After my long day hiking to the temples and my surprise meeting with Govinda, I went to a funky rooftop restaurant and indulged in a raw vegetable salad and some noodles. The veggies tasted great, but that night I developed cramps and made several trips to the bathroom. I got very little sleep and woke up dizzy and nearly passed out when I bent down to pick up something off the floor.

If you read my last blog entry, you know that I had scheduled my meeting with Govinda at 8:00 am this morning, and that I was a little uncertain about the whole thing. I didn’t feel the need to have anyone read my chakras or try to free up any energy flow blockage; after all, I had my Guruji who provided everything for me. However, I am always curious about such things. I had earlier asked Guruji to show me if I was right or wrong in gong along with Govinda’s reading, and what do you know, I get my first illness in India within a few hours — this after being here already two months. It sure seemed like a sign I didn’t need to do this.

I followed through anyway and, feeling out of sorts, met Govinda at 8:00 am. We climbed up into a hidden cove surrounded by boulders. Govinda took out these two strange instruments that looked like yellow rayguns and aimed them at me. If the energy was negative, they bounced out of sync. If the energy was positive, they hung together — this is a simple explanation of the process. Crazy! Amazingly, he was able to read that I had food poisoning. I hadn’t said anything to him about that. Maybe it was my green face. He proposed a cure of some potion he would make with goat’s milk over the next few days. I would have to go to his place, drink it, vomit, and then be weak all day before recovering. Then we would go through this deeper process.

Ahhhh…no thanks. I should have never gone along with this in the first place, but I liked Govinda. He was a sincere soul. I politely bowed out and had a good talk with him before going back to my hotel to recover. Once I said no to pursuing this, I started feeling better, and by the next day I was out exploring this ancient wonder of a town.

The spirituality never stops in Hampi. The flow of devotees, the chanting, the singing, it is going on all around me. I get this feeling at times that I am floating in an ethereal cloud, perched on some higher plane. Perhaps peering into all the hidden shrines at the gods and goddesses locked away in these temples for hundreds of years has seeped into my consciousness. I am having strange dreams. I am not kidding, and it’s not bad; living here for seven days right in the middle of all the commotion and all-night prayer jams and outbursts of ecstasy overwhelms in a magical way. Let’s put it like this: it’s a far cry from the solitary motorcycle rides in the mountains just weeks ago.

Without a doubt, Hampi vibrates with a spiritual energy. The bazaars and temples stretch for kilometers all about in ruins and crumbling edifices and also tremendous displays of architectural wonder. Seeing the detailed craftsmanship, chiseled in stone and in such abundance, makes one ponder if mankind hasn’t regressed rather than progressed over the centuries.

The next morning I awoke at 5:00 am and felt fantastic. I climbed out of bed and decided I would do my morning meditation on Matanga Hill after watching the sun rise. Remember, Matanga Hill is where Hanuman met Rama. What an incredible experience this would be, as well as a bold statement of strength after that brief sickness.

Climbing the stairs up the mountain in complete darkness invigorated the soul. I saw a few lights shining on the trail above me, little spots of light on the dark mountainside. At the top a number of others had already gathered at the very top point. I ducked through the ruins of a temple there to my own secret spot, but soon others came down and collected around me. I enjoyed the sunrise after a brief meditation.

My strength had returned. Today I would climb the 527 steps to Hanuman’s birthplace before leaving the town the next day. This would require taking the rickety boat across the river and renting a scooter on “Hippie Island.” What a fun place that will be to explore!