First Day of the Durga Festival

Today begins the first day of a nine day celebration, The divine feminine--Durga. The ashram has been busy. The ceremony started at 6:20 this morning with a group of men dressed in red and performing various rituals. Always interesting to see the different ways people pay tribute to the Divine. The flower garlands used to decorate the respective photos and statues of past spiritual saints smell wonderful. I have seen the finished product for sale in the market, but it was interesting to see the women stringing the flowers. The smell permeates the ashram. Somehow listening to songs/chanting is a lovely experience when you don't understand the words You get to feel and experience the tones as pure sound resonating through a human vocal chord (human flute.) No distraction from the mental aspect of the meaning of the words.

On that same note, it is wonderful to experience the Indian devotees coming to the ashram and observing their human behavior as I would study or feel into a horse. The custom of pranam (bowing to touch the floor with your forehead), sitting in meditation, and accepting prashad (usually a small bowl with fresh fruit and a local candy) are all small gestures that say a lot. Not too different than how a horse approaches you, interacts, and then accepts a treat. So much respect, devotion, and love in these "small" gestures. The gestures are more interactive than sitting on a wooden bench, listening to an orator, and accepting something that is suppose to resemble Christ. Not trying to be judgmental--just noticing the aliveness of the spiritual practice here even though it is an internal aliveness.

After having such amazing learning experiences the first week, I thought it might slow down or become diluted while sitting only with the native population. Not so much. Remarkable teaching and energetic downloads on a daily basis. Gurudev appears to be teaching me without any verbal communication--way cool. I appreciate the verbal information from everyone or I wouldn't have probably gotten to this point, but this is an interesting junction. Teaching me more patience, silence, and going deeper inward. I really appreciate the depth and truth of the experience without my familiar group of people as training wheels--of course, I needed those training wheels to get to this new land. I can actually meditate while sitting with a group of strangers coming and going.