Om Namo Shivay

Greetings to all from Varanasi,
If it could be said that I was looking for something in India, a certain experience, or perhaps another particular piece of the grand, universal, spiritual puzzle, (besides my experiences with the Buddhist monks in Dharamsala and the whole Tibetan Buddhist thing), I seem to have actually found what I was looking for in this ancient, holy city by the Ganga (Ganges) known as Varanasi. The "mindblowing-ness" of my previous messages is gone, and I have a strange peace about me as I roam the banks of the Ganga with a certain comfort and a distant feeling of familiarity. In short, Varanasi is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen.Believed to be the chosen residence of Lord Shiva, Varanasi is one of India's (and the world's) oldest and holiest cities. Just making it here is a great blessing for Hindus, but to die here, be cremated, and have your ashes tossed in the Ganga, assures one of "moksha" - or liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Hindus come here to live, but more specifically, to die. Dying people wait-out their last days in hospices near the city's main ghat. The whole city (1.6 million) is streched out along the Ganga, with various ghats (steps), every block or so, leading down into the river. Each neighborhood has its own ghats, which appear like giant temple steps leading down to the water. The locals use the river for daily bathing, washing clothes, dishes, going to the bathroom, etc. All sewers lead to the Ganga, boats fish from the Ganga, and children play in it, jumping and diving off the high steps into the deeper parts of the river. The Ganga, a greenish-brown, glides along very slowly through Varanasi. Although there are so many potential mindblowing (there's that word again) forces operating simultaneously in Varanasi, there is an extremely deep spirituality here, a holiness, a peace, almost an ominous peace at times, that permeates everything along the banks of the Ganga. The feeling here, the ancientness of the city, the sacredness of it, is a little like the feeling I've experienced in the heart of Old Jerusalem in Israel, but without the religious tensions. The old city and the buildings along the Ganga have an architectural majesty like that of Rome; while the relaxed feeling of the slow-moving, placid river, the gliding boats migrating up and back carrying visitors to various ghats, brings an elegance like that of Venice, Italy. Add to this an intense, elusive, spicy flavor that only India can offer, and you have a hint - only a hint - of what is Varanasi. There is a very sacred holiness here, all along the Ganga. People are praying everywhere... Devotional music, singing, and bhajans can be heard everywhere... all over town. Cremations take place in two distinct areas, at two particular ghats. One can see bonfire-like funeral pyres burning... dark smoke rising... local workers chopping and preparing wood... and dead bodies wrapped in shawls constantly being whisked to the banks of the river by family members. The bodies are "cleaned"in the Ganga, and then burned over piles of wood for 3 hours. Ashes are then dumped into the river. Holy persons, sadhus, pregnant
women, children, and certain others are not cremated, but rather their bodies are sunk in the Ganga, or simply tossed into it to float away...When ashes are dumped into the river, they come in huge amounts, due to all the wood that is burned with each body. The river by the banks of the cremation ghats is often black from ash, and local pilferers bathe in the black waters, and dig in the blackash-mud by the banks, looking for gold - jewelry, earrings, teeth, etc., from those recently cremated.While down river, the next ghat, people bathe unconcerned with what was just dumped in upstream... and further down river, people visit the banks for their toilet... and yet further down river, children swim and play... Nobody is concerned.Varanasi, as you'd guess, has its own unique smell. It's partly the smell of the river, as it's constantly evaporating from the 104 degree weather; its essence fills the humid air. But there's more, in spite of what one would think would be the smell with all the cremations going on, there is actually a sweet fragrance beside the Ganga. I believe it's the result of the wood used during the cremations, as well as the heaps of incense that are burned throughout the city. Everything and everybody seems to smell the same. Put another way, the smell is a musky wetness, a sticky, sweet, smoky, honey-wood herb smell... the smell of the Ganga. It's not a foul smell at all, just a different smell, like nothing I've ever experienced... an intriguing smell, like the oddest variety of rare temple incense. Amazingly, there are not really too many bugs here either, besides flies. I am living in a place called Hotel Temple on the Ganges run by a very sincere, devoted, and friendly group of Hindu men. I pay less than $5 per night for a simple room, and they cook me awesome vegie meals for about $1.50. The rooftop and balconies provide amazing views of the Ganga and the meanderings of locals on the south end of town. The day begins about 6:00 a.m. around here (even for me), and by 11:00 a.m. you feel like you've already lived a full day. I roam the banks, moseying about the various ghats, shirtless, with my Shiva-beads around my neck,soaking it all up... taking it all in... I've even managed to get some of the sadhus to trip on ME. Imagine that! This is the final leg of my journey. (Bali almost seems like a lifetime ago...)From here I will return to Delhi and then depart for the Statesvia Hong Kong. Blessings (again)!!! Ari