There is no practice on Saturdays at the Shala so we took the opportunity to take a little day trip. Jennifer studies at the Jivamukti Center in New York. Her teachers are David Life and Sharon Gannon. They consider Shri Swami Nirmalananda to be one of their three gurus (Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati and Shri K Pattabhi Jois are the other two).  Jennifer got an email from David after she got here telling her that she must go to the his Ashram, which is about a three hour drive from Mysore.  So off we went.

The drive was a little bumpy and a lot dusty and, as with other driving experiences so far, pretty frightening. We dodged other vehicles and various forms of livestock for about 2 hours before we headed up into the Biligiri Rangaswamy Hills (B.R. Hills) Wildlife Reserve where the Ashram is located.

When we got there we encountered a woman who did not speak any English but gestured for us to hike up to a lookout behind the buildings on the property. Other than our short “conversation” we did not see or hear anybody else – the only sounds were the abundant chirping of birds. After sitting at the lookout for a short while we hiked back down and found another human being. A middle aged man dressed in various shades of orange emerged from the small building that was covered in quotes paying homage to Swami Nirmalananda, who left his body 1997. For the eleven years before his departing, Nirmalananda maintained complete silence (mauna). Instead he wrote.

The Swami currently living at the Ashram spoke briefly to the woman we had met before. She laid a small mat on the floor outside the house for us to sit on. He then brought out a chair and some books. He asked us if wanted some black tea. I said yes, but Jennifer politely declined (she has stopped drinking tea and coffee). Then we sat there in silence. I knew he was not maintaining mauna because he had already uttered a few words…but I was not sure about the protocol for communicating with a swami at an Ashram. Jennifer has been to ashrams before and is much better versed than I in the ritual side of Yoga - so I tried to follow her lead…and she was not saying anything.

What do you say t o a swami or guru when you finally meet one? I have not yet met Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, but have been thinking about what I might say if and when I do meet him. I plan to just let him know how blessed I feel to be studying at the Shala. He has been sick and does not spend much time with the students now, so I have a sense that a short greeting and hopefully a smile is the most I might get while I am here.  Beyond that I do not have many expectations. But up here in the B.R. hills it was just us and this happy looking swami and plenty of time to get some answers.

He finally asked our names and where we were from. After we answered, the woman came back with a small plate of nuts and dates and two cups of black tea for us. Jennifer once again politely declined. A little back and forth ensued between Jennifer and the Swami about drinking the tea, but she stuck to her guns and did not drink the tea. After the conversation, though, I felt a little more comfortable about talking and began to ask some questions. 

I started with the easy stuff and asked about who lived at the Ashram and how he spent his time. When he described his typical day he told us that he wakes up at 2:30 am and begins by taking a bath and then meditating. He does some asana or walking and eats breakfast. He then reads and writes before taking a rest from 9:00 am– 1:00 pm. I realized at that point that we had awakened him from his nap when we arrived and I tried to apologize. He just smiled. I asked him how long he had been a sannyasin (renunciate) and he answered 32 years. I asked if it was sometimes difficult to lead the life he lives and he again smiled. “This is God’s will”, he said, “so it is not difficult.”  He pointed out that this idea of God’s will was the same as the Christian idea of “Thy Will be Done.”

He talked for a short while about how all of the world’s religions have great similarity in their tenets and that it is merely in the rituals and practices that they differ. He spoke of quarrels resulting from these differences. When asked about how to deal with things like war, he pulled again from the Sutras and told us that we cannot change the world, we can only change ourselves.

He then asked if Jennifer would like some milk with her tea. Hah! As a vegan who eats no animal products this would actually make the tea even more unpalatable to her.  Again, she politely declined.  And again he asked several times and she declined repeatedly.

Jennifer asked him what he thought about westerners coming to India to study Yoga. He smiled.  He said he did not ever consider this question because westerners are no different than anyone else, we are all the same, we are all One. Talking to him was like getting teachings straight from the Sutras.

At some point a man walked up the path from the entrance to the Ashram carrying a newspaper and two bags of milk.  It appeared to me that one of the conversations that the Swami had had with his cook was instructing her to send for some milk from the closest shop.  The Swami asked Jennifer again if she would like some milk. This time she told him no and explained that she does not eat anything from animals.  Ahimsa (nonviolence) is a very strong part of the Jivamukti practice, and both Sharon and David teach this as part of the Jivamukti path.  In a situation such as this though, what is the proper protocol? I have heard that it is considered very rude to refuse offerings of food when you are in someone’s home in India.  I wonder what her teachers would have done in this situation.  I also wonder if the whole episode was some sort of lesson. Swami Paravananda seemed very astute and his English was excellent, so it did not appear to be a case of him not understanding her refusals. 

We talked for about an hour about books and other topics. He recommended reading the writings of Krishnamurti and the Yoga Vasistha.  Before we decided to move on, he invited us back to stay for a few days in December. He said we could come up and practice yoga and meditate and talk to him from 2:00 until about 5:00 each day (his regular office hours when people don’t just show up unannounced).

We left with two copies of Swami Nirmalananda’s book A Garland of Forest Flowers. He also gave us a bottle of honey from the forest.  Ironically honey is yet another food Jennifer does not consume because it is an animal product. Another lesson or just chance?

After we left the Ashram we visited the temple at the top of the hill just outside the entrance. We then headed to Somnathpur to visit the Kesava (pronounced Keshava) temple. The temple is built in the Hoysala style and is covered with hundreds of carvings depicting stories from the Ramayana. Mahabharata, and Bhagavad Gita.Lots more pictures of the Ashram and the temple can be found on the photos tab.

No time to write about sutras now, but I will start that back up later today. Now I am off to our Sunday led practice.