For those of us who had been on the Prana Vidya course, we took another journey for the Ajapa Dharana course. The day after the Diwali celebrations in Rikhia we piled into vans and journeyed to the northeast to Munger, the official home of the Bihar School of Yoga and the residence of Swami Niranjanananda. One of the vans got a flat tire at one point – a perfect excuse for a chai break at the village we happened to be passing through. As with our journey to Rikhia from Kolkata, we did experience occasional roadblocks by people demanding money, but all in all it was a smooth journey – and an easy 5 hours compared to the 11 it took to get to Rikhia!

After the rural experience of Rikhia, Munger was a bit of an adjustment. The ashram is a lot like a typical college campus – various large buildings, and it is effectively a walled compound. We remained within the ashram walls for the entire duration of the course, staying in large dormitory buildings that we shared with students who were doing the four-month course in yogic studies as well as other guests of the ashram. While the terrain in Rikhia was flat, the ashram in Munger was built on a hill, and steps were everywhere – thankfully it was not too hot! The atmosphere in the ashram itself was quite peaceful, however almost every night we heard loud dance music from the town – all quite different from our experience in Rikhia.

We had two days in Munger to settle in before the Ajapa Dharana course started. The first of many special blessings was that Swami Niranjanananda invited us to have lunch with him the day after we arrived. We all felt especially lucky as Swami Karma Karuna said he had done this only one other time in all the years they had been bringing groups to India. Swami Niranjan welcomed us warmly to a private meal with him at one of the old ashrams in Munger. He explained the tradition on Diwali to eat many dishes, saying that on Diwali itself that year they had had 90 dishes! That day we were served a feast that had at least 9, and all were absolutely delicious! It is difficult to express in words what it was like to share a meal with Swami Niranjan. We were mainly silent in his presence, but he graciously answered all questions that people asked him. I couldn’t stop smiling. That meal in itself would have been reason enough to come to India.

The following evening, Saturday, Swami Niranjan led the traditional chanting of the Mahamrityunjaya mantra 108 times. He followed this with a spontaneous satsang, emphasizing the importance of consistent effort over a long period of time to make progress in yoga. He noted that while it is accepted in modern society to spend 7 to 10 years in consistent, intensive study and practice to become a doctor, people rarely put anywhere near that amount of effort into the development of their consciousness through yoga, yet they consider themselves advanced. We were all deeply inspired and touched by this gift of satsang.

The blessings continued the following morning, with Swami Niranjan giving satsang and answering questions. The tone of his responses ranged from humorous to blunt, but always centered in a deep compassion and practical in nature. Over and over again he came back to the importance of applying yogic principles to life, to living yoga, as opposed to getting caught up in just acquiring knowledge or techniques or having dogmatic interpretations of the philosophy.

The Ajapa Dharana course officially started after the satsang that morning. Swami Muktidharma explained that Ajapa Dharana was a sadhana in itself that Swami Niranjan had revived from ancient tantric practices. Over seven days he led us systematically through the various stages of Ajapa Dharana practice, emphasizing that we should all start with the first stage and perfect that before moving on to the next stage. The message to work slowly and consistently with focus, perseverance and humility in our yoga sadhana was a universal theme in all three of the courses Swami Muktidharma taught as well as the satsangs by Swami Satsangi and Swami Niranjan that we were so fortunate to attend during our time in India.

The majority of us taking the Ajapa Dhara course had just completed the Chakra Sadhana and Prana Vidya courses in Rikhia and were going on our fourth week of study in India. To say that my brain was full would be an understatement! Ajapa Dharana felt like a much more mellow course than the previous two – but maybe we were all just feeling less energetic at this point in our journey.

Toward the end of the week we had yet another special blessing, with Swami Niranjan giving a 2-hour satsang just for our group! He patiently answered all of our questions relating to Ajapa Dharana, gave practical advice, and shared humorous stories from his experiences teaching yoga abroad in his youth. We all felt his warmth, compassion and generosity of spirit, but there is something more that you feel in his presence that is difficult to describe. How many times do you get the opportunity to sit with a master? His wisdom goes beyond what we can understand with the rational mind and inspires something deep within.

Although the Ajapa Dharana finished on Saturday afternoon, most of us had perhaps the most significant part of our trip still to come. The majority of our group had requested initiation with Swami Niranjan, which we received that night. We again were particularly fortunate because it happened to be the 5th of November, and we received our initiation in the akhara during the special pujas. Words can’t do justice to the experience. I could feel the high energy before I even set foot in the akhara. While there was much for all the senses to experience in witnessing the beautiful pujas and receiving initiation, it was what was awakened beyond the senses that will remain with me for a lifetime.

And so more than four weeks in India ended with a new beginning. We made our way from Munger to our various destinations around the world, equipped with several lifetimes’ worth of techniques, and the invaluable understanding that it was up to us not only to practice the techniques in a consistent and practical way, but also to apply them to our lives in general in order to evolve. In addition, we left knowing we could always reach out to someone in our little sangha, no matter where in the world we might be, for support on the path.

We cannot thank Swami Muktidharma and Swami Karma Karuna enough, as well as amazing assistants Yogamani, Shantachittam and Madhura, for leading us on this journey. Our eternal gratitude to Swami Niranjanananda for blessing us with his darshan and diksha and sharing so much of his time and wisdom with us. Also special thanks to all the swamis and residents at Ganga Darshan who made our stay in Munger so smooth and enjoyable.

Hari Om Tat Sat!