Forests Growing People

Oh my god. Tonight I fell in love!

...With Sadhana Forest.

I have been hearing about this place more than any other since I have been here. Laina, my High School friend, returned to Auroville just to live in Sadhana. April, my new fire-hooping friend, is living there. Karen sas said it is like a new, mini-Auroville. And all this prepared me only vaguely for the experience of contact I was to have with this place!

Every little detail of Sadhana speaks of love, community, creativity, spark. There are little gardens in the shapes of hearts and moons; huge intricate dreamcatchers in every building. And the buildings themselves--- oh wow. They are all straw huts of different sizes, simple to inhabit but sturdily and intricately built. They are so homey and earth-connected to be in. Sitting in the biggest community-center hut, with dozens of conscious conversations going on around, was like being in a native community- at the same time ancient, and fresh with the innovation of sustainable work.

Perhaps I should interject in this excited ramble a bit about what Sadhana does. Sadhana Forest was started seven years ago by an Iranian couple. They began it as a community based firstly on reforestation. This remains to be Sadhana’s main project. Five days after the community was started, a volunteer showed up, asking if there was anything he could do to help. Since that day, the community has not gone without volunteers. Now, there are over 100 volunteers. That is actually how Sadhana runs. They run on a “gift-economy” model, which means they don’t depend on direct-monetary trade. They describe their system as more of a triangle- they give their work, others (like friends and supporters) give money to them, and they give this money to the local workers and suppliers that they need materials from. So the volunteers work daily to run the community, in all aspects – from the actual reforestation, to the Healing Hut (with ayurveda, massage, reiki, and everything volunteers bring), to cleaning the (many) composting toilets! (Our tour guide actually started the tour off with the toilets, saying that our poop would be a great contribution to them, since they use human waste to feed the forest. “So please,” he urged us, “if you contribute anything to us, contribute your poop!”) :)

I could go on about Sadhana. I love it. I hope these few pictures I include will be worth more words than I can write here to describe the place- but one key thing in the experience was the movie.

Every Friday, Sadhana opens up to visitors for a tour, a movie and a vegan dinner (they are all vegan). Today, there were around 100 visitors! (We all crammed sweatily onto rickety buses from Auroville, which is about 20 mintues away.) The movie they played tonight was called “What About Me?” I highly recommend it to anyone who jives with Eckhart Tolle, Michael Franti, Ram Das, Deepak Chopra, or any spiritual/new age social ideas. It was incredible, and so full that I need to watch it again to break it down! Essentially, the message was: we so easily get into thinking about ourselves, and identifying with different roles. This ego-consciousness leads to suffering. We need to stop identifying with our pain, and let ourselves be more than that. One speaker said, "worrying is just praying for what you don't want." ...Hey, I should stop doing that! 

So the kicker for all of this is: Sadhana started a second project just a year ago, and they really need people to be a part of helping it to grow. And it is located in Haiti. …Did I mention that I am hoping to do an central/south America trip in the next year?...

We shall see what happens! But I was so inspired by the sustainable community of Sadhana, I know that I will be plunging my journeys into being part of this kind of work.

Tibetan Beach Day

       So I don’t think I’ve told you this  yet, but there is a group of about 20 Tibetan orphans staying at the Tibetan Pavilion with us. They are all between 13 and 16, and they live in a school in Darmsala.

      Before every meal, they sing an elaborate chant, paying homage to the 1^st through 4^th Dalai Llamas. So now, instead of loud village music being my alarm clock every morning, it is Tibetan chanting!

Up until today, we really haven’t had too much connection with them; both groups are very busy, and language is a barrier. But recently our group decided that it would be nice to give Kalsang, the wonderwoman who runs this place, a break of a few hours. So today we all divided up and took the kids for adventures!

      Henry, Jessica, Sarah and I took 4 girls to the beach. Though I was reluctant to go at first because of my aching for alone time, it ended up being so fun. We rode through the village in a little adventure group, cruising past the bright shops and village bustle. We arrived at the tranquil beach after the bike adventure, and all the girls were so excited! This is the first beach they have ever been to. Then we all joined hands, and ran yelling into the waves!

      It was a good experience for me in a different way too, because though I love the beach and feel very comfortable with it, I have too many memories of being dragged in the sand by intense Santa Cruz waves. Consequently, I have been avoiding swimming! But having the Tibetan girls with us today really eased me to break out of my shell, and swim out past the waves to go bodysurfing! Henry and I helped one of the girls out about 30 feet into the water. She was scared, but was a good swimmer. Once we got past the breaking, we could float on our backs, being carried gently by the lulling waves. It was so enlivening, rejuvenating, peaceful, and lovely! The brightly painted, wooden fishing boats flanked us in the distance. It was such a wonderful experience.

      It amazes me what bright, open, sharing and friendly people these kids are. When I hear “Tibetan orphan”, I think of a suffering life. However spending time with these kids has really opened me up to seeing past that simple perception. They are genuinely interested in connecting and sharing with us, and they have aspirations just like me. 

"I Like Babies".

Oh my gosh, life is gettin' busy! I hate to admit it, but I think I may be getting to point of "oh no! We have such little time left here, will I get to do everything I want to do?!" I don't like this feeling! I have written a list though of things I want to do before I leave (as if that will help me do them!) - But the latest is to lead a movement/dance workshop. :) Some people in my group have been urging me to do it, and after some impromptu group dance sessions and a fabulous dance workshop yesterday - lead by an Aurovillian woman - I think I will do it!
The dane session yesterday was great. It was very eye-opening for me too. Dance communities are my academic and passionate focus in life right now, and the approach that we took yesterday was so great! She first read us a poem, "The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (READ IT!), then we talked about what  our biggest hopes in life are, and what is holding us back from embodying them. Then we put on music, and just danced about them! The simplicity and accessibility of this was wonderful and refreshing. Dance is for everybody! :)
Today has had quite a bit of dancing for me as well. I went to Mohanam and danced with the kids - again - whew! What a wipeout! But SO fun. In the morning when I got there, we did some chanting and om-ing together. I reflected how amazing and DIFFERENT it is for three-year-old children to be learning these inward practices in their preschools! What if American kids were taught those practices...? Food for thought!
In the village, I also was fortunate enough to witness a very personal and sacred task today. I went to the hut of a new mother- she has a one-month-old baby. This morning, the Medicine Woman of the village came over to give the baby a bath. This happens every other day for the babies in the village until they are 3 months old. It has ritual as well as physical meaning. It was pretty intense to watch- the baby was face-down, longwise on the Medicine woman's lap. She would vigorously scrub his whole body with soap, then splash hot water all over him and just as vigorously scrub it all off. The water was pretty hot, and the baby was screaming the entire time. The task had an attitude of "Oh you will be fine baby, this is to purify you, and pain is not bad. This is something you must go through, it is good for you. It is okay to treat you a bit roughly and it is okay that you are crying. This is part of the process." Watching it was a bit surprising for me, as it made me realize how differently we treat our babies in the US! We are so much more tender - generally speaking! - and less brusk. However, sometimes perhaps we are too tender- maybe the survivalist human instinct is bred out of American children because of how careful we are with them. (Often times when a baby cries, all the energy is directed towards calming them down immediately! However, isn't this an illusion- that our pain can be shushed away instantaneously? Maybe this pattern contributes to the quick-fix mentality we have in our Western materialist society.) Perhaps the village children here get instilled in them a respect for their elders through rituals such as this. Perhaps these practices contribute to the more ascetic, inwardly-connected culture of India.
Of course, these are huge generalizations! But just- food for thought. That is all.
Okay, quick update today~ I love you!