Friday evening,November 1 we attended the celebration of Patanjali Jayanthi at the Institute. It was the birth anniversary of Patanjali, the sage who "penned the ancient Indian heritage of Yoga through his treatise, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. After we assembled on the floor of the practice hall, Guruji arrived in his flowing robes and was seated in a throne-like chair. Geetaji and Prashantaji were also in attendance. Abhi, Guruji's granddaughter, led the entire proceedings in a thoughtful and very personal manner. One could feel the pride emanating from Guruji for his granddaughter.
Abhi led us in the chant to Patanjali to invoke his blessings. We then chanted the 51 sutras in part one of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Abhi gave a heartfelt and inspiring talk about knowing the "essence" of yoga not just chanting or performing asanas by rote. Her anecdotes about her grandfather (this was the first time I heard her reference him this way rather than Guruji) were priceless. She said once when they were working together she could feel those big, bushy eyebrows reaching across to her as if they were going to touch her. Once when she had the goal of holding Sirsasana (headstand) as long as possible she was quite proud of herself when she reached 20 minutes. Until Guruji asked her "how were you in the pose". Not understanding she replied to him how long she held the pose. But he said she only knew the time but did not know "the why" (the essence) of being in the asana. On another occasion she said she was starting her practice slowly and was feeling rather stiff it being first thing in the morning. Guruji soon called for her to do Rajakapotasana, a challenging backbending pose. She said let me just finish a few more warming up poses but Guruji said no and he soon had her in the more difficult pose. The lesson was that the mind, not the body, is what limits us.
As we left the Institute we were given prasad, in this instance a small sweet that had been offered first to a deity with the belief that the deity's blessing then resides in it. When walking to our apartment the celebrating for the festival of Diwali was already evident. Diwali, the festival of lights, is a major holiday in India. Small clay lamps are lit to signify the triumph of good over evil. The lamps are kept burning during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done to make Lakshmi feel welcome. Even in our apartment, all our curtains were taken down and clean ones put up. Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity (both material and spiritual) and she is said to bring good luck.
Perhaps the most noticeable part of the celebration for us, was the shooting of firecrackers. It is believed that the noise will drive away evil spirits. That Friday evening we went to bed with all the noise, sounding like a war outside (ear plugs help) and awoke on Saturday morning to worse than usual air quality with the smell of the gun powder. Thankfully, we were soon on our way out of town to our holiday retreat we booked at a resort at a higher elevation near the town of Lonavala to "be in nature" as the Indians say. (The higher elevation towns are known as "hill stations", a legacy from the British who sought out refuge from the summer heat.) The last stretch of the drive here was like West Virginia mountain roads, narrow and curvy and I was a bit car sick. But all worth it as this spot is beautiful, QUIET, and luxurious with clean air! We are relaxing, restoring in preparation for the resumption of classes at the Institute on Wednesday.
Last night, Sunday, was the main night for the Diwali celebration. Candles were lit throughout the resort and in front of our villa. After we finished with our sumptuous dinner (we were eating well ahead of the Indian guests here as we are still on the early bedtime we maintain for our classes in Pune), we were asked if we wanted dessert. We both declined, but soon one of the chefs brought over special Diwali sweets for us to try. The sharing of sweets is part of the Diwali celebration. So we ate and then soon were contentedly in our beds, heard just two booms of firecrackers and were soon asleep. Ah, life is good.
Guruji at the Patanjali Jayanthi celebration:
Geetaji:
Patanjali statute:
Happy Diwali:
Homes decorated for Diwali:
The neighborhood boys in the spirit of Dewali:
The view from our villa in the mountains:
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