Meister's Journey: Chapter 3: Karma Yoga and the Scorpion-Incident
Neat tiles
I had reached my only and maybe final destination. I was already looking forward to my first meditation lessons. Maybe there would even be a guru around that could teach me about the quintessence of life. I hoped that I could even meet the founder of the Ashram, Babaji himself. I did little to no inquiry about the Ashram before my arrival since it was mostly my gut feeling that lead me to the decision of going there. I had been driving myself crazy about planning everything out into the smallest details during my entire life. From now on this life experience was supposed to be about the complete opposite: Living in the now, being as conscious as possible about the present, gaining total trust in myself and the universe. Only the future could tell whether I would stay here for one day or for the rest of my life. The Mount Kailash omen however made me realize that, at least for now, this was the right spot to be and I was committed to accept all the tests that this place would throw at me.
The Ashram looked spectacularly beautiful especially considering the poor rural neighbourhood and the view I expected which wasn’t much more than a piece of wood to sleep on and a hole to do your more basic business in. The buildings were to a large extent painted in a salmon colour and as soon as I stepped into the Ashram I notice almost shiny white tiles all over the floor. Besides there were even solar panels situated on the roof. I some parts of the complex you could even access western toilets to sit on (which is a luxury that's hard to overstate since pretty much all of the indian toilets are squat toilets at best) and most of time you even had hot water! I was frankly disappointed. I figured that maybe I wouldn’t find the simple lifestyle here after all.
A monk‘s life on the other side
I was still early so nobody was there yet to welcome the newcomers. It gave me the opportunity to inspect my new home a little further. From the Ashram you could look down upon Gautam Ganga river, one of the smaller rivers that finds its way to the large Ganga River, the holy of the holiest rivers. Needless to say also the little Ganga in Haidakhan was considered holy. However it shocked me that there was hardly any water! Except for a small stream I could only discover an army of stones in the river bed! Progressed signs of global warming? Though the area had experienced an extraordinary dry period, a view like this is normal for the month February. Only during the Monsoon season in June, July and August the river bed is completely covered with water. It is then when it‘s impossible to cross the river which is worth mentioning because on the other side, the so called Gufa side, there are more buildings that belong to the Babaji Ashram. Some hardcore Babaji followers spend these months on the Gufa side in total seclusion. How romantic that is! No one to bother you, you can spend your time listening to the falling rain and the river stream.
Not a good deal at all
Michelle was here name. She was responsible for the accommodation of the newcomers. She was something in between funny and tough, but always straight-forward. I asked her about the upcoming classes and the teachers, so she handed me a sheet with the daily schedule. I slowly realized what I had gotten myself into.
4am-4.30am bath in the Ganga
4.45am Chandan
5am-6am Mediation
6am-6.45am Fire ceremony
7am-8am Ceremony in the temple
8am-9am breakfast
9am-noon Karma Yoga
noon-2pm lunch and second bath in the Ganga
2pm-5pm Karma Yoga
5pm-6pm Fire ceremony
6pm-7pm Ceremony in the temple
7pm-8pm dinner
9pm bedtime
I had a sudden army flashback, no nice memories at all. I knew I needed some structure but I really didn‘t expect this...
Michelle then told me more specifically about the philosophy of the Ashram. In the morning after the bath one was obliged to do Chandan, which meant that you had to be on time at a certain place within the complex so that three stripes of sandalwood colour could be applied on your forehead and one red dot with three grains of rice could be put in between your eyes. In the fire ceremony and the temple ceremony one would sing songs to praise the holy place, the holy Mount Kailash and Babaji himself. The daily routine was important and the attendance of the mandatory ceremonies a necessity. Non-obedience of the strict guidelines resulted in the expulsion from the Ashram. Quite harsh, I thought. My gut feeling wasn‘t so good suddenly, but I knew I had to go through with it. My feeling didn‘t improve when she told me about the founder‘s core principle which was Karma Yoga. It meant nothing else but doing work that benefited the Ashram. Twice a day for two to three hours.
„Do I at least get to meet Babaji?“ I asked
She answered: „Oh, Babaji left his physical body in 1984. But if you really want it and when the time is right he will surely come to you.“
I was gobsmacked.
All I wanted was a quiet place to meditate. I had come all the way from Europe into the jungle of the Himalayas to be forced to follow some superstitious, Hindu rituals, to be forced to sing songs about a place I didn‘t know and a mysterious guru who died decades ago and to be forced to work for five to six hours daily, and in return I got to pay for my stay? Not a good deal, not a good deal at all…
Quite a bummer the first impression to be honest. At least they give the new slave-labourers one day to accustom to the new circumstances. After the long travel it was only fair to get some badly needed sleep. I had my own room since there was hardly anyone in the entire Ashram at the time. The bed was rather hard, not comfortable at all. However I didn‘t come to India to experience comfort. Any bed would do the trick and so I fell into it and passed out.
The Scorpion Incident
I bit my lips together. It made a crunchy noise. I woke up and noticed how a numbing sensation slowly spread across my lips and across parts of my tongue and my cheek. Some insect must have bitten me! I jumped up from my bed. Panic arose inside me once again. I touched the numb spots in my face in a desperate attempt to regain my sensation. It didn‘t work. What do I do now?
I might be poisoned by some exotic creature and DIE NOW!
I searched my bed for some clues and found the two pieces of a small insect. I must have bitten it apart. I put the pieces together and it looked like a scorpion. My heart started pounding. I need help! I knew where Michelle‘s room was so I climbed over the stairway and the entrance gate onto her balcony. I knocked nervously at her balcony door already looking for the appropriate words to describe my situation. A tired grumpy looking face revealed itself in front of my eyes.
„What time is it?“, she asked.
„30 minutes past midnight“, I replied.
She raised her finger and said: „Never, ever, ever... EVER do this again“, and shut the door.
There I stood all alone knowing nobody somewhere in the jungle of the Himalayas with a numb face, holding the unfortunate remains of what appeared to be a tiny scorpion, expecting my end to happen soon.
I talked to myself: „Chaim, you came here to learn to trust the universe. This is your first test. Go back to bed“. And that‘s what I did. I laid down hoping to see the light of day once again.
Chapter 1: https://steemit.com/blog/@meister/meister-s-journey-chapter-1