The Sanga in Allahabad, India

JANUARY 22, 2012

"You guys!  This is happening!"   

- Cameron

Sangha is the word used to describe the followers of a certain spiritual practice, teacher, or lineage (pronounced “san-guh” with a soft “a”.  They represent living breathing human portion of the tradition.  

Reasons number 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 and 79 to move to Cali.

For me, the Sangha is extremely important.  The senior members of the Sangha represent the lineage and the potential of what my personal practice could be.  For Para Yoga and The Himalayan Institute, I am most certainly not part of the inner Sangha and am merely a tourist on this journey to the Kumbh Mela.  Going into the retreat, I knew the experience would provide an amazing chance to get to know the members of the group and see what they had to share.

After a mere 24 hours on the ground, I feel an amazing connection to the Sangha.  Everyone I’ve met places his or her spiritual practice as first priority, while remaining amazingly grounded in the physical world.  Above all, these are the kindest most welcoming people I may have ever associated with. 

Did I mention the sanga was pretty damn cute, too?

The marquee event of our day is a trip down the Ganges River.  The Ganges is believed to be a source of life, though not in a natural world kind of way.  Rather, each pilgrim bathes in “Mother Ganga” to wash away sins and purify the spirit.  Its like a Christian baptism, were a Christian baptism to occur only once every twelve years and require a journey of four days to four weeks travel. 

My roommate for the Mela and I are invited to join part of the California crowd on their boat.  It’s a group of seven amazing women, all associated in one way or another to a teacher training program in San Mateo. 

Almost immediately after push off we see our first dead body floating by.  It seemed way more natural to see it as it happened than it does as I type it and think about it now. 

The ride out was a fun one.  Once again, it felt like I knew these people for years. 

 

We rafted up at the Sagnam – the confluence of the two rivers.  Some members of our boat got out on the bamboo platform and pour water on the head and third eye as their own symbolic cleanse.  The highlight of my day was seeing two of the members of our boat return from the little ritual.  They were clearly in a different psychic state as they stood there smiling and contemplative.  I opted out of the dip.  After a lighthearted ride out there I just wasn’t feeling ready to drop into a deep spiritual experience.  For me, it would have just been a handful of waste water on my head. 

As we get closer, the hum of the crowd grew to the point were it silenced our otherwise rowdy boat.  We were across the river from main encampments.  It was a nice safe distance for a group a white folk to observe.  During that moment of owe on our boat Cameron says, "You guys!  This is happening!"

Tomorrow, we go in.