After about 10,000 kilometers, 42 hours of travel and many security check points with men with automatic weapons and my bags x-rayed over and over… I final arrive to my first destination, Varanasi, India. A place on the holy Ganges river written about for thousands of years… some call Varanasi the spiritual capitol of the world it’s because of the over 200 temples and the extreme devotion that is demonstrated in the Hindu faith in all the parts of God that are worshiped as gods and goddesses. … and the cremation center where over 200 cremations take place riverside daily and where the same fire is said to be kept burning for about 3500 years. I’ve been dreaming of coming to this town for a long time. It is said that dying in Varanasi stops the cycle of death/life (samsara). Some of the locals laugh at that statement and say the people that think that are crazy. Either way… I am here.
I get in the car… should I be worried about the broken windshield? The ride from the airport which should have taken 30-45 minutes took about 2 hours. The driver who picked me up had some problems with one of the tires that needed to get air a couple of times. Then he got lost a couple of times. The drive through Varanasi was a huge culture shock. There are no real lanes of traffic and everyone is honking their horns… like a courtesy of letting people know you are there. We aren’t moving too fast and in very close proximity to others in traffic. Not much English on the street signs… if there are street signs. All I can do is have faith in god and the universe that I am being divinely guided.
I was being introduced to India through this car ride to my destination. What I witnessed through my eyes was something I had only read about. Now it is live, in my face and REAL! There were motorcyclists driving while talking on a cell phone, a dancing funeral procession with a real body wrapped in the most beautiful gold muslin on the street and someone defecating on the sidewalk. Welcome to Varanasi, Maurice
After getting lost a couple times and not being able to contact my host family… I finally arrive. The home is truly gorgeous and right on the Ganges river and I’m being greeted with open arms. Took a walk along the Ganges, soaking in the 93F temperatures, hanging out with the cattle and taking in all the smells of a new place.
With all of this being said… there really isn’t much I can do other than surrender to what is. I see this as an opportunity for empathy, compassion and wakefulness. There is no logical, professional or scientific evidence that could ever bring me to this conclusion…. Only to “be” with what is… and to be with the mystery of my own becoming through this process of traveling to foreign lands. It seems to be a level of surrender in which I have some experience with and yet doing what I’m doing… there really is no other option at all. I have no control over anything (like my taxi driver being lost), other than to have faith in the goodness of people and the universe. I am being divinely guided, that’s for sure.
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