I always go do Ganesh first here in Gokulam. It's like my home base because it was my first Hindu temple I'd ever been into. Then I went to the Ramakrishna ashram to meditate during the silent pooja they do there at 9am, I was early so I just meditated, got into a really open place too. This has become a regular part of my day here and one that will be sorely missed when I leave two weeks from tomorrow night.
Then knowing it was Monday I decided to go to the Sri Chandramouleshwara Swamy temple, it's a Shiva temple not too far away and the one I frequented most in the recent years here. They do abishekam on Sundays and Mondays and having gone yesterday I felt that that vibration would be good for me this morning. During the abishekam, which is where they wash the lingam with various substances, there are many priests there sitting on the floor chanting. It's a nice environment to be in and the chanting is very grounding, I used to go to this one back in St Louis so the chants are familiar. It was just what the doctor ordered.
When I left there I noticed its a cooler morning and cloudy again, so a nice morning for a drive since the pollution tends to be not as bad until the evening on days like this. So I drove into the city and ended up going to my favourite Shiva temple built by stone carvers, so there is big life size Nandi in front of it and all the deities carved all around it are amazing, plus it's deeply quiet inside, even when their doing abishekam and chanting. Yes, most Shiva temples do a public abishekam on Mondays since it's the day to venerate him. This one is very different though.
After I finally left there on the way back is this new place I discovered, well, it's not new but it is new to me. Half of it is a Ganapati temple, the other half a Shiva and Chamunda temple, it's all open air and in the back there's a huge peepal tree and Hanuman hidden from the road, it's a complex really and amazing. I just love it. So when I arrived they'd finished their abishekam already and aarti and giving out prasad, the young priest gave everyone a handful of the khesari bath prasad and then told me to wait, and he gave me a full bag of it and then another bag of the kara bath, one is sweet, one is savoury, and when you eat them together at a restaurant they call it chow chow bath. Very good stuff and I got huge helping. After Shiva I went over to worship Chamunda, who is usually known as Durga in most places and Chamunda refers to Kali (as in the Devi Mahatmyam) but she is still the fierce form of the mother and since my Kali temple is not open on Mondays I got as close to her as I could, so the same young priest (a rather hot young man, I know, sorry) saw me over there and came to do aarti with me again with Maa, very nice of him and in many temples they won't bother to do it at all, so I'll enjoy it while I get the special treatment!
I sat inside the temple grounds on the floor, which is customary to absorb the vibration and take it with you into your day, eating a bit of both and when I left there was a beggar there so I offered him the remaining prasadam which he accepted gladly and began eating it as I was getting on my scooter and putting on my helmet to leave.
On the way back to Gokulam I was really feeling full but was also realising that I will be having to find that fullness within from only internal resources soon, since I'm leaving. And I am able to to do this, just was reflecting on it and that it can be harder to do on ones own, but not impossible.
This practice has opened me up to so many possibilities, like these interactions with the locals, that I cherish and always hold dear to my heart. They really do embrace you and are more open to you coming into their system of worship so fully that you begin to feel like you belong here, like you're a native and this really is your life. I've decided it has to be, and more fully. I don't like leaving these things and should not have to, so after this trip my major work will be how to figure out where I'll teach and then to do it and build from there and yet maintain connection to back home. I've been thinking about it a lot, but wouldn't trade being here for the world. Now I just have to figure out how to take this inner world I create with me, or rather not allow the "other" places I'll be going to take this away from me. And I will get closer each time that I go back..
Okay, it's enough. Just wanted to share...
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