Fast Track to Enlightenment?

no such thing. but i caught a long commute via train and bus acoss the south of india to the town of Tiruvannamalai (aka "tiru") - a few hours west of chennai - to find out for myself. the town itself hosts the holy mountain, Arunachala, and is the home of Ramana ashram (a famous guru). the powerful mountain draws loads of pilgrims, sadhus (real and pretenders) and western spiritual questers. it has sort of become a spiritual theme park offering satsungs (q and a's with various gurus), lectures, meditation sessions, yoga, and is dotted with countless temples. it has an interesting feel as it is arguably one of the most spiritually charged places on the planet.

"am i sensitive to energy?" someone asked. i do not have a clue. i had few expectations upon arriving to this town, and i did not notice the strong energy nor was i particular drawn to the events i attended. i tried discussions, a satsung, and attended a darsana (this guru has taken a vow of silence after years spent meditating in a himalayan cave and now shares her vision of devotion and the divine purely through sight). many people report feeling Sri Sivasakthi's (the guru) transfer of energy. i was intrigued, however perhaps my expectations going into it were set a little high. perhaps i was envisioning more levitation or increased heart rate or something indicating the interchange of energy as this holy woman laid her eyes on me. again, i felt nothing. i will have to admit, i was a bit disappointed in myself, but it just was not speaking to me (no pun intended). maybe another time and/or another place.

my main draw to the city was to meet with a friend from seattle, sanjay, where we adapted our tradition of coffee in our cozy local neighborhood cafe in seattle (Irwin's) to tiru's version, chai at tasty cafe. it turned out to be a perfect spot to kick back and unwind.

accommodation was basic, located 7km away from the spiritual tourism town and set amidst rice paddies tended by their respective farmers and buffalo-led plows and harvesters in beautifully contrasting colorful saris; all of this set against the backdrop of Arunachala. not bad at all. i was biking into town which felt great considering my physical activity has felt minimal otherwise, and hiked up the holy mountain one day but felt more worked than i had hoped.

5 days later, i set off north for a 30 hr train ride to meet Robb and Jay, 2 good friends from seattle, in delhi.

Life in the Ashram

Om namo narayanaya...these sanskrit words (a chant for world peace) along with "jaya ganesha", "om namo sivaya" cannot seem to leave my head. chanting them daily morning and evening left them occupying my thoughts. at first they were a bit irritating, but these singing chants grew on me...the whole group singing together, drumming away, jingling the tamberines, good voices, bad ones, good rhythm, bad rhythm. i could not understand the meaning of the sanskrit, but the intention behind it all was a bit intoxicating.

but after nearly 2 weeks in Sivananda ashram in the sw kerala, we were excited to hand in our official exit passes and be on our merry way, back into the temptations and pleasures of the outside world. it was a nice change of pace being in the ashram however. basically all decisions were made for us via the daily schedule. there was no deciding "where do we go next?", "how long should we stay?", "where should we stay?", "how do we get there?", "what should we eat?" each day was similar: early morning rise and shine, satsung (meditating and singing chants), yoga, brunch, karma yoga (chores), lecture and free time, yoga, dinner, and satsung.
it felt great to slow down and recenter, taking time to process the people, places, faces, sights, and sounds over the past few months, and discussing anything and everything as the mood struck with fellow travelers. doing more yoga in 2 weeks than i have ever done, my body felt great...longer, taller, and happier.