Moving On

Everything must come to an end. So must my time in Rishikesh, at least on this leg of my life’s journey.

So many things happened here, some I blogged about, some I didn’t. I still have stories to write and things to tell you about my time here. There will still be tales of Rishikesh for a while I am sure, as I acclimate to other surroundings, and tales of my adventures in Amritsar and abroad.

So many things I learned here, some universal, some personal. I am still processing all of these lessons, trying to integrate them and understand why they have come into my life at this time.

I learned about the sweetness of seva, about how your heart can breathe after the weight of its own hurt is lifted by putting yourself aside and working for others. I learned about the strength of childhood, about the resilience of the human capacity for joy in the face of the most atrocious realities. I learned about the magic that is still in this world, and that is worth searching for and worth finding. I learned about the power that all people have to be your teachers, whether saints and gurus, or waiters and crazy people. I learned that loving a cow could be a mutually rewarding experience. I learned that I love to teach and that watching someone have an experience with his or her own soul is just about the freshest thing in the world. I learned that my desire to retreat from the world into prayerful solitude could be just as easily accomplished by staying in the world and retreating into my own heart than it can be by retreating into an ashram. I learned that beauty sometimes looks ugly if you are looking with the wrong eyes.

I bow before Mata Ganga and the banyan trees and the brown-faced monkeys and Ramana’s Garden and my sweet Beatrice and all my teachers here. I have been honored to share space and time with each and every one of you.

May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you, and the pure light within you, guide your way on. Sat nam.