ANAHATA

We were advised before we departed that the Chakra Sadhana Retreat would start as soon as we left our home. Some people missed flights and lost luggage, but the majority arrived in Kolkata without hassles. For myself, the taxi ride from the Kolkata airport to the hotel was the first real adventure of the Retreat. My taxi driver drove at over 160 kph at times, weaving through thick traffic, cows, goats and the incredibly brave pedestrians that dared to cross the motorway. He knew the dimensions of his taxi perfectly, stopping just short of hitting other vehicles.

We arrived in Kolkata on the first day of the Durga Puja festival, and the always frenetic city was amped up to full tilt, with people putting final touches on the puja tents and temples constructed for the festival. At night the streets were strung with decorative lights and packed with people strolling between the different puja areas. Priests and pundits played drums and chanted before huge statues of Durga, and women and girls performed traditional dances to the great enjoyment of the crowds. Streets dedicated to fruit stalls, clothing, kitchen utensils, grains, dhal and spices, malas, statues of gods and goddesses, tourist trinkets, and everyday sundries stayed open until the wee hours of the morning and did a thriving business.

Our group in Kolkata totaled 33. The hotel we stayed at was new and well appointed and a lovely place to land after a long international flight. After a thorough afternoon orientation followed by a sumptuous dinner at the hotel, we picked up last-minute necessities like extra soap at the nearby shops and prepared for an early-morning journey to Rikhia.

We left the hotel at 7am by hired coach. The trip to Rikhia under ideal circumstances would take about six and a half hours. However we faced poorly maintained roads as well as roadblocks by villagers demanding money along the way. The villagers beat drums and waved peacock feathers and peacefully but stubbornly refused to move! In the end our bus ride took 11 hours! Although the bus was mercifully air conditioned, it was still a long and demanding day. And an excellent introduction to the type of endurance and challenges adjusting to India and the ashram would present.

When we arrived in Rikhia at 6pm we were welcomed warmly to our sleeping quarters. Rooms were simple but very comfortable with twin beds and tile floors. All freshly painted and immaculately clean. Women in one dorm building and men in another. At 7pm we were delivered a delicious dinner – dhal, samosas, roti, fried potatoes and tamarind chutney. I slept very well that night!

The first morning we had breakfast at 7am Even at that early hour it was already hot and humid, and all of us were sweating before we even began the 20 minute walk to the main ashram. On the walk we saw bits of the rural village life. Goats, cows and water buffalo roamed along the road and grazed in the fields. A herd of pigs crossed the road in front of us on the way to a watering hole, their herder following behind waving a stick. Palm trees dotted the landscape and hills in the distance. Most of the villagers lived in simple houses of mud and brick. Children ran to meet us as we passed, calling “Namo Narayan!” and asking “What is your name?”
The process of filling out paperwork and completing registration with the ashram took all morning, but thankfully we spent most of the time in the cool marble yoga shala.

The course began to ramp up our second day in Rikhia, as we needed to be in class by 5am Swami Muktidharma led us in chanting and then Swami Karma Karuna taught an asana class integrating chakra focus with each posture. We began what would be the daily routine for the following eight days – early morning class followed by breakfast, seva, morning session, yoga nidra, walk to main ashram for lunch, walk back to Pantanjali block and rest time until 1.15pm, first afternoon session, tea break, second afternoon session, walk to main ashram for seva, dinner. That night we got a break, but most of the other nights we participated in the regular ashram evening programs from 6.15 to 7.15pm.

For those of us who had stayed in a Satyananda ashram in other countries, some of daily routines were familiar. For example, on Saturday we joined in chanting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra 108 times. The kanyas of Rikhia led the chanting. Girls from 6 to 8 or so ushered us to our seats and handed us our chanting books. Girls no older than 14 introduced and led the chanting with grace and poise, speaking perfect English and impeccably annunciated Sanskrit. It was such a beautiful experience to chant this ancient and familiar mantra for healing in the yoga shala of Rikhia! After we finished chanting, the kanyas announced some of the kanyas and batuks would dance for us. I was expecting a traditional Indian dance, but instead they danced to a Michael Jackson medley and other pop music! Both the dancers and the audience all enjoyed this immensely. It was quite a surprise to be chanting the Mahamrityunjaya one minute and listening to Michael Jackson the next!

Each day of the course focused on a different chakra, with the asana, pranayama and practical sessions teaching practices and techniques to help purify and build awareness of each chakra. We began with ajna chakra to help strengthen our capacity to witness the fluctuations of mental state and emotions with detachment. As Swami Muktidharma explained, it is very important to cultivate this ability to witness prior to purifying the lower chakras.

It was interesting to observe in myself and others how physical symptoms relating to a particular chakra would arise either on the day we worked with that chakra or the day after. For example, some people had headaches when working with ajna, stomach troubles with manipura, sore throats with vishuddhi. The challenge of dealing with pain or illness gave us additional opportunities to cultivate the witness awareness.

Most of us were not accustomed to the relentless heat and humidity and being engaged in practices, lectures and programs from 5am until after 7pm. Making time for adequate rest as well as taking care of necessary personal tasks such as doing laundry by hand was challenging as well. Part of the ashram experience is to practice simplicity and regularity, bringing awareness to all of our actions and thereby becoming more efficient as well. In our dormitory block there were almost 40 women sharing 5 shower stalls. Living in community with others also challenged us to be more aware of how our actions (or inactions!) affect others. This learning can be expanded to a greater understanding of how consumption of resources by the wealthy affects those with fewer means. How much does anyone genuinely need? On this course I learned that while I may desire various comforts, I actually need very little.

Speaking of needs, most of us went without mobile phone or internet access during the course. I can’t remember the last time I went 10 days without making a phone call or checking my email. Being “unplugged” in this way allowed us to focus more fully on the practices at hand and also gave us a taste of the reality of life for many people all over the world who do not have the luxuries of technology.

The course was full of extraordinary experiences for all of us, some shared and some very personal. Three of the special experiences that we shared stood out in particular for me. The first, very unexpected, was having darshan with Swami Niranjanananda two nights in a row. Swami Karma Karuna said he was not usually in Rikhia at the time of the Chakra Sadhana Course, so we were very lucky. We all felt a very deep blessing in his presence.

The second was having satsang and diksha with Swami Satsangi. Swami Satsangi answered several of our questions relating to yogic philosophy and its application in daily life. Her satsang was full of practical advice from the perspective of a spiritual master. For example, she stated that spirituality was simply living life with awareness. Those who received diksha went with Swami Satsangi in a small group and returned shining with an extraordinary light.

The third was traveling to visit the Shiva Temple in Deoghar one morning. This temple houses one of the 12 jyotir lingams in India, and is a sacred pilgrimage destination. The temple grounds were crowded with people from tiny babies to the very elderly. People chanting, dancing, bathing, selling flowers, begging for money. Jostling through the masses, we made our way to the taps and washed our feet and hands before proceeding further. We followed Swami Muktidharma to one of the stupas, where we split into groups of 20. A pundit who was also a disciple of Paramahamsaji gave everyone clay cups of water, a lotus flower and some leaves. He blessed these and led everyone in chanting mantra before entering the temple. Swami Muktidharma had given us some instruction the day before that inside the temple we would have to push to get to the jyotir lingam, and once we reached it to touch it and pour the water and flowers over it. The first surprise on entering the temple was that the narrow corridor was air-conditioned! The corridor was only wide enough for one person, and when we reached the entrance to the room with the jyotir lingam, we had to both step up and stoop down to enter. The room was much smaller than I’d expected, and people were moving in a frenzy in and out, rushing to touch the lingam and then being pulled away by the temple caretakers. I got as close to the lingam as I could, then one of the caretakers pulled me through the crowd so I could offer the water and flowers and touch the lingam. As soon as I had done so, I was pulled away just as quickly and turned toward the door. When I got outside, I realized that at some point someone had thrown a garland of flowers on my head. An unforgettable experience!

On the final day of the course, we made our own offering of Prasad to the ashram. We spent the whole afternoon chopping fruits and vegetables, pounding dough and grating cheese to prepare dinner for all the swamis as well as many of the kanyas and batuks. We made pizza, pasta and fruit salad for 130 people! In addition, we served coffee and hot chocolate. Chidananda helped to organize this feast from before the course even began, and he and the group from Canada brought things that were difficult or impossible to get in rural India - like sundried tomatoes!

We began the course as strangers from many different places: Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. We left not only with a greater awareness of our chakras, the Satyananda tradition, ashram lifestyle and our own tendencies of mind, but also with greater awareness of other cultures and many new friends. I have no doubt that we will stay in touch and will continue to reap the rewards of this course for years to come. Thank you so much to Swami Satsangi, Swami Muktidharma, Swami Karma Karuna, assistants Yogamani, Santoshananda, Shantachittam and Madhura, and all the amazing people at Rikhiapeeth for making this retreat possible.

Namo Narayan!