I was again woken by the other guy in the room getting up around 5 o’clock. I was able to relax for a while longer and then rose myself. I changed quickly and ate a banana before heading to the 6:30 yoga session. Raman, the main teacher was not there, but the second guy, Ganesh, led us through a series of warm-ups. We walked, jogged, and ran in place. We stretched our shoulders, did some seated poses, and then got into a wild mix of laughing yoga and dancing. Ganesh’s face and personality is perfect for laughing yoga. He would point and laugh in a way that reminded me of the Mauri. You couldn’t help but laugh with him when he pointed and laughed.
We finished the yoga with some gujai and meditation and I felt very clear and invigorated. I’d felt slightly sluggish in the morning, but now I felt quite awake. I was quite sweaty as well though. I walked by myself to breakfast and had some sort of noodle dish as well as several cups of hot milk and bread with butter and jam. I read as I ate and was roused from my reading by Larni. “Hey loser. Mind if I join you?” I told her to please sit down and Robin and Rebecca joined us as well. We talked about travel again and this and that. When it was near time for our 9:30 session, we walked up together and I talked with Rebecca about her travels. She is a naturopath and has been living a nomadic life for some time; she lived in Australia for a time, then Nepal, now she lives in India, and will move on to Peru and work on a farm somewhere next.
The afternoon session was great because we had an opportunity to talk with others in the class about life. After this activity, the plan had been to complete the second half of the meditation that we’d started the day before. The plan was changed because the Guruji was leaving the ashram that evening, but he wanted to give Darshan to everyone taking classes over the weekend. Raman and Ganesh told us that we would take a shuttle to Krishna Kutir Hall and meet Guruji. We could then have lunch and we would resume class at 2:45 and would finish up our meditation then.
I sat with Larni on the bus but then we shifted around to allow two older women to sit down and I sat with a young guy. We talked on the ride to the hall. I then sat down between Larni and Rebecca in the large auditorium space. Guruji arrived shortly and walked between the rows of people assembled. He would stop and talk with some people and say hello to everyone. I got a good picture of him when he paused, just down our row. He stopped and asked me if I was enjoying my stay at the ashram and if I was liking the course. He smiled warmly and asked the others similar questions.
I walked with the others to lunch and the food was some of the best yet. The chapati were good, there was a rich vegetable curry, a thin Dal, a fresh carrot salad, and a sweet rice pudding for dessert. We all talked easily and happily as we ate and I eagerly took a second helping of rice pudding. We parted ways after lunch and I walked around for a while before heading back to class.
After the afternoon portion of our class, I spent some time alone. Larni had forgotten her bag and she ran back to get it–so we didn’t sit together at the Satsang. I had dinner with Robin and Larni and then joined them for a walk around the ashram. We sat by a pool for some time and Larni gave me a shoulder massage and we talked. She is such a warm person and I feel so comfortable around her. I can see why she would make a great social worker.
I turned in after wishing Robin and Larni a good night. It was great to crawl into bed.
The final day of class was much the same as the first. We had an early morning session of meditation and then broke for breakfast. I was chatting with Rebecca outside the room and Robin asked if we wanted to join her and a guy named Rahul for breakfast. He knew of a small eatery in the Panchakarma grounds that did a good breakfast. We agreed to this quickly. I talked with Rebecca and Larni about tiny houses as we walked and Rebecca mentioned earth ships and some other type of building technique using barbed wire, recycled bags, and mud.
The breakfast place was a beautiful one. The building was Asian style and open to the air and sun streaming in from outside. We joined a woman from our class who is from Singapore. She suggested we have the herbal tea, which she said was delicious. This was technically breaking the rules, but when we ordered poori for breakfast the tea came with it so I drank mine. The tea was brilliant. The poori were also great.
Rahul is a very nice guy, who looks a lot like an Indian version of someone else I know. He had a strong jaw and a quiet and collected manner. He talks only occasionally. He is very well travelled and says he has been to some 56 or so countries. The woman from Singapore ordered fruit and insisted we all help her eat it. When we’d finished eating the others took off and I sat for some time, reading in the sun.
The end of the class was a happy occasion. Everyone so much more comfortable in the group. People delighted in pulling the westerners into their photos–which meant that I was caught posing with every group taking a photo in the room.
I walked to lunch with the girls and the food was just as good as the day before. We then split up–the girls went to the lake and I went in the other direction to look for a place called Sumeru Mantap–the original temple that Sri Sri built for meditation when the ashram was founded.
I walked past my building and onward toward the old wing of the campus. The area is noticeably more dry and feels as if it has been abandoned slightly. The buildings seem much older and slightly rundown. After walking in a large circle, I found the temple at the top of the hill. It was a beautiful circular structure with the same flower pattern along the edges of the levels. The center of the open structure is a circle of grass with a bench and two trees growing. There were people sitting and meditating in the circular building. I sat for some time and then climbed some stairs to the second level. In the light of the sun, the shadows of the pedals on the roof looked like seated monks meditating..
It was difficult to leave the ashram–which had been such a lovely place to recover from being sick. I wished the girls well and then caught a bus into Bangalore. I met up with Girisch and Anupama for a rushed meal together and then headed to the airport where I caught a plane to Delhi.