Three days before I left Bali I took my first baby steps in my own spiritual journey, and by the end of my time in Bali I felt as if I had taken huge leaps towards my own spirtual awakening. One morning I woke up as the sun was just begining to stretch its arms over the horizon, and jumped on my motorbike to get to Anand Ashram for morning devotionals. I began the morning in the Asram's chapel listening to hindi mantras. After that mediation I joined in on the fire ceremony for spirtual and physical cleansing. This was my favorite part of the entire morning. Sticks of wood were placed in a particular pattern, and then as they were burned a mantra was chanted by the woman who was in charge of the Ashram. At certian points in the mantra all the participants would offer up a sacrifice of seeds and spices to the fire pinch by pinch. At the end of the fire a powder was poured over it which caused it to smoke. This smoke was special because it has antibacterial properties and actually cleanses the air! After the fire ceremony there was a "yoga class", which was really more a "stretching" for mediation type of thing. I recognized a few of the poses, but there was nothing really familiar that linked the poses. Then after yoga I had to make my donation and clear out of the ashram.
I am glad I went to this morning's ceremony, but to be honest I did not feel welcome at the Asram. I really like the environment and the ashram is beautiful, but the woman running it seemed to not appriciate visitors. I got the feeling that this was more of an "ashram resort" for people who wanted to stay in a more spiritual setting. Not really the place for spiritual seekers like what I was doing. Maybe next time I will get the chance to stay, or even possibily run the yoga classes! Who knows what life may offer me, but next time I will be in Bali I will be certified with my 200 RYT training. Overall my exeprience at the ashram was not the most nourishing, so I decided to go for a nice long bike ride through the rice fields. With the sun tickling my skin and the wind rushing through my hair I immediately felt the happiness spread throughout me. It washed away any negative feelings I had from the Ashram, and made my heart feel light again.
Around lunchtime I decided to venture out and find the much sought out "alchemy salads". I had no idea how to get to this restaurant Alchemy, so I had to ask a tourist guide which helped a little. I had a good sense of Ubud now, so his confusing directions of straight, right, right, left, straight, sharp left, etc. actually made a little sense. Eventually I found the restaurant, and it was even better than I could ever have imagined! I'll have to tell you about it in another post though because it was in the act of finding Alchemy that I decided to venture further, and down the street I found the Raja Yogi Meditation Center.
I feel I am so lucky that I happened to stumble across this Meditasi Center. There are hundreds of these centers all over the world, and can be found through their website: www.bkwsu.org. They do a type of meditation called Raja meditation, which is soul-conscious, open eyed meditation. When I first found the center they were not open so I came back at 5pm to check it out. I was taken in by Sister Puntang, and shown the center. She told me to come back for class at 7:15pm. It was great that I found the class on a monday, because they do a free 5 day meditation course beginning every monday! I went next door to grab dinner, then came back for class. In class I learned about the foundation of Raja Yoga Meditation, and how these yogis practice becoming soul conscious in everyday life. They practice meditation with their eyes open so that as everyday hardships and challenges come about you can meditate and go inward doing any activity (when at work, cooking, cleaning, caring for children, etc.). Meditating with your eyes open is actually very challenging! Its going to take me some practice be able to get it. Sister Puntang told me that I can begin by having my eyes closed and work towards having my eyes open. After I learned the basic concepts of the soul, and God's soul she put on a guided meditation for me to practice with before i left back home for the night. I think the most wonderful thing that happened that night though was the fact that she addressed me as "Sister Layla". Having her say address me like that took away all my hopelessness about my lack in spiritual findings. I had finally taken my first steps in my spiritual journey, and found a group of people who cherished my presence and welcomed me as a spiritual seeker. I felt a sense of purity and light emitting from Sister Puntang from the moment I met her, and I could not be happier that she became my teacher.
I know that I will find many more spiritual teachers, and soul searching travelers throughout my journey so I will keep my heart open. I will take in everything I learn from everyone I meet. I will now practice Raja Meditation along with my yoga and meditation practice everyday. I am so excited to incorporate all of my spiritual findings into my life, and hope that I never stop learning. Why close yourself off to one religion when the whole world is out there? Its such a beautiful existence to have religious blinders on for your entire life...so, open up your eyes, and lift your heart. If you look beyond the horizon you will find the most beautiful things, and learn to cherish aspects from many religions. The world and its people are so amazing, but its not until you open your eyes and leap outside your comfort zone that you can begin to see.
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