There is just so much to take in as I’m bombarded with data in a new way of being here in India. I also have so much to write about and document. I won’t be one of those people constantly behind the lens of a camera because I want to be present to all that is in front of me. I am being fed incredibly well and learning so much about northern Indian cooking. It’s taking me several days to get used to the culture here and receive the gracious service that is being provided for me. I’m still settling into it all. Yes, Sharon… I am a little slow and that way of being is looking right at me at the moment even though I can be ambivalent about it.
I decided last night after meeting a new friend that I would take my first adventure to Assi and the Burning Ghats for the sunrise puja at 545am. That means that I would need to leave the place I’m staying about 445a to make sure I have the time I need to get there. It’s about an hour walk or a 10 min taxi ride. 445a is still in the dark of night here so I took my headlamp to walk the streets. The shopkeepers on the streets actually live in their little shops at night. I have to admit that walking the dark streets was a little scary by myself. I passed a few young children who were curious about me and stopped and turned around which really aroused my fear. It was so early that there were not any taxis. I did see a couple heading past me in the other direction to the bus station and I picked one up on its way back. Why oh why did I choose (or was it chosen for me) the dark of night to get introduced to the streets of Varanasi for the first time by myself? It did all work out just fine.
I get to the Assi Ghat just in time for the start of the morning puja with singing and chanting. What a sweet way to wake to the new day. My friend showed up and we make our way to the burning ghat to see about the cremation ceremonies. After over a decade of hospice work a lot of the draw for me here in Varanasi is the death/cremation ceremonies. It’s about to get real…. super fast. We run into someone that works at the burning ghat who immediately takes my hand and starts to teach me about the ritual. There is a body on a fire with one of the family members tending to it as part of the ceremony. I’m surrounded in piles of wood and people who are helping the families with food, drinks and ceremony. All I can do is take it all in and stay out of everyone’s way. I get taken to the fire where all the fires get started from. This fire is said to have been burning continuously for over 3500 years. My face is being filled with smoke from the fire below, the smell of burning flesh penetrating my senses and I’m not even being phased other than my eyes tearing up from the smoke. As we walk around to all the different areas of the ghat in comes another body being carried by family members to be bathed in the Ganges as a first step of the ceremony. There are people sifting through the ashes after cremation to see if they can find any valuable stones or gold, the families do not take any of that. I donate money to provide wood for families who cannot afford it and give something to the man who is taking the time to educate me. Meanwhile… we stop and sit for a chai and sit down…as I check in with myself… I don’t feel like I’m in my body… is this real or is this a dream? What is real anyway? (Insert Matrix movie quotes here). I am here… right where I want to be… where I’ve dreamed of being for a long long time. With a new friend… just breathing. WOAH! WTF? (Insert talking heads video… how did I get here?)
I could sit at this burning ghat for hours just taking it all in… and I will return to do that. Now it’s time to go with our guide and explore. So many temples here in Varanasi. Over 200 of them. Some of them are really tiny and others are massive and can hold hundreds of people. What was reinforced in me is that we can create any space we like and call it a temple. With our own devotional practices and sacred rituals. That’s exactly what they did here in Varanasi. Where are you creating the sacred space in your life to allow the realization of your own true/unique self and become the person you are meant to become?
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