The Hill works its magic

View of the big temple in the town from the Arunachala hill. The red gum tree on the left was from seed sent by Jon Bader to Narikutti Swami who planted it about 1980.


Yesterday morning Cathy was more keen than I to walk around the hill again so soon - my feet hadn't quite recovered. As she pointed out, 2 times around is a half marathon. We set off again at the same early hour to avoid most of the heat, and part of the way around an Indian fellow sidled up and talked to us, mostly to tell us about how wonderful is Arunachala. A little further on, he wanted us to see a swami he knew and waxed lyrical about how great he is. He phoned the swami on his cellphone at about 5:30am to make sure the gate was unlocked (there is a portfolio of photos of Indians on the cellphone waiting to be done by someone). Well, I thought, I'll roll with this. As we went through the gate and lovely shady garden, I thought that I recognised the house - I had seen it being built when it was just on open barren ground. We walked in and were introduced to the swami. I asked him if his name prior to his renunciation was Sheshadri, and it turned out I had met him 30 years ago; even went to his father's house in Bangalore and met his family. Our Indian guide was gobsmacked. The swami regaled us with stories and plied us with sweet tea. I liked him then and like him even more now. It also turned out that he performed the funeral rites for Swami Narikutti, who was originally from Australia and had lived here for decades. We resumed our walk well after the sun rose and continued in high spirits. Later in the day I bumped into an American devotee of Sai Baba who was one of 4 who sat and meditated with old Kunju Swami at his room in 1991. Kunju Swami was the last of the sannyasi devotees of Ramana Maharshi.
We have also attended a small group of meditators in the afternoons, which feels very good. We both feel very peaceful and if we were any healthier they'd make it illegal.

We meet an old Siddha

The old Siddha. His hair and beard form long matted ropes (that can just be seen at left) and have not been cut for 70 years or so. His hand is covered with ash that he had given us to take home.


A couple of days ago we decided to walk around the Arunachala Hill - a practice that has been recommended by many saints here over the years. During the full moon there are about 100,000 people doing just that, which is why we postponed coming here until after the full moon. We set off about 4:45am and had walked along the main road before most of the noisy vehicles. There are numerous shrines and temples dotted along the route, and the priests were up and about in the darkness doing their various pujas. The total distance is 12 kms - about the same distance as from Haumoana beach to Lotus in Hastings. We had covered a good amount before the heat of the sun rose, and then were lucky due to some cloud cover. I love this place. We also stopped in the town and had breakfast, and if you are reading this Noel, a very fine coriander chutney came with it and I thought of you! A couple of years ago I had met an extraordinary old man due to a confluence of many "coincidences" and I desired to see him again. The only contact I knew was the auto rickshaw driver who took me last time and I had no idea where to find him; then he came up to me and said hello! Result was that we were travelling down a little used road, for nearly an hour, then turned off down a track through the fields, past a small hamlet. At that hamlet someone had a Himalayan black bear on a lead - I felt sorry for the bear in the heat. We went across the fields to the house - more like a shed - where the old man lived. He is in his mid-nineties but has eyes like bright diamonds. His hair has not been cut for 70 years and his hair is in one rope tied up with cotton thread, and his beard is in another rope - maybe 10 or 15 feet long, a bit hard to tell. He sat in lotus (padmasana) posture for 21 years without getting up from his seat, and for 15 years took no food or water. When I last saw him all his fingernails were more than 6 inches long except his index finger nail of his right hand which was cut short to pick up vibhuti ash to place on visitors foreheads as a blessing. He spoke only Tamil, but luckily there was someone to interpret. He is a "siddha" in the old tradition - that is, through his austerities, he has developed siddhis - The Powers. He focuses his attention on someone and their problem is gone. He asked us to stand in a certain spot in front of him and he focused his energy intently upon us. I asked to take his photo and he obliged happily. That evening (and again today), when I sat in the hall during the singing at Ramanashram, I reached a depth of consciousness I haven't touched for a long long time. I have no doubt it was that old man. Energy is such a subtle mystery. Our health on all levels is excellent. We have decided to extend our stay here by another 5 days. Maybe tomorrow we might walk around the hill again.

Arunachala

The Arunachala Hill has been regarded as a holy place and had an unbroken line of saints living on or around it for thousands of years. It certainly does have a magnetic special quality, and is my favourite place in South India. I usually stay at the ashram of the saint Sri Ramana Maharshi, who died in 1950. It is a quiet place and designed for the meditator - apart from traffic on the nearby road, the only noise is from the numerous peacocks honking. The basic teaching of the saint Ramana was that all we can see think or feel, all ideas, beliefs and concepts belong to the movie and what is Real is the screen. When the movie stops the screen remains, and that is called here The Self; One without a second. Beyond time and space, the non-dual Real. If you can say "my" in front of something, then he exorted people to ask "Who is it who makes the claim?"
On a more prosaic note, the trip from Bangalore was effortless and comfortable; another a/c bus with few people aboard. Much warmer here than Bangalore although the threatening thunder and storm clouds produced no rain here. Cathy remarked that she feels more relaxed and happy here than at any time since arriving in India. It's a bit like that. I have received some happy smiles of recognition and that is always nice (including from the stone carver who made our Ganesh). This morning we walked up on the hill and meditated in a tiny cave Ramana lived in for 17 years. It was named after a saint who lived there about 400 years ago. Without going into a long story, instead of dying like normal folk, he turned himself into a pile of ash, which is still in the cave under a cloth and is venerated. To say it is a powerful place to meditate is an understatement. We headed further up the hill to a spring for some fresh water, then followed a path back towards the ashram (more than 1 km). Although it used to be totally barren, an Australian sadhu who lived on the hill for decades planted and watered an entire forest. It has taken on a life of its own now - there are birds of different types, a tribe of Langour monkeys (black faced forest dwellers), and I caught a glimpse of an animal about the size of a possum with a thick bushy tail. No idea what it was. What a wonderful legacy.

Back in Bangalore again

The baby elephant at Sai Baba's ashram.


It's been nearly a week since the last post. One day Cathy and I went for a stroll into the countryside, through a road I once knew but had trouble finding. She felt that we were acclimatising when we read in the paper the following day that it was 38 degrees while we were out and about. It did feel pretty warm. Then came more clouds and some showers - apparently there has been heavy rain across the country further south, and from Kerala across to Pondicherry there has been flooding. The following afternoon Cathy took the camera and went own to see the new baby elephant, which is taken out at 5pm every day for some exercise. Most temples in India have an elephant, and Sai Baba had an elephant for decades until she died unexpectedly recently. I have a couple of vivid memories of that elephant, but another time...anyway, the little elephant had been taken out and returned just as Cathy was about to leave, and it gave out a big trumpet of delight at being home again. Cute little thing from the photo.
We reserved a seat on the a/c bus after enjoying its comfort on the way up, and travelled on Holi - the full moon day on easter Saturday. Particularly in north India people go mad and throw as much coloured dye over others as possible in the name of "fun" - with foreigners being particular targets. I have never found having good clothes ruined all that enjoyable I must say, so we managed to avoid the carnage. We did see one drunk reveller covered in dye asleep on a busy footpath in Bangalore. Yesterday we took a taxi to a far corner of Banagalore to see an old work colleague and friend of Glenda's, when she worked in India 20 or so years ago. It was a pleasant visit with numerous cups of rich strong sweet milky tea; and this morning we headed to a regular Monday morning puja with the saint Sri Gopala Krishna. He does a puja ceremony to a Siva lingam (egg shaped object of worship which is said to be the earliest symbol humans ever used to symbolise the Formless). The unusual aspect of this lingam is that it was physically materialised by Sai Baba - which he has done a number of times, except that he was also in front of a crowd miles away at his ashram at the same time. I remember Ram Dass telling a scientist about the "miracles" of Neem Karoli Baba, which the fellow could accept until he told of the times he was physically having conversations with people in 2 different places at once The scientist said that that is just simply against the laws of physics; to which Ram Dass replied, "Yes that's true, but he did it anyway."
Weather here in Bangalore is quite cool and cloudy amd we head off tomorrow morning for the much warmer Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, about a 5 hour journey.

Days of great peace

The grey cloudy weather has given way to bright sun and heat. The temperature is climbing and just will get hotter and hotter. Particularly since the cleanout I have felt deeply peaceful and quiet; the energy of the ashram while the singing is going on is profoundly felt. Although all the songs are in Sanskrit, I know maybe 40% of the words, but still prefer to just sit quietly and meditate - usually for an hour and a half in the mornings, then about half that in the evenings. It varies.
Cathy has been shrugging off a cough that remains persistent and she has felt a bit below par. Today we again prepared our salad in the room. Just delicious. I've always carried a Birko jug to boil water/soups/cook eggs or whatever. It is sometimes handy to not rely on outside food sources. Today we added hard boiled eggs to our salad lunch (with take-away chapattis).
This morning I recognised an American guy who shared the room with Phil Cottingham and myself (and a few others) 32 years ago.
We are thinking to head down to Bangalore on Friday.

Puttaparti 1 week on.

We have both settled in to the life and routine that revolves around ashram activity. There is devotional singing each morning and evening for around an hour to an hour and a half - it varies. The short 10 minute evening meditation in the small prayer hall (restricted to foreigners only) is astonishingly powerful. For a few days I felt something happening to my gut and despite homeopathics and ayurvedic pills the inevitable occurred. Without going into graphic detail, let's just say I maintained a strategic close proximity to the toilet for a day; and Cathy went and procured the India traveller's friend - Ofloxacin. Worked like a charm and the next day we were walking about the Saturday market purchasing some fresh produce to make a delicious salad in the room. I amused myself by thinking that if the American motto is "E Pluribus Unum", then the Indian one surely must be "E Coli Revengum".
I've always noticed how much more flexible I am with yoga postures after a cleanout like that, and today was no exception. Although slow to regain old flexibility, I am now able to do stretches I haven't done for a year. We are both doing a daily yoga program and it feels good.
Right now Cathy is fending off a bit of a cold - for several days it has been cloudy with showers and the occasional downpour. Certainly drops the temperature but makes it very humid. Bumped into a lovely Austrian couple I met 2 years ago down south at Kodaikanal, and 2 years before that at Arunachala. Small world.
At the latest we should remain here until next Saturday and try and visit Glenda's friend Jesse in Bangalore next Sunday. The fellow at the most modern internet cafe in town tells me that there is not sufficient bandwidth here to upload photos. Really it is a miracle it works at all. Om Shanti.

Puttaparti

My first shock was at the Bangalore bus station - I hadn't been on the bus from Bangalore for 4 years and the ticket price was then Rs60 - we were charged Rs450 for 2. I nearly fell over. Then we saw the bus - 2nd shock. A new Volvo luxury air conditioned coach - the only concession to Old was the 1960 Bollywood B & W movie. The 3rd shock was that we were here in only 3 hours. But the ashram here still has the same energy permeating the entire place, no matter what changes might occur on the outside. An Indian sage once said "All the religions are made up of words - take away the words and what remains?" Well, what remains can be directly felt in the silent unspoken presence of someone like Sai Baba. It is felt as Deep Peace, vibrant and dynamic. There are so many teachers who have lots to say, but when the words are taken away there is nothing left. Here that essence is felt powerfully and sinks in deeply and permanently. The same sage said "Real help is never repeated", and so it is. The sore bum from sitting for hours goes away, but the positive energy continues. At a place like this not a lot happens on the outside (apart from the occasional illness), but much happens within.
On our first evening here, we were walking along the street when I said to Cathy, "I haven't met anyone I know", then within a few seconds we met my old friend Maggie Wallace who I have known for nearly 30 years, but only seen a couple of times in the past 20. Maggie was teaching at a school for indigenous kids at Alice Springs for many years, so it was a lovely reunion - we'll be meeting up for lunch today. And then last night we met up with Evie Borowski who came over to Australia to visit Christmas before last.
A cloudy day today has taken the edge off the regular 36 degrees.

Mysore

Nectar filling up in Cathy's hand from the tiny enamel picture. It was taken from one hand to another more than a dozen times while we were watching, filling each one.


I'm a bit behind with these posts. The day we arrived in India was a big festival occasion, particularly at Sai Baba's ashram where the crowds get enormous, so we decided to make a short detour to Mysore on the fast air conditioned train. Only a couple of hours later we were in a comfortable hotel quite close to the Maharaja's magnificent palace. Doing a tour of the palace revealed that it was in fact designed by an Englshman. However the main purpose of our trip to Mysore was to go out of town to a small temple next to the Cauvery River. It is dedicated to Sai Baba, and in it are 2 small enamel pictures of Sai Baba (as one would put in a locket), about the size and thickness of a fingernail. These small pictures have been oozing a sweet highly perfumed syrup called Amrit (the nectar of the gods) for over 40 years. I took a photo of one in Cathy's hand while the nectar filled up her palm and was then scooped out with a spoon as it continued to fill again. Those tiny pictures have been producing about a litre of the fluid every day. Sai Baba is well known as a miracle worker and has produced fragrant ash from his fingers on a daily basis for years (I once saw it from a distance of 6 inches) and at that temple a large photo has had it perpetually manifesting on the photo. As it builds up it falls with gravity and is then given away. Symbolically, ash is a representation of Truth as it cannot undergo further change.
On a more prosaic note, next to the temple was the old walled city of Srirangapatnam where Arthur Wellesley defeated Tipu Sultan, the last of the South Indian princes to defy the British. Wellesley then went on to defeat Napoleon and become known as Wellington.
Although we continued on to Puttaparti, I will write that on the next post.

Bangalore

Milking cows in a side street near our hotel in downtown Bangalore.


Cathy has had a thorough introduction to Bangalore over the past couple of days. First day was mainly eating, sleeping, and walking around the City Market/Avenue Road area. Next day we went to the other side of town to Dr Ray who said my tooth could not be crowned due to lack of tooth structure, so we both had teeth cleaned and polished and a walk over to the Brindavan Hotel which has not changed in 30 years. Real South Indian food on a banana leaf plate, as much as you can eat constantly replenished for Rs55. We pretty well covered the whole MG Road cantonment area of Bangalore on foot and the legs are getting more fit by the day. The new Bangalore Metro is under construction and will be the first urban rail public transport built here, which is good because Bangalore has the worst traffic in India. I read that it now has ten times more vehicles than 20 years ago. And still nowhere to park them it seems.
We are both in the pink of good health, and I'm sure the Steripen UV light water purifier that Cathy found in Napier has helped. Since we now don't need to return to Bangalore next week for the dentist, we are en route to Mysore for a couple of days before returing here then on to Sai Baba's ashram at Puttaparti for a longer stay.

First day back in India

Phew, what a long flight. Three hours sleep on the first night at a sumptuous hotel at the new Bangkok airport; zero sleep last night after arriving after midnight. The old Janpath hotel where I have stayed in Bangalore since 1976 hasn't changed much, although prices have. My old friend the owner gave us a Rs70 discount this morning so it will cost us about $nz12 per night. A few smiles of recognition at the Anand Vihar, my favourite place to eat in India. Superb food - clean, fresh, hot. $nz1 for breakfast and coffee (price seems to have gone up but huge lunch meal is still the same - Rs35 (1 Aus dollar).
Today is the Mahasivaratri festival so will attempt to locate the saint Gopala Krishna nearby. I was taken there 4 years ago but couldnt find it now. Cathy is pretty tired but enoying it. Om Shanti.