"Most of you will know that I have multiple sclerosis. That is the main reason I planned to go to India. Actually the story goes back a fair way, probably to around 1985 when I met Chian. She was an iridologist and a teacher of TM (transcendental meditation) and encouraged me to learn to meditate. We spent some time together in Manila in 1986 and then lost touch until last year.
	Chian

When Chian learned I had been diagnosed with MS 17 years ago, she suggested I see Dr. Raju in New Delhi for 'panchakarma', traditional Ayurvedic medical treatment. She had been five or six times and Dr. Raju was a personal friend as well as one of the world's leading Ayurvedic practitioners.                                                            

One of the "techs" (masseurs) at the hospital, was from Kerala in the south of India. Balachandran invited me to his home town the next time I go, so I will report on this after I have been. Kerala is the home of Kalari, the Indian martial art from which all others are said to have possibly evolved.      Kalari - Traditional Martial Art of India		Me with Balachandran
Delhi is frantic. With great poverty, more people than you can imagine and some  beautiful architecture.  And a lot of cows! At a typical Delhi road junction there may be eight roads meeting and no traffic lights! Instead there are pedestrians, hand carts, bicycles, motor bikes, scooters, tricycle rickshaws, horses, buffalo carts, cars, taxis, buses, lorries and all sorts of totally unrecognisable vehicles vying for the right of way. And Indian drivers sound their horns all the time!

 

Old Fort and Red Fort, Delhi

 

 

As well as the panchakarma, I managed to arrange an advanced meditation course for the time I was going to be there. It would take 16 two-hour classes but it was on a one-to-one with the top TM teacher in Delhi. It would mean I would be meditating for up to 4 hours a day but this was India and, anyway, it would help to pass the time! 

 

 

Me with Krishnanji, my meditation teacher.

 

After an arduous 3 weeks of panchakarma, Chian and I decided to go to Rishikesh. I had met a lady from Hong Kong at the clinic and she wanted to come with us. Carol was a grandmother living in San Francisco and her daughter was Chian's best friend back in Manila. And she said she'd treat me to the trip for my 50th birthday which would be while we were in Rishikesh!

 Rishikesh is where The Beatles met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, in 1968 and is considered one of the holiest places in India. It is on the banks of The Ganges (Mother Ganga) and would be an eight hour drive north to the foothills of The Himalayas.
I had met Rafiq while I was in Delhi. A young Muslim, he was a travel agent and his uncle Farooq, with whom I had done some business,  was a wholesaler of Indian fabrics and silver jewellery.

 
Rafiq would arrange a car and driver to take us to the Parmarth Niketan ashram where we would stay for four days. I would arrange with Krishnanji to postpone my meditation classes until I returned. I would still have four days in Delhi before flying home.

 

 

 

 

 

Farooq 2nd left and Rafiq far right.
 

On the way  to Rishikesh we stopped at Haridwar in time for the aarti. At 7:00 PM (local time) there is an aarti on the Ganga River. It is performed everyday (even Sundays) by worshipers of the River and can be performed by tourists. Candles on lotus petals are floated down the river as religious hymns are played on the loud speakers. Rain or shine, hot or cold, the aarti starts promptly at 7 PM and is an experience worth seeing.

Aarti on the Ganga at Haridwar

 

 

 

Chian knew the head of the Parmarth ashram, Pujya Swami Chidanand and we would be welcome to stay as long as we wanted. There was no charge, just a donation. The ashram was beautiful, the rooms clean and the food very good. I could have stayed for a lot longer! I had my 50th birthday while I was there and the staff got me a cake and sang "Happy Birthday"!.

 

 

   

 

 

   

Parmarth Niketan ashram

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji (Pujya Muniji)

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji (Pujya Muniji)'s motto in life is, "In the Service of God and humanity." He left his home at 8 years old, under the guidance of his spiritual master, in order to live a life devoted to God and to the service of humanity. Pujya Swamiji spent his youth in meditation, yoga, seclusion and silence in the Himalayas, bringing his body, mind and soul into union with the Divine. Today, he is world renowned as a spiritual leader, visionary and divine guide.

Pujya Swamiji has been President of Parmarth Niketan Ashram since 1986. Under his divine inspiration and guidance Parmarth Niketan has blossomed into a sanctuary known across the globe as one filled with divine grace, beauty, serenity and bliss.

Chilsong is going to be working closely with Parmath and will be assisting in fund raising for the charitable works it undertakes.

"In India today there are thousands and thousands of abandoned and impoverished children, roaming the streets of the cities and the dirt paths of the villages. These are children whose parents were too poor to raise them, or who simply decided they did not want to accept the burden of a child, or who were befallen by an accident that left them incapable of fending for themselves, let alone a child.

However, simple shelters with food, beds and babysitters are not sufficient. These children need not only to be fed and sheltered - they need to be educated and trained so they can be productive members of society. They need to be inculcated with values, ethics and spirituality which will make them torchbearers of Indian culture and divine cultural ambassadors. We have opened an orphanage /gurukul in Rishikesh where 100 young boys live and study - both basic academics as well as intensive Sanskrit and ancient Vedic texts. Their days are filled with yoga, meditation, Vedic chanting, reading of scriptures, mathematics, seva and special programs designed to infuse their lives with essential sanskaras. They are being trained to be not only doctors, scientists and engineers, but they are also being trained to be India's cultural ambassadors, to be the priests and guides who will travel throughout the world, carrying with them the ancient secrets of the Vedas combined with the blessings of Mother Ganga.

From the first minute that the boys arrived, their identity was changed from "orphan" and "poor" to "Rishikumar." With that slight, simple change of term, their entire identities have changed. Looks of hopelessness have become looks of great optimism and hope. Lightless eyes have become bright, shining eyes. Feelings of destitution and despair have become feelings of pride, of faith and of enthusiasm." (Copyright Parmarth Niketan) 

 

 

Chian and me on banks of Ganges at Rishikesh

While we were in Rishikesh, Chian, Carol and I had two excursions and I made an interesting discovery about ki breathing while talking to a saint!

 

 

 

One of the trips we did was up into the mountains to Vasishta Guha ashram. They told us "Our Gurudev, Swami Purushottamanandji Maharaj left the Ramakrishana Mission and went wandering around the Himalayas in the early 1920s. During his wanderings by foot he came across this Guha (cave) in 1928. He lived inside the Guha doing his meditation/austerities for more than 25 years. Who knows how many saints, sages and Siddhas have lived in this cave and added to its glory, holiness and spiritual vibrations".

 

 

We went into the cave, which extends about 15 meters into the mountain and is pitch black until your eyes adjust. We meditated there for about half an hour and when we opened our eyes, we could see there had been a man meditating in the corner of the cave all the time we were there. We hadn't noticed him!

 

 

It is said that the cave used to extend a further 20 kms back into the mountains and that a number of Himalayan adepts (Siddhas) have been doing austerities in their subtle body inside the back of the cave for thousands of years!

The second trip was to the Shakti Pith near Rishikesh. The story goes that in a great puja (worship), performed by the King Daksha, Goddess Parvati sacrificed her body which was half burnt. Lord Shiva, husband of Goddess Parvati was grief stricken and carried her body around on his shoulders. This resulted in imbalance in the world so Lord Vishnu cut the body into pieces and where the pieces fell are known as the 51 Shakti Piths. They are situated all over India.

Shakti Piths

While at Parmarth we discovered there was a saint living there! His name was Swami Pragyananandji, he was about 70 years old and didn't speak a word of English! Through an interpreter, he told us about a system of pranayama (breathing exercises) practiced by the yogis, himself included. It was identical to the ki breathing exercises we use in Hanmudo! He told us it should be done for half an hour a day. I have spoken to Dojunim about this and the Kalari and he is interested in learning more.