Sacred Places

(Pic right of Golden Temple, Amritar, from the roof of our hotel. Pic right below closer up)
We left the Mumbai area on Sunday March 13 and started making our way north with stops planned at Sufi, Sikh and Buddhist sacred places. Our first stop, in Ajmer, was to visit the tomb of the founder of the Chisti branch of the Sufis. ( Khwaja Muinuddin Chisty) This branch eventually made its way to North America in a form divorced from the Islamic component. The Dances of Peace originate from the Chisti branch. (Pic of Ajmer darga embedded in text here.) Very fortunately, a young Muslim man decided to guide us through the Ajmer dargah or tomb. Our young guide went and procured a couple of pamphlets in the English language. The teachings in the pamphlet spoke of being as affectionate as the sun, shining on friend and enemy alike, and humble like the earth. They spoke of drawing near to "the Friend," the divine Beloved as a path to eclipse the smaller egoistic sense of self. The
teachings also stated that the highest worship is to serve the poor and oppressed. The Sufi Saint whose tomb we were visiting had a "humanistic" message, said the pamphlet, that won the hearts of many through its concern with the suffering of humanity. We were both very moved by the beauty of this dargah, by the teachings we read about, and the Quawal singing or devotional singing that we listened to here.

In Pushkar, near to Ajmer, we connected with a musician at the Saraswati School of Music. He took a print of my hand size in order to obtain a bass bamboo flute for me with a rich professional tone. He also spent awhile with us going through various aspects of Indian music

Next we made are way to Dehli, where we were to hear another group of Quawals at a different dargah, the tomb of Nizamuddin.

The Quawal singing here at the Nizamuddin tomb was even better than at Ajmer. Late in the night, around 9:30pm we made our way to the nearby tomb of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and then the next morning to Pir Vilayat Khan's tomb. Pir Vilayat is someone whose programs I went to when he was alive and teaching spiritual growth and meditation in the Atlanta GA area. At Pir's tomb is a very large heart with wings embedded in a stone wall which reads "Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, the only Being"

We travelled a bit further north to Amritar next where we were fully doused in various colors and dyes during the Holi festival and our visit to the Durgiana Temple. Facinated by our presence at the temple, some of the singers and dancers there drew us into their celebration, garlanded us with roses, and covered us in various dusty dyes that stained our faces and clothes.
We also went to the Golden Temple, a Sikh pilgrimage place, in Amritsar. When Indira Ghandi was assasinated several years back by her Sikh bodyguards, she had recently send a police force into the Golden Temple to arrest some type of untoward operation that was hiding out in the temple, according to a very popular novel I am reading set in India title "Shantaram." Apparently this was a huge political mistake on her part as it cost her her life. In Amritsar we also heard singing of chants or bhajans.

This whole week of traveling north was filled with Hindu, Sufi and Sikh music--harmonium, flute, chanting, drones. Sometimes I would find music stations on the T.V. in the hotels of this music, facinated by the sounds.

The last leg of our northward journey is McLoed Ganj, where we have visited the Tibetan people in exile. Its very cool and mountainous, with more Westerners about, studying Buddhism I presume or the holistic options in the area. One thing that stands out is the suffering of the Tibetan people. There are many reminders and references to their difficult journey at each Tibetan museum or temple we visit. They are a people without a home. Every year a Tibetan person has to re-register with the Indian government for legal residency here in India. Today we saw buildings of the Tibetan government in exile. Aside from the compassionate gentle message of Tibetan Buddhism we encounter here, I seem to encounter even more strongly the suffering of the Tibetan people. On a large mural in the main Tibetan Buddhist temple here, there are teachings stating that if everyone could imbibe the teachings of the "Kalachakra Tantra" of Tibetan Buddhism, then there would be peace on earth. Apparently these Kalachakra teachings are depicted in all the mandala type murals all over the main temple, and the historical Buddha dispensed these teachings to his followers. Tonight we are attending a talk by Tibetans who were political prisoners. Tommorrow we head up to Bhagsu slightly north of Mcloed Ganj.

(three pics of us smeared with colors , right above, from the Holi Festival at the Durgiana Temple in Amritsar. People take to the streets and douse you in colors during this festival.)