On the second day things started feeling different on Arunachala Mountain. In fact, the whole town of Tiruvannamalai took some time for me to adjust to. Up until now — except for in the Karnataka region of ancient temples and a few days in Rishikesh — I had seen very few Westerners. I never felt like a tourist but more like an alien, more a curiosity than a commodity. So, in comparison, Tiruvannamalai seemed overrun with foreigners. It put me on my defensive.

That put a barrier between me and the mountain — one that I created and not the mountain, of course. As I climbed the worn stone walkway to the most famous caves that first day, I thought, ok, here I am, a Westerner, touring spirituality, going to the sites, taking pictures, even doing it barefoot…it was all me and perhaps my own insecurities. Anyway, by the end of that first day that feeling was gone. I had met many locals on my own, and even though they may have seen me as a target for money, we connected, and they delivered with inside access to some incredible places.

A young local guy named Khartik was supposed to meet me outside the Sri Ramana Ashram at 5:00 am, but he failed to show; I had put the odds at 50-50 if he would show or not, probably too generous. I still had my backup and meeting with Raghar at 8:00 am. I had a better chance of him showing up because he lived on the mountain. Since I was early, I went to a hidden place that Khartik had shown me, where Sri Ramana used to draw his water and view the Arunachalesvara Temple; I meditated while the sun rose above the temple.

At 8:00 am Raghar was not at his rock meeting-spot either, so I dallied a bit and waited for them to open the Arulmigu Sri Gauhati Namashivayar Temple and Cave. This turned out to be a very powerful spot to sit in silence under a sacred banyan tree. A village woman appeared and let me into the compound, and eventually into the cave. I treasured this time alone in this most sacred spot. It was as if the inner cave, and the artifacts collected there, provided a time capsule of spiritual effulgence that blasted me to the core.

When I came out of the compound, Raghar was sitting on his rock. That’s how things work around here. I followed him along the trail toward the ashram, struggling to keep up with him on our barefoot march across rocks and stone. We went to an inner building which had a large concrete room where two men sat and meditated. Off to the right was a kitchen and someone cooking up breakfast. Straight ahead Raghar led me to a narrow opening to a small cave and waved me inside. A man bare to the waist performed puja before various idols in glorious display. The cave vibrated with energy.

The man let me wave some of the incense smoke over my body as a purifying ritual before saying, “This cave for meditation. You meditate here.” And then he left! I was there alone in this incredible cave to meditate. I quickly settled into a deep meditation, not sure whether I should do some technique or just sit in silence. I chose silence and waited. After some time the mountain seemed to speak to me, or the cave, but I feel it was the mountain. “It is all about the heart,” I could feel. “All bubbles from the heart. All that matters.” I had the image of lava bubbling forth from a volcano as an eternal flow of God’s love. Just a continual flow…that is how our hearts should be…just emptying out love.

I emerged from the cave and found Raghar waiting for me outside. He showed me to some other fascinating spots, met some more of the residents of the mountain. As many people that came to this mountain, it was surprising how you could feel alone and then come upon an isolated individual. It was weird. Like it was a wild mountain but yet all these people came here every day. It absorbed all and was much bigger, much greater than it physically appeared.

Before parting, Raghar disappeared for a moment and then came back to give me a special paste to rub on my spiritual eye each morning. “Very powerful,” he said. I then went up the stone trail to the top of the mountain, and then back down toward Sri Ramana Ashram. I felt the mountain embracing me in the gentle breeze. I walked lightly, nearly floating over the rocks and dirt and passed people and monkeys and tree branches waving and the sudden dance of falling leaves.