Varanasi Insights

Three main insights jelled for me Tuesday during my meditation.

When I sit and chant at the ghats or anywhere really, there are always at least two other chants going on in the background plus hundreds of conversations all at the same time. What must all the prayers and thoughts sound like to the Universe? I figure it must sound something like the traffic in Varanasi looks to me. All seemingly destined for collision, yet miraculously it flows almost effortlessly. I figure the Universal mind sorts it out quite nicely. It's an interesting thing to ponder.

A second insight using the chaotic traffic as a metaphor is that it might be similar to how our bodies work inside. There must be a chaotic traffic pattern of cells moving through the bloodstream and in organs and tissues, yet everything gets where it needs to go with no conscious effort on our parts. I've heard that in the Vedic system our bodies are a microcosm of the Universe and this seems to fit.

As I was watching the morning routines and swimming in the Ganga I understood that many people would consider it superstitious the belief that the Ganga can't make anyone sick who knows she's a Goddess. I don't think it's superstitious at all, I think it's exactly the same as knowing thoughts create reality. They know they won't get sick and they don't. It's just that simple.

I love how Varanasi is such a spiritual place. I could hear Muslim calls to prayer and chanting on the ghats from my room. Dinner was delayed 30 minutes one night, so I just told the group I'm going to the temple to pray before dinner and no one batted an eye. I walked the dirt paths to the temple and passed numerous Sadhu's (holy men in orange garb) and prayed and got my bindi. I passed livestock and children and mothers and fathers all just going about their daily lives.

The most striking thing so far for me is the transcendence. No one seems unhappy here, even the beggars. Everyone appears serene. Sure, there is pain, but they don't seem to suffer over it. All the drivers and local passengers in traffic are serene. On the way to one factory we were on a highway with lots of traffic. A man was asleep on the side of the road with one leg out in the lane of traffic. No one hit him. People and livestock are walking on the highway mingling with the trucks, buses, rickshaws, bikes, motorcycles, cars, scooters, and push carts. There are no traffic signals and no one stops at intersections and it just flows so smoothly. Everyone looks almost bored!

The beauty of Spirit transcends everything mundane here and it permeates everything, even the hustlers.

Namasté,
Becky