Open Spirituality

Current Location: Rishikesh, Uttaranchal INDIA

We left Bikaner over a week ago and already I feel better. In Bikaner, we were both so exhausted. Joe was sick from a stomach bug for over a week and I had fever and chills. Not to mention, the heat (107 degrees!!!), the pollution, the noise and the stares from people were driving me crazy. We both used to love the frenzy and chaos. We used to love all the attention that we got from those who were curious about tourists who were a mixed racial couple. The things that we found fascinating about India, were now frustrating us.

We made our escape to Haridwar in Uttaranchal. The mighty Ganga River runs through the city and it's a holy pilgrimmage site for Hindus. I found myself at peace walking along the ghats. Merry families were taking a dip in the holy Ganga River to cleanse their souls. It wasn't an overly religious affair, but instead, the families were laughing and splashing around. As dusk came, a nightly aarti (prayer ceremony) took place on the main ghat. Drums and bells beat over the loud speaker. Thousands of people sang along to bhajans (religious songs). And flower candles were released down the rushing Ganga as an offering to the holy river.

That day, I remembered why I loved India so much. It's a beautiful thing that spirituality intertwines with everyday life here. In Western countries, religious ceremonies take place in the confines of a church or other religious institutions (except during holidays). However, in India, you see religion and spirituality everyday in every action people take. The shopkeeper who opens his shop every morning with a prayer. People praying to religious dieties along the streetside. Funeral processions carrying a dead body to the beating of the drums. Families taking holiday together to a religious pilgrimmage site. Everything is so open here that the effect of the spiritual power spreads to all who are exposed to it. Those days in Haridwar it reached out to me...because I was able to leave those bad feelings behind. I felt at peace once again. शांति.