INDIA - A GUIDE TO THE EXPERIENCE

Witnessing the creation

The early morning mist slowly disperses under the influence of the warming sun at the ghats. A bespectacled saddhu with grey long hair is tidying away his few belongings into a small bundle. He looks, and is, perfectly content. He inspires an utter respect for the creation which announces itself so dramatically here each day, which is supercharged with the witness of so many saintly figures through the centuries. And in spite of the increasing bustle to be found upon the streets, it is still possible here in Benares - or Varanasi as it is called on the railway map now - to find a direct continuation of the old line of Indian philosophy.

It is a philosophy that finds its intertwining some 2,500 years ago. Then the native Indian respect for life and its creative forces, for the spirits of the trees, rocks, all of creation, came into contact with the highly evolved philosophy of the Aryans, who lived in the central Asian steppes probably near the Caspian Sea. Our own ancestors moved west century by century into Europe, displacing the aboriginal inhabitants who appear in Britain, at least, to have been short dark people who can still be found in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Some of the these Aryan peoples, speaking various dialects of the mother Sanskrit tongue which dates back some 5,000 years - hence the Indo-European group of languages - moved south and east to India. They drank an hallucinatory drug called soma and had space in the endless steppes to have spent much time pondering the nature of existence.

These same conclusions can be read in both the Upanishads and Vedas and in the modern interpretation of latter-day Indian saints, a line that can traced back to Lahiri Mahasaya in Benares and Bengal, the rediscoverer of Kriya Yoga and reputed to have been initiated into the modern form of yoga by the timeless guru Babaji who may have been alive for centuries in the Himalayas. Lahiri Mahasaya died in 1895 but his followers flourished and spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga. Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Yogananda of 'Autobiography of an Indian Yogi' fame passed on this tradition. The Self Realisation Fellowship in California continues its teachings, as does the Divine Life society based in Darjeeling and the Swami Shivananda ashrams found in London, Paris, Canada, America and India. (For a discussion on Kriya Yoga see Ganesh Baba's philosophy.) The philosophy is based upon the continuing evolution of man's consciousness being fed back to the planet as it proceeds upon its evolution to a higher state. The technique used in Kriya Yoga is a form of meditation which opens up the pineal gland or third eye.

But all this sounds entirely theoretical until you meet an exponent of its teachings. The yoga of action (karma) in the world depends upon knowledge (jnana) and this leads to devotion (bhakti yoga). In the saddhu's eyes is awe and worship of the creation in front of his eyes. He declines to be photographed and makes you realise the trifling nature of such an interruption. He says not a word, but gives off a feeling of beatitude as he surveys the beginning of another blessed day, as they all have been, for those that have eyes to see.

Past the sadhu, at the top of the steep ghats is a tiny temple where within its quadrangle nandi bulls - dedicated to Shiva - are sculpted in white marble. Another echo back to the time when the bull was universally a sacred fertility symbol, some 4,000 years ago.

A priest has come into the quadrangle. An angular man of about 45 who proceeds with the morning ritual. He sings 'OM SHIVA' in front of the locked gates of the central shrine within the quadrangle, rattles the gates, inside is a huge lingam bedecked with flowers. He then sprinkles water on the tiny lingam and yoni shrines set into the walls of the quadrangle. At one corner is a second shrine dedicated to Shakti, Shiva's consort. Here the priest is joined by other priests - red and orange marked upon their third eye between and slightly above the eyebrows. They look out across the brilliant Ganges river below. It is re-entering the Greek and Roman era of reverence for the mysteries. And Benares is at least this old.

Away from the temple in the twisting lanes, the houses also have interior quadrangles just as in ancient Roman houses. These lanes can both delight and shock. One minute you are looking at a wagging tailed pup, the next the severed head of a more unfortunate pup. Children quietly smile as you pass, the morning has a wonderful peace. Then you emerge from the back lanes into the hubbub of modern India where motorised rickshaws, scooters, bicycles and cars jostle with the people for space.

The wealth of Benares - eternal city of pilgrimage - is displayed in the tiny shops of the back streets. Beautifully woven shawls of pure merino wool, brightly coloured bracelets, richly smelling perfumes, copperware, jewellery of every fantastic shape, brocades glinting in the sunlight and later the flickering light of hurricane lamps. A purchase can be made leisurely over a cup of chai, seated upon cushions, there is always time here.

Back at the river, and the houseboats which can be hired for a couple of dollars, there is still the old quiet. Incense wafting from the temples, late night drinkers of tea gathered around the warming stove. On return to the houseboat two cats jump off its roof, reach the shore and safety by leaping from boat to rowing boat. Through the open window of the houseboat the sound of the river gently lapping against the hull, all is silence and wonder again. A spell.

The philosophy and practice of Kriya Yoga by Ganesh Baba.

Link to The Taj Mahal

The fabulous ruins at Hampi and its temples.

Colva beach Goa

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