Gangotri

The trek back down to Gangotri was another 12 miles back down the rocky trail, done on the same morning that we had hiked up to the glacier from Bhojbasa. My body was starting to get addicted to walking...and the buoyant presence of some faery-like Italian tourists carried us along; they bounded down ahead of us in their purple plastic rain ponchos and colorful Indian garb laughing and melodiously proclaiming the great virtue of hiking "It is taking all of one's worries away!...we must....keep....walking!!") It was glorious to walk down in the sweet, soft rain that was a better ally to our journey than the brilliant, beating Sun which rode upon us on the way up.
Reaching Gangotri, we crossed field where some local boys were playing cricket and returned to rest gratefully in our beloved funky Sadan. The next morning met several travelers who were from England and Israel on the balcony. Had a nice conversation with them and they convinced me to share a Yoga practice with them. Frankly, after 2 straight days of trekking I wasn't feeling very generous energetically, in fact I was feeling pretty dire about having some introversion with my practice, which is increasingly difficult to obtain whenever one is sharing a tiny room with a beloved fellow practitioner who is equally frustrated about the lack of privacy in circumstance. But. I caved in and gave them a class which turned out to be a delightful experience and a way of further surrendering my ideals about privacy and how to open up further beyond them. That statement may sound drowned in the tricky sort of co-dependent egoism which is self-abnegation, but I am aware of a good opportunity to share something wonderful in a once-in-a-lifetime circumstance like leading a practice on the banks of a place like Gangotri when I see it. At one point we could all feel and taste and hear the pure prana of the rushing Ganga breathing us through our sadhana to the point that it came to my attention to acknowledge what was already being collectively felt, and from the mouths delicately upturned in soft Buddha-like smiles and closed eyes in our midst I knew that we were all deeply united in the experience. It was quite beautiful. I hadn't taught a class in three weeks and submitted to the universal spirit of answering the sincere request for help from others which allowed me to transcend feeling like I was out of practice in teaching and wouldn't be able to do much for them. So, it returns to mind that the spirit of tapas and Isvara pranidana is present in all opportunities life gives us to renounce whatever is holding us back from engaging more fully, from giving when there is an opportunity to make others happy, you just do it, cease to worry about the results, and magic happens.
Tom and I walked around a loop path in a canyon behind the hotel and came upon several quiet ashrams and a powerful waterfall coming through a gorge between megalithic sun-colored sandstone, aptly named Suryakund falls. Beyond that we found the most adorable scene of a matted-locked, ash-covered Baba sitting amidst several children who were delighting around him like small birds do the red-tailed hawk, a combination of patience-engendering prattle and daring vies for attention.
Yogiraj Sri Digamber Purnam Giri was to become our teacher that afternoon, as we took note that he was offering Yoga classes--and after spending a sweet hour with him and the children who he looked after, decided without hesitation to come back and learn morefrom him. That evening we brought our (suddenly silly and superfluous seeming) Yoga mats with us and sat with him and learned more about Pranayama and Kriya Yoga technique than I have in several sessions of teacher trainings. His direct approach to instruction consisted of having us demonstrate what we "knew" and then with a curious mixture of pity and dismissal showing us how to do things correctly. It was humorous and humbling! I found several of his instructions to be contrary to what I have learned from other schools. Although a technique like Kapala Bhati, Bhastrika, or Agnisara Dhauti can have variations, those minor variances mean alot in terms of result. We did absolutely no asanas except Padmasan (while cold, very difficult) and Siddhasan, which he insisted were the only two a person needed, making refernce to the other 82 (as in Gheranda Samhita which says 84 asanas are crucial) as being merely preparatory. Our "Guruji" does Padmasan with his heels touching and centered at the second chakra/low navel center, which demands extremely open hips; at the same time one must have their knees and outer thighs touching the floor. Needless to say, he was disimpressed with my version of Padmasana, which is complete but inaccurate by his perception. His way of imparting ways that we could correctly do a practice were mixed with building upon seeing what we were already capable of first, and then humorously deconstructing them, keeping only the useful aspects of what we were able to do in his vision of a pose or pranayama and building upon that. He also talked at length about sattvic lifestyle, brahmacharya, and shat karma--all in Hindi which I understood well enough to ask appropriate questions at the right time---which was more of a miracle of mind transmission than of any acquired fluency on my part!This wonderful and quietly "undiscovered" man is a Lion with the heart of a teddy bear, and we are eager to stay with him again for a longer period next time.
He told us the usual criteria for diet and lifestyle--no eggs (but..I love eggs...!), no meat (no problem), no alcohol (Tom is preparing his argument for the sacred history of beer now), no garlic (that'll be hard), and for Tom two marriages upon looking at his palm, for me I am to not marry but become a Sadhvi (funny, I always kinda knew that..). Tom left to heed natures's call and our teacher told me more about Ardhanishvara, one of the visions of Shiva that is most Beloved to me, that of the hermaphrodite-like, half-female half-male Parvati/Shiva who are in complete union in one body. He promises that if I marry myself that is who I will become. I wonder if my family will still turn out for the ceremony?
He bade us farewell by making sure we knew where to find him at the 2007 KumbhMela in Allahabad this January, and giving us the names of Parvati Giri (myself) and Parameshwara Giri for Tom. We also received the 5 faced Rudraksha from him which the Shiva Saddhus give and a short sadhana. I'll have to find a way to observe making the sacred marks in ash on my forehead every day as he instructed. Don't be surprised if I look a little different when I come back!