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PILGRIMAGEYOGANANDA’S INDIA

RON LINDAHN & HÉLÈNE CASTÉRA

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October 6 & 7 - DelhiWe arrived in Delhi late in the evening. While clearing customs

Hélène received an email from Air France apologizing because they had missed putting her baggage on the airplane, and assuring her that they would do all possible to have her bag delivered soon. So we had a few minutes to talk about options, while I went to baggage claim to recover my little suitcase. We then went to the Air France special lost luggage counter and when it was our turn the woman at the desk said "Did you check the baggage claim area?" So we went back to the carousel and sure enough it was waiting there feeling a little abandoned, but ready to go.

Upon leaving the airport, which is bright , modern, clean, and spacious, we walked out the door, right into India. The hubbub of the crowded street scene began at the door and continued for the next half hour and several miles into the city to our hotel. It was midnight, warm, a bit humid and there is a smell unique to Del-hi that cannot be described. It is not so much unpleasant, as it is different. One becomes acclimated to it fairly quickly. It has been more than thirty years since my last visit and with my first breath of Delhi many memories came flooding back.

Our hotel was in the bazar section of the city. Even at one o'clock in the morning there was a great deal of activity. After thir-ty hours of continuous travel I slept till nearly noon that day. We had several important things to accomplish before our 9:30 pm departure; changing money, obtaining a SIM card so Hélène would have a phone to make calls in India, lunch, and a return to the hotel to reclaim our luggage.

A friend of Hélène’s wanted to meet her while in Delhi and offered to connect with her at the main Bank of India to change money at 2:00pm. The office is some distance from our hotel and we decided to go to a closer branch and have lunch, then if we had time, to contact her friend. Our attempts to first locate, then ex-change money were thwarted and we were sent to the main Bank of India office. After all of our running around we ended up at the bank at exactly 2:00, the time we were supposed to meet her friend, and he was waiting there with his friend, who is a high ranking

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manager at the bank. After changing our money she invited us up to the bank cafeteria, on the roof of this 12 story building where we had a wonderful view of the city, a nice plain, very Indian meal, and a chance to get to know a couple of dear sweet souls. Following lunch we went to the manager’s office and had a cup of chai and talked a bit more.

Following our time at the bank we made our way back to the bazar area where we were able to locate an Airtel office and obtain the needed SIM card for the phone. There was a moment of chal-lenge when Hélène discovered that the padlock on her back pack would not open. Something had happened and no combination would open it. Finally we were directed to a 'locksmith' who fid-dled with it for a minute before picking up a large hammer and giant chisel and, giving it a smart blow, burst the lock and solved the problem of not being able to get in the bag. We see ingenious solutions everywhere.

We had some chai and used the internet connection to check email and the new SIM card. Finally it was back to the hotel for our bags and off to the train station for our 9:30 pm departure to Ha-ridwar. We are scheduled to arrive at 5:45 am. The first class sleep-ing compartment is comfortable and included accommodations for charging all of our devices. Now for some much needed rest.

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October 8 - HaridwarFrom Delhi we traveled by train overnight arriving in Harid-

war an hour or so late and without much real sleep, after 7 am. We found a place for breakfast near the train station.

We took an auto rickshaw about 8 kilometers to the Urmi ho-tel. Very nice rooms, accommodating staff, nice restaurant.

After checking in we went back into Haridwar by auto rick-shaw - first one wanted too much for the trip so we started walking and a few blocks away found another who agreed to take us to Swami Keshavananda's Ashram. The driver claimed to know the place, but did not have a clue where we wanted to go. After several failed attempts, it became obvious that he was taking us back to the train station. We insisted he turn around and go back to the main road we knew the ashram to be on. After turning around he drove us directly to the place, which was really quite close.

The ashram was a lovely garden spot. Keshavananda was a dis-ciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, and reacher of Paramahansa Yogananda. We visited and meditated at the shrine containing Lahiriji's ashes, then went into the cave where Keshavananda used to meditate. We sat in meditation there for some time. We saw the rudraksha tree that Swami had planted himself and were gifted with seeds from the tree by the resident in charge. We also saw the tree where La-hiriji, after leaving his body, appeared to Keshavananda.

From Keshavashram we went to the evening Ganga Aarti - de-votion to Mother Ganges.

This elaborate ceremony included chanting of mantras and of-ferings of flowers and fire to Divine Mother as river Ganges. The walk to the place of ceremony was a journey through what could have been an ancient bazar with little shops and stalls selling all manner of items, and wandering vendors with holy beads, and rafts of flowers with candles to float in the river as part of the Aarti. There were also vendors selling electric gizmos, flashy bling, food, clothing, etc.

As we entered the throng and removed our shoes, leaving them with hundreds of others, we were signaled by a priest and led through the crowd of hundreds right to the front of the river,

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actually in the river on a step. With pants rolled up we stood in holy Mother Ganga while the music and chanting filled the air and large flaming lamps were moved in time to the music. At the end Hélène took the flower raft she had purchased and floated it with the others out onto the twinkling river. She then joined a lovely Indian woman standing next to her, and performed a small cere-mony together before floating a second raft in the river.

Following the ceremony we made our way back to the Urmi Hotel, then walked a couple of blocks to a nice out of the way restaurant where we had a wonderful meal before retiring for the evening.

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October 9 - RishikeshIn the morning we were picked up by our driver for the trip to

Rishikesh. The drive was less than an hour and the entire journey was along a busy highway, bustling with businesses and filled with traffic.

A note about the roads, including "highways," which are like a two lane back road in Rabun County. The roads do have a white line painted down the center, but this is not to indicate lanes or sides of the road. The line is provided as a work’s project to keep some Indians employed. It is there only because much of the rest of the world uses this convention for purposes of structure and order. India has never seen the need to impose so much order from the outside, it has allowed growth to be more organic and the result is a system that works perfectly well, without rules and excess or-ganization. The result is a driving experience that is baffling to a foreigner. At first.

Cars drive on the left side of the road, thanks to British rule for so many years. But the left side of the road is more of an idea, a suggestion, than a reality. Basically it means that oncoming cars stay to the left of each other. Beyond that it is a free for all. The roads are clogged with cars, auto-rickshaws (a three wheeled golf cart like convenience), motor scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, bicy-cle-rickshaws, people walking, cows and water buffalo walking, all making space, passing whenever there is a sliver of space. It is com-mon for a car to be passing a bus, while a scooter is passing the car, while scooters and rickshaws are coming the other way, on a two lane road. When a larger vehicle approaches the traffic melts back into its "lane," or side of the road. All vehicles are constantly honk-ing, not in an aggressive, impatient, road rage manner, but more like the echolocation that bats use to navigate. The roads, alleys, bazaars, are all so clogged, and filled with so much traffic swift-ly intersecting and passing within an inch or two that it appears the folks here have developed a kind of hive mind which allows them to pass huge numbers of people, and immense amounts of goods, in extremely close proximity, without injury, or even upset. It just flows. It is like being inside of a circulatory system, the life

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blood of the city, carrying the "cells," beings which produce ener-gy, delivering goods and services, and removing wastes. In some areas there is "inflammation," arterial sclerosis, thickening of the of the artery walls. Motor scooters, rickshaws, cows and beggars are parked along both sides of the roadway and, while circulation moves a bit more slowly, with increased turbulence, jockeying for space, din of blasting horns pulsating at a feverish pitch, the flow continues unabated. It is really a remarkable thing to observe, and more remarkable to experience.

Arriving in Rishikesh we dropped our luggage at the Swiss Hilltop hotel and proceeded to the Vashishtha guha (cave), most recently the residence of Swami Purushottamananda, a monk of the Ramakrishna order. He stayed alone here for many decades performing sadhana, spiritual practice, and long hours in deep meditation, finally attaining God-Realization. This cave is two hundred meters from the Ganges. It has been the home of enlight-ened yogis for thousands of years. Legend has it that it was the home of the ancient Rishi Vashishth. We were a little early to visit the cave, and while waiting we made our way down to the riv-er, took a few photos of the magnificent Himalayan foothills and Mother Ganga. We sat with our feet bathed in these sacred waters and had a few minutes of silent reverence.

When it was time to enter the cave we made our way inside and found a seat in the absolute darkness. The cave is about thirty feet from entrance to back, and about ten feet wide at the wid-est. We sat for nearly an hour and experienced a profoundly deep spiritual connection with those who had preceded us there. These places have been used for spiritual practice and attunement with God for such a long time, with such intensity, that one only needs to sit for a moment and the energy of the space sends all mundane thoughts, and stories of this important life, scurrying away. All that remains is sweet peace and soul remembrance.

Following our time in the cave we traveled back to Rishikesh stopping along the way for a few photos. The road here is high above the Ganges and the scenery is breathtaking in every direc-tion.

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Back in Rishikesh we took the boat across the Ganges at Ram Jhula (bridge) to attend the evening devotional ceremony to Di-vine Mother as Ganges River. Parmarth Niketan Ashram Ganga Aarti began with the monks chanting for an hour. Then the formal offering of flowers and spices, milk and fire to Divine Mother and to Mother Ganga proceeded. Hundreds attended this wonderful experience that is performed every evening, year round.

We had a delightful supper at our hotel and retired for some much needed rest.

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October 10 - Haridwar RevisitedToday we went to see the samadhi of Swami Sivananda. This

great spiritual being was a fully realized master. Sharing his con-sciousness with the world he has had a profound influence on hun-dreds of thousands through his writings, his direct teachings and his profound realization. His samadhi (burial place) is in a temple in his ashram, The Divine Life Society. We sat in the profound spir-itual atmosphere for some time and upon departing, discovered in the adjoining hall, a swami surrounded by about twenty devotees sitting around him chanting devotional songs to God. It turned out that this swami is the current president of the Divine Life Society, founded by Swami Sivananda. He looks to be in his eighties and is a very bright, very conscious being. We sat with the group and were acknowledged with eye contact from the swami. At the end of the next chant he asked the woman playing the harmonium if she could play something besides chants to the guru, himself, and instead lead some chants to God. After the next chant he asked for the harmonium and then led several beautiful devotional chants followed by a silent meditation.

We learned after the session that it was his birthday, and that he usually avoids any fuss about himself. We were informed that last year devotees had plans for a birthday celebration and when he found out about it he arranged to be out of town. We were blessed again to have this wonderful opportunity presented to us. So many times it has been obvious that our timing is being arranged for us behind the scenes.

Next we visited the samadhi of Ananda Moi Ma. Here we sat for nearly an hour in meditation and silent spiritual connection with this great Saint of the last century. Again her energy was a profound presence permeating the space of this spiritually charged temple.

Our return trip to Haridwar was via the forest. This is a wildlife sanctuary where it is common to see creatures of all kinds. Our driver, Atul, saw the same elephant every day for a week on this road. Hélène had the good fortune to find some dry elephant dung,

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which is almost as good as seeing a real elephant, and was able to wrap a piece to take home as a souvenir.

In Haridwar we again attended the evening Aarti. This time from across the river with a different view. This is really a remark-able experience, and Hélène and I agreed that it was better to be in the middle of the Aarti than sitting across observing it.

Following the Aarti we were taken to the travel agents office to meet the owner. We expressed an interest in having a nice meal before waiting until after midnight for our train. He made arrange-ments to have us eat at the nicest hotel in Haridwar. Normally they only allow hotel guests to eat in their restaurant, but a special ex-emption was made for us. Another blessing. The meal was extraor-dinary, and was accompanied by live music. This was devotional chanting with a harmonium and tablas. We were informed the musicians only play for one hour each evening, it just happened that it was the hour we were there.

So I finish this entry sitting atop my suitcase on the floor of the railway station waiting for the 12:20 train. We are surrounded by a sea of travelers sleeping around us. There is only enough empty space for small isles to allow folks to pass through to the platform.

Tomorrow we awaken on the train in Kathgodam at 7 am where we catch a taxi for the 7 hour ride to Dwarahat. We hope to be there by early afternoon.

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October 11 - DwarahatWe arrived in Kathgodam around 8 am and were assaulted by

the usual rush of rickshaw wallas and taxi drivers. We had decided to pay a little extra and have a private taxi. The shared one is cheap-er, but this way we would be able to stop when we wanted and have the freedom to see a few things along the way at our pace. We quickly found a nice fellow who spoke good English and agreed upon a price. For the 150 + kilometer, six hour drive we paid $34.

Shortly after departing from the station we stopped for a nice breakfast at a roadside restaurant surrounded by the dense jun-gle, rich with beautiful trees, some dressed in colorful red blos-soms, thick vines, and low foliage varying from plate sized leaves to frothy fronds of ferns and grasses.. Then on into the Himalayan foothills. The mountains here are steep and majestic, covered by a dense verdant forest from top to bottom, with layer after layer of sharp edged ridges marching off into the distance beyond visibility, cloaked by a thin veil of blueish haze.

The road meanders, undulating around the sharply rising ter-rain, switching back again and again, revisiting the same slope from a higher perspective after dancing around several of its re-splendent sisters. Here the road is a single lane affair with the ubiq-uitous white line painted down the center at times, often absent for long stretches, then magically reappearing. It is not important because no one pays any attention to the line. It is only for decora-tion, a kind of linear graffiti. At all times one side of the road rises nearly vertically to some lofty peak, while at all times the other side plummets downward to some unfathomable depth, unseen because it is so steep. There are no guard rails and only occasion-ally is there even a shoulder. With the turns often hairpin switch-backs, still driving is the same chaotic ballet of near misses cele-brated by a staccato horn waltz. The passing, at full speed, along this steep precipice, on an impossibly narrow road left me with the very real feeling that all of these vehicles were actually some elab-orate projected holograms that were literally passing through each other. This was the big E ticket ride. It stretched from Kathgodam

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to Dwarahat, for most of the six hour ride.Along the way we stopped at Neem Karoli Baba's ashram and

meditated in his room. These powerful yogis have so charged the spaces they lived in that great peace prevails and a strong reso-nance with one’s spiritual essence is felt upon entering the grounds.

We had a nice simple lunch in Ranikhet and finished our journey to Dwarahat and the Yogoda Satsanga Ashram where we would stay for the next couple of days. Dwarahat is a beautiful small village with the short downtown area bustling with all man-ner of little stalls and shops. Hélène purchased some apples and bananas, and we finished the short drive to the ashram. We were greeted by the resident swami, shown the grounds and assigned rooms in the ashram dorms. The head monk here, a very sweet, extremely bright being, is a friend of Hélène's from when she lived and served here for a few months, several years ago. We had some time to rest before the evening meditation and following supper.

All is beautiful, serene, and one can feel the charged atmo-sphere. I mentioned this feeling to Hélène and she said that it is not just here in the ashram, but it is this whole area of the mountains, it is sacred, it is holy ground. It is this natural spiritu-al resonance that has attracted spiritual aspirants to come and practice for millennia. I once thought that the area was em-powered by the spiritual power-houses who have roamed these hills, but it may well be that this is the source, the magical spring which is pouring holy vibra-tions into this physical plane to assist in awakening, harmonizing and balancing. Its work is done directly by touching those who come to visit and spend time absorbing these blessings, and in-

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directly it spreads by contact as those who have partaken of this gift return transformed to their homes, families and friends. Like a stone dropped in a still pond, the effects of this consciousness raising environment ripple out through the entire planet.

Tomorrow we visit Mahavatar Babaji's cave, the area where Lahiri Mahasaya met his guru, and the temple he may have been intending to visit.

October 12 - Kukuchina

This morning we were supposed to have a taxi available to take us from the ashram in Dwarahat, 20 kilometers to the village of Kukuchina, to visit what is commonly accepted to have been Mahavatar Babaji's cave. It turned out that a group of 21 devotees from Kolkata arrived at the ashram the previous evening with the intention to also visit the cave. We were asked to join this group for the day’s journey. We all packed in to three vehicles, similar to Land Rovers, along with the guide and food for our lunch.

The drive took about an hour over a narrow single lane road. There was the occasional white line for 20 or thirty feet every mile or so. It would be difficult to paint a line on the packed dirt that mostly served as roads here. This single lane road was really only a single lane. Just wide enough for a car, and still oncoming vehicles somehow were able to pass. The elevation at the ashram in Dwara-hat is 5000 feet. Within the 20 kilometer drive we ascended to 7200 feet over a series of hairpin switchbacks undulating through the towering mountain ridges. There are no shoulders on the road and the drop off is nearly vertical along most of the drive.

When we arrived in Kukuchina everyone got out of the vehi-cles and some rearranging took place. It turned out that the group we were with were all transported by vehicle the remaining two and a half kilometers, while two of the guides carrying large boxes with lunch, Hélène and I walked. Our 45 minute trek was an amaz-ing journey. Walking through this incredibly picturesque land one could not help feeling the power of these ancient, majestic moun-tains, on one side rising into the mists to some unseen heaven, on the other side plummeting down through countless terraces to

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bottomless depths. We passed women below working on terraced farms, harvesting bundles of some kind of grass. When they would look up and see us, we would be greeted by a smile, folded hands in blessing, followed by a broad wave.

When we caught up with the rest of the group the vehicles were parked at the base of the trail up to the cave. Most had already be-gun the climb. This trail covers about a kilometer and rises steeply through a hundred switchbacks to a small building with a room for meditation and a toilet. Along the trail we had joined the rest of the group. We rested here for a short time, meditated, and then proceeded to finish the climb to the cave.

The cave is a fissure in the granite mountainside. The opening was once a large triangular affair, and the cave probably extended some distance back into the mountain. Over the years it has been walled off about 20 feet inside, blocking any further access. The mouth has also been walled off with a heavy metal door for entry, and to secure it against intruders.

The cave is the property, or under the control of Yogoda Satsan-ga, the Indian branch of Self Realization Fellowship. The key and permission to visit is held by the head of the YSS ashram in Dwar-ahat.

Our group packed into the close quarters of the cave to sit and meditate for some time. The feeling was quite powerful, spiritual energy was tangible and superconscious meditation was easy. After meditation a puja, ritual blessing ceremony, was held. The fellow offering the puja blessed each person in turn giving them a spoon of sweet rice that had been part of the ceremony. This is referred to as prasad, and by eating it one becomes part of the sacred ritual.

Before departing the cave everyone assembled for a group pho-to. Several asked to have their photographs taken with Hélène and I. There seems to be an interest in being photographed with for-eigners, it is a special opportunity.

We descended back to the building where lunch was prepared and enjoyed a delicious meal. After resting and eating the group began the descent back to the road. By the time we made our way to the base of the trail I was feeling tired from the exertion of the

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climb up and down, plus the thinner air. We discovered that there was again not sufficient room in the vehicles for us, and we began our trek back to Kukuchina. This returning two and a half kilome-ters was much longer than when we walked in. Still the majestic scenery was awe inspiring and it was a joy to be having this oppor-tunity. The experience of the cave itself was incomparable. When combined with the scenery and mountain presence it was another experience of a lifetime, not to be forgotten.

When we finally arrived back in Kukuchina the group was waiting for us, and ready to depart. They were patient while we had a quick cup of chai, and soon we were back in the vehicles heading toward the ashram.

When we left in the morning it was our intention to visit the cave in the morning and Dunagiri Temple in the afternoon. This is one of the 51 shakti peeth in all of India. These are the places that parts of Divine Mother fell to earth in ages of prehistory. They are considered especially auspicious to visit, bestowing many blessings from Divine Mother.

It turned out that by the time we arrived at the base of the climb to the temple it was too late to visit. Hélène and I decided we would have to return in the morning.

Back at the ashram we had time to return to our rooms, clean up a bit, and join the residents for evening meditation from 5:45 to 7pm. After meditation dinner is served at 8 and eaten in silence. All around the dining room are signs which say "Please observe Guruji's golden rule of silence during meals."

It had been a long day of much exertion and I slept well.

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October 13 - DwarahatThe car was there to pick us up at 8:30 after morning medita-

tion at 7 and breakfast at 8. We took a few minutes to shoot some photos of the children in school there at the ashram before depart-ing.

The trip to Dunagiri Temple was most of the way back to Kukuchina, a 45 minute drive. The way from the road to the temple is a staircase of some 300 steps which winds its way up along the ridge. The entire way is enclosed, about 16 feet wide, covered by a roof, and hung with a large bell on either side and another in the middle, every 4 or 5 feet all the way to the top.

Along the way a few fellows seated against the walls were ei-ther selling flowers for offerings at the temple, or begging. A cou-ple were very colorful characters. I asked if I could take a photo of one, and then gave him 10 rupees, a fair tip in India, about 15 cents. After we passed I looked back and he was making signs to return, repeating something in Hindi. I thought perhaps he was asking for more money, but he was so insistent that we went back and he motioned to Hélène to come closer and then handed her a rudraksha seed. These seeds from the rudraksha tree are consid-ered sacred and are worn as necklaces, or used as beads for chant-ing or repeating mantras. When Hélène looked more closely at her gift as we proceeded up the steps, she realized that this was a very special "two mukhi" or two faced rudraksha. The common seed, or bead, has five faces, the two faced seed is said to be very powerful and its owner receives many special blessings. She was incredulous that such a great gift would come to her unbidden on the way to this auspicious temple of Mother Divine.

When we arrived at the Temple we sat inside with the priest, made our offerings of flowers, bells, and a donation, were given prasad, blessed food, and marks in red on the forehead at the spiri-tual eye as a sign of spiritual attunement with Divine Mother. Out-side on the grounds, the whole time we were there, a priest was chanting in Sanskrit from a small, well worn book. We sat at the temple and meditated for some time feeling the great power of this

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sacred space, with bells clanging nearby and in the distance down the hill, chanting in the background, and sounds of the steady stream of pilgrims honoring and seeking blessings from Divine Mother.

After meditating we were invited to have our picture taken with a group of lovely young ladies in their late teens. We then learned that this day was the beginning of Navaratri. This is the most aus-picious celebration of Divine Mother in Northern India and lasts for nine days. If we had come when we planned we would have been a day early and missed this special occasion. We are sched-uled to be at the Kali Temple in Dakshineswar on the last day of Navaratri, another divine appointment. We did not know this was to happen when we made plans, it just turned out that this would be the day we arrived in Kolkata and the best time for us to visit. This is more evidence of support along our way.

As we started back down the steps we were shown a small shrine at the base of a tree. Here was where Babaji would sit to meditate, and where he met Lahiri Mahasaya. Two stones signify their memory and the space feels charged with spiritual energy.

After returning to the ashram we walked in to town to visit some of Hélène's friends from when she lived here. The couple were delightful and had several stories about Lahiriji's travels here, Daya Mata's first visit here to visit and learn about Babaji's cave, and several useful pieces of information about places we would be visiting. He informed us of the neighbor at Yoganandaji's first house in Gorakhpur, a Muslim who is very friendly and has some information. It will turn out that when we sought him out we learned some more pieces of history.

After meditation, supper and an evening walk in the moun-tains we headed back to our rooms for a much needed rest. The next morning we were to have a taxi waiting at 5am to take us to Haldwani where we would hire another taxi to take us the rest of the way to Baireilly, a 7 hour drive through the twisting lofty mountains.

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October 14 - BareillyWe were told the trip from the ashram in Dwarahat via taxi to

Bareilly would require changing taxis in Haldwani. When we en-tered the car at 5am the driver informed us that he would be able to take us all the way to Bareilly, directly to our hotel. Off to a good start. Ganesh removes all obstacles.

Our train from Bareilly to Gorakhpur is scheduled to depart at 11:35pm. We arranged for a hotel so we would have a place to shower and clean up after the 7 hour taxi ride. This would also be a convenient place to keep our luggage until we depart in the evening. The train ticket was still not confirmed. We remained at number 2 and 3 on the waiting list. All has gone perfectly so far and there is no reason to doubt that we will be on the evening train.

A local devotee of Paramahansa Yogananda met us at the hotel and drove us to the house where Yogananda lived at age 11. Yoga-nanda had just moved to this residence after his father was trans-ferred to the office here. His mother and the rest of the family were in Calcutta preparing for his brother's wedding. It was on the day his father was to begin his duties that Yogananda's mother passed.

The house he lived in has been converted to part of a college campus, but just on the other side of a wall is an identical house where his friend Dwarka Prasad lived. Yogananda used to medi-

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tate under the sheoli tree that once grew here. The tree no longer exists, but another old tree that grew nearby is still there. The fam-ily living in this house are descendants of Dwarka and were very friendly and accommodating. A school for children has been built and is functioning on the property just behind the big tree.

We spent time taking photos and talking with the family and then returned to the room to rest. On the way we stopped at the railway station to check on our confirmation status and learned that we had been confirmed and would be able to take the train that evening.

After supper our local host picked us up and took us to the train station. We mostly talked about mo-torcycles. He invited me to come back to India and go touring with him. It is his dream to one day have a Harley Davidson, so he wanted to hear all about mine.

The second class AC sleeping accommodations are Spartan, but manageable. Seats fold down to make a hard bed. Sheets, a blanket, a pillow and a towel are provided. There is a lower and upper bed and a curtain is pulled for privacy from the walkway. I woke several times, but did manage to get some sleep before we arrived in Gorakhpur at 10:30 am.

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October 15 - GorakhpurArrived at 10:30 and were greeted at the station by a member

of the local YSS group. He helped us find a hotel and left us so we could shower and have breakfast. When we were ready a second member of the local YSS group escorted us to the house where Yogananda was born and lived for the first eight years of his life.

We had been told by Hélène's friends in Dwarahat that the fel-low living next door was friendly and informative. The occupants of the house don't allow visitors to enter, so we took photos around the exterior and as we worked our way down the alley we were greeted by the next door neighbor, a gregarious, outgoing fellow who invited us to his house and offered us tea and biscuits. As we sat trying to communicate, through broken English, sign language, and telepathy, we learned that this per-son, a Muslim, is the landlord of the property next door, and several sur-rounding buildings. His grandfa-ther was the landlord renting to Yo-gananda's father. He began showing us old photos of the building, and several newspaper articles where he is shown, along with a photo of Yoganandaji and the house. It turns out that this delightful muslim holy man has a celebration in honor of Yogananda's birthday every year. We have a standing invitation to return for the party if we are ever back in India in Jan-uary. He gave us copies of some newspapers, showed us a portable gas light that was used by Yogananda's family.

We enjoyed these warm, friendly folks and took a long time saying goodbye and taking a few last photos.

Back at the hotel we had dinner, replaced and made our way to the train station for a fi-nal wait to catch our 10:45 pm ride to Varanasi.

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October 16 - VaranasiArrived at the Varanasi train platform at 4:40 am after a six

hour night train ride. This is way too early to be landing anywhere. Slept some, but it was broken by several awakenings at stations along the way. The hotel had a driver waiting for us at the station. A bit groggy we made our way to the outskirts of the old part of the city where taxis are not allowed. We had to wait about twenty min-utes on the dark, quiet, pre morning street, for the porters from the hotel to arrive and carry our suitcases (which have wheels), through maze-like alleys to the Ganpati Guest House, a very nice hotel on the Ganges. Nothing was open, and rooms were not ready, so we walked a bit on the ghats and saw the sun rise over the Gan-ges.

It was too early to find an open restaurant for breakfast, or even an open chai shop, so we took a boat ride on the river. It is amazing to see this ancient city, Kashi, the river lined with terraced concrete steps extending twenty or thirty feet up the banks, called ghats, along with the occasional remnants of temples sitting askew, backed by a clutter of structures, new and antique, all jumbled to-gether. One has the sense at times the city is marching slowly into the river and the buildings are pushed up tight against each other in a random hodgepodge to be first, much like the crowds of peo-ple jostling to enter, or exit, almost anywhere in the bustling cities here. We had hired the boat for an hour and it was a great oppor-tunity to have an overview of beautiful, enchanting Varanasi. We noted the location of some ghats that would lead us to finding the places we wanted to visit later.

Back at the hotel we were finally able to check in, have breakfast and take a nap. In the afternoon we walked to the Muslim market, following directions to locate the house of Lahiri Mahasaya. After locating the correct ally we negotiated the maze to the door of the Lahiri residence in a long narrow lane. As we sat in quiet reverence many people passed by, many touching the door, or the step, then raising fingers to forehead or heart with deep respect.

We returned to the hotel the way we had come. After dinner

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we took another boat ride to watch the evening Aarti. Hundreds of boats like ours filled the riverside along with thousands pack-ing the surrounding ghats to experience the ceremonial chanting, broadcast over loudspeakers, and offerings to Mother Ganges. Hundreds of little cup rafts of flowers, illuminated by flickering candles, float as offerings from the surrounding boats, extending as tiny twinkles far off, jewels decorating the dark river.

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October 17 - YagyaThis morning we were scheduled to participate in yagyas at

the Benares Hindu University. A yagya is a special ceremony in-volving several Pandits, or Hindu priests, chanting mantras while making offerings of flowers, spices, ghee, fruit and other items as a way of connecting with and balancing the energies of aspects of God, or in our case planetary influences. I recently had my Vedic horoscope done and one of the recommendations for balancing my Mercury and Venus influences was to have this yagya per-formed. The astrologer said the best place to have it done was at the school in Varanasi. He said that they could set up a Skype con-nection to allow me to participate at a distance. When I asked if it would be better to be there in person he said that would be ideal. I had already planned to be in Varanasi for a few days, so it was easy to schedule this program. Benares Hindu University is the third largest college in the world with 30,000 students in an area that includes 50 villages.

The guru (teacher) of the spiritual studies department made all arrangements to have us picked up at the hotel and driven an hour and a half out to the ashram on the banks of the Ganges where the ceremony is performed. For my Mercury and Venus yagyas there were three Pandits chanting for four hours. Hélène's three Pandits were making offerings and chanting for Saturn and Venus. Both were performed simultaneously with my three on one side and hers on the other. We sat in the middle and were shown what and when to make offerings while the chanting continued. At one point we were individually invited to repeat mantras following our Pandits lead.

We participated for the first hour which included the offering phase. The six Pandits continued chanting for another three hours after we departed. The ceremony concludes with a fire and final offerings. It was a powerful, magical time participating in this an-cient ritual in a beautiful temple in the middle of miles of rice pad-dies on the banks of Mother Ganges.

After returning to the hotel and having lunch in the afternoon

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we followed the clues we had to locate the probable place where Sri Yukteswar’s mother lived. Much has changed, new buildings, and modifications to existing structures make it difficult to be exact, but we are certain that we were very close to the Karar family home in Varanasi. We took photos of some balconies that could have been ones that Sri Yukteswar occupied overlooking the river. We then sought out the market near the Bengali section where Yoganandaji first met Sri Yukteswar. There was one obvious location where this meeting must have occurred. We traced a path from the market to where the Karar house was, only a five minute walk away.

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October 18 - Varanasi againThis morning we returned to the Lahiri home hoping to be

there when the priest arrived to perform his daily puja ceremony. The house is normally only open to the public to enter one day a year on Guru Purnima Day. We thought there might be a chance to see inside, or learn more if we spoke with the priest. We were de-layed on the way and arrived later than we had planned, meaning we would miss the priest. We took photos and sat in meditation. Just before we were ready to depart the priest arrived. We were not allowed to enter, or take pictures when he opened the door. When he finished we spoke and learned that the Lahiri family lives in Kolkata and would be returning here for a visit tomorrow. Unfor-tunately we would be leaving and would miss meeting them.

On a whim we decided to leave by a different route, continuing down the lane toward the river, thinking to see what Lahiriji’s path might have been to the ghat for morning bathing. In a couple of minutes we turned a corner and found ourselves at the loca-tion where Sri Yukteswar rented rooms. It was obvious that he choose this location to be close to his guru.

After lunch we took a boat ride some distance to the ghat near Trailanga Swa-mi’s ashram. After climbing the many steps to a lofty overview of the river we were directed to the ashram. It was closed for the afternoon so we were not able to enter, but we did sit and meditate on the steps for a time.

While we were there some local chil-dren came to ask many questions and play a bit.

We returned to the hotel, packed, had supper and made our way to the train sta-tion for our 7:55 pm train to Ranchi.

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October 19 - RanchiThe train arrived at 7:25 am and we were met by a driver from

the hotel. After cleaning up and having breakfast we went to the Yogoda Satsanga Ashram. This was the site where Yogananda moved his school after beginning in Dihika. The grounds cover many acres and are extraordinary in their beauty and peaceful en-vironment.

Our first stop was to visit the room Yoganandaji occupied while living here. We sat in silent meditation for an hour absorbed in the tangible presence of our great paramguru. We then walked the grounds taking pictures and enjoying the many different gar-den areas and meditation groves. The large litchi tree where Yo-gananda conducted classes remains as a peaceful testament to his love of children and commitment to teaching children in a natural environment.

A large Meditation Hall and the Smriti Mandir (Memorial Temple), surrounded by well manicured flower gardens, provide a center of focus and bring an air of majesty and splendor to the grounds. We met with several of Hélène's monastic friends serving here during the day. It was a good opportunity for her to reconnect with them and to learn more of how the work is growing and pros-pering here in India.

In the afternoon we were shown the girls school across the street from the ashram where nearly 1000 girls attend daily. To-

morrow we will visit the boys school which is located on a separate property a few kilometers away.

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October 20 - Ranchi againThis morning we returned to the YSS Ashram and were trans-

ported to the boys school just outside of town. It sits out away from the noise and commotion of the city surrounded by open fields. This school also has nearly 1000 students who come from the sur-rounding area.

These schools founded by Paramahansa Yogananda provide free education for those who would otherwise not be able to attend school. Classes serve from elementary school through high school and the YSS supported college is located adjacent to the school property. The school also provides lunch for students prepared by a staff of five in the kitchen on site.

We returned to the ashram to say our goodbyes, then to the hotel to pick up our bags and go to meet our 1:45 afternoon train to Asansol where we would be picked up by a local YSS member to be driven to the Dihika YSS Kendra (center). This is where Yoga-nandaji founded his first formal school.

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October 20 - DihikaYogananda's first formal school is located here in the peaceful

country side near the Damodar River. The use of the property and building were offered by the Maharaja of Kasimbazar. Here Yoga-nanda began experimenting with his innovative approach to edu-cation. Classes were held out of doors in nature. Yoga and spiritual teaching were offered along with traditional reading, writing and arithmetic. Sri Yukteswar came to bless the work at its beginning. Swami Kebalananda, Yogananda's sanskrit teacher, an advanced disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya and Yogananda’s first guru, was one of the teachers assisting with this new school project.

After only six months the school, under Yogananda's guidance and inspired teaching methods, proved so successful that it was moved to its current location at Ranchi. The Maharaja made the property available in the city where it would be able to serve many more needy students.

The property in Dihika is being renovated and improved. Beau-tiful gardens are being planted and added to. A beautiful medi-tation hall has been erected in one corner of the property and a Smriti Mandir (Memorial Shrine) sits atop the knoll where a tower once stood. Yoganandaji used to hide here to have some privacy for his meditation. A portion of the original foundation is visible through a space left open in the center of the floor and a large pho-to shows him seated in this spot.

In 1997 a large well was dug which supplied water for the near-by village. Currently the center provides medical services for the impoverished community with a doctor attending to 45 patients every day who come from villages nearby and far away places. Medicine is also provided. Patients are only charged one rupee for a visit, and one rupee for medicine, if needed. This is the equiva-lent of about 1.5 cents, just enough so the patient will feel there is some value to the service being rendered. If one cannot afford to pay, services are free.

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October 21 - Dihika - DakshineswarWe had supper and slept at the ashram. The next morning we

took photos and walked down to the nearby river. We visited a saint that Hélène had visited when she stayed here in the past. In those days he was performing tapas, austerities, by only standing at all times. He did this, according to his guru’s instructions, for 34 years. Now he has been instructed to sit for one year. He was very bright, accommodating and being in his presence one felt peace and a spiritual grounding. Hélène said that on previous visits he spoke little, and when he did it was very slow and deliberate. Now he was quite open and communicated freely. He asked where we're from, and some questions about where we had been. It was a pleas-ant interaction, we felt blessed to have seen him.

After returning to the center we packed and were picked up for the return drive to the railway station for our 1:40 pm trip to Kolkata, arriving at 4:55 that afternoon. After arriving at Howrah Station in Kolkata we took a taxi to Dakshineswar where we would spend the night at the YSS Ashram.

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October 22 - DakshineswarThis morning we made our way to the nearby Kali temple to

pay our respects to Divine Mother in her form as Kali and to visit the rooms where the great saint Sri Ramakrishna lived. It was his disciple, Swami Vivekananda, who first introduced Vedanta, and Hindu spiritual philosophy to the West in the late 1800's.

When we made plans for our trip we were not aware that this day would be the final day of Durga Puja, the ten day festival cele-brating Divine Mother. This time is a major holiday for India and on this auspicious day thousands would be visiting the Kali Tem-ple. A dear friend, Swami Nirvanananda, introduced us via email to his friend who is a priest here. When we arrived we called and the priest escorted us past the long lines waiting to have a glimpse of Kali Ma and to receive Her blessings. We were taken directly to the side of the open temple and allowed to have darshan (view, and experience the sacred statue representing this aspect of Di-vine Mother) for five minutes while the lines of devotees were kept moving at a brisk pace past the front. After receiving blessings, flowers and prasad (blessed food) we were escorted on a tour of the rest of the temple complex and shown where Ramakrishna lived. So we were led to be here at just the right time and further support-ed with a personal escort and guide.

We sat meditating in Ramakrishna's room for some time and when we were ready to depart a young priest, who was arranging flowers on the shrine which included the saint’s bed, motioned for us to come over to him. He asked where we were from and what we were doing. He said that he noticed our deep meditation and felt a connection, then told us that he was a descendant of a member of Ramakrishna's family. He gave us a special blessing and flowers from the saint's bed. Another unexpected blessing.

When we finished at the Kali Temple we went to the nearby fer-ry dock to catch a boat to Belur Math, the place where Ramakrish-na, his wife Sarada Devi, and Vivekananda's samadhis, or tombs, are located. The magnificent structures were surrounded by, and filled with several thousand visitors. We sat in meditation at the

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samadhi of Ramakrishna, Sarada, then Vivekananda.After our boat ride back to Dakshineswar we returned to the

ashram, recovered our luggage and caught a taxi to Kolkata where we would stay at the Fair Lawn Hotel. Kolkata is very big, has a population of around five million, a third of which are homeless living on the street, and is polluted with noise, dirty air and trash everywhere. It is busy, bustling with life. Evidence of growth and prosperity stand in sharp contrast to ancient temples, poverty and worn, poorly repaired infrastructure, taxed to its limits. It's people are, for the most part, happy, industrious, and deeply spiritual.

Tomorrow we visit the neighborhood where Yogananda lived.

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October 23 - Garpar RoadThe Fair Lawn hotel is a nice garden oasis in the midst of bus-

tling, noisy Kolkata bazar area. The first time we walked out the gate I noticed, directly across the street, a business that had a large sign that simply read "Lucky." Our entire trip before and after could be characterized by this word, or perhaps, "Guided" is more accurate.

We departed by taxi for our first visit to Garpar Road where Yoganandaji grew up. After leaving the taxi and crossing the busy four lane divided road we walked a couple of blocks toward the intersection with Garpar Road. On the way we passed a Bank of India branch and decided to find out where we would need to go to exchange money. Only certain branches offer this service.

We learned that only today before noon would it be possible to change money because of the holidays which will continue until after we leave for Puri. It was another "lucky" intuition that led us to stop and ask. One of the bank employees who explained about the need to exchange money this morning also offered to escort us by city bus to the main bank location.

We returned by taxi to our hotel, picked up dollars, and headed to the location for our money exchange. After the hour and a half long process at the bank it was noon and we were ready for lunch. We were directed to a very nice restaurant, Dimpi's, nearby. It is a small, nondescript, place with great food at reasonable prices and a very accommodating staff.

Since arriving in India I had been resisting ordering a drink called "lassi" because I had a bit of congestion and a little cough. Lassi is made of thin yogurt and fruit and is a real sweet treat, like a healthy milk shake. At Dimpi's I finally decided to wait no longer and ordered one. Their special lassi came with ground nuts on top, which I am allergic to. We ordered a special lassi without nuts. When it came time to order, our waiter remembered the fact that I could not eat nuts and pointed out that what I ordered had nuts, but that he would make sure they were not included in my dish. If I had not ordered the lassi I may have eaten nuts that would make me quite ill. More evidence of divine guidance.

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We had a six o'clock appointment to meet Sarita Ghosh who lives with her family in the house Yoganandaji grew up in. There are several other places of interest in the vicinity, so we arrived several hours early in order to see them first. First we noted that lining the road directly across the street from the Ghosh house at 4 Garpar Road is the Deaf and Dumb school where Yogananda's best friend, Manomohan Mazumdar (later to become Swami Satyanan-da), lived with his father who ran the school. Proceeding down to the end of the block, turning left and turning left again mid block into a narrow lane we passed the house of another friend, Tulsi Bose. A short distance up the lane is the site of the first ashram Yo-gananda and his friends started while in college, where they would meet to study, practice and meditate. This is where they began teaching their first students.

Returning from the lane to the street we continued left for the remainder of the block and left again. Halfway up the street we came to the ashram of Nagendra Nath Bhaduri, referred to by Yo-ganandaji as "the levitating saint," who was a source of inspiration and spiritual guidance for him in his youth. After meditating in the saint's room for some time we continued up the street, across the busy main road and about four blocks away located the home of Master Mahasaya on Amherst Street.

Master Mahasaya (Mahendranath Gupta) was a great disciple of Ramakrishna, the Saint who served as priest at the Kali Temple. Every day he would return home and record from memory the teachings of his master. In this way he composed the Gospel of Ramakrishna, and signed his name as author with the letter 'M'. Yogananda, devotional by nature, was attracted to the Kali temple because of its association with Divine Mother and Ramakrishna. He and his friends would often visit the temple and spend hours meditating beneath the trees where Ramakrishna meditated and attained his spiritual enlightenment. Yogananda met and befriend-ed Master Mahasaya. With his home only a few blocks away, Yoga-nanda visited him for meditation and spiritual friendship almost every day.

This property also had special significance for Yoganadaji. It was here that his mother passed while making arrangements for

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the wedding of his brother. In India a wedding is a big affair, often lasting a week or more. The entire building at 50 Amherst Street had been rented to prepare for this occasion. While nursing a child with asiatic cholera she was infected and passed quickly and unex-pectedly. Yoganandaji was only eleven and took her loss very hard, this started him on a quest to find Divine Mother. I am sure that Master Mahasaya's home was also a tender reminder of his mother.

It was quite revealing to visit all of these places and see how close they all were to his home. His friends and these saints were all in the same neighborhood, within a few blocks of each other.

At the appointed time we visited 4 Garpar Road where Yoga-nanda lived from age 13 until he moved to Serampore after his second year of college. The house is occupied by the family of the grandson of Yogananda's brother, Sananda Lal Ghosh. His wife Sa-rita was charming and accommodating. She gave us a tour of the Yogananda's room and the small attic room he used for meditation. After we sat for a time in the little room in meditation she offered us tea as we sat talking about the house and family. It is wonderful that she has been inspired to provide this service, maintaining his rooms as a shrine and allowing devotees to visit and meditate.

Tomorrow we visit Srirampur.

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October 24 - SrirampurAfter the hour and a half taxi ride to Srirampur (Serampore),

we were dropped off at Yogananda's uncle's house. This is where he lived for part of the time he was attending college nearby. After entering and crossing a small courtyard we came to the room he occupied. It is a memorial shrine and we sat there meditating for some time. The extensive house is now the local YSS center.

Leaving the house we turned left, walked fifty meters, turned left down a narrow lane, two hundred meters later right at the end on to Roy Ghat Lane (Rai Ghat Lane), walked another two hundred meters and found ourselves at Yukteswarji's house sitting on the corner of the in-tersection with Buro Bibi Lane. The

house is in disrepair and we were not allowed to enter and see his room. We took photos and entered his Smriti Mandir (memorial temple) next door.

Returning to the corner, turning right on Roy Ghat Lane, we walked several blocks to the Hoogly River and Roy Ghat (Rai Ghat) where Sri Yukteswar met with Mahavatar Ba-baji beneath the big banyan tree. It is a place where the community meets, lots of folks coming and going, bathing in the river and filling water jugs.

Turning left, parallel with the river we walked to the next street where the Panthi Boarding house sits on the corner. This was anoth-er residence of Yogananda while he attended college in Srirampur. The house is in bad repair with the upper levels crumbling in ruins. There are some businesses and possibly resi-dence on the ground floor. We did not enter here. At the river here is

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the dock for the ferry boat that carries folks down to Dakshineswar and Kolkata. Turning left, away from the river, we were back on the street that would lead back to Yogananda's uncle's house. Again we were surprised to see how close to each other all of these places are.

We stopped at a small chai shop for refreshment and were served a special chocolate chai. For some reason the owner made this just for us, as we saw him serving all others the traditional chai, made of black tea boiled with milk, crushed ginger, cardamom and sugar. We inquired about the location of Serampore College where Yogananda attended and were first given directions by a young man who, seeing a bit of bewilderment on our faces after he ex-plained the third turn we would need to make, offered to escort us there. We agreed to take him up on his offer and after leaving the tiny restaurant he pointed to his little motorcycle indicating that we should get on. With him in front, me in the middle and Hélène behind we drove a couple of kilometers to the college. We had of-ten seen whole families, father, mother and two or three children riding on motorcycles, but this was a first for us. I showed him a picture of my Sportster and he asked to be friended on Facebook.

The college is a beautiful campus extending over many acres directly across the road from the river. We took photos, walking the lanes and stopping at buildings to imagine Yogananda studying there.

We returned by auto rickshaw to Rai Ghat for photos and sat in meditation beneath the banyan tree. We then continued to the Panthi Boarding house for pictures before returning to Yuk-teswar's house for more pictures and in hopes of seeing someone in the building that might let us enter. We also revisited the Smriti Mandir and recorded some audio of the chanting from their eve-ning meditation service. It was nearly dark by the time we finished.

There were no taxis available so we had to make our way by rickshaw to the train station where we boarded a commuter train back to Kolkata Howrah train station, then another taxi to the ho-tel.

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October 25 - Garpar Road againThis morning after breakfast at the hotel we took a taxi back to

Garpar Road to finish taking pictures. We first visited Ladies Park, two blocks away on the other side of the Deaf and Dumb school. This is a large park where Yogananda and his friends would play soccer and where he met his life long friend, Manomohan Ma-zumdar, later to be named Swami Satyananda. The park was closed because of the holidays, but we opened the gate and entered for a few photos. The grounds' keeper saw us and ended up giving us a full tour along with several stories and information about the park.

Next we continued to the next block where the Deaf and Dumb school was also closed for the holiday, but the door in the main gate was open a little so we took a chance and entered. We walked around the extensive grounds and photographed buildings and gardens. We saw a few people inside, but they all ignored us and we were able to see and photo all we needed.

We took a few more photos of the house at 4 Garpar Road, then walked back to Master Mahasaya's house on nearby Amherst Street for a few final photos and to see if we could go up to the top floor to see his room. On the way I saw a narrow lane that might serve as a shortcut to our destination so we headed off in the gen-eral direction of Amherst Street. The lane made a sharp bend to the left and ran along a park where some fellows were playing soccer. At the end of the park the lane intersected with another that would take us the rest of the way to Amherst Street. As we approached the intersection Hélène noticed the name on the door directly in front of us said "Lahiri." Thinking there was a chance that this was the home of the Lahiri family who own the house in Varanasi we rang the bell. After a minute a woman opened the door. She did not speak English, so after a few minutes of attempting to com-municate we mentioned Banamali Lahiri, great grandson of Lahiri Mahasaya, she lit up and exclaimed "yes, ananda, ananda (joy, joy)" and gave Hélène a big hug.

We were invited in, shown to a small bedroom where she in-dicated we should sit on the bed, and further attempts to commu-nicate ensued. Finally the woman's son who spoke a few words of English helped us all understand that the relative she thought we

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were talking about was not the same Banamali. She was still de-lighted to have us visit and wanted to fix us tea and probably would have fed us as well. We said our goodbyes with a promise to return when we are back in the area.

We finished our walk to Master Mahasaya's home along the path I am certain Yoganadaji took when he visited. We did get more pictures, but were not allowed to enter the building beyond the courtyard.

We then took a taxi back to Dakshineswar to meet Smriti, a dear friend of Hélène’s, who teaches music and singing. We met her at the YSS ashram, then walked to her apartment where we had a wonderful afternoon telling stories and having some tea and cookies. Before we departed she agreed to sing a bhajan (devo-tional song) for us and as she began playing the harmonium and chanting we were transported to another dimension. This woman sings like an angel, she is invited often to lead chanting and devotional sing-ing, sometimes for an entire day. She has several local students and some international students that she teach-es using Skype.

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October 26 - KolkataAfter breakfast we took a taxi to the Flower Market under

Howrah Bridge. Here we found, stretched out over nearly a kilo-meter, hundreds of vendors selling millions of flowers in the open air market. Surrounded by huge overflowing bundles of colorful blossoms the business of buying and selling flowers takes place. From a distance it reminds one of a busy bee hive with ceaseless movement around and between flower stalls and piles of garlands. One is stunned at the magnitude of the number of flowers being traded when realizing that they are all destined to be used for wor-ship. All will find their way to personal shrines or large temples, all are bundled or strung together for the singular purpose of honor-ing God in one of its diverse forms.

Following our adventure in the flower market we had lunch at Dimpi's, then made our way on a wild rickshaw ride across town to the Muslim Market in hopes of finding a statue of Lakshmi for a friend of Hélène. Mid afternoon we returned to the hotel to con-tinue working on downloading and backing up photos and video.

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October 27 - to PuriIn the morning we took a taxi to the airport and flew to Bhu-

baneswar where we were met by a van for transport the hour and a half to our hotel in Puri. We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant before leaving Bhubaneswar. Once we arrived and checked in at the hotel it was nearly dark. We had been looking forward to see-ing the ocean so we walked the two blocks to the beach and saw an awesome orange full moon rising over the Bay of Bengal.

October 28 - PuriThis morning we took a rickshaw to Sri Yukteswar's Karar Ash-

ram. We saw the samadhi, or tomb, of Sri Yukteswarji and sat in meditation for the better part of an hour. We then met with the resident swami who has been in charge here for twenty years or so. He shared some stories about the ashram, Babaji's cave and Sri Yukteswar.

When the ashram closed at 11:30 we walked around to the rear wall to see the back door that Yogananda referred to in the story of The Cauliflower Robbery. Across from the ashram wall we saw an elaborately embellished building, a temple or shrine of some kind. As we were examining the carvings a family came to enter and we were invited to follow them in. This is a shrine to Sitaramdas Om-karnath who had come to this spot in a small hut and resolved not to move or eat until he had a vision of Lord Jaganndath, the Lord of the Universe. He had this experience and was fully self realized. He wrote more than 150 books, many magazines, founded more than 60 temples and ashrams across India, and a spiritual organization.

The family that invited us in to the shrine are disciples of this great Saint, visiting from Srirampur, and when we explained that we had recently visited their city they insisted on hosting us the next time we visit. It was a very sweet encounter, like meeting some long lost relatives.

We walked to the main road along the busy beach and found a restaurant for lunch. After lunch I wanted to find some inexpen-sive sandals I could use to more easily enter the temples, ashrams and shrines we were visiting. One must remove shoes before en-tering and my shoes were cumbersome to take off and put on. We

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walked through several streets of market stalls and were occasion-ally directed further into the city for sandals. Finally we were about to give up and return to the hotel after having a chai. As we sat waiting for the hot drink to be prepared a bright elderly fellow sat in one of the half broken plastic chairs next to us. Hélène saw that he was joyful and his eyes were shining so she began a conversa-tion by asking him about how many cups of chai he had each day. Then she asked if he could direct us to a place to purchase sandals that would fit my large feet. He suggested going to the larger mar-ket area around the main Jagannath temple in the center of town and offered to show us the way. It was some distance so we decided to take an auto rickshaw. In the process of negotiating a price this nice fellow came and saw to it that the price was right and we invit-ed him and his wife to accompany us.

When we arrived at the temple Hélène asked if he could get us into the temple, where only Hindus are allowed. She said "I could be your daughter." He laughed and said that he could take her in because she could pass for an Indian woman and was dressed like one, but there was no hope for me. I could not be his son. She would not go without me so we continued to the market still accompa-nied by our new friend. We soon found the perfect sandals. On the way we learned that this fellow was often invited to the temple to lead discussions on the great scripture, Bhagavad Gita. He knew the entire Gita by heart, having memorized it in his youth. While I was choosing my sandals Hélène discovered that this fellow and his wife were on their way to the temple and she asked if he would pray for us while there. He said that he would, then closed his eyes for a moment of sincere prayer. This way we would enter the tem-ple in his heart, if not physically.

Before we left his delightful company we exchanged phone numbers and promised to call. He asked where we were going next and I said we weren't sure, just following Krishna. His face lit up and he gave me a big hug, very unusual in India. So ended another divine appointment. We returned to the hotel for dinner and an-other walk on the beach.

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October 29 - PuriThis morning we were to visit Father School. This school was

founded by Father Marian, a missionary from Poland, to provide an education for the children of lepers who were not allowed to attend regular school. He also founded a leper colony where they could receive medical treatment, housing, and in some cases, jobs.

Many years ago our friend Swami Nirvanananda saw the won-derful work being done here. When Swamiji asked Father Marian how he could help he was given photos of six children from the school and asked to find sponsors for them. He decided to use his talents singing and chanting in ashrams, yoga centers and church-es around the world to generate income to assist in support of the school and colony. The result is a new four story school building where 650 students from the impoverished surroundings and the leper colony come daily for education. The quality of education here is so outstanding that students from outside the colony are ea-

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ger to attend. In competitions with other schools, in some subjects Father School ranks very high.

As we walked from the entrance and through the courtyard, escorted by Father Joseph who is the current head of the school and colony, many bright eyed children came up to us, touching our feet in reverence and bowing with folded hands. They were really happy to see us and to offer this show of respect.We were shown some of the classrooms and taken to the top floor where a large room was filling with more than 400 students. One student sat on a raised dais in front of the room and chanted "Om" as the students assembled. There was only the chanting, no idle talking or horseplay. When the big room was full, students all seated in neat rows on the floor, boys on one side, girls on the other, the leader in front began a series of yoga exercises that everyone followed. He counted out "one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four . . ." as he led one exercise after another. Several teachers sat along the edges and in back, most participating in the routine.

After twenty minutes of exercise all rose and eight students went to the front and led a group prayer and the school anthem. Following this Hélène and I were invited to the front of the room, introduced to the students, given bouquets of flowers, and another group came up to sing a prayer for us. They asked us to say a few words to the assembly and all I could think to do was sing a couple of choruses of "row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream . . ." Hélène joined me and we finished by reminding them that their dreams would create the future, so dream big dreams.

Students were dismissed to go to classes and we were shown several to observe teachers interacting with students. The entire school has a very positive uplifting feeling with students and teach-ers appearing to enjoy what they are doing.

So much good work is being done here. A residence housing more than 60 young girls who are orphans sits on one corner of the property. Students are provided with a healthy filling lunch, for some the only meal of the day. In the leper colony we met many residents and saw their dairy, coconut farm, rope and jute mat fac-

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tories, and the hospital that treats over 80 patients with chronic wounds, skin conditions, and other effects of leprosy. There are 1000 currently living in the colony, many deformed, and missing fingers, toes and limbs. The thing that is really striking is the hap-piness we saw everywhere. A few were obviously suffering, but for the most part, even living with severe limitation and abject pover-ty, there were smiles and happy encounters with almost everyone we met.

More information on the work being done, and how to assist is available on Swamiji's web site: www.nirvanananda.org.

After lunch and returning to the hotel we went to have a camel ride on the beach. The camel is boarded using a makeshift bamboo

ladder. With Hélène in front and myself in the rear we headed off down the beach led by the camel guy walking in front. The ladder is left behind to mark our starting point. Halfway through the ride

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we performed an extraordinary feat, normally only attempted by seasoned camel jockeys, we switched places while on the camel. I still don't know how we managed. There was some sort of standin-gish moves and some crawly, folding contortions, but in the end I was in front and she was in the rear seat.

We had dinner at the hotel and made plans for our few remain-ing days here.

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October 30 - PuriRain today. We changed our plans to visit the Kriya Yoga Ash-

ram and spent the day working on photos and the blog.

October 31 - PuriThis morning after breakfast we took an auto-rickshaw about

11 kilometers outside of town to the Kriya Yoga Ashram (Hari-harananda Gurukulam). This lovely 70 acre property was found-ed by Swami Hariharananda, a brother disciple of Yoganandaji. The grounds include beautiful gardens, guest rooms, meditation and meeting rooms, Hariharananda's Samadhi (tomb), a Goshala (shelter for cows), and bull sanctuary. The Goshala has about 60 cows for milk production.

The bull sanctuary has about 500 bulls who have been rescued from the surrounding area and town of Puri. Bulls are left on their own in India. No one cares for them, or feeds them, so they roam the streets and forage for food. They eat whatever they find, in-cluding the ubiquitous plastic bags that once contained food. We saw two of the bulls who had recently been operated on to remove around 25 pounds of plastic from each one’s stomach. Here they are fed, receive medical treatment, and one by one are having plas-tic removed by surgeons from a veterinarian college.

We walked a trail which featured shrines to the major religions of the world, then visited Swami Hariharananda's Samadhi to med-itate. Our tour concluded back at the main ashram where we sat by a large pond watching geese and ducks in this serene environment until lunch was served. In typical ashram fashion men sat on one side of a large open sided pavilion, and women on the other. We first picked up stainless steel platters, then sat in a long row on the floor with a platter in front of each person. Servers came by with pails of rice, dal (lentils), subji (curried vegetables), and a couple of items I don't have names for. They returned several times to refill plates. Following the meal each person took their platter to a long sink, fitted with many faucets, washed it and set it back where it originally came from, to dry.

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We stopped at the reception desk on the way out and picked up the books we purchased in the book store when we arrived. The rest of the afternoon it rained and we worked on notes and photos.

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November 1 - PuriThis morning we revisited Karar Ashram where we spoke again

with the resident swami and gave him a copy of the book written by Yogananda's friend Swami Satyananda. We had discussed some stories from this book on our previous visit and purchased a copy at the Kriya Yoga Ashram for him.

He showed us the room in the ashram where Yogananda lived, and the bed used by Sri Yukteswar. It is a box about 24 inches wide, a little over 6 feet long and 18 inches high including short 4 inch legs. A 3 inch thick stiff pad on top served as a mattress. We were told that Yukteswarji kept his money and valuables in the bed/box.

We then were shown the small 5' X 7' room where Sri Yuk-teswar would meditate and were left alone to sit in meditation.

After lunch back at the hotel we walked through the nearby market area and purchased a few gifts for friends at home.

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November 2 - PuriThis morning we took an auto-rickshaw to visit the samadhi

and home of Totapuri Baba. This great spiritual figure passed in 1961 at the age of 250. He was a wandering, naked monk of the Dasnami order of Adi Shankara. He was the guru who, during their eleven months together introduced Sri Ramakrishna to Avidya, or non-dual philosophy and taught him to meditate on the absolute, without form.

We were shown to the room where he slept and meditated. Turning back the top bed covering we saw his tiger skin beneath. We sat in meditation here for a half hour or so, then visited the adjacent samadhi. A young man then showed us around to the rear of the buildings to a magnificent banyan tree, where Totapuri Baba used to meditate.

This afternoon we were resolved to visit the beach for a swim in the Bay of Bengal. Our schedule had kept us very busy and every time we tried to go to the beach it had started raining hard. Today the sun was out, with big puffy clouds floating in the azure sky. We suited up and walked to the beach, found a spot that was least crowded and went out into the waves. Either I had forgotten how strong the surf can be, or I was weakened from toting luggage and camera equipment over a thousand miles on every conveyance and over challenging terrain, from the steep trail to Babaji's cave, to the steep steps of the Varanasi ghats, either way I was knocked down. Repeatedly. It was a glorious experience, with much laughing as we were tossed and upended, to the amusement of passing locals. We

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ended up with several pounds of sand in our swim suits.After our swim we sat on a towel and the storm clouds came

blowing in on a wind that was filled with more sand. We were lit-erally being sand blasted on the beach. We had beat the storm in order to have a swim, but now we needed to get back to work. It took me several minutes under the shower by the pool to remove most of the sand from all parts of my body.

We worked the remainder of the afternoon and early evening, taking a break to walk out to the market for a few last minute gifts.

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November 3 - Puri to DelhiWe traveled via taxi back to Bhubaneswar, where we took a

flight back to Delhi, arriving in the early evening. We were picked up and taken to a nice country club for a dinner date with a friend of Hélène’s, Dr. Prasad. Our evening was pleasant with a sumptu-ous meal and spiritual fellowship with this beautiful soul.

November 4 - HomeAfter the previous long day of travel and delicious dinner, we

slept deeply, then spent the day debriefing, shopping, repacking and changing money back to dollars.

As we traveled home we had fond thoughts of the many dev-otees who had gone out of their way to take such good care of us, transporting us from railway stations to hotels, restaurants and homes, showing us to the locations we were to visit, making us really feel this extended family of brothers and sisters in our Kriya yoga tradition. Their open hearts and selfless service touched us deeply and we now carry them with us in our hearts.

After this amazing adventure, a month of sights, sounds, sto-ries, walking on sacred grounds, sitting where great spiritual gi-ants lived, practiced and taught, fellowship with many new and old friends, immersed in this rich, God permeated, ancient cul-ture and experience, we turn to the next chapter. Now we have the opportunity to tell the stories of masters and show the places that contributed to making Paramahansa Yogananda a great saint and spiritual powerhouse, awakening and improving the lives of millions.

We are thankful for God’s grace that has blessed our project through the support of friends and nearly miraculous circum-stances and events that have unfolded throughout our journey.

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