Archives: February 2005
Sat Feb 26, 2005
Blessing of an elephant
A few Sundays ago, during a visit to Pondicherry I watched each member of our learning community walk up to the temple elephant, Lakshmi and offer a small coin, which was taken easily by her trunk and given to her trainer. Then, to the delight and laughter of all, the elephant raised her trunk and tapped each one of us on the head in blessing. Thus we have walked about Pondicherry and Auroville with the blessing of Ganesh, the elephant-headed god that offers protection, abundance and the removal of obstacles.
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Wed Feb 16, 2005
Buckets of Cows
Christine, Heather, Byron, and I (Casey Burger) are doing our internship at a farm called Solitude. It’s a great place, the energy is on. We all seem to be finding our way around the place rather nicely. We start our internship weeks on Mondays and end on Wednesdays. It takes some adjusting to get back into the swing of things on Mondays, especially because Sundays are our days off. SOO the point of me telling you this? Its build up for the next thing.
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Mon Feb 14, 2005
Greetings from India!
10 Feb 05
Here are some of the highlights of my adventures since I last wrote…
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I'm in India!
Here is my update written on 1 Feb 05.
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Mon Feb 07, 2005
An Evening in Pondicherry
Last night we all piled on to a bus to visit pondicherry, the kind of bus that drives very fast and very close to oncoming traffic... I have started to think of them as more of "deathmobiles". haha just kidding mom... It has become a good practice to just have faith that the driver will get us where we are going safely. It is about a twenty minute ride from Auroville to Pondi, and most of it is along the Beach Highway. As we got closer to the city, there were more and more buildings and people lining the road. You can hardly blink an eye without seeing somebody pass by. We went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where we sat near where Aurobindo and the Mother's bodies rest for awhile. All around the Ashram are beautiful flowers, and there were also lots of people there doing the same as us. We also visited a Ganesh Temple, which is the Hindu "remover of obstacles" God. Outside of the Temple was an elephant who would bless people for grass which cost 1 rupee. (about 47 rupees to the Dollar) It was very cool, and something i never even imagined i'd experience. After visiting a gallery of pictures of local flowers, we walked along a road that was right on the ocean. Many people were there hanging out, walking, and enjoying the ocean air. It was very nice. We had a nice dinner and then headed back to Auroville. It was a great first trip to Pondi, and everyone felt quite comfortable i think despite the warnings we had of all of the poverty and begging. Not to say this wasn't present. There were many people begging on the streets and also very pushy vendors who were trying to sell drums and little trinkets. It was difficult to see all the poverty, especially all of the children, but something I expect to get more and more used to, and will be able to deal better with it each time i encounter it.
I could write for hours, but am about to be late for a seminar on the philosophy of Integral Yoga, which is very much the basis of the spiritual values of Auroville. SO i must go.
Namaste,
Caleb
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Sun Feb 06, 2005
Luck to be a Lady
Well, if you think it's hard to be a woman in India, it's even harder to be a loud obnoxious feminist in India. I'm supposed to avert my eyes to the male passerby even as their curious gazes burn a hole in my head. But, really, it's not THAT bad, and I feel really lucky to be here with the awareness I have about all of the psycho-gender specifics that are buzzing all around the culture here. Everybody seems to be having a pretty swell time, all things considered, with the exception of a small case of the "tummies." Hooray, rice, toast and bananas! And all I want is cheese...sigh... Casey brought out some folk music today, Joni Mitchell and Ani Difranco, and the group of us around the breakfast table were all nostalgic for what at the moment seemed like a melodramatic and beautiful golden past in "the states." Joni will do that to you. We're all going to Pondicherry tonight (Hooray!), so put your bids in fast for trinkets (such as "My daughter went to India, and all I got was this lousy Ganesh statue"). What an adventure, huh? I'll write again soon. ~ Dena
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Blessing of an elephant
A few Sundays ago, during a visit to Pondicherry I watched each member of our learning community walk up to the temple elephant, Lakshmi and offer a small coin, which was taken easily by her trunk and given to her trainer. Then, to the delight and laughter of all, the elephant raised her trunk and tapped each one of us on the head in blessing. Thus we have walked about Pondicherry and Auroville with the blessing of Ganesh, the elephant-headed god that offers protection, abundance and the removal of obstacles.
More...
[1] comments (1670 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Buckets of Cows
Christine, Heather, Byron, and I (Casey Burger) are doing our internship at a farm called Solitude. It’s a great place, the energy is on. We all seem to be finding our way around the place rather nicely. We start our internship weeks on Mondays and end on Wednesdays. It takes some adjusting to get back into the swing of things on Mondays, especially because Sundays are our days off. SOO the point of me telling you this? Its build up for the next thing. More...
[0] comments (1580 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Greetings from India!
10 Feb 05
Here are some of the highlights of my adventures since I last wrote…
More...
[1] comments (1170 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
I'm in India!
Here is my update written on 1 Feb 05. More...
[0] comments (1547 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
An Evening in Pondicherry
Last night we all piled on to a bus to visit pondicherry, the kind of bus that drives very fast and very close to oncoming traffic... I have started to think of them as more of "deathmobiles". haha just kidding mom... It has become a good practice to just have faith that the driver will get us where we are going safely. It is about a twenty minute ride from Auroville to Pondi, and most of it is along the Beach Highway. As we got closer to the city, there were more and more buildings and people lining the road. You can hardly blink an eye without seeing somebody pass by. We went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where we sat near where Aurobindo and the Mother's bodies rest for awhile. All around the Ashram are beautiful flowers, and there were also lots of people there doing the same as us. We also visited a Ganesh Temple, which is the Hindu "remover of obstacles" God. Outside of the Temple was an elephant who would bless people for grass which cost 1 rupee. (about 47 rupees to the Dollar) It was very cool, and something i never even imagined i'd experience. After visiting a gallery of pictures of local flowers, we walked along a road that was right on the ocean. Many people were there hanging out, walking, and enjoying the ocean air. It was very nice. We had a nice dinner and then headed back to Auroville. It was a great first trip to Pondi, and everyone felt quite comfortable i think despite the warnings we had of all of the poverty and begging. Not to say this wasn't present. There were many people begging on the streets and also very pushy vendors who were trying to sell drums and little trinkets. It was difficult to see all the poverty, especially all of the children, but something I expect to get more and more used to, and will be able to deal better with it each time i encounter it.
I could write for hours, but am about to be late for a seminar on the philosophy of Integral Yoga, which is very much the basis of the spiritual values of Auroville. SO i must go.
Namaste,
Caleb
[0] comments (1072 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
Luck to be a Lady
Well, if you think it's hard to be a woman in India, it's even harder to be a loud obnoxious feminist in India. I'm supposed to avert my eyes to the male passerby even as their curious gazes burn a hole in my head. But, really, it's not THAT bad, and I feel really lucky to be here with the awareness I have about all of the psycho-gender specifics that are buzzing all around the culture here. Everybody seems to be having a pretty swell time, all things considered, with the exception of a small case of the "tummies." Hooray, rice, toast and bananas! And all I want is cheese...sigh... Casey brought out some folk music today, Joni Mitchell and Ani Difranco, and the group of us around the breakfast table were all nostalgic for what at the moment seemed like a melodramatic and beautiful golden past in "the states." Joni will do that to you. We're all going to Pondicherry tonight (Hooray!), so put your bids in fast for trinkets (such as "My daughter went to India, and all I got was this lousy Ganesh statue"). What an adventure, huh? I'll write again soon. ~ Dena
[0] comments (1119 views) | [0] Trackbacks [0] Pingbacks
