Chronicles in the clouds 4

My blog posts seem to have fallen short of time; the weeks have blended into one another and somehow the 200 hour yoga teacher training journey that we all embarked upon, has come to an end. Everyone has parted ways and flown the Bhagsu-nest, travelling to mountainous peaks in Nepal, Rajasthani deserts or summer days in Europe. A few of us have stayed on, transitioning slowly, renting little rooms (for 1 pound a night!) and settling into Bhagsu a bit...

Challenge complete!

Shopping in Mcleod

There was a lovely quote by our satvic teacher dressed in white at the closing ceremony: 'we meet to learn and we part to share'. Over the last month we've followed a strict 12 hour schedule for 6 days of the week, wondering in and out of lessons with intermittent breaks to the local market, or a nearby cafe. K. perfectly described our structured lives, living as 'yogabots.' The strings started to loosen for some faster than others, Masala Chai became a gateway for caffeine addictions to resume & the smokers haze in Dharamkot drifted down to Bhagsu. Satvic meals occasionally got replaced by a creamy curry & the consumption of Bhagsu cake became a regular occurrence; I could see the flash of  headlines in bold print 'Beware of Bhagsu Cake, the slow killer'. 'Hello to the King/ Queen' is another indulgent item on the dessert menu that I have recently discovered - the name some sort of a remnant from the British Colonial era.. it consists of an ice cream sunday with hot banana and bhagsu cake, mmm; it definitely left a sweet note at the end of our last group dinner.

I'm sitting in Om Star Cafe, looking through the giant dream catcher made of rope & watching the comings and goings of locals; the truck that's been trying to make

Once in Nature's 'pet' snake

a 360° turn on a narrow road for the last 5 minutes, another yogini doing their last walk down the hill with their backpack and yoga mat. Silent Baba's just ordered his hot cardamon milk with ginger and honey and is lighting his chillum - a distinct wave of charras floating through the room to join the clouds outside. Baba is the local, charismatic 'holy man' of sorts. He's 3 years into a 12 year vow of silence and communicates through gestures, sharp looks and his little notebook that he keeps tucked into his fisherman pants. Wherever you are, Baba will find you - walking bare foot, his one versatile dread swinging back and forth across his shoulders, brandishing his medieval walking stick with menacing dark brown eyes. His presence is loud despite the silence and his poetic messages allow a deep and somewhat confusing insight into the mystery behind the dreads.

An interesting Tibetan lunch :)

A traveler is walking down the stairs now, with a huge guitar on his back and a strawberry hat on his head. I feel like I'm in some sort of fantasy novel, the other day I was walking up the hill to 'Once in Nature' and I passed the woman selling her beeswax products on the rocks. I asked her how her bees were doing and she took me through that mornings routine. The next prehistoric landmark was the rock with the yellow painted sign leading to 'The Vegan Cafe' ... on this sat 2 monks and another man also wearing deep maroon garments. They leaned towards us as we walked by and showed us a picture of an Israeli man. They had been sitting from morning till evening for 2 days, asking everyone who walked by that rock, whether they'd seen the man that had lost his wallet. A man behind me happened to own the hostel near where the Israeli was staying, so they took down his number and thanked him. We wished them good luck, gave a little bow of respect and allowed them to continue their noble quest, having been given another piece of the puzzle.. For a minute, I reflected upon the ridiculousness of how frustrated we get in our daily lives when we have to wait for things, like when a webpage takes an extra minute to buffer and that hot, restless sensation takes over your body. These men had taken 2 days out of their lives for a complete stranger, you've got to admire that selflessness.

The shrine under the rock

The external simplicity of monk-hood has a gentle attraction; it's what I kind of love about Mcleod Ganj, despite its fairly chaotic energy, it is home to so many Tibetan Monks that carry around a contagiously peaceful energy. On our 3rd week into the course, we had a very special experience visiting The living Karmapa monastery, a stunning Tibetan temple and the Hindu temple that our main teacher Mahi had been to growing up.

Blessing the lingam

 I blessed the Shiva lingam with fresh water and leaves, following A's instructions. Listening to a few golden nuggets about how the blue Hindu god Krishna could be differentiated from Shiva because he always carries a flute... The 3 petaled flower that was a part of most statues and images in the temple stood for The 3 Gunas/ energy bodies (Rajas: Active/ awake state, Tamas: sleepy state and Satva: peaceful/ balanced state) that we fluctuate between during the day. It was interesting applying some of our knowledge to our cultural surroundings. We wandered down the rocks to the waterfall and poked our head under the huge rock with a tiny Shiva Shrine hidden beneath it... Back inside the temple I joined the circle of our group that was sitting with the local astrologer who was giving readings. A boy came in with a metal tray and sat down in the centre of the circle; after passing around the little metal cups, we sipped hot Chai and listened to our astrological destiny. Despite the slight lack of authenticity given the presence of the 'automatic astrology programme' on the computer in front of him, it definitely gave me something to ponder.

Tibetan wood-work

The day blossomed along with the deep wooden grooves and turquoise on the outside of the Tibetan temple... we watched how they paint the intricate Mandala's, carve the little wooden statues of Sakyamuni or bash circular metal plaques that become delicate goddess wrists. We crowded into a restaurant and ordered our food (all of which was probably cooked by one man; those at the end of the queue weren't too happy), receiving the nimbu-pani (lime soda) and breathing out a sigh of relief at the touch of a cold glass on a humid day. The Monsoon downpour began, and the dry roads were soon flooded with waves of rainwater, the traffic at a standstill and the horns continuously honking. Mahi took control of the overwhelmed staff behind the counter as we lined up to pay for our food, emphasizing the school-trip vibe :p.

The living monestary

A moment of silence

We dashed through buckets of water and piled into the taxi that wasn't ours - distinguished by my yellow umbrella that was missing for the 100th time. Arriving at the large yellow monastery I felt a wave of tranquility with the the collective energy of all of the monks that surrounded us. I walked past the metal bowls filled with water alongside the yellow Buddhas, half-listening to a jumbled Mahi explanation as to why so much water was used (something about the importance of the water element). I sat on one of the long, low maroon sofas in the room, crossed my legs and closed my eyes. The monotonous chanting of monks reciting their scriptures sending me into a meditative trance. How often do you get to sit in a room listening to layers of ancient sounds, recited by monks rocking back and forth in such a repetitive, familiar motion.
                       

I'm brought out of my past reverie by the sounds of the speakers; mmm how organically music shapes your mood. Bhagsu is as awake & Rajasic as Bhagsu can be; the eggman has delivered the eggs, the milkman milk, the washing has been hung on the multicoloured plastic grooves and the sound of one motorbike engine has drowned out everything else on the street. A month ago, a group of multicultural yogini's met dressed in white, to learn about the beginning of a world of knowledge and now we part with our slightly off-white clothes to share our experiences across the globe.

Quote of the day: 'Impermanence' 

Getting my new tat!

'Impermanence' in Sanskrit