Ashtaanga Retreat Pilgrimages
Bali Pilgrimages 2010
If you are interested in joining us for a Bali Pilgrimage, please call/text Rohini on 0401 369 743 or email using our contact page.
India Pilgrimages
During several pilgrimages over the past 13 years to India, Sri Lanka and Bali the yogic tradition has come alive for me. My first inkling of the depth of this most ancient of traditions came with the reading of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. Twenty years later another book inspired me to travel to India , Babaji and the 18 Siddha Tradition by M.Govindan. My soul wanted to experience yoga in this lifetime.This journey began in the early ninties.
Yogananda stated Kriya Yoga was the fast lane to enlightenment.This discipline accelerates our spiritual development in contrast to a natural evolutionary process.
My first teacher was Pattabhis Jois in Mysore I was a beginner. I need to thank him for his wonderful teaching guidance. I booked a month long induction process into yogic awareness and the Ashtaanga yogic tradition; Postures,breath awarness and Patanjali’s Yogic sutras.
The discipline developed my capacity for self-reflection and self examination.I felt inadequate and not physically subtle compared to others. I learnt not to compare. Each person is unique and each moment unique. I learnt if the mind resisted the body resists causing pain. I learnt to bend my body by allowing a mental flexibility. I learnt with enjoyment of the process the pain eased. Accepting a discomfort at my ankle joint brought a most incredible blissful warmth radiating from my left hip. The body was capable of great physical feats. I imagined being a small child open, trusting flexible in body and mind .I imagined being the most flexible person in a yoga or ballet class. At the beginning after practising a half lotus I would use my hands to gently unravel my leg to a straightened position. With life force flowing freely through my energy channels I found a new improved flexibility.
From Bangalore I flew to Tiru at the southern most tip of India. An escape from the dry landscape of Mysore.I remember swimming the sparkling ocean.Floating under the warmth of the sunsrays. A blissful experience dimming all the mental and physical effort and strain that had accumulated during the first three weeks of my Ashtaanga practice I enjoyed a pleasurable Ayurvedic massage from a master in a little hut on Kovalam beach.
Next day an Indian guide and a driver accompanied me to Tenkasi and Kutrallam and a little village near Tenkasi. We visited a waterfall where Babaji prayed for 48 days in order to meet his guru Agastyr. In the village I entered the shrine to Agastyr..the only westerner and the only woman. The priest placed a garland of flowers round my neck.
I walked down to the small water fall. It was very hot and I was very tired. I stood under the falls fully clothed the force of the water invigorating and almost forcing my skirt down. I threw the garland as a gift to Agastyr, the gods and to nature. I raised my palms upwards to heaven to receive its blessings and the blessings of the healing waters. I shared this experience with several young yogic male novices who were sitting beneath the falls wearing simple white jhotis around their loins.
I walked past two gurus These two were absent when I had arrived. A tall one and a shorter one both with the most radiant of auras. I placed a small monetary note on the steps. One said I need to give you something. My guide translated. He extracted from a pouch at his waist a small amount of vibhuti or blessed ash. He placed a small dot of ash on my third eye. I felt these two might represent Agastyr the small immortal sage and the taller one another immortal Boganathar, another of Babajis gurus.
A few miles away from the village I saw a psychic vision of Agastyr in full lotus superimposed over a large mountain near the village. My soul was leading and I was following. I let go of attempting to interpret these events with my intellect. The Taosits say the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. The intellect pointing to the soul is not the soul.
Many westerners worship the intellect as god. The yogis say the Reality behind the mind gives the intellect its power. The mind is seen as an instrument of perception.
Back in Mysore my yogic practice improved. My first full lotus greeted by the guru as “very good”. My first Kundalini in Pahhabis Jois old yoga room in Lakshmi Mysore India, experience followed soon afterwards on New Years Day.(I am writing this in May 2009 . I have just heard that Pattabhis jois passed over. I acknowledge his wonderful blessings.)
Standing, mountain pose, arm reaching heaven ward the explosion came through the entire body, soul and mind. I was timeless. Ears ringing fully conscious, “be still and know I am God” was experienced in the most sublime way. The stillness within the stillness, the peace within all peace and the mother of silence, an indescribable experience. I continued my salute to the sun blissfully and slowly . The divine doing the dance. The ego out of the way.’ Very good’ voiced the guru. Come back here for an extra three months and your body will be perfect. ‘I lived in Mysore for three months the following year. Towards the end the guru whispered as he stood close to my spine ‘you are open.’
I joined Govindan and Neelkantan for their guided pilgrimages to India I completed a level 2 in Babajis Kriya Yoga in Chennai, Tamil Nadu was the location for the pilgrimages. Chidambaram, Tiruvanamalai, Palani, Pondicherry, Auroville. Five hours on an A/C bus. Early morning yoga practice In Tiruvanamalai on the hotels roof top to experience the sun rising over the Holy Mount Arunanchala. Profound meditations in the evening. Climbing the steps to the mountains caves and meditating in the same cave where Ramana Mahrishi had meditated for 12 years.
I joined the group again for their 2003 trip to the Himalayas. A six hour trek uphill to Kedarnath Jai Kedarnath! Worshipping at the Shiva temple. Staying overnight. Treking down..air more rareified than sea level Feet swollen. Some chose donkeys on the way down so sore bottoms as well. Back to hotel an ordering hot water from the local hot springs to bathe my feet..heaven. Located the hot springs with several others and took a dip in the hot water, holding my head high.
We stayed in Badrinath for three days. Another source of the Ganges. My former husband had passed away on my way to India on this trip. The locals state this is the place to be to help departed souls on their journey. I joined some women near the Temple baths. Toes only in the scolding water. Tears running down my cheeks, the day a day of spontaneous grieving.
We visited a village Mana just north of Badrinath and meditated in a cave connected with Yogi Vyasa. A permit is needed to go beyond that point. An Indian army unit near by. Long bus journeys of ten hours a day took us to our destinations. Narrow, mountain passes negotiated with other bus drivers as metal scraped and hearts prayed for a safe resolution. Certain times of the day were delegated for uphill traffic then the same road serviced downhill traffic in the afternoon.
Go to India. Your life is transformed there.
Every twelve years the most ancient of festivals is held in Northern India. Alternating between four cities Every 144 years (12 x 12 ) the Maha Kumbha Mela is held. In 2010 it will be held in Hardiwar. The planet Jupiter enters the sign of Aquarius and the sun enters Aries. A uniquie divene energy pervades the city at that time. Millions of yogis come together for holy rituals and blessings.
See you there!
