22/09/03 Monday
Sayanachatti to the Yumna temple and back
We were supposed to be woken at 5am, but woke at 5.55am!! We all raced to get dressed, washed etc and to the dining room. We were to eat breakfast at 6am then leave for our first hike. We got there to find out that the hotel wake up call had only woken Davinder, not the whole group, so we had a laugh at the “Indian way” and soon we were under way. On the bus, Davinder talked to us about various aspects of the area, and the mythologies and history. He also talked about our trek being a “walking meditation”, to enjoy the silence and be aware of the surroundings, our thoughts, feelings, smells, etc.. This whole journey was a meditation and this allowed experiences to occur, and to be recognised in the context in which they belonged.
We bought cane walking sticks and drove on the even narrower, steeper, and windier road for about an hour to a village where we were moved into jeeps and travelled the next hour to the beginning of our walk. Some of the group had already realised that it would be a struggle to walk the 5k’s that turned to 7 k’s due to altitude, unwellness, their age, or their physical condition. I had been a tramper, and had climbed to 7,000ft prior to this trip. I had my fears that I would struggle because following my thyroid operations 6 years ago, when I climbed, I experienced burning pain in my arms, legs, chest and severe breathlessness and a racing heart beat (160-180bpm on climbing). And this was when I was fitter than I thought I was now. So the challenge lay ahead for me. Could I walk, climb the steep gullies and make it to the temple, or would I have to ride a donkey, to get there??
And so I began. It was expected to take about 3 ½hrs. It had been suggested that we make this a walking meditation and walk the distance in silence, and I decided that suited me fine, to concentrate on my breathing and walking rhythm. I began, and immediately was spoken to by a lovely Indian girl called Lina, who was with her aunt, who was her brothers sister she told me. We walked along a bit and then I went ahead of them and enjoyed the silence of my pilgrimage. I had got a good rhythm with my breathing and my stride, and I passed through some small villages, avoided donkey poos, and avoiding the returning pelequins. Wooden carrycarts for those who could not walk or ride donkeys. They were carried by 3 or 4 porters. The gradiant began to increase, and I found myself repeating some words, that came from my chest, my heart, not my head. These words were: ‘I am light, I am energy, and light and energy do not need breath’. It was easy to repeat these and in my stride it was a wholeness of body movement that drove me on with the mantra in my heart. There was no pain in my muscles, no real breathlessness, just an awareness of the breath, but my heart was racing a bit fast.
I was then aware of Sai Baba with me, and he showed me a vision of himself in meditation in his ashram in southern India. He spoke to me and told me that as promised (back here in NZ in a meditation) that he would find me in India. He told me that he would be with me and all the group on this journey, and that he would look after us. I continued walking, knowing that the strength he gave me would get me to the top. I remembered things like our motto from school was AD SUMUM – To the top – and felt a sense of security. I continued the journey and about two thirds into the trek, the gradient increased and it began to get harder. Still no pain, or real breathlessness, but my heart rate was really fast, and that increased my breathing rate. I stopped quite frequently to let my heart slow down, and then said to Sai Baba, that I had hit the wall. He asked me what I did when I hit the wall, and I replied that I climbed right over it and that he knew that. He replied that in that case climb right over it and get on with it, and that I knew that!!
So I took a few more steps and knew I was going to be ok. I felt my left arm being taken by a hand and Sai Baba spoke to me saying he would walk with me in silence. We walked a bit on the steep gradient and my heart was still a bit fast but slower at about 150 bpm. I asked Sai Baba if he would be my legs and he said “yes, I will be your legs” and I felt him move into my legs from the left, so then I asked if he would be my breath and he said yes he would be my breath and then I asked if he would be my heart and he said yes, he would be my heart. I then felt him merge with my whole body, he showed himself to me sitting in my soul space meditating and my heart rate began to slow down. It settled at about 110-120 bpm even though the gradient was getting steeper as we zigzagged up the hill. I felt great, and walked the last two km’s with relative ease not even needing to be too conscious of the mantra, ‘I am light….. ‘ I enjoyed the scenery and the looks on the faces of the Indian women, who were not at all comfortable on the donkeys. The bush was lush, and the path wide and rocky. The river fell away far below in a cascade of white water over huge house sized boulders, crashing through the narrowing gorge.
I rounded a corner to the sight of the temple and small village, and at last a down gradient, without thinking I had to climb up there later on the way back!!! I thanked Sai Baba who was sitting in my soul space meditating, a beautiful scene in my minds eye. I felt him move out the right side of my body and he said he would leave me now. I pleaded with him to stay for the temple ceremony, but he said he had work to do with other people, so I thanked him again, and we both moved on. I joined the others who had arrived and we congratulated each other. We had some food and greeted others as they arrived. This temple is at about 10,000ft (3,600m), it had taken me about 3 ¼ hours and was about 4th to arrive. (not that we were really counting what order we arrived in). When we had mostly all gathered we went and bought the offerings for the temple, this included incense, sweets, a cloth band etc. These represent the senses and the desire to shed them in our efforts to be more holy/pure or god like. We went up to the temple, had our pooja ceremony with a priest, where they give you holy water, which you drink, then put over your head, they give you rice and flowers and a ‘red dot’ on the forehead. Prayers are offered and we then threw the rice into the hot springs behind the priest. It felt a bit production line and then we were asked for our monetary offering. We then went to the other temple next to that and did a wee ceremony there also, more money was expected and this was something that was played out right throughout the trip. The offerings, the payment to the priest, and the box for donations in all the temples. 20 rupees was the common payment, but we were unaware of the need for this, and some people did not always have the spare cash for this.
Following these blessings, the ringing of bells, photos taken etc, some of us went down to the hot springs to the sulphur baths. The men’s bath was outside, but the women’s was in a secluded room. We changed into our “togs” and went down the steps to the “bath room”. The water was very very hot and we were barely able to put our feet in. An Indian woman tipped copper pot lots of water over me, which were very hot, but refreshing. Lots of laughter ensued and then we went to get dressed. She then tipped pots over two of the ladies after they had got dressed. I took photos of this lady and her friend, and we moved on back down the trail.
The walk down the mountain was easy, and enjoyable, and I was able to concentrate on taking photos, and really enjoy the stunning view. It only took about 1 ½ hours and I came upon Jocelyn in her pelequin. Jocelyn had arthritis. We walked the further last hour together, and one of the porters carried her bag. The camp men had the lunch tent up and we enjoyed lunch, where we were once again the centre of attention of the villagers who gathered to look at us. Down the valley was a spectacular thunder storm, the monsoon was late finishing this year. We went by jeep back to the bus and back to the hotel for dinner and a well earned sleep. We were given buckets of hot water to “shower with” and it was welcome to wash of the sweat, wash our hair and get refreshed. We packed for an early departure again, and I found the food too spicy for my taste. The hotel did not usually serve food, but special cooks had been bought over from a hotel a long way from Sayanachatti, to cook for us, we were very honoured, and had the opportunity to thank them for their efforts.
Yumna was the wife of Krishna, and this temple at Yamnotri is dedicated to her. At dinner, Davinder told these and other stories.
Make good use of the skill, capacity, courage and confidence that you are endowed with, then God will bless you.
Sai Baba
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