Cooperation Is Alive and Well (In India)

Radha and I have been traveling in India for over two weeks now, and the rest of our group (nearly twenty altogether) arrived two days ago. In this short period we have already bonded into a cohesive unit that is not only having fun, but also looking out for one another.

our group recognizes the "one"ness of all things

It took two years of meticulous planning (thank you, Radha and Kalyani) to organize this trip; and our tour company, Indus Travel in Vancouver, decided our group should be given the name Sadhana because meditation, hatha, and spiritual teachings are an integral part of our journey. Sadhana is the Sanskrit word that means ‘to hold the vision-of-Oneness' and is also used to describe an individual’s spiritual practices.

the Durga puja from earlier in the week

To prepare for our journey through North India, we suggested that the Sadhana group read Jeffery Armstrong’s The Spiritual Teachings of the Avatar and watch the animated film Sita Sings The Blues. We wanted everyone to understand the deep spiritual heritage of this remarkable country, and both the book and the movie provide accessible, inspiring updates to classic tales found in the Ramayana.

Karen, Satyum and Radha (from left to right)
on the way to Piccadilly Book Shop in Old Delhi

On the first morning, even though almost everyone had arrived only a few hours before, I taught a hatha class that included chanting, pranayama, asanas, mudras, kriyas and meditation - everyone was alive with excitement!

after 18 hours on a plane, everyone needs to stretch

After touring Delhi, we boarded the bus for the four-hour ride to Agra, where we will experience a midnight full moon viewing of the Taj Mahal tonight at midnight. As the Indian landscape passed by the large windows, I taught a pranayama class, led more chanting (the Gayatri and Maha Mirtyajaya mantras), and offered another meditation. I even instructed a special 'bus hatha' class:

the spinal twist is easily confused with rubber-necking

All of this, of course, occurred while the bus bounced and weaved through the insane traffic surrounding Delhi. There's nothing like a traffic jam to open the nadis, awaken the kundalini, and oxygenate the blood!

traffic as far as the eye can see, but no road rage

India is the birthplace of the Vedas and Yoga, and for thousands of years the emphasis here has been on the attainment of perfect union between our material and divine existence. Take, for example, our tour guide Luv, who just won this year’s national award for ‘best tour guide’:

Luv is a wealth of knowledge

In Sanskrit Luv describes the emotional experience of being connected to the Divine realms, and I would be willing to bet that it is also the root of our English word love. There is this beautiful blending of the realms here in India, where it is commonplace to name people using the same words that are used to describe the most holy of experiences.

Gopal means 'protector of the cow' in Sanskrit

Beyond all the apparent chaos here is an underlying order. Thousands of people, cars, cows, three-wheelers, dogs, rickshaws, water buffalo, trucks, camels, taxis, bicyclists, buses, and carts of all kinds are everywhere; and yet, everyone is moving along effortlessly. Merging is an art in this country, and no one gets upset because everyone is cooperating with one other. We keep seeing examples of this everywhere we go:

bicycles and rickshaws share the road

brothers share a special moment

this angora rabbit shares its fur

this mother shares its milk

these yaks share their fur and milk (when they're not 'yak'ing it up)

families share scooters

Gary and Radha share water

We hear shop keepers and hotel staff telling us over and over again, “It is no problem’. True, part of it is just them doing their jobs, but there is also something deeper. Their calm, accepting looks indicate that they experience a state of peace rarely seen in the West. What we as yogis practice tapping into amidst the greed and speed of West is a given here.

the women donned burkas to enter the mosque in Delhi

Before India was the largest democracy in the world, before they had the biggest middle class in the world, before all these tremendous changes that have occurred in the sixty-three years since independence – India had already written the book on how to live in harmony together. Cooperation here is divinely inspired, even in the most mundane circumstances. Thank you, India, for reminding us that living together in perfect harmony is possible with by merely changing perspective.

Namaste!