Giving Time, The Earth is Alive

Hello everyone! Well it is Sunday morning, and I am lingering over a rare treat, COFFEE. :) I have been thinking recently about spirituality, and where I fit into the universe of spiritual callings. I have never thought about in as concrete a way before; I have always just internalized the awareness that I am a spiritual person. However, when you look at spirituality from a more academic lens, and realize that there are major labeled spiritual paths, it becomes an interesting interaction. 

For our class, we are now reading about earth "religions", or worship of the earth. Such paths include "Gaia spirituality", and "Gaia Naturalism". However, similarly, there is also "Spiritual animism" and "natural animism". These are all basically slight variations on the same sentiment: that the earth is sacred and alive. (I never knew people could break it down into such sub-categories!) And I suppose, when talking across borders, these kinds of categorizations are at least helpful. And why not bring spirituality into the academic realm? It is true that until recently, it hasn't been considered appropriate to speak of personal spiritual experience in the world of academia. And yet, this is such an essential function of human life. It does feel a bit awkward trying to box my spiritual beliefs into such terminology, but it is a useful exercise. I am not actually aiming to define it, but it is helpful to exercise my brain in the pursuit of communicating my experiential wisdom in myriad settings. 

So, I realized that I feel akin to this idea of Gaia spirituality, and so I bought the book The Secret Life of Plants. So far it is very interesting: plants and humans do communicate!

Other than that, I had a wonderful day on Friday. I helped in Anandi's kitchen all day to prepare for a big raw food buffet! We made raw soup, mashed cauliflower, salald, chocolate mousse, cheesecake, and a whole gala of other sorts for about 150 people. Then we went to serve it, and it was a flurry of marvelous activity! I can say that I was really in a kind of heaven- serving masses of yummy sacred raw food to so many people! And all my friends were there coming through the line. It was magnificent, and I snacked on raw chocolate mousse the entire time. (I could live on that stuff!) Somewhere in the process, though, I realized that for the first time really, I really received so much joy out of just giving my effort and time to help. There was no exchange of money in it for me; I just wanted to absorb myself into the act of giving my services. It was a really energetic experience! Especially since I have so much care for raw food, it was easy to give so much time and energy to just this simple task of giving. 

It made me reflect on the value of volunteering though- to really put your agenda aside to give your time and energy to someone's cause is really rewarding for everyone involved. Good karma, as they would say here!

Here are a few pictures highlighting a couple of fun events in my life recently:

There was a world dance show in Auroville a couple of nights ago! Amazing dancers :)

The puppies just opened their eyes a couple of days ago! They can almost walk too.

Adorable affectionate money family just chillin' on a temple.

Jacky, this is for you: Shiva's sacred Bull, Nandi. There are cows ALL over the temple!

So tiny!

I love you all so much! And as always, thank you for the inspirational and heartfelt, soulful comments~ We are so connected!

Mohanam Kids and the Village Threshold

So, I have not told you about the Mohanam kids yet!
Every Wednesday, I am going to the Mohanam Cultural Center, to interview different villagers with my camera, and also to play with the kids! Every week, I am giving the children dance workshops. The kids are between 2 and 4, so these mostly consist of guided improvisations. We put on Indian music, and they mimic my movements and vocal expressions, like this: "Wave your hands in the air! Now dive down! Pat the ground! Now grow up, like a flower!" -It is so fun. The kids are SO cute, and they just come alive when we dance! At the end of each song, they all scream and jump and clap, "YAAAAAYYY!!!!" Sometimes it becomes very chaotic, only as expected when you have 20 three-year-olds running around, knocking into each other! Some of them get into fights vying for positions on my lap! They are all so adorable though, and it is so fun to dance and play with them. For all the kindergarten teachers out there, I don't know how they do it everyday! These kids have SO much energy, and consequently I am exhausted after being with them for three hours! But once a week is a special event for all of us to come together.
Going into the village each week is in itself an event. Since Auroville is such an oasis, there is a definite feeling of crossing a threshold when I enter the village. I go over this rough hilly pass, through two small lakes and a beautiful grove of trees. Then I enter the village, through a deep, ever-existing puddle of brown water.
People say that India is the fastest-developing nation in the world. I don't see that. Instead, I see: a man reading the newspaper barefoot on his porch at 9:30 AM. I see three women, sitting close together under a palm tree, braiding flowers into each other's hair. I see a gang of dogs and a couple of monkeys having a face-off on the corner of a dirt road. I see tiny huts made of earth and straw, and old women napping in the entrance.
I also see trash everywhere on the sides of the streets. I see standing pools of brown, algae-ridden, disease-laden water. I see about 10 mangy dogs on every street. I see beautiful trees overlooking ponds- eucalyptus, acacia, and other swaying types. But the trash at their feet impinges upon their naturalness.
In the village, I see people- living close to the earth. I see people living close to their sacred cows, and their stray dogs. I see people living a life that they know in their bones is theirs to live. Do they want to be living it? Maybe not. It does not matter- because they live so close to the earth, they can hear its wisdom thumping on their bare feet. It is like the Tamil-Indian Heartbeat to which they are connected.

Solitude Eco-Music Fest

So, yesterday was a kind of culmination I think- or maybe just continuation- of this familiar feeling I have been having!
I spent all day at the Eco-Music fest in Solitude Farm. There were over 800 people there total, and many bands played!
I hung out with the other yearly student group that comes to Auroville: Living Roots. It is a US program that sends young people to different Eco-Villages around the world. Everyone on the program is really down-to-earth. We jumped into the deep well at Solitude, which was really scary at first, but it felt SO refreshing to swim in un-chlorinated water!!
We then played hackey sack and danced at the music stage. It was weird, I had this feeling of deja-vu that passed in and out of my consciousness the whole time. Maybe it was because being with a bunch of American hippie-folk dancing to live music in the sunshine felt SO familiar, and yet I would look around me and see banana fields, Indian people in saaris, and remember that I am in INDIA! It was a very interesting sense of community: many travelers were there, from around the world, just passing through this place. There was a feeling of new-ness; Auroville is only 40 years old, so it doesn't have that feeling of roots or history; it has fresh-roots, building roots. It is young. None of us have been here very long! SO it is a lot of very different, international people coming together to create community. It was a very unique feeling.
The music was great though, and I even added to it by - did I tell you I bought the guitar?? Yes, a cute little pink guitar named Lyla. She fits in my backpack! She has a BEAUTIFUL sound for such a teeny lady, and is a perfect travelling guitar. I sat up on a bamboo structure and jammed for a little while with some of the Living Roots girls.
I then had a BLAST helping to sell kombucha with Anandi and her helpers. I was kept very busy by people who wanted kombucha, and it was fun to tell people about it who didn't know! I felt like I was helping to share the living foods spirit by passing on information. :)
Then, by nightfall, there was an international jazz band playing: a tall-thin African bass player with dreads down to his knees, an old French drummer with a white turban, a rockstar Indian guitar player, and a European female singer in a wheelchair. I liked their diversity, and they were incredible! So, I GOT. DOWN. ;P It felt SO good to finally rip-roarin' DANCE it out under the stars: orion's belt was right above me!, and the tall banana trees, and so many dancing happy people!
Then an awesome Brazilian/Portuguese band played: "Yemadas" is their name. They used to be "Nomadas" because they are nomads, but wanted to be positive instead of negative so they changed the "no" to "Yeah". I liked that. ;)
Well, they had people dancin', and when later on they called out, "We are waiting for a samba dancer to come up onstage!", I bet you can guess who raced up there first! ;)
All in all, it was a great experience; I feel like I am getting more and more integrated into the community of Auroville. I am starting to recognize many people, and make connection between friends. In opposition to my usual 9 PM bedtime, though, staying out until 2 AM made me feel almost hungover this morning, and made me appreciate the more mellow lifestyle I have been living so far!
~*~*~*~
Ahhh, it is so beautiful here though, and it is hard to stay bad-feeling for long. I am now sitting at the American Pavilion, listening to the birds, hitting away the flies, enjoying a raw cacao-&-cashew bar, and feeling sleepy. Halfway through my Auroville trip, here I am. :)

A Day in the Life

Well, I have been feeling more at home here in Auroville. I think that going away for the weekend really solidified coming back here as the feeling of coming home.
Also, I have been partaking in some very familiar activities which add to this feeling, such as:
1) Making signs for a music festival! The farm next door (Solitude) is having an eco-music fest this Saturday. They are building a stage, some rides, face painting, and booths of Auroville organizations. There is a hustle and bustle of preparation, and I felt like I was sitting on my back porch, making signs with Kate for a Fancy That Production! :)
2) HULA HOOPING! I finally went to one of the many movement classes happening here, and - not surprisingly - HULA HOOPING was where I ended up! It was SO FUN; I've missed it! I learned some new tricks, and it got me excited to hoop fire again.
3) Going to a good ol' talent show! Last weekend, a few hundred Aurovillians and guests gathered outside at an ampitheatre, and saw some amazing acts! There was fire dancing, Brazilian samba and capoeira (I danced onstage with the band!), singer-songwriters, an Indian stand-up comedian (he used to feel like he was trapped in a woman's body. ...Then he was born!), and many other talent. It made the community feel alive; there was also a fire, and stands selling drinks and food- it was like a mini-festival scene.
4) Speaking of festivals, there is a place here called the Youth Camp. What they do there is play. They have dozens of huge climbing structures, huge swings, and many rainbow painting projects everywhere. (Including a rainbow car stuck upside-down in the ground!). They all live in tree houses. They are planning  a 3 day electronic music festival in the forest. Guess what it's called??? "Burning Woman". :D
5) This may be the coolest thing I've been doing: Hanging out with my friend Laina from HIGH SCHOOL!! She came here last year on a school program, then came back and has been living here for the past 4 months. She ran into me one day on the road... Such synchronicity! I have been enjoying spending time with her in this unique place!
 I just feel like time here is strange; my concept of it is not linear. (Which is GREAT!) I have been here about a month, which seems both longer and shorter than my inner reality... if that makes sense. I am almost halfway through this experience... and what does that even mean? I feel like I am swimming in constantly fluctuating presence of experience. And one thing is for sure, there is a definite collective energy here that pushes me toward spiritual connection. It is not simply a choice, although it is that too. The focus here, if there is just ONE, seems to be spirituality of one sort or another. Thus, I have been doing some digging. :)
And maybe it is this that has created the sensation of extremities that I have been feeling. Maybe it is the tropical climate. But one thing is for sure: "Things go faster here." That is what they say. If I am feeling down, I will surely be happy in a short time. Seemingly shortly after that, I will experience a discomfort or hardship in one way or another.
SO, I am convinced that I will return to you all with AT LEAST 5 years of wisdom under my belt. Ahhh... YEP.
...HAH! Just kidding. ;P Gotcha.

Let's take a stroll.

Jessica, Richie and Anshika - FUNNY moment. :P

Ganesh, just takin a break. (It's hard work being a Hindu Go!) Did I mention that Ganesh is Shiva's son?

Well, that is the update. Thank you all for your posts and comments, they are so wonderful and I feel like you are so connected to my experience! Share the love!

The Body of Shiva

Hello! So before my experiential awareness moves on, I want to tell you a little about the place I went this past weekend- Thiruvannamalai.
First of all, I want to go back!
It is an incredibly sacred town located around a mountain, which is known to be the God Shiva's body is ancient Hindu mythology.
It is also the place where one of the most celebrated recent Indian gurus was lead. His name is Sri... Ramanamaharshi. (Whew!) There is a huge ashram where he is buried, an even HUGER temple for Shiva, and caves in the mountain where Sri M. meditated for many years.
On Saturday, I got to climb Shiva. :)
At this point, some of you are probably wondering why I am calling myself "Shivaya Ajna", and this would be a fitting time to tell!
This year at Burning, I received my "Playa Name". This is a special name that you are supposed to receive at Burning Man; you are not supposed to choose it yourself, but rather receive it. This year I went to a naming booth (cheating? Maybe!), and had a wonderful experience receiving my playa name.
They called me Shiva. For me, this name represents my passion for dancing, as well as my continual striving to come from a heart-centered place of love, and recognize that sometimes, coming from a place of love means using the force of destruction, and sometimes it means fostering growth.
In Hindu tradition, Shiva is the God of transformation. He has two sides: the one which is involved with people and contributing to communities, and the side where he is withdrawn and in himself. He is depicted in many different incarnations and forms.
A main form that I really resonate with is the Dancing Shiva. You may have seen a statue of this somewhere! The Dancing Shiva is depicted dancing in a ring of fire. He is stepping on his ego with one foot, and raising the other foot away from it. He has four arms- two form a gesture, which means "do not be afraid, you are free". The other two arms hold the fire of life and passion, and a drum, for the rhythm of life.

In Hindu tradition, there are over 300 million gods worshipped. In India, Shiva is the God with the most temples. There are temples to worship Shiva in association with each element: earth, air, water, fire, and space. In Thiruvannamalai, the temple is the Fire Shiva temple. It is an impressive structure- I will post pictures soon!
So this Saturday, I - along with 8 brave groupmates and a local guide - woke up at 3:30 AM to hit the mountain! We climbed the steep, rugged slope until just before dawn. Then we reached the top.
I was dripping sweat when we got there, but I instantly became cold, because we were engulfed in a fast-moving, wet cloud! It was a dark grey color, and the top of the mountain was sticky and black from the ritual fires that are burned each full month there. (It is said that Shiva's power waxes and wanes with the cycle of the moon, and he is most powerful on the full moon. Thus, millions of people come to Thiru every month to walk around the mountain.)
Our guide pointed me toward the edge of the mountaintop, where there were two white footprints painted inside of a white circle. "These are Shiva's feet," he told me.
Instantly, I remained fixed there. I felt, "this is my spot." So I stood there with my arms up, letting the cloud sweep past me, turning my sweat to cold moisture droplets, and filling me with a sense of adventure and flight. Looking into the dark mist, I felt I was at the edge of some world.
I chanted Shiva's name and om'd as the clouds became slightly pink through the layers. Then the mist would dissipate for a minute or so, giving us a plunging view into the city and mountains far below.
We practiced some yoga with our guide to keep warm, then turned around in time to see the sun - a round orange orb - reaching through the gray clouds. Slowly, the orange, pink and yellow hues of the sunrise began to paint the mountaintop, and the clouds continued to thin. Eventually, we could see the scene below - the sprawling city in the valley, lakes glistening with the sun's light, and the Shiva temple bombarding the expanse of land with its prowess.

It was so beautiful! This weekend definitely helped me to connect more with this name I have received! Climbing a mountain before sunrise was definitely an experience; one which my thighs painfully remember, and one which I hope to explore in more sacred mountains of the world. Every mountain is sacred and lends a powerful opportunity to connect with spirit!

I love you all so much! Thank you for reading and stayin' with me!

Big Questions

I am not sure quite where to start. But I know I need to write.
There are some big questions of our time that I am thinking about. They are existent not only here in Auroville, but all over the globe. Traditions are being swept up in modernization. What is being lost? Will the ancient wisdom of cultures be lost in this modernization?
These are a couple of big questions that mainly can't be answered hypothetically.
I am trying to speak through my heart to ask and relate to these questions.
Here in Auroville, there are- of course- issues. The issues I am thinking of here are around the relationship between the Aurovillians, and the local villagers. There are some extremely different worldviews at play in this weaving of communities, and how do we integrate strange cultural interactions?
These have been the observations that have really pierced me ever since I got here- the inequalities of wealth, the extreme poverty of the villagers. And yet, the more I interact with them personally, the more I think that they are unaware of these issues, at least in the ways that I am. Of course, language is a barrier; but when I asked a local street performer if he thought that modernization would wipe out this ancient practice of street theatre, he replied, "Culture is like the floor of a house. Modernization is like the walls. Storms will come and knock the walls down, but the ground will remain."
I find this very potent- firstly in the way he answered: these people do not think highly abstractly and theoretically like we are taught to; they are invariably connected to their work, their practices, and their dense culture.
I am just beginning to be exposed to these issues on an experiential level, so I cannot fully make sense of all the complexities. However, I do think that the issues of culture, interaction, and modernization are important to consider!

Pikkies for your Wikkies

I don't know what the title means. Don't ask... maybe i am just getting into my rhyming scheme mindset... you know, another way to express my creativity.

Okay, wait. I know... It is too sunny to be on the computer right now, so I'm going to go for a bike ride! To Kuilapalayam (I can FINALLY say that right!) I am going to get some yummy fruit and nuts and honey and make a RAD fruit salad. Then I am going to learn about hinduism for 3 hours. Then I am going to creep early in the morning to a sacred temple on a mountain, and meditate in ancient sacred caves.

I will let you know how it goes!

I am always watching. ;P 

Mama is Mid-birth!