cultural wandering

This weekend has been such an experience. Us four interns were sent of the mountain by ourselves for a cultural scavenger hunt. My friend and roommate put it this way: letting the chicks learn to fly. So flew we did.

We went down to Dehradun to catch a bus for Haridwar for the day and then to catch a bus from there to get to Rishikesh by evening. There we spent the night (after discovering where to stay and eat and such) and hung around the whole day exploring the city and people and heading back to Dehradun to get back to Mussoorie by night on Saturday. Crazy packed days.

Both Haridwar and Rishikesh are major Hindu pilgrimage spots because this is where the Ganga (Ganges River) leaves the mountains and enters the plains - and the Ganga is supposed to be sacred, life giving, cleansing, and where to die to get out of the reincarnation cycle. Needless to say, many people come to Haridwar for this: to purify their souls and give prasad (offerings of food or flowers and such) to a god (and do laundry if you live here). After sitting by the Ganga, observing people and praying over the city, we went looking for the way up to this temple on top of the hill directly behind the civic center. There was a chair lift (think ski slopes, kind of), but we could not find where to get on ... so we ended up walking up the entire distance. I am glad we didn't know where to go because it enabled us to walk the path that so many devoted Hindus walk and walk with them. The point of working to get to the temple and for traveling distances to even get to the city, is because they think this will make the gods/goddesses hear them and grant their prayers. There are so many who are caught in this thinking - that they have to work for freedom and eternal life of peace (also including Christians in this). We were determined to find the chair lift to get down, and so after multiple hand gestures and broken Hindi, we boarded the lift. To get back to the bus stand, we rode a tonga (horse pulled cart). Then off to Rishikesh.

Some may know the name Rishikesh, but where? The Beatles came here for meditation and to get away. This is hippie central. It is crazy to feel out of place not for being white - there are many Europeans here - but for not being hippied-out. I can see why it is the place to go for yoga and meditation though; it is beautiful, right at the juncture of the plains and the hills of the Himalayas. It has been difficult for me to see yoga through the Indian Christian's eyes. Here it is a spiritual stronghold even up here in Mussoorie. Meditating on inner centeredness or whatever (along with increasing your flexibility) does not seem so bad or dangerous to me, but what do I know. As far as I have gathered, there is something about making yourself god or at least the lack of need of god in your life because you can do it yourself and give yourself peace and life and goodness.

Anyway, we hung around Rishikesh, played in the Ganga, went in search of an elusive waterfall, wandered about a lot, shopped a bit, made new friends with locals, Indian tourists, and foreigners, and caught the bus back to Dehradun.

Church today was wonderful. We were all anxious to worship the one true God in fellowship with others. There are so many people who are so lost and are seeking truth, and people who are steering them in the wrong direction. I think I will be praying for these people for a long time.

I am still processing what I saw and experienced. And please correct me if the little I know about Hinduism and others is off; I am still learning. I will try to do a picture post tomorrow of these places ... and us in the Ganga (Ganges River).