Trading Glances, Trading Stones

THE MAGIC BUDDHA SCULPTURE

In Sarnath, a village near Varanasi where Buddha gave his first sermon, I wandered by a street vendor peddling souvenirs. He had a clay Buddha sculputure which I'd seen before. I'd been offered these sculptures for anywhere from 10rs to 10 US Dollars. The peddler offered me one at 5rs. Really unbelievably cheap. That's only about 0.40 USD. I purchased one. Then immediately wondered why I had purchased it. My bag is heavy enough. And this is a relatively heavy and bulky thing. I carried it back to my room. A day later I was playing mind games with myself stressing over the decision of going to Ladakh even though the season was late, or just going to Uttarkhand which was closer. Ladakh had been the reason I thought I was returning to India, and I had procrastinated the summer away. I found the Buddha scuplture in my bag and pulled it out to put it on my altar. As soon as I held it, I felt the energy of the Boddhi Tree in Bodhgaya! My body vibrated with energy. I was amazed as I hadn't consciously charged this cheap clay sculpture. But my Spirit had! It jarred me back to Reality and out of my headspin. I enjoyed some nice meditations with it! Even though it is heavy, I haven't parsed it out of my heavy backpack. I know I will at some point... it will have a better home with someone I meet. But for now, I'm savouring it!

TRADING GLANCES

On the train from Varanasi to Rishikesh about a month ago, the train car was virtually empty. An Isreali couple and I made up the foreign component. A swami sat in the next compartment within eyesight.

My journey to Rishikesh was to see about doing some Reiki with a student of mine. I hadn't done much Reiki in months. The Israeli lady came over and sat down and said she was ill... stomach cramps. I told her that I didn't have any medicines, but that I could do some Reiki. To my surprise, she said she was familiar with Reiki and would appreciate some. So I pulled out some of my stones and crystals and went to work on her for about 5-10 minutes. I had the white stone gifted to me in Sikkim that was supposed to be good for stomach pain. I had the woman hold it in her hand while I did Reiki on her. Her cramps went away. I loaned her the stone, a crystal, and the magic Buddha carving for the afternoon.

After I finished doing Reiki, I returned to my seat. I noticed the Swami looking over at me. I sensed that he had felt the energy moving around when I did the Reiki. Our eyes met and we held our gaze for several minutes and exchanged unconditional love. The Israeli couple and I ended up traveling with the Swami from Haridwar to Rishikesh together. I found the Swami to be one of the most centered loving beings I had ever met. He said he'd worked high up in the government until seven years ago. Then he became a Swami.. a Sadhu ... devoting his life to Spirit. He was slim and in good shape now. He said before he "dropped out" and started some kundalini yoga he was fat. He said the government still wanted him to come back to work. But he would not "go back". He said if we ever needed any help to call him... he still had valuable connections. It was a treat to meet such an amazing man.

THE BETHLEHEM GRID

As you may remember, one of the Bethehem Grid Crystals I carried from the US went to a fellow in Thailand. He'd given me some local Thai stones in return. The larger of these I charged with "the Grid" and figured I would anchor someplace in India. Turned out that Bodhgaya was where it wanted to call home. I put it in a small stupa at the Main Temple in view of the Boddhi Tree where Buddha became enlightened... to add the Christ consciousness of empowerment and unconditional love into the energy vortex there. I expect it will help the surrounding communities in Bihar as well as all the visitors to the Boddhi Tree.

I still had a large quartz crystal charged with "the Grid" that I knew would tell me where to anchor it. When I got to Rishikesh, I soon felt that the crystal wanted to be anchored in Shiva's Hump in Kedarnath... a Hindu pilgrimage site near one of the sources of the Holy Ganga. To my mind, putting the lingam shaped crystal in the hump made some sexual sense. I had visions of an ass shaped rock in Kedarnath where it would go. I blessed the crystal with my most sacred juices. Left handed Tantra, I suspect.

I set off to Kedarnath with this Holy purpose in mind, to plant the crystal there. Kedarnath is a healthy high altitude trek. I decided to rest one night part way up the climb. I settled into a dormitory by myself, only to be disturbed by a family caught in the rainy evening. I fell asleep nonetheless, only to be awakened by the son tapping on my shoulder to see if I knew how to give injections. I looked over and saw the father gasping into an oxygen mask. I soon learned that he was a kidney patient and his lungs were congested. I had no needle skills to offer but gave him Reiki, until a local doctor arrived and spent 1.5 hours trying to find a vein to inject... unsuccessfully. After he left, I gave the man some more Reiki and had him hold the crystal charged with "the Grid". He seemed to appreciate it and feel positive effects. I let him hold the crystal over night. In the morning I broke some small pieces off the crystal to use for anchors in my journeys and left the larger chunk with the man. Somehow the crystal was called to be with him. I'm curious to know what it will do for him and his life! But I expect I will never know what magic it had in store for him.

One of the pieces I discreetly dropped into the stone hump inside the Hindu temple atop Kedarnath while the Hindu priest looked longingly at me, wishing to sell me a ritual. It wasn't nearly as magical an experience as I expected. I later laughed at my expectations, and rejoiced in the magic of how the crystal tricked me to bringing it to the kidney patient!

GANDHI TAL

Above Kedarnath, which lays in a high valley (over 3000 m... 12,000 ft or so if I remember correctly), is a glacial lake where Ghandhi ashes were spread... or attempted to be spread. A traveller told me of a book about the matter written by a guy who was there witnessing the event. The wind kicked up and blew Gandhi's ashes in his face and created quite a stir in his life. It was funny to find myself at this lake above Kedarnath several months after hearing the story. Rain came down hard. Some sleet even at the high elevation. I nearly turned back before I reached the lake. A group of Indians trudged past me and so I perservered and followed them. To my glee, it turned out I only 10 minutes away from the lake. The fog, or rather cloud that was laying on the mountain was thick. And I could barely see a small portion of the greenish lake maybe 30 feet below me in glacial till. I made my prayers witha piece of the Grid Crystal and tossed it into the lake to charge the water/ley lines with The Grid.

Out of the fog came a Hindu monk from Bangledesh. He said he'd hiked over from Tapovan near Gangotri, the main source of the Ganga. I didn't think much of it. I'd met a fully loaded backpacker earlier that day who'd done the same thing. I'd also met a Sikh man, who had done the same with guide and porter. I figured the monks guides were somewhere in the mist. The monk waited as I visited a cairn and finished my business. I was a bit dismayed to have my enjoyable solitude disrupted, and my pace slowed down abit... I intended to get off the mountain quickly.

I picked up a stone that caught my eye... charged with Gandhi Tal Energy! And walked down the mountain with this monk. I ended up walking too much in fact... trying to get all the way down the mountain in one day, after week's of no hill climbing. By the time we reached Gaurikund my legs and knees especially were in pain. I wasn't very good company. The monk bent my ear telling me how wonderful meditation was... you could simply concentrate on a pain and it would go away. I tried. I couldn't do it. My knees screamed at me. The monk went to an ashram. I crashed in a guest house.

I lay down that night thoroughly depressed, in pain, wanting to go home wherever that was! I had just discovered the joy of hiking and walking barefoot and feeling "the Mother" under my feet, only to have my knees and their pain take it away from me. I tried to Reiki myself. My mind was focused on failure and thinking of how I'd have to abandon my other plans for treks in the region. I started to feel congestion and thought I was catching a cold. Then I had the remembrance of the "detox" paradigm... of course my body was shedding some toxins from my lungs and sinuses... it was the most excercise I'd gotten in a while. I didn't have to let my consciousness hypnotize me into a "cold". I picked up the stone from Ghandi Tal without much thought. The vibrations of the stone reverberated through my body! I soon started remembering the other times I had healed my knees through magic/intention/energywork!

I stayed there two days getting the best rest and sleep I've had in months... maybe years. Traveling can be hard for sleep. Different places, different energies, different noises. Staying with people can bring different expectations. I spent hours laying in my room both resting and being in some sort of trance state with past experiences from my life flashing through my mind's eye. I enjoyed the public hot springs. Within a day I was walking pretty well and feeling little pain.

Four days later I started my ascent to Hemkund (4340 m) and felt a vestige of pain in my left knee. I started chanting the Sikh chant "Ik Ongkar Sat Nam Siri Wahe Guru" and within two hours there was no longer a trace of pain. I spent 4 days trekking up that mountain and exploring the Valley of Flowers. The vibrations of joy from that valley and also the sacred lake of Hemkund (the 10th Sikh guru allegedly meditated there) were amazing!!!!