All kinds

You get to meet all sorts of people in Rishikesh - mostly people who come for spiritual succour, but nowadays people who come for lots of other things as well.

I met a young man from California in yoga class who's been here in India for four or five years, leaving occasionally only to renew his visa. He's only in his 20s. He's getting really good at the yoga. He wants to get as good as he can at it, so that he can sit for longer and longer in meditation! He's been to four Vipassana sessions so far (10 days each) and wants to be able to go for one that lasts longer, such as 20, 40, 60 or even 90 days (if there is such a thing). I was very impressed that someone was spending years of their life in pursuit of the ability to sit in long hours for meditation, ultimately in the hopes of attaining realization and seeing the world for the illusion that it is, especially at such a young age, when most others are into making money, making or breaking careers and so on. His response was that well, once he'd attained his realization, he could just work at McDonald's (or anywhere and at anything for that matter) and still be blissful. That seemed to make a lot of sense. He was very articulate and spoke with a soft, steady tone of voice. He seemed halfway there already as far as I was concerned. He said he'd had a recent change of heart about needing to balance worldly affairs with this lofty goal of self-realization, so he was now also learning to play the flute and something about classical Indian dance!
I told him that in some book I'd read recently it said that people wouldn't get that everything was God until they got that Hitler was also God. And I asked him if he tried to see good in everyone and God in everyone and hence tried not to react to anything not so nice that they did or said. He said he didn't play games and that he was just trying to get to realization, not be taken for a sucker! (my words, not his) If Hitler (or anyone else for that matter) came and tried to beat him up or said something nasty to him, he'd be beating them up or verbally defending himself or whatever was necessary for survival. Just that he'd be watchful and observant of everything he was doing as he was doing it. Great answer! In the interest of making his money last one meal longer (he planned to stay on for another year or two or till whenever his money ran out), I asked him if he wanted me to take him out to dinner - he asked me what sort of question that was - so I re-phrased it and asked him if I might take him out to dinner. And he was thrilled to accept that invitation. So maybe I will play a minuscule part in someone's attainment of realization, even if not my own.

And then there was this woman from Israel. She'd come for the yoga originally a few years ago. But then decided to make India her second home not just for the yoga, but because it was cheap, and crammed with people and therefore (she said) it was easier to have company when one needed it. She found it convenient enough to live here for a large part of each year going back only to see the family and so on. She didn't seem too interested in the spirituality aspect of India, her main focus was in having yoga help fix her bad back. Other than that it seemed mainly about the food, which she said she loved and the fact that it was cheap to live here.

Then there were these two young women I got along well with, one from the U.S. and one from Ireland. They were both here because the Divine Life Society (the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh) was here and they both followed the teachings of Sivananda and were part of the ashrams in their respective countries. They seemed like grounded, together people, who seemed to have found their spiritual path but weren't abandoning the rest of their lives to pursue it (yet). They were here to soak up anything and everything they could from the birthplace of their school and the home of their Guru. Sometimes, it seemed to me like they felt more at home here than I did. And they both seemed to be loving it here and getting from this place and these surroundings exactly what they were looking for. They had a sense of openness and adventure that made every little thing seem like fun - even the occasional inconveniences were handled with aplomb, as if they were as wonderful experiences as any others. They took no offense at anything and just brushed off all kinds of things that someone like me who'd grown up here would probably get all rattled by.

And there was this gay man from Delhi - a fashion designer, no less, who actually called me honey and kept using the word fabulous. He was very cool - and very easy to get along with, and was here with two 'aunties' - a mother of a friend of his and her friend. He said he came here several times a year to recharge himself with the energy. And aunty was very cool too. She smoked ten to the dozen - in spite of my warning her that smoking wasn't really allowed here and someone may come and tell her to stop - or worse, leave. But the folks who worked at the place we stayed did see her, but it seems they didn't know how to tell her to stop and gave her a wide berth, so she just sat puffing away on the balcony all evening long. This while I was wondering how I could sneak in a cigarette in my room or somewhere else without being found out - since I'd been told when asked that it wasn't allowed - a'h, and therein lies my stupidity - I should have known, don't ask.