Rishikesh

In Rishikesh, we pulled in with the pouring heat with single-pointed focus across Ram Jhula bridge into Parmarth Niketan ashram and checked into a small room, which we barely got as a favor from the ashram. For some reason they were not welcoming many foreigners at the time, unless one was previously affiliated with the ashram or currently enrolled in their Yoga intensive that was apparently underway. It was through these two means that I got to meet a wonderful Vinyasa Yoga teacher named Kate Towsley who is from South Africa, and has a beautiful way of imparting her reverence and knowledge of traditional Yogic practices with a heart of humor and creativity. I was grateful to let myself go over to her expertise and to several wonderful sessions with Mataji. Except for these grateful sessions at Parmarth, hardly anyone was teaching around Rishikesh as there were not many tourists about, much to my dismay I couldn't even find several of my favorite folks who had apparently fled the heat for other opportunities.
Despite the staggering heat and jungle sweatiness, we did quite a bit of walking. One morning we went to the Mahabhutnath Shiva Temple which is one of several incredible castle-ish, spiral helix-like temple structures arising from the mountainside a couple kilometres walking distance from the river. There are 13 stories and at the top I was semi-surprised to find a shriveled elderly man, a Pujari, giving tikas from the top shrine room. To stand at the top of the temple and ring one of the heavy brass bells is both a salutation to the deity and an awesome proclamation of Beingness to a sentient and wondrous valley below that teems with the life fed off of the monsoon rains. Another remarkable jaunt was to Lakshman Jhula Bridge and on 8 km. to Phool Chatti ashram, then a waterfall (which is actually tiered and widespread over a cliff and looks like it belongs in South America, amazing...) at a 1 km hike straight up the mountain. Phool Chatti is a quiet place far away from the melee of Rishikesh. Rishikesh, while incredible, can be overstimulating (esp. in heat!) with all of the foreign and Indian tourists constantly coming through, and this humble and flower laden ashram 8 km. up the road from Lakshman Jhula was just what we needed. When we arrived, a Swami came down to meet us and as we were talking a man was splitting stones with a mallet. Suddenly a shard of stone whizzed by my mouth and very nearly sliced me. Could've been my eye...grateful for the near miss. Near misses are the signature of daily experience of getting around in India. You learn to use them to your advantage! What appears inauspicious can quickly lead to the experience of auspiciousness as I reframe my experience of an event to see the good that came from it. It causes one to wonder at the force of protection that surrounds a person at any given moment--the presence of spirit guides or merit or karma or......shall we just let the mystery be. In this case despite a very challenging year on a lot of personal levels it appears that I have retained at least some virtue in the quality of my speech lest that rock would have taught me something about keeping my mouth shut for awhile..!
We spent evenings at the Ganga sitting at quiet ghats, appreciating the palpable, cool sigh of relief from the day's heat coming off of the river. The ghats are quieter now because not many tourists come through in August, not many except a handful of wanderlust-driven Yogis like us who reluctantly admit that the body has much acclimatizing to do in India's severe summers despite our fantasies (and earned revelations) of hardiness.