and the two rather heavy meals (containing beans, peas, milk, chai…) per day had their consequences on the digestive systems of the students. So at times I started doubting if I was attending a meditation course or a fart-camp ;) The hilarious thing about the situation was the fact, that due to the rule of "noble silence" - no communication what so ever - nobody was supposed to react or say anything about the bio-chemical attacks of his neighbors, so some people toke advantage of that and ventilated their bodies in a shameless manner. By the 10th day I could identify the originator of a given fart or eruption by it´s sound and I started wearing ear- and sometimes even nose-plugs ;)))

Before and after the retreat I had the opportunity to explore the mountains around Dharamshala together with other travelers. We found some magical spots by accident climbing around some mountains… I leave you with some impressions. See you soon in real life. Big hug


PS. I know I am asking a lot, but I would really love to know who actually reads this… the only way for me tho find out is when you post a comment. So please don´t be shy, just imagine you are on Facebook and leave me few words or lines ;)))