RISHIKESH
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One Love
For a week Hotel Shiva Yog Sthal provided a wonderful refuge for meditation, writing and doing laundry. Located 100 meters up the hill from the busy main street of Laxman Jhula, it is a modest hotel with friendly staff and clean accommodation. With two days still to go before my motorcycle journey into the foothills…
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Vashistha Caves (Part 2)
Part 1 Before venturing back to the caves the next day, I returned the scooter and got a newer one from one of the young men I have befriended over the last few days, paying the same price — about $6 for the whole day. Yesterday, I thought the old one would break into pieces…
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Vashistha Caves (Part 1)
I spent much of my time the last few days at Vashistha Caves, where the great sage Vashistha meditated for several years. Journeying the 25 kilometers or so from Rishikesh on a rented scooter, I parked atop a hill along a roadside curve and descended to the Vashistha Guha Ashram; monastics fed cows or swept…
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Parmarth Aarti Sthal
Well, I must admit: I spent most of the day lounged in bed and catching up on personal items. I enjoyed my new room after the lack of sleep. At about four I headed out for a walk and come what may. My direction took me along the same path I walked a few months…
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Goodbye Kolkata, Hello Rishikesh
Kolkata provided me with an education in so many ways. Coming from the comfort, convenience and general cleanliness of the West (at least on the surface!), I succumbed to initial shock at the sight of so many humans squeezed into such small spaces and suffering such depravity, with garbage piled everywhere and hungry packs of…
Divine Warrior 