The Naadi reading left us in awe of the map of destiny, and how every action of previous lives, especially those that caused pain to others, lead to difficulties/lessons that we must endure in the present life. “What goes around most def comes around”. We were also grateful for the compassion of these higher beings & bygone sages for aiding us in alleviating the malefic effects of our misdeeds, as well as guiding us to deeper spiritual insights and devotion. It also helped us gain clarity into the vision of our present life situation – what were were truly meant to do, in what time frame, as well as what negative tendencies & situations to avoid. A lot to swallow, believe me.

We then proceeded to continue our puja in Haridwar & Hrishikesh in the Himalayas, where the famous Kumba Mela festival was in full swing. Kumbha Mela is the largest spiritual gathering in history – over 14 million people attend. Many great yogis come down from their Himalayan caves and forest dwellings once every 12 years for this astrologically auspiscious jubilee, many ofthem well over 100+ yrs old. We wanted to be there on Lord Siva’s appearance day, Siva Ratri, for he is the ishta deva (worshipable deity) of our head priest Panditji, and mercifully removes obstacles on ones path. It was a northbound 6 hour drive from Delhi. Takes forever to get past the insanity of expansive Delhi traffic – countless cars, multicolored open trucks blaring cinema songs, motorbikes, rikshas (both motorized 3 wheelers and bicycle), as well as roaming sacred cows. When we finally got out into the open country of the Himalayan foothills, it was so refreshing. Loved stopping at roadside stands for tea or local cuisine – the people were extremely joyous/gracious and the food delectably tasty.

We finally made it up the mountain where the Nila Kant temple is situated – the ancient diety of Sivaji famous for saving the demigods by drinking an ocean of poison. (google it) On the way there were throngs of pilgrims all clamoring to have a glimpse of the diety on this sacred occasion. I personally always tried to keep an internal mood of prayerful meditation throughout this trip and this was no exception. There was one roadside festival where hundreds of devotees were exuberantly & freely distributing prasad (vegetarian food offered to the diety) to all the passersby. What an ecstatic sight – wide-eyed enthusiasm to distribute mercy; “please take Sivaji’s prasad!’ they would lovingly exclaim. Nice. From the mountain top you could see the vast beauty of Himalayan agriculture. Circular farming, lush green grass and crop features with picturesque dwellings in their midst. Life as it was meant to be lived – simple & self-sufficient, depending only the gifts of the land and the grace of God.

We also got up the courage (for 3 straight days) to bathe in the sacred Ganges River daily at 5:30 a.m. Everyone in India knows that Mother Ganga flows from the toe of Lord Vishnu (Supreme Being, the maintainer of creation) into this material realm from the spiritual planets. Thus to bathe in it’s waters relieves the soul from layers of karmic residue. Whoa – cold man – yet extremely invigorating. Here is the scene: sublime bathing ghat, majestic river, hundreds of pilgrims stripping down to their underwear taking one step at a time descending into the frigid flowing current, laughing and celebrating their purifying austerities, couples going in holding hands as they both dunk into the waters – coming out shivering and happy. This is essence of Indian culture – recreational time spent for spiritual advancement, sacrificing comfort for the deeper fulfillment of the soul. I love it. We did a few puja’s/abhisheks on the banks of the Ganga, and the night of Siva-Ratri we performed pitri-puja, an offering to our ancestors to relieve them of their suffering incurred from their previous missteps – invoking blessings to essentially “send them on their way”. It was pretty emotional. The Kumba Mela sight itself was wild – a curried combination of an early Indiana Jones movie set, a Grateful Dead concert, an ancient Himalayan marketplace, a monastic retreat and a gathering of the tribes. Camps, tents, shrines, endless and ecstatic chanting into the wee hours, naked yogis, humble devotees, monks, mendicants, asetics & onlookers set against the raging current of the Ganges and the overwhelming beauty of the Himalayas. I wrote a song there – you’ll probably hear India sing it on the new record. The song starts ” driving up the Himalayas, throngs of pilgrims, Kumba Mela. Ganges river flowing like a freight train of purest steam in liquid form. Celibrating the rebirth, was I ever really born? And if there has been a curse, lift it off me now – I’m so damn cold…it’s time to recallibrate my soul” . Just a little taste my friends…..

stay tuned for part #3….

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