tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70415692994996785262024-03-13T05:18:34.665-07:00Chakratirtha TravelsIncognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-89855933950890672762019-02-10T01:13:00.000-08:002020-07-23T19:20:22.742-07:00"Whispering My Gratitude"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From Kim Raikes - in response to <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-well-whisperer.html">The Well Whisperer</a><br />
This was to have been posted in 2015 - well it has chosen its timing and is waking up this space in time for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/373385456542395/">Seven Year Anniversary Festival</a>. And here she goes thanking Lakshmi while worshiping her sister!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpbQh5PE7yFp9Xcpuuzcl3Hv9UCzKJd7vUlmCAZrlEVz5J5fSnELeAMf63a4PQSnmQ0iZqPojY9s1hAcIQmhoBs4-Vuvdga1vgNK86l13Jq999nDlTy74BHHxs3DtGNm1AWBS5Q_xpA8/s1600/whispers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpbQh5PE7yFp9Xcpuuzcl3Hv9UCzKJd7vUlmCAZrlEVz5J5fSnELeAMf63a4PQSnmQ0iZqPojY9s1hAcIQmhoBs4-Vuvdga1vgNK86l13Jq999nDlTy74BHHxs3DtGNm1AWBS5Q_xpA8/s400/whispers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">A Tiny Well You Can Whisper Your Offerings Into</span></div>
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Well the first thing that caught my attention when I read your post, was the word "whisper". We’ve been joking lately that we’ve so often been shouting down wells, waiting for an answer to be shouted back, that I was taken aback by the idea that the well might be whispering.<br />
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Then I remembered your Christmas tradition of drawing words from your butter dish, and placing them in the toes of your loved ones’ stockings (not peeking) on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning you discovered that the word you’d placed in your mum’s stocking was “whisper.” And the word in my stocking was “listen.” So for the past couple months, I’ve been listening for the whispers coming from Rajam, and you, since so often she passes her wisdom through you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfq23fqfiIiSm_z7FA8Po4Eb8jDrTQogCFNAjs8hqruw0D6jqwxpWI-Sxtca1A_Ga8gBQeUSPiKEgoaZ5tJ6hgIvmKTPQ7BPXqmX8raez9Ua2jSVmETZETArNz4lz3t4dWYIhoRwmHPEA/s1600/well+responds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfq23fqfiIiSm_z7FA8Po4Eb8jDrTQogCFNAjs8hqruw0D6jqwxpWI-Sxtca1A_Ga8gBQeUSPiKEgoaZ5tJ6hgIvmKTPQ7BPXqmX8raez9Ua2jSVmETZETArNz4lz3t4dWYIhoRwmHPEA/s400/well+responds.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">And The Well In Another Form Responding<br />(Photo from Surya Kund, Modhera)</span></div>
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I especially love the translation you gave in your post, that a guru is a person you draw from, as from a well, and a shishya is a student, one who draws. I’ve been drawing from you both since the time when I first met Rajam, in Lakshmi’s temple, not far from our hotel in Kolkata. This is how I described that meeting in my journal, May 9, 2008:<br />
“We were a bit shy to actually enter the temple, a smallish open-air room divided down the middle with a rail to separate men and women, who were seated on large, colorful carpets or chairs; and our shyness was all the greater in our awe at the ornamental beauty of the altar, where life-sized figures of Vishnu and Lakshmi presided. Dressed in breath-taking attire—richly designed robes of metallic-threaded silk, gold, silver, lavender, rose—they seemed to shine with a light of their own; and seldom have I felt such an other-worldly presence.<br />
“Wanting to approach them, we still hesitated; but then a wonderful thing happened. Leon sort of began to mingle with the men, who welcomed him; and while I stayed behind, wondering if my plain western attire (no dress) would be acceptable to the beautifully costumed women, an elderly lady suddenly came toward me, took my hand, and drew me into their midst.<br />
“Dressed in a lovely sheer, gossamer-fine lavender saree, she seemed oddly familiar, small, bent, and smiling, with large ears and a wise face; and then, deeply moved, I realized she was Rajam, and that we had at last met.”<br />
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Though she never spoke a word to me, she passed her wisdom to me through her welcoming hand, just as she’s whispered it ever since to me through you. This means that she, and you, have been my guru, my teacher, and I have been your shishya, your student. I especially love it that these roles can be inter-changeable, and that when her well begins to run dry, a teacher can draw from what she’s poured into her student, and replenish her resources once again.<br />
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So this is my way of whispering my gratitude back to you both. My life changed completely after my meeting with you, there at Lakshmi’s feet in her temple. I’ve learned so much through the legends and insights and stories you’ve shared. I thank you, and Rajam, and Lakshmi herself, for being the well I can draw from when I need to nurture my spirit!<br />
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- Kim Raikes<br />
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-8086212966305614802018-05-07T23:09:00.000-07:002018-05-08T01:37:25.436-07:00It's Been A Long Time Coming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Greetings From The Triple Spiral! </h3>
And special greetings from Incognita. After over a year I feel drawn back to this space and I have <a href="https://www.facebook.com/priya.desikan">Priya Desikan </a>to thank for the inspiration.<br />
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With a "post about a post", I'm hoping to re-energize this space.<br />
My creative fields have lain fallow these past few months. Over the years I've learnt to read this emptiness as a signal to wait calmly rather than fret and be restless as I am prone to doing. There are energies at work beneath an apparently lifeless terrain. And I need to hang in there.<br />
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This morning new life signaled to me unexpectedly through a series of pictures - photos of skies over Chennai accompanied by a seemingly <a href="https://www.facebook.com/priya.desikan/posts/10216850606285249">simple poem</a> on The Sky. I saw the quintessence of our concept of travel in the mirror of Priya's creative channel.<br />
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Priya's words, pictures and the ensuing conversation are leading us to crossing points or maybe crossing zones where we straddle realms and our energies flow in and out through porous borders.<br />
As she paints with words and pictures we <b>travel. </b>Here is a picture from her collection. (This belongs to her and is not for use without her permission.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmEYgvx2n7ZaEO49wf00CEdBk7lt3qMxNovqcKAGX-tZ13-yNgvZ6ESiF8LS5-2YGcDlCZXUA7kR0J2xld5ZlaogHVWPgX_5OSxZCTDG2TmiAJWnixNzRIhjQ6eFDwypcq7hrGCgT6Yw/s1600/pria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmEYgvx2n7ZaEO49wf00CEdBk7lt3qMxNovqcKAGX-tZ13-yNgvZ6ESiF8LS5-2YGcDlCZXUA7kR0J2xld5ZlaogHVWPgX_5OSxZCTDG2TmiAJWnixNzRIhjQ6eFDwypcq7hrGCgT6Yw/s320/pria.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b>I could reaffirm to myself that much of our work on CTT is about opening new and different portals of perception to places we visit in person or indirectly. While it is fun and important to be on the road for a part of the time, it is even more fun to gain new insights when beholding a familiar sight.<br />
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I've always loved to photograph the sky. An ugly rash of structures is eating away mercilessly into our Kolkata skyline and one needs to stretch body and vision to their limits and beyond, to capture "a little piece of sky."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOPvmZbob8C0sBxsbkaa1gwPG4ur9YN8L2PC_if8yHGRspThaEHhv3ghs3DClDoBPh5e2p4o7rWX1dQWSVlrmuuv30QLajtTBYj8VEWL-9Mn4vVbEh0l6Nm9RoxHB1ITfouRyNsKAh_s/s1600/example.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="859" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOPvmZbob8C0sBxsbkaa1gwPG4ur9YN8L2PC_if8yHGRspThaEHhv3ghs3DClDoBPh5e2p4o7rWX1dQWSVlrmuuv30QLajtTBYj8VEWL-9Mn4vVbEh0l6Nm9RoxHB1ITfouRyNsKAh_s/s320/example.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">The best part of the sky is blocked out</span></div>
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I find myself increasingly needing to crop and edit photos to convey any little bit of what I experience in person - the mind blocks out what it finds disturbing and enhances and interprets what the eye beholds. The camera alas is no longer able to do that as effectively.<br />
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Priya is the kind of traveler who magically transcends those physical limitations and opens us to what we find difficult to reach on our own. Thank you Priya for being a catalyst, a trigger, a channel.<br />
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I will leave the readers with a few words from your poem on The Sky<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Is it where light goes to die every single day,<br />or where darkness comes alive?<br />is it where horizons are dreamed?</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />where visions stream from emptiness?<br />or is it where everything turns and rolls<br />laughing on its side?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;">And a cloud from my own sunset collection that invites you to ride it to any destination your imagination conjures. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmO70pxID0mcUFoT7huT792Vqzo1Y5vbzp5OUGqXCXi3naWdXe8LVrVYv1JKtD3QyroLmSMRBgNiAOvtFMfAXKu1EP6DBUa64ddCKw294yQTSYAHdmfQUvSSlv5PsMa197_QvJw1FQa_c/s1600/deeply+dist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="1600" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmO70pxID0mcUFoT7huT792Vqzo1Y5vbzp5OUGqXCXi3naWdXe8LVrVYv1JKtD3QyroLmSMRBgNiAOvtFMfAXKu1EP6DBUa64ddCKw294yQTSYAHdmfQUvSSlv5PsMa197_QvJw1FQa_c/s320/deeply+dist.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;">There are times when it is beyond possible, maybe unaffordable to reach somewhere physically. Lately I have been through too many of those challenges. And letting the mind fly free has been a tonic. Maybe we could say "Save an airplane, ride a cloud" :) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: inherit;">May you all travel far and wide and deep too. And dare I promise more regular posts now?<br /></span></div>
Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-60511582979243504802017-03-21T22:00:00.002-07:002017-03-22T01:16:17.272-07:00Deep Waters, Mystical Portals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Look down and soar; dive deep and soar higher. This is Kim sharing her own profound experience of Irish sacred wells. They draw her back every May and she renews and replenishes herself from their ancient and eternal energies.<br />
This is a post in honor of World Water Day that all our readers may partake of these profound energies that water is imbued with. Over to Kim Raikes.<br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">These wells in Ireland remind us of the <a href="http://oldmooresalmanac.com/things-to-do-and-see/holy-wells-of-dublin/">sacred properties</a> of water in many ways.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0K1EFtc_8PRUtc7lDgoGX0L4eBPt4nU12R6UFwN4BVdzs2u1dJ8CXhIxIB4q6-TRv0Paz6JcSXaXZSvUsLqVUdXIOi3EmUWFPNFa3FE79Llso5JbLjuK7-UmmAqcXB8gnD_2JKOMKqI/s1600/patrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0K1EFtc_8PRUtc7lDgoGX0L4eBPt4nU12R6UFwN4BVdzs2u1dJ8CXhIxIB4q6-TRv0Paz6JcSXaXZSvUsLqVUdXIOi3EmUWFPNFa3FE79Llso5JbLjuK7-UmmAqcXB8gnD_2JKOMKqI/s400/patrick.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: xx-small;">St Patrick's Well, </span><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: xx-small;">Carlanstown, Ireland</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: xx-small;"> - photo sourced from Internet</span></div>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span><span style="color: #274e13;"><a href="http://irelandsholywells.blogspot.in/2012/06/saint-patricks-well-clonmel.html">St Patrick's Well</a> in Carlanstown is a visible reminder of the ways in which the early Celts saw the Irish landscape as dotted with portals to the Otherworld. The Otherworld was their way of describing the realm beyond our earthly world, a realm which is the home of the gods, and the spirits of our loved ones who have passed on. This idea lent itself well to the incoming Christian belief in heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Mary’s Well, Rosserk, Ireland - photo by Kim Raikes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span><span style="color: #274e13;"><a href="https://www.mayo.me/ancient-custom-at-mayo-holy-well">Mary's Well</a> in Rosserk is a visible reminder of the miraculous powers associated with water in Irish wells. Trees which grow up beside or in these wells are also portals. In the case of the Rosserk well, the tree, which is over 200 years old, has rooted itself in the roof of the well, and there are literally no signs of its roots. You can look inside the well house and also outside, and see no way in which the tree survives; yet records of the tree’s existence go back to the 1800’s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Holy Well with underground channel, Kylemore, Ireland - photo by Kim Raikes</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">The holy well with the underground channel in Kylemore continues the theme of portals to the underworld, because its rivulet disappears. You can hear its waters as their course trickles downward under your feet, yet you can’t see it or touch it; the only evidence of it is the hole through which it dives downward into the earth, and its sound.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpJuJojDbqPbE9UCXtnZnDnhdlL_hElhaA8SRqQ_ORJXmes7IuT-XA0JnW6DJSb6LQfU99bxvsxT0rierz5Qt0U0woYZIS9cRpCUGPFPIOlu8Mgi7Um05VNKBllmeypMvbN0dsB46VNE/s1600/brigid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpJuJojDbqPbE9UCXtnZnDnhdlL_hElhaA8SRqQ_ORJXmes7IuT-XA0JnW6DJSb6LQfU99bxvsxT0rierz5Qt0U0woYZIS9cRpCUGPFPIOlu8Mgi7Um05VNKBllmeypMvbN0dsB46VNE/s400/brigid.jpg" width="301" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">St. Brigid’s well, Liscannor, Ireland - photo by Kim Raikes</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;">And <a href="http://irelandsholywells.blogspot.in/2014/01/saint-brigids-well-liscannor-county.html">St Brigid's Well</a> in Liscannor is a marvelous reminder of the ways in which the early Celtic and Christian themes merged. Brigid, a triple goddess in Celtic lore, was a healer. And St. Brigid in early Irish Christianity was a saint who grew up in a Celtic household, and healed. So this particular well has been famed for 1600 years as a healing source, and its entryway is lined with artifacts, letters, and thank yous from persons all over the world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">A final note: According to Celtic lore, the Salmon of Knowledge swims between all these wells in Ireland, and unites its waters. Many Celtic legends speak of the efforts to capture this salmon and learn all Truth (much like the Tree in the Old Testament account of the Garden of Eden). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">The Salmon’s power is the power of inspiration, wisdom, and communication.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><b>... Kim Raikes</b></span><br />
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-8191536276222841452017-02-01T09:37:00.001-08:002018-03-06T07:05:46.869-08:00The Sap Flows - Spring Awakening<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>From Incognita:</b><br />
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The sublime energy we revere as Sarasvati/<a href="https://scroll.in/article/803421/saraswatis-life-was-one-of-a-million-mutinies-but-she-always-had-the-last-word">Saraswati</a> <span style="color: #274e13;"><b>(do read the article so you can enjoy this post better - my post is among other things, a response to some of her ideas and was perhaps triggered by it)</b> </span>is portrayed as wild and willful in this article by Mrinal Pande with her playfully <i>irreverent</i> interpretation based on a plethora of details culled from mythology, folklore and her own deeply personal understanding. <br />
I quote below from the article on the history of the deity.<br />
"<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "droid serif" , serif; font-size: 18px;">The verb behind the name Saraswati is the Sanskrit </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">sru</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "droid serif" , serif; font-size: 18px;">, signifying a constant and self-renewing flow of both pure water and also gyan or knowledge. A river with a name such as this was bound to merge and mutate with the Vedic goddess Vac, the creator of multiple streams of fluid thought. Thus Saraswati was born as a constantly purifying, fertilising force that lent a fluidity to languages and sustained all art forms."</span><br />
Even as we associate her with movement and flow, equally can the goddess be calm, still and contemplative as in the unruffled waters of a lake on a calm day.<br />
When you see her statue, poised in meditation you understand she is her own person.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image taken from </span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.lotussculpture.com/ </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">- dates back to 2008. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Bronze sculpture from South India</span></div>
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And today she decided to make her demand for a post in her honor. The call of The Muse has to be heeded so this post is neither about my Kashi experience nor the sequel to the diamond-and-date saga as promised to readers. But to be sure it contains teasers to both which you will spot.<br />
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Within our veins, in the waterways of our land, through the stems of plants, through cracks in rocks, through the moist breeze as it energizes the spaces between naked branches awaiting spring's awakening breath, the sap of life flows. Again sap held my attention as I sifted through my memories of Diamond Harbour's dates and the story I planned to share. Popular lore has it that Sarasvati and Lakshmi are rivals. My own understanding tells me though, that they flow in and out of each other and hold each other together in synergy.<br />
I think of the date palm being tapped at the base of the crown enabling the sap that emerges to collect in an earthen pot tied to the trunk just below.<br />
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I think of nature's dynamic, of food we draw energy from, food that sustains the body <i>and </i>the mind. The earthen pot (Lakshmi the earth goddess) receives the one that flows.<br />
I recall the wood-nymph we encountered waiting for us under a tree, resting calmly on the earth's lap and waiting to be absorbed by her.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo - Kim Raikes</span></div>
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As I write this Kim looks at the picture and shares these thoughts.<br />
"I have such wonderful memories of this encounter! You had seen her in the park at the time of Sarasvati puja in early Feb. and were hoping she would still be there when we arrived in May. Amazingly, she waited all that time for us. She seemed to be almost melting into the tree and the earth, an ephemeral spirit. I am still in awe of her gracious welcome and creative wisdom. And I am still thanking the unknown person who placed her by that tree, for others to experience her divine presence!"<br />
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Images of earthen pots with tender sap dripping into them bring me to what I am in the process of creating as an offering to celebrate Sarasvati's festival. You guessed it - Lakshmi in the form of kheer cooked with all those symbols of the goddess - rice, milk and sweet scented spices. I am in a fix whether to attribute the date palm sap I pour in, to Lakshmi or to Sarasvati. Meanwhile I see myself with ladle in hand stirring the pot and watching the rice grains soften and melt into the milk. I see myself in the image of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapoorna_devi">Annapurna</a> the Goddess of Kashi (Varanasi).<br />
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Without her shakti(feminine energy), the flowing sap and the freshly harvested rice can't come together as one , nor be served to sustain the universe. She is the goddess of provision.I smile happily, with renewed understanding of the magical trio of Devis and their secret covenant with one another. They resonate with our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/TravelChakra/about/?ref=page_internal">Triple Spiral</a> - the creators of this venture in 2012. Our energies and our contributions have always been interchangeable. When one of us goes into a state of meditation, another one takes over and sings and dances, while a third stirs the pot with a heady brew.</div>
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As the palm sap flows gently into the cooking pot, my understanding of these divine energies rises to another level.<br />
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No Lakshmi is not necessarily about "big things and big money", though she can deal with them on their terms. She is even more fundamentally about the life-giving essentials, the rice that Annapurna is the dispenser of! And Sarasvati is the wisdom that enables us to realize this interconnection. Wisdom is still even as it flows - a paradox.<br />
<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9;"><br />
</span></span><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9;">The article by Ms Pande quotes from Vac Sutra (Scroll down to <strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-shadow: rgb(204, 255, 255) 2px 2px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="https://pparihar.com/2016/08/29/seven-chakras-and-seven-rishisi-secret-rig-veda-sutras/">Rig Veda.X.125.6-8</a>)</strong><br />
"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "droid serif" , serif; font-size: 18px;">I move among the Gods, I hold them, sustain them… whosoever breathes, sees, hears or eats does so because of me… I create powerful creators and embed them with wisdom and sight… my powers overflow the universe..” </span><br />
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Perhaps that is <i>one of her</i> of her manifestations - the power of expression for which devotees pray to her, the power to say it as it is! </div>
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</span></span> Does the reader still feel she has an edge over her sisters? I leave you to contemplate that one. To my mind she seems to contain them even as she is contained by them.<br />
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</span></span>Meanwhile let the sap flow and wisdom awaken with the coming of spring!<br />
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Read also <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2014/02/the-well-whisperer.html">The Well Whisperer</a></span></span><br />
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<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129;"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">Photos where not credited are by self.</span></span></div>
Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-46692140867738799882017-01-30T01:06:00.000-08:002017-01-30T01:29:22.385-08:00Diamonds and Dates - Back On The Trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>From Incognita:</b><br />
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Our boat drifts back onto charted waters after free-floating a while in dark and risky underground streams of the mind.<br />
Monday morning brought inspiration from one of our page contributors <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra/posts/1217187248359001" target="_blank">Panthera Leo</a>, as she posted her picture in a boat near the Imambara, Hooghly with a quote from Roman Payne's "The Wandress"<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Just as a painter paints,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and a ponderer ponders,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">a writer writes,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and a wanderer wanders." </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>I promptly flipped open the pages of our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immram" target="_blank">Imramma</a> Journal to resume where we left off writing the chronicles of our own wanderings.<br />
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This space has not seen an update for two years. That's as long as we wandered without pause. Or maybe just didn't find a pause in the right place at the right time for writing it all down and sharing.<br />
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The last time we posted, we were looking forward to Varanasi where I, at least, was looking for nothing in particular. I was rewarded with much that I took with me locked away in deep inner spaces where the spirit resides and plays free. Maybe now is the time to unlock those spaces and let those hidden energies float free like the mist over the Ganga after dark. I can hear the waves lapping against the steep, dark steps of ghat after ghat as Babu, our boatman flips his oar and cuts through the dark, silken waters to take our boat slowly and steadily from Dashashvamedha back to Chowki Ghat. An occasional floating lamp crosses the boat's path, gently twinkling its benevolent eye in our direction as it seems to say "so long, see you again". We have already set our own lamp offering to the river, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra/photos/a.389899091087825.89563.244553382289064/787156141362116/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">afloat</a> <span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">the picture shows you our Research Associate Nipun Srivastava getting the lamp ready) </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and watched as it set out on its own <a href="http://www.eblannaraven.com/imramma.htm" target="_blank">Imramma</a>.</span><br />
While we owe our readers a great deal more on our Varanasi adventure, we will reserve most of it as part of the offerings included in <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2014/02/the-well-whisperer.html" target="_blank">Project StepWell</a> - part of our "Rivers of Fortune" journey that started in 2007 (you will find those tales recorded elsewhere on this space) as a project for Maine Maritime Academy. Chakratirtha Travels was still in the future, awaiting birth.<br />
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That journey started on the banks of the Hooghly in Kolkata with our co-founder and mentor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KimRidenourRaikes/" target="_blank">Kim Raikes</a> and her family.<br />
And we will rewind to our 2008 summer trip to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Harbour" target="_blank">Diamond Harbour</a> before we move forward to January 2016 that saw me circling back to the same location.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Dilip Das casting his nets in the Hooghly at Diamond Harbor - May 2008</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pic Kim Raikes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> The beautiful Bengal countryside off Diamond Harbor Road</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pic Mary Raikes - May 2008</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Early morning mist in May on DH Road<br />Pic Mary Raikes - May 2008</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The shared journey was to honor another journey that had taken place a year and three months earlier, for the final closing of a chapter in my personal heritage. A journey to mark the end of one lifetime for my mother and her symbolic crossing to another realm through the mingling of what remained of her with the silken silt of the Ganges even as a part drifted toward the the Mother Waters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This time it was a warm, humid dawn that bloomed into a hot summer day soon after sunrise. The memories of that drive are shrouded in the mists you see in the picture. The road seems to lead to a portal. The chill from that earlier morning was missing as also the sadness of parting. This was the warmth of new meetings and the blazing light of new horizons.<br /><br />Forward to 2016 January and this is the scene at the very same site we visited in May 2008.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Back to Diamond Harbor with a new companion Tracie Lee from Australia</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tracie is on a Guided Imramma with me. It is an unusually warm January day. The ghat looks different at high noon. You can see the sparkling Diamonds in the water. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stone slabs to check erosion are covered over with silt and vegetation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The drive has been riddled with traffic snarls and we reach much later than we had hoped. The route is dusty and we notice random, uncontrolled construction dangerously close to the edge of a road that has always been narrow and not the easiest to navigate. My time machine ticks rapidly back to 1994 and then like a breath of fresh air the nineteen sixties rush in and take over. I taste again the chocolate cones from Flury's* that stayed chilled in the big green pail that would remind my child-self of a squat genie-bottle holding the secrets to cold ice cream and more. I swiftly leap back into the dust of the present as I hear Tracie sneeze. The dust from all that haphazard construction is getting to her. We turn up the glass and look forward to reaching soon and finding breakfast.<br />Some snippets of the 51km drive from the city. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a few remaining pockets of pristine green and glass - fields of rice and still ponds - gleaming in the morning sun. The vehicle is Bapi's Green Taxi aka <a href="https://www.facebook.com/amrasabujsathi/" target="_blank">Sabuj Rath</a></span></div>
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Well, I have spoken a little about the diamonds but your curiosity about the dates has been piqued for sure. Watch this space!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is the original tea-room on Park Street - what you see now is an inept "recreation" - whose history needs detailed reconstruction before the last of that generation fade into history too. I wish I had taken down all those memories from my parents*</span><br />
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-27985186022915101472015-02-18T02:22:00.002-08:002015-02-18T09:36:59.400-08:00And The Wind Blew Her In ....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; color: #333333; line-height: 15.359999656677246px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Says Kim Raikes:</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; color: #333333; line-height: 15.359999656677246px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> "I remember the eager hands reaching for the lamp as the priest held it out to the devotees pressing close to the altar, and I wondered what was happening. As I cupped my own hands over the flame I felt the jolt of Lakshmi's power, just as I had from her eyes and appearance when I first beheld her. I had never felt dazzled and overwhelmed like that before, transported really to another dimension in my soul. I remember those same hands reaching for the lamp at Jaggadhatri's little shrine also in Kol; by then I was beginning to understand what was happening as divine energy was captured and transmitted. And I remember reaching out the car window in Puri as we stopped by a little temple having evening puja. The priest brought the lamp right to us as we held out our hands. Pure warm energy rushed into me and shook me awake to that place where I wish my spirit could be all the time!"</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; color: #333333; line-height: 15.359999656677246px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was indeed the wind that blew in Kim Raikes in a most unexpected manner in 2008, as she found herself drawn by an unseen power to set foot in India. The sort of wind that tugs at the soul and flings open the gates to quest.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; color: #333333; line-height: 15.359999656677246px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her overpowering experience of the temple arati proved life changing not only for her but for those connected with her. Her visit to Kolkata first opened me to Lakshmi as a scintillating power - a shakti in her own right. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; color: #333333; line-height: 15.359999656677246px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Seven years thereon, the same wind is blowing again.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Each ghat in Varanasi is a portal awaiting her. To embrace her as she and her companions blow in on the wind. I imagine she will leave behind as much if not more than she carries away. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">I wonder if the Ganga Arati will mesmerize her, whether she will partake of payasam from Annapurna's hand.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">I wonder how Vishvanath will present himself to her. Maybe she will hold out a bowl of rice to him as she has done to so many needing nourishment.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZAl8dXBsMIcr5UQT1owgipgK_G_aSIOGXkA5Iz0jELibPMCpQeHXW8xNrDKpj8pQs4NCZCG1NJYejbGTqNyM_bBfQRiE9EMZvDPFlKdd2cs25FRKNz-IwqbaqbnRwVJe3lcaGxsI6ek/s1600/ganga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZAl8dXBsMIcr5UQT1owgipgK_G_aSIOGXkA5Iz0jELibPMCpQeHXW8xNrDKpj8pQs4NCZCG1NJYejbGTqNyM_bBfQRiE9EMZvDPFlKdd2cs25FRKNz-IwqbaqbnRwVJe3lcaGxsI6ek/s1600/ganga.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;"><b> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo Credit: Nipun Srivastava - Research Associate, Team Chakra.<br />Do not share without permission</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Light up the ghat steps. Light the way for Team Chakra! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #f0f1f3;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px;">And join us in wishing Chakratirtha Travels a Happy Birthday! We are three years old today!</span></span></span>
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-75336332242589646682014-02-04T00:36:00.000-08:002015-04-19T03:22:41.930-07:00The Well-Whisperer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shubha <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasant_Panchami#Etymology" target="_blank">Shree Panchami</a>! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAufZWVHOeKgVvTSgJs-rkCZcmOQBMjaab_Oiw46Oc8EC3SnAh9l9mGn4m3SQ6KuvVj_Hjuozyrhw0S_WFMw5IQizhQtDkTXYnUfCc8Pg_F5YL3Eoow5vXSGaGuPfIOMmwaCOrha7ZFQ/s1600/dakshina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAufZWVHOeKgVvTSgJs-rkCZcmOQBMjaab_Oiw46Oc8EC3SnAh9l9mGn4m3SQ6KuvVj_Hjuozyrhw0S_WFMw5IQizhQtDkTXYnUfCc8Pg_F5YL3Eoow5vXSGaGuPfIOMmwaCOrha7ZFQ/s1600/dakshina.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The clarion call </b>of the conch startles me and fills my soul with its breath. There are so many streams of thought all flowing in to me this morning. I am swimming in this pleasant chakratirtha, this divine swirl of energy. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All around, Sarasvati is being welcomed in homes and pandals!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My thoughts turn to the spirit of the day – gurus and shishyas and those porous borders between them through which the essences of wisdom transfer themselves both ways. It’s a fine morning to revive the Chakratirtha Travels website and fill it with new energy. People all around are writing and painting and singing with their pens and brushes and cameras, their voices and lutes and conches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The best start to this venture of renewal would be a tribute to my guru <a href="http://kimraikes.com/" target="_blank">Kim Raikes</a> in whom all my gurus(those I draw from) – past and future, and all my shishyas(those who draw from me) , mingle in sacred synergy. Do not miss the well symbolism in that line. Nor my personal understanding that these roles are fluid and interchangeable. (Find out more about <o:p></o:p></span> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru-shishya_tradition" target="_blank">Guru-Shishya - the traditional notion</a>)</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some months ago I was at a low point in my life and yearning for inspiration. These lines flashed before me in a dream and jolted me into awareness of these truths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"And the well shall travel with thee across the parched desert!" <br />
On an impulse I posted it on Facebook. It resonated with many but one young friend <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PranaadhikaSinhaDevburman" target="_blank">Pranaadhika </a>especially surprised and delighted me with her mention of Isaiah. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kim responded “Is this what you're looking for?” wi</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">th the quote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">‘<a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/41-17.htm" target="_blank">Isaiah 41:17</a> (NRSV) says, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the God of Israel will not forsake them" Isaiah 41:18 (NRSV) speaks of God's opening "rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys..." and making "the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And my reactions poured spontaneously out into my journal. I now share the conversation with my fellow travelers. These thoughts are all of ours and the insights are for all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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We all have our metaphorical inner parched deserts shouting down those metaphorical wells. Wells don't often shout back, they whisper their answers so softly they're sometimes hard to pick up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We all have our bleak, lonely nights, our utterly isolating moments in the midst of sunshine and color all around us. These words told me that the soothing nectar of hope and comfort were only a hip-flask away, but we tended to search the sand dunes like the mother in the story who searched the world for her baby, who was perched safely all along on her own hip, riding along on mommy's wanderings in bewildered wonder :)<br />
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Coming back to Kim, on hearing how I came by the words – in a<a href="http://www.dreamviews.com/content/what-lucid-dreaming-16/" target="_blank"> lucid dream </a>- she wrote a more meaningful story than I ever could have. Here then is what the well whispered to her! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Ah, this is a sign, on several levels, that <st1:place w:st="on">Gujarat</st1:place> and Rajasthan (yes those driest of dry places) are the destinations that will feed (water) us (our spirits)...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"When I opened my new book ("<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Steps-Water-Ancient-Stepwells-India/dp/1568983247" target="_blank">Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India</a>" and first saw the map of <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, I saw the intense series of well locations that dot the states of <st1:place w:st="on">Gujarat</st1:place> and Rajasthan. I remembered what you said earlier when I said we needed to meet in Kerala next time; you said No, in <st1:place w:st="on">Gujarat</st1:place>. I wasn't sure why, but I understood when I looked at that map.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"'The well will indeed travel with us across the parched deserts' of our souls and lives, dearest. So have confidence in that as you sort out the dry places of these current days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/karanleoarts/photos/a.337564296342530.75173.325582894207337/338873626211597/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">Karan’s well drawing </a>(there is an insightful and revealing conversation under the picture - in tune with this post and well worth reading) which was his gift to Kim as we three co-founded our venture in spring 2012, is deceptively simple, surprisingly powerful! It is shown here displayed on Kim's office wall in Maine Maritime Academy! </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Placed on the wall it appears to open a vista, to suck you away into its recesses. The unsuspecting, as they step into the room will be startled to see this portal :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>"I dipped into my book at the chapter on Patan first of all because the Queen's well (<a href="http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_tktd_gujarat_ranikivav.asp" target="_blank">Rani Ki Vaav</a>) was the one you first sent me, and besides Karan's (shown above)<span style="font-family: inherit;"> it was my introduction to the whole idea of step wells (and pond wells) in India. I was completely blown away to discover that this well was buried in mud for 9 centuries and only in the last hundred years or so, dug out to see the light of day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"All those exquisite carvings of Vishnu's incarnations, buried 900 years in the mud!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"So I've been thinking about mud and how our own exquisite personal inner carvings get buried in the muck of crises and mundane dramas. Sooner or later, they get dug out by some break-through event or realization, to reveal what's been shaped inside us. That's what I'm hoping you'll focus on now: through all this garbage of leaks and medical messes, you've been shaping these exquisite carvings inside you, and they WILL be released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have confidence in that!!!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>And when Kim has confidence, the World has to!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit;">This post is dedicated first to my Guru and soul-mate Kim, co-founder of Chakratirtha Travels and our <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Spiritual</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype></st1:place>, and then to each and every one of my readers. May the spirit of the giver-receiver (for they are one) awaken within each of you.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Clicked by Kim in spring 2010 in Kolkata</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: inherit;">The mud symbolism is ever present and so powerful. And it is<a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2013/10/freetravellers-intersection-of-lives.html" target="_blank"> from this mud</a> that we shape our Durgas and Kalis, all those ephermeral Gods that manifest and dissolve to manifest again in another form. Today’s <a href="http://www.stephen-knapp.com/sarasvati_goddess_of_learning.htm" target="_blank">Saraswatis</a> were shaped from last year’s <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2013/10/freetravellers-intersection-of-lives.html" target="_blank">Durgas and Lakshmis</a> (and Saraswatis too) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And Kim continues with her immense wisdom and poetic insight:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Early in the Bible (<a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-18.htm" target="_blank">Genesis 26:18)</a> there's a passage which describes the return of Isaac to the lands which his father Abraham had once owned in <st1:place w:st="on">Canaan</st1:place>. On the land were old wells which his father had once dug, and Isaac re-dug them, because they had been stopped up in the intervening years.<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I think there's old wells in all of us</span>,</i> wells that have become stopped up with time, or which (like the Queen's well in Patan which filled with mud from the flow of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasvati_River" target="_blank">Sarasvati river)</a> have suffered some kind of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>interruption</i>.</span> <b>They're our hidden resources!</b><br />
<br />"Finding and re-digging them taps incredible gifts...and brings them to light, like the exquisite carvings of the Queen's well. Think of it, the incarnations of Vishnu lying for 900 years in the mud, not brought to light till 1980! <b>Thank goodness somebody took on this job!</b><br />
<br />"I'm sure there's similar treasures in us, gifted us by family deep in the past, or the chance word of a song, or the sight of a tree. Crappy mud from the muck of life keeps covering them up, so we have to keep digging!<br />
<br />"Luckily, I have the best diggers in the world to help me; you and Karan help me get down to these treasures every day! Your shovels are words and poems and drawings and photos and myths and remembrances, and every one of them helps bring to light hidden resources inside me. Thank you!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To Kim: Thanks for your compliments to us "Diggitizers"<br />
You inspire this. And draw nectar from our wells.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What better can I say in response than “Guru Devo Bhava?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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To our reades, fans, supporters: You guessed right! This post and discussion are evolving into "bookhood" … and lots more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Watch out for more posts related to these ventures!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">*1</span> </span></div>
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-9899624582858311592013-10-02T23:21:00.000-07:002013-10-03T10:16:02.619-07:00"The Cow Jumped Over The Moon!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A fun post from Incognita:</h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Krishna milking a cow - sculpture at Krishna Cave, Mamallapuram. She looks ready to take off doesn't she?</span></div>
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<i>This post wasn't planned for at all. I had completely different ideas for today</i>. But sometimes there comes an unexpected tug at your sleeve. This one came in the shape of a comment from Karan on our <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2013/10/freetravellers-intersection-of-lives.html" target="_blank">Freetravellers</a> post.<br />
"obstacle sounds like such a small, ordinary word, but this code of a word simulates one to somersault through one's memory, similarly triumphs takes us to that happy place where<a href="http://karanvohraart.blogspot.in/2013/04/the-curious-case-of-elusive-mishti.html" target="_blank"> mishti </a>appears on but a click of fingers :) "<br />
All these words fell into a jumble and then somersaulted themselves into a pattern from which emerged the theme and the title.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm9uOaSohnMKdlmHdRVeMDfxTs6z1B3xheKNndBBjpGR5B9Lg5C68VicDTc7EA9Q_qcuxHRGN-wbO1nYfAQ8kSXbyDaiW9d2ki5qMh-V0OL7c67cGfsFtQWtQtvjlX045HALUJP5e0vI/s1600/milkwm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm9uOaSohnMKdlmHdRVeMDfxTs6z1B3xheKNndBBjpGR5B9Lg5C68VicDTc7EA9Q_qcuxHRGN-wbO1nYfAQ8kSXbyDaiW9d2ki5qMh-V0OL7c67cGfsFtQWtQtvjlX045HALUJP5e0vI/s320/milkwm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have often wondered about the proverbial milk boiling over. My mother would make a sprint in the nick of time and all but leap over the moon to save it (the milk, not the moon :) )from spilling on the stove, just as it rose in all its cloudlike glory to reach for the heavens and come down fountain-like. She was pragmatic and mostly didn't let it overflow into a mess! It rose to its fullness but she got away with all of her milk intact!<br />
The "creator" of milk too takes this challenge the whole way and surmounts it, presumably doing a not-so-graceful free fall!!<br />
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If The Cow could jump over the moon - and maybe land with a splash in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan" target="_blank">Ksheerasagara</a> :) itself - making a not-so-pretty picture of herself as she somersaults through the air and plops down,<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Ksheerasagara? Picture of Bay of Bengal at Puri, by Incognita</span></div>
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we too can somersault over our obstacles to actually land in our coveted pot of <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2013/05/type-mayalakshmi-rao-to-find-mishti-doi.html" target="_blank">mishti doi.</a> (picture the three of us splashing around in a HUGE earthen pot and licking our fingers if not our whole selves) Perhaps it is the only way we actually get to reach The One that is meant for us, delicious and nourishing like no other.<br />
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This seeming obstacle, this diversion from the planned route, are today's gift from my mother Rajam who has been adopted by many after her migration to a world beyond. Today is her 93rd birthday.<br />
Happy Birthday Dear Rajam! Well <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura_Sundari" target="_blank">Rajarajeshwari Tripurasundari Kamakshi</a></b> to be precise! Neatly compressed into short, sweet, gender-neutral Rajam by her teachers from foreign shores as well as her lazy relations and friends! You always enjoyed a gentle and loving prank on your near and dear. Thank you for this one.<br />
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May it be a day of Coalescence!<br />
Let the Kheer bubble!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgye_qoSxVql-OCNmdv5tbeJ6N4btqBabXZTRijqxjFTfQ9GRUnXNzN6QgFgfcsRjqyX3LiZnS2Ga2MflAMvHqCK0gbN4ZVMkspy_7Y5NSB4k9mFIQvHp6C9BzAwGnl2ZUjo-gZ4bb_FhE/s1600/kheeryummywm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgye_qoSxVql-OCNmdv5tbeJ6N4btqBabXZTRijqxjFTfQ9GRUnXNzN6QgFgfcsRjqyX3LiZnS2Ga2MflAMvHqCK0gbN4ZVMkspy_7Y5NSB4k9mFIQvHp6C9BzAwGnl2ZUjo-gZ4bb_FhE/s320/kheeryummywm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: center;">A sacred swirling pool of kheer in Incognita's kitchen!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Coalescence - ready for offering and enjoyment!</span></div>
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PS - Bet nobody thought that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Diddle_Diddle" target="_blank">nursery rhym</a>e could find a connection with something profound in Indian lore :) Such is the working of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra's_net" target="_blank">Indra's net</a> and such is the nature of "maya"</div>
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PS2 - Thanks dear Sue Forman for "coalescence." it is taking us places! Words words words - with all their mystical powers!</div>
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PS3 - I don't often make personal posts. This one however I dedicate to my mother. Wherever you are in the Alterverse, this one is for you Rajamma!<br />
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PS4 - To those of you who haven't already visited this is our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra" target="_blank">Facebook Link</a> - Give us a Like! We cherish each one of your Likes, we love having you drop by and interact, we look forward to the energy you all bring to the pool. Thank you in anticipation!</h4>
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We'll leave you with a treat: Kim Raikes making kheer - she has strict instructions not to let it boil over. Rajam's orders!</div>
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-27039311036793224802013-10-02T09:51:00.000-07:002013-10-03T00:58:22.581-07:00Freetravellers .. An Intersection of Lives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #664b00; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Aaahh I loved the tiny earthen pots filled with soft melting curd ...sometimes flavored with cardamom...at other times with Saffron..”</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Incognita photographed by Karan, enjoying a singara - you can see earthen pots of <a href="http://karanvohraart.blogspot.in/2013/04/the-curious-case-of-elusive-mishti.html" target="_blank">Mishti Doi </a>in the glass case</span></span></b><br />
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</span></span></b><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These words from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewritejourney" target="_blank">Sridevi Datta</a> reminded me all over again of silken silt from the bed of the Ganges,</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Karan Vohra standing on the banks of the Hooghly.</span></span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">You can see the silt uncovered near the steps.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and all things sacred. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> Durga Puja clay image in the making - clicked by Kim Raikes at Kalighat</span>
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</span></span> <span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They reminded me that it was time to continue on the journey with our fellow travellers! And this post wrote itself.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes – <a href="https://www.facebook.com/karanleoarts" target="_blank">Karan,</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KimRidenourRaikes" target="_blank">Kim</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra" target="_blank">Incognita</a> have been missing from view. Each of us was on our own <a href="http://www.eblannaraven.com/imramma.htm" target="_blank">Imramma</a>. But the first tinge of autumn gold in the sun’s rays, the first hint of chill in the air, the gentle turn of the wind, have </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">once more drifted our </span><a href="http://hampi.in/coracle-crossings" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">coracles </a><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> (a word that came to mind subconsciously because of </span><a href="http://hampi.in/chakratirtha" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this connection </a>(our namesake and a sacred historical place like <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2012/04/namaste-chakratirtha.html" target="_blank">the one in Orissa</a> that inspired our name<span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">)</span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">-</span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">towards Chakratirtha.</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">New energies have entered from new events and surprise people we’ve come across. <a href="http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.in/2009/04/net-of-indra.html" target="_blank">Indra’s net</a> is indeed electrified! <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Cris-crossing strings of colored bulbs to celebrate Diwali</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the course of these meanderings we ran into the magazine "Consolidation," which Kim and Incognita had co-edited back in 2008. And it was déjà vu! The story of Consolidation matched word for word that of CTT which tells you that we are part of the eternal swirling tirtha, the inevitable spiral. The moment Sridevi mentioned the earthen pots, we decided to adapt a piece of writing from the magazine – “The Little Clay Cup” - to tell our story here. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like a river carving its own course.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR08AXwIGeGWamv_O-IW2cmC3uJdwRuaxb-Z6Dr4J3wxILNoWpHNsCKNEYrS-ZBpfJcgX_Z5GjfaLhOWVQiU-jn6nHqMywnT5vIMdVWbrzqpHio6EQ1UXfsbLnbaoBJ3zHmN4LT8OcdKU/s1600/aspwm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR08AXwIGeGWamv_O-IW2cmC3uJdwRuaxb-Z6Dr4J3wxILNoWpHNsCKNEYrS-ZBpfJcgX_Z5GjfaLhOWVQiU-jn6nHqMywnT5vIMdVWbrzqpHio6EQ1UXfsbLnbaoBJ3zHmN4LT8OcdKU/s400/aspwm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Mary Raikes at Diamond Harbor near Kolkata - see the river winding away!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Turning up out </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">of nowhere, disappearing and reappearing like the ancient, mystical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasvati_River" target="_blank">River </a></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasvati_River" target="_blank">Sarasvati</a> of Indian mythology whose lost course has been rediscovered by </span><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">archaeologists. <b>Our Triple Spiral </b>is always there - in the mind, the heart, the </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">imagination and we hope now in “person.” </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">These have been months of recovery from old hurts and emergence from fresh </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">ones followed by action, discovery, growth and fresh thinking.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Through Incognita’s chance connection with Kim in 2007 was born the idea of </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">interfacing with a larger world through a coalescence rather than through separate gateways. </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">Back in 2008,</span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">Kim's footprints were left on the </span><b style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"><i>sands of time </i></b><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">- and the sands of </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">timeless </span><st1:country-region style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;" w:st="on">India</st1:country-region><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> - while timeless </span><st1:place style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;" w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> left her imprint on Kim’s mind and heart. As </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">the most fitting symbol of this meeting she carried back with her a little </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">piece of earth in the shape of a tiny clay cup from which she drank. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOH4wi-t1l9UztxaAp6qQXBH2u0qA8YYLgBpguBP3VsB_3kIs5xy1v0S-Bxv0zc3CDrVULJwYrXm04gNPLdKy0FY2MLOZzcYGPhfplDX61oN2NRQuUG2hXUHH9G0YXat8aIRw9PzyDLmM/s1600/cup2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOH4wi-t1l9UztxaAp6qQXBH2u0qA8YYLgBpguBP3VsB_3kIs5xy1v0S-Bxv0zc3CDrVULJwYrXm04gNPLdKy0FY2MLOZzcYGPhfplDX61oN2NRQuUG2hXUHH9G0YXat8aIRw9PzyDLmM/s1600/cup2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Clay cup in Kim Raike's palm</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">One out of </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">the hundreds of thousands that are drunk from over the length and breadth of </span><st1:place style="font-family: inherit;" w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="color: #664b00;">India</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> by all regardless of station in life, and returned to the ground to crumble </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">and integrate with the soil: the "chosen one," picked as if at random from its </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">countless anonymous brethren, to travel across the ocean and become an </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">ambassador for this ancient civilization and for CTT's philosophy of travel.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While this little mascot accompanied several other representatives of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> in </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">Kim's baggage, a collection of exquisitely colored little </span><b style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"><i>yaatris </i></b><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">(yaatri is traveller </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">in Sanskrit) who are usually happier sailing and have sailed countless miles </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">across oceans, were airlifted to take up residence in my home. They have been whispering the </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">secrets of their voyages to me over the years. Yes, they </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">are a collection of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_glass" target="_blank">sea glass</a> pieces from the beaches of </span><st1:place style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;" w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Maine</st1:state></st1:place><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> where Kim lives.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5wt0WVYD2DaWhPSyey6NfKE7hJD__H1gbHrxsNKdOIW_kkohWWyEKaRJqfpmgMPTr_yqQEt9R8AOvRCwFkR0qL7c8FKrxhQiV2xL5aiLHAC_qgPdhuo5XopDaiFAr0Dz6_BM0C48H28/s1600/saeglasswm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5wt0WVYD2DaWhPSyey6NfKE7hJD__H1gbHrxsNKdOIW_kkohWWyEKaRJqfpmgMPTr_yqQEt9R8AOvRCwFkR0qL7c8FKrxhQiV2xL5aiLHAC_qgPdhuo5XopDaiFAr0Dz6_BM0C48H28/s200/saeglasswm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Both the clay cup and the glass pieces reached </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">destinations they didn’t expect to. And this was only the start of several such journeys and chance meetings. 2011 brought dear Karan into our lives through his wonderful <a href="http://karanvohraart.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>. 2012 was a year of meetings again – first between Kim and Karan and then Karan and Incognita.</span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">We are now waiting for the magical coming together of three in one physical place.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> This puts in me in mind all over again of the words in our former magazine team-mate <b><i>freetraveller's </i></b></span></span><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">signature:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>“Travellers are those who find what they were not </b></span></span><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #664b00;">looking for...”. </span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #664b00;"> </span></b><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">They represent the unforseen discovery, the unexpected</span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">gift, the unusual in every good sense. They also represent the </span><span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">transcending of time and space barriers, the universal human spirit and creative </span></span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">energy. They have dropped anchor in unexpected places, hopefully found homes.</span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #664b00; font-family: inherit;">It is akin to the spirit of Imramma that the ancient Celts have inspired us with.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #664b00;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We leave you for now with a quote from Karan from our last <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2013/05/type-mayalakshmi-rao-to-find-mishti-doi.html" target="_blank">post </a>on this blog.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #664b00;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #37404e;">"I see a journey unfolding filled with the direction of a lighthouse, the sweetness of mishti and the optimism of the sun. I also see splashes of colour on different canvases singing a story like no other. I see a dish of words* that offers us obstacles and successes in equal measure. I see courage and beauty in Durga. In short I see the lives of three people intersecting rather than one."<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9H-7FokMe52JvcC8KbuPAvX4b-HWx4ymWVXXSGXeT3nWog1Aa3t3FH59XGF33IKXpbhCe9SFdNbmz9q8_d8269gPcfgvQhPw7CGUU-XiOAtcmYBMzjOWueXy0N6qrultR0uZ2Oo9w8U/s1600/freetravel4a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb9H-7FokMe52JvcC8KbuPAvX4b-HWx4ymWVXXSGXeT3nWog1Aa3t3FH59XGF33IKXpbhCe9SFdNbmz9q8_d8269gPcfgvQhPw7CGUU-XiOAtcmYBMzjOWueXy0N6qrultR0uZ2Oo9w8U/s400/freetravel4a.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here then are the three people, a bridge across the Ganga, feet crossing thresholds!<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: #916a00;">The </span></b><span style="color: #664b00;">Four-F Festival tranformed itself into the free travels of the Triple Spiral’s members. We are at the magical intersection again and we will come back to you with the "Dial-M for Mishti" post and much more, as we enter the <a href="http://www.boldsky.com/yoga-spirituality/faith-mysticism/2010/mahalaya-devi-paksha-durga-puja-071010.html" target="_blank">Devi Paksha</a> in a couple of days. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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*we will tell you about that special dish in the coming days*</div>
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-38010080220521073312013-05-18T03:20:00.002-07:002013-05-18T23:03:18.902-07:00Type "Mayalakshmi Rao" to find "Mishti Doi" !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
And what do you find along with the <a href="http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://festivals.iloveindia.com/durga-puja/pics/mishti-doi.jpg&imgrefurl=http://festivals.iloveindia.com/durga-puja/mishti-doi.html&h=450&w=600&sz=22&tbnid=5Eiosfgi-jNP6M:&tbnh=92&tbnw=123&zoom=1&usg=__79CrGlixfVe4zjoqM3Vq87hgUhg=&docid=wYNWyuodZrIa5M&sa=X&ei=MlGXUarFFIzIrQfLmIHwBA&ved=0CDgQ9QEwAg&dur=374" target="_blank">Mishti Doi?</a><br />
This!<br />
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A sure sign of the how the essence and energy of Chakratirtha Travels, are starting to permeate the internet. Look carefully and you'll spot our foot emblem, Kolkata's iconic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga_Puja" target="_blank"> Durga</a>, the<a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/2012/06/mine-darkness.html" target="_blank"> Mamallapuram Lighthouse</a> at sunset, a plate of sweets, neem-flower chutney from the Tamil New Years' feast, some beautiful paintings by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/karanleoarts" target="_blank">Karan Leo Arts </a>and the 150 year old Butter Dish from Maine, whose secrets are waiting to be revealed!<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">.</span></div>
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In the words of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/karanleovohra" target="_blank">Karan Vohra</a> our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/466642713388630/" target="_blank">Creative Head</a>:</div>
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"I see a journey unfolding filled with the direction of a lighthouse, the sweetness of mishti and the optimism of the sun. I also see splashes of colour on different canvases singing a story like no other. I see a dish of words that offers us obstacles and successes in equal measure. I see courage and beauty in Durga. In short I see the lives of three people intersecting rather than one."</div>
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Intersection of Three Lives - symbolized as a <a href="http://chakratirthatravels.blogspot.in/p/journeys-with-difference.html" target="_blank">Tirtha or Crossing Place,</a> indeed a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triveni_Sangam" target="_blank">Triveni Sangam</a>.</div>
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Intersections that happen as we each wander our own path as a yaatri (traveller) on life's journey.</div>
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The pictures you see in this montage are all representative of our venture, those crossings and the synergy of the Triple Spiral.</div>
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We invite more people to look us up and be surprised at where their paths lead them. In the words of a dear friend, writer and Yaatri par excellance - Freetraveller as she is best known - "Travellers are those who find what they are not looking for." The title of our post says just that! Lives will intersect unexpectedly, journeys will chart themselves out. </div>
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And the first step - Look East!</h3>
Her eyes are looking eastward. So ask us more?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJa3G2mPZddH5_0PGF5o7M_dyorawZVMczp5KyeCQ1hzjRgU4yJv7vGUTrEMUjka1fDYnB2OIMV_Bo6vFlo7OaM2dPzHAQLl1thqSeox0vuj6oDCbxtCLk-xwDr9bKv0BHTqxjWQxRlbg/s1600/look+east4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJa3G2mPZddH5_0PGF5o7M_dyorawZVMczp5KyeCQ1hzjRgU4yJv7vGUTrEMUjka1fDYnB2OIMV_Bo6vFlo7OaM2dPzHAQLl1thqSeox0vuj6oDCbxtCLk-xwDr9bKv0BHTqxjWQxRlbg/s320/look+east4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our ambassador <a href="http://hamariweb.com/dictionaries/curiosity_hindi-meanings.aspx" target="_blank">Jigyasa</a> (meaning curiosity in Hindi) invites you through a series of posts starting with "Look East," to join in this happening and happy crossing of paths. Join the Four-F Yaatra that we're currently on.! Many readers are familiar with her personification in Karan's painting, through our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra" target="_blank">Facebook Page. </a> Jigyasa - personified here as the inquisitive and adventurous Yaatri - will travel with you.<br />
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But first a Sweet Welcome to readers with a quintessentially <i>Eastern</i> Indian dessert that sums up the essence of our shared experiences. Over to Karan and <a href="http://karanvohraart.blogspot.in/2013/04/the-curious-case-of-elusive-mishti.html" target="_blank">The Curious Case of The Elusive Mishti.</a> We promise you<i> mishti </i>and more. This post is the starter. Stay the full course with us. </div>
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And keep a look out for our upcoming post: " Dial 'M' for 'Mishti' "</h3>
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-77699044631101455742012-12-09T04:44:00.000-08:002012-12-09T09:25:40.182-08:00"Her India is my Egypt"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">I received this wonderful tribute from my dear friend Gar in Texas and I thought it deserved to be a post in its own right. Gar is widely traveled and has gone deep into Egyptian history and civilization. He feels a strong sense of identification with Egypt and he refers to that. He is also an expert on Hawai'i, not to speak of his native Texas and Germany. Gar has powerfully influenced my thinking and Kim's in the six odd years we have known one another. So here goes.</h4><br />
<i><b><span style="color: #274e13;">"I am in awe of all the thought and creativity that went into your explanations and insights.</span></b></i><br />
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</span></b></i> <i><b><span style="color: #274e13;">As you are well aware, Indian thought, religion or what have you is beyond my grasp. I simply don't relate, however beautiful I may find much of it. Guess I've never had an experience there. Kim obviously is very much at home with it. Her India is my Egypt. Egyptian thought make sense to me, though to others it might as well be the dominant culture of Saturn.</span></b></i><br />
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</span></b></i> <i><b><span style="color: #274e13;">However, as I read your words I am again for the millionth time reminded of a similarity with Egypt, Greece, Rome, all ancient cultures. The gods acted as humans or something akin to humans. The gods had every emotion known to man. The gods were related like ruling families. The gods fought and plotted, killed, grasped power. I can not prove it but there has to be an explanation for the similarity. And I believe that the simplest explanation is usually the closest to truth. They acted like people. People with powers and abilities light years beyond the common folk, but people still. Who in all your experience have emotions and behavior exactly like people? Hint: It ain't Indian elephants or Egyptian hawks or Greek sheep....</span></b></i><br />
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</span></b></i> <i><b><span style="color: #274e13;">I'll reread and with it wish you great success and pleasure. A beautiful, loving thoughtful creation. Great graphic, too by the way."</span></b></i><br />
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Thank you Gar on behalf of the three of us - myself, Kim and Karan who is behind the graphics among other things. Your words went straight to our hearts.<br />
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And yes, Indian elephants do count. We have amazingly human-like animals in mythology! <br />
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First and foremost, we have our elephant headed Lord Ganesha - the obstacle remover - without whom no event commences, so Salutations to Him!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmUicRXiUYGygZOh6_ctPSzSn17JA4dYuIJ3YcII-_Rp56FXFFLvUILoqIFrImN0caS3s4djFCUpzMmL-b_zBHOKa4DPsw70yX2ZidBtDhBbbC8jxsISlTXke7hbwMQfnzt205Fy3Dcc/s1600/forest+ganeshwm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmUicRXiUYGygZOh6_ctPSzSn17JA4dYuIJ3YcII-_Rp56FXFFLvUILoqIFrImN0caS3s4djFCUpzMmL-b_zBHOKa4DPsw70yX2ZidBtDhBbbC8jxsISlTXke7hbwMQfnzt205Fy3Dcc/s400/forest+ganeshwm.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">To our readers:</h3><br />
I came across this link <a href="http://www.hinduwisdom.info/India_and_Egypt.htm">"India and Egypt,"</a> which appears interesting. It quotes diverse sources for the information presented. I have not personally delved into it in depth as yet, or authenticated the details for myself, but thought it was worth sharing in the context of these similarities across civilizations. <br />
And one on the <a href="http://lotuspharia.freeyellow.com/id8.html">lotus</a> in ancient Egyptian culture. The author takes care to point out the difference in species between the Indian lotus(Nelumbo nucifera) and Egyptian water lily aka Egyptian lotus(Nymphaea lotus and Nymphaea caerulea a distinction often lost sight of due to use of the term Egyptian lotus.<br />
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We would love to generate a good conversation around the interconnections of all our civilizations. What are your own experiences? Do feel free to share. <br />
We look forward to your comments on all our posts. We believe you will find this a warm, welcoming, comfortable space in which to create bridges and cross thresholds . <br />
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</div>Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-41333693849085221472012-12-03T00:26:00.000-08:002012-12-03T09:17:46.673-08:00Crossing the 100 Threshold<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbThCuSqc16TgZvtRXDCVT2LG-k83Oq9N76NmJeCqQjm_s6Uqx_QxCQnpulVjUqTPJolyzkhMitozV9m8jlI52Cy2lZ2ZP6qtaLtxLRu5z_Egvq30r1tAvPdWqKg2qDFYU0WvWJu6_S3Q/s1600/crossing+thresholds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbThCuSqc16TgZvtRXDCVT2LG-k83Oq9N76NmJeCqQjm_s6Uqx_QxCQnpulVjUqTPJolyzkhMitozV9m8jlI52Cy2lZ2ZP6qtaLtxLRu5z_Egvq30r1tAvPdWqKg2qDFYU0WvWJu6_S3Q/s400/crossing+thresholds.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=338318899600403&set=a.338286639603629.75390.325582894207337&type=1&theater"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Painted by Karan Vohra for Chakratirtha Travels</b></span></a></div><br />
We just crossed the <b>100 Threshold! </b><br />
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Yes our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra">Facebook Page got the first 100 Likes</a>!!!<br />
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The Century has a mystique around it and an elusive power over the mind. So we decided on the magic number as a milestone at which to untie the ropes and formally release our ship on its journey, with this post. We have been informally on the road for quite a while now and had some rewarding journeys in the physical realm, apart from ongoing energy exchanges across cyberspace with a whole range of people from the world over. Understandably we found people asking us what we were "launching" this time. I'd say the past year involved some testing times for our team. We made it through with the phenomenal support of all our well wishers and we can now declare our ship truly seaworthy!<br />
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Last night I received this beautiful message from Kim in response to an Irish blessing I shared with her "May the road rise to meet you..." <br />
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"All these pics(on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TravelChakra">Facebook Page</a> and blog) feature roads (at least by implication) but they're united by the one road which unites us all, Irish or not: the road of our journey to meet and understand one another's cultures and lives. Thanks for the beautiful reminders of the views along the way!"<br />
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So journey with us, be part of our creative collaboration, wish us luck!<br />
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<div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Love from our Triple Spiral - Kim, Karan and me! </h4></div></div>Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-84491981644264011872012-09-19T02:32:00.001-07:002012-12-18T23:39:40.962-08:00By Divine Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It is no accident. For the simple reason such miracles have to be from a Mastermind. That mind is the Universal Muse. We think we understand the bodies we are gifted with and the "bodies" we build... the apparently static but constantly growing, changing, decaying and rejuvenating structures that we live in... the futures we carefully plan and craft for ourselves and try hard to enact. But through all of Creation runs a subtle power and it is gifted to us individually as our own subtle body and the auras of everything around us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWuVHVKy3ctLE47BBq9_DvffYNrYPvl3A_rhTw9emj2WO0v4NuFR3F5wcFYauGtpOLEwO7-AuxY_BLtYJMMK_Nmqn_1oIPwWi2-uFkQGEf4DLK_kMbRQ8WKXzlkk_cUWSwQEECMIWMbY/s1600/agni+garbh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWuVHVKy3ctLE47BBq9_DvffYNrYPvl3A_rhTw9emj2WO0v4NuFR3F5wcFYauGtpOLEwO7-AuxY_BLtYJMMK_Nmqn_1oIPwWi2-uFkQGEf4DLK_kMbRQ8WKXzlkk_cUWSwQEECMIWMbY/s400/agni+garbh.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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These are the dynamic entities through which "divine" energy and "divine" plan are communicated to us, the channel through which we connect with that power and talk to it as it talks to us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQzAHV8JTwQlZUFoncCC8iyvDzTEGcn003tNVICde3ET2zHObGvv_oszkbv0XnX5qYMGd8jVLfulJwrpoj5ZuSlPP2q5_n6mLifLJgB_Z-_gajleZpRmA63nitThLfR7asYQ6RLw4iMsA/s1600/victory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQzAHV8JTwQlZUFoncCC8iyvDzTEGcn003tNVICde3ET2zHObGvv_oszkbv0XnX5qYMGd8jVLfulJwrpoj5ZuSlPP2q5_n6mLifLJgB_Z-_gajleZpRmA63nitThLfR7asYQ6RLw4iMsA/s400/victory.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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We forget this and we forget to trust in these forces. Vishvakarma Puja is dedicated to reviving and energizing that channel and nourishing the subtle bodies of ourselves, our dwellings and our creations - our works of art, our writing, the assignments we have perforce to submit and be assessed for and the <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/16-div.htm">survival skills </a>we practice as long as we are alive. It’s a day I love so much because it binds me through that invisible thread to the humblest of artisans, workers, craftsmen – all seamlessly woven together into that divine plan that we understand so little of.<br />
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Vishvakarma is depicted in most places as an <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/od/godsgoddesses/p/vishwakarma.htm">old, bearded man riding a swan</a>.<br />
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In <a href="http://www.ilovekolkata.in/index.php/component/option,com_seyret/id,477/task,videodirectlink/">Bengal</a>, however he comes to life in every humble corner as a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPK04L_f6LOzQj5IO-0g6xzJsG2fjRav66lswfMCqCO58Xn-zSjmgvdRewhJ8NdOTjDxupxqcHGBqvA8vZfyWJiFKEhCJrYl39TlL6hWLVYor6QjRpMUdIS5yX_0DrMpcBhyphenhyphennUZPNLjDA/s1600/vishwa.jpg">swashbuckling young man </a> riding an elephant. The elephant is synonymous with stability as well as ancient wisdom. Resting on that strength <a href="http://www.indiablooms.com/PhotoFeature/170910_192_1.jpg">he rises </a>in resplendant colors.<br />
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I am always reminded of the cool, grey-tinged, sleeping, wise old earth on whose rim appears the divine gold disc at dawn.<br />
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<u>A legend in tune with this occasion on the Sudarshana Chakra's creation.</u></h4>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirumazhisai_Aazhwar">"Chakra Azhwar"</a><br />
According to one <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudarshana_Chakra">legend</a>, the Sudarshana Chakra was created by Vishvakarma.<br />
“Viswakarma's daughter Sanjana was married to Surya, the Sun God. Due to the Sun's blazing light and heat, she was unable to go near the Sun. She complained to her father about this. Viswakarma took the Sun and made him shine less so that his daughter would be able to hug the Sun. The left over Sun "dust" was collected by Viswakarma and he made three things out of it. The first one was the famous aerial vehicle Pushpaka Vimana, the second being the Trishula (Trident) of Lord Shiva, and the third was the Sudarshana Chakra of Lord Vishnu.”<br />
“Pushpaka was originally made by Vishwakarma for Brahma the Hindu god of creation, later Brahma gifted it to Kubera, the God of wealth, but was later stolen, along withLanka, by his half-brother, the demon king Ravana.”<br />
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In Kim's words:<br />
"Vimanas (aerial vehicles) can only remind me of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezekiel">prophet Ezekiel's</a> vision of the heavenly chariot with wheels within wheels. The wheels all had eyes around the rims of the wheels. The chariot could go anywhere, in any direction, and it could always see where it was going.<br />
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"Our subtle bodies are somehow more mobile than our physical bodies. They have the ability to turn and see in all directions. It's fortunate that they do, because our physical bodies are mired in the limitations of time and space.<br />
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"Vishvakarma Puja for me is the day on which those limitations are dissolved, and we can see the grand design of the universe "face to face," instead of "through a mirror, darkly" (Paul, New Testament)"<br />
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Here's to the fruition of that divine design within all of us!<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
19th December 2012</h3>
I ran into this while searching for sacred chants today so here is Sudarshana Gayatri<br />
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-15138475548620074912012-09-09T06:53:00.000-07:002012-09-09T22:33:36.918-07:00Embrace The Moment!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5svXoYRwWjBrFKlJzxUrBnKPY9-GmBTPkgtvxP6Eir1_NWF67IXyTIId-ziPTbj-tRsDvPL3Uwcs6lGTgxMiQGWj2Q0CTvu4awToNE5dWH-Ew7cjggE2Xpxpy_ac7Yx6xuFiqoRh-W1M/s1600/embrace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5svXoYRwWjBrFKlJzxUrBnKPY9-GmBTPkgtvxP6Eir1_NWF67IXyTIId-ziPTbj-tRsDvPL3Uwcs6lGTgxMiQGWj2Q0CTvu4awToNE5dWH-Ew7cjggE2Xpxpy_ac7Yx6xuFiqoRh-W1M/s400/embrace.jpg" /></a></div><br />
"There is No Place like Here, There is No Time like Now!"<br />
When the aromas of the earth burst forth this morning in the form of a myriad golden blooms in a flower pot, I felt the message clear and powerful. This moment is the<i> most </i>auspicious. So on an impulse I unlocked the blog and I have an eager visitor. I trust the spirit itself to be the guide for our journeys, for our places and moments of crossing.<br />
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A few words of ancient wisdom in welcome from our team!<br />
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“OM – Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat purnamudachyate.<br />
Purnasya Purnamadaya Purnamevavashisyate.”<br />
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<center><iframe width="320" height="180" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qPHiqDXIZEM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><br />
Vicki Hansen's Sanskrit is quaint but she creates a wonderful mood.<br />
There are a few translations as comments posted under the video. I think "This moment is perfect" does capture the spirit better than the literal translations.<br />
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Here however are more erudite posts, elaborating on the meaning of the verse.<br />
<a href="http://prathab.wordpress.com/2006/05/30/om-purnamadah/">OM – Purnamadah</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.gita-society.com/bhagavad-gita-section2/2_purna.htm">Gita Study</a><br />
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</div>Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-68234283487818824662012-06-19T00:11:00.000-07:002012-09-12T10:37:22.258-07:00"Mine The Darkness"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Inspiration For Our Upcoming LightHouse Tours</h4><br />
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<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The old lighthouse at Mamallapuram always meant something special to me, having brought to me face to face with my past life for the first time. It was atop this lighthouse in 1974, looking out on the streams and fields, the rocks and backwaters, that I visioned myself as an ancient princess gazing over the land that she held in trust. Most of all, the green squares of rice fields spoke to me, mirrored back my feelings that this was a rich and nurtured land, rich with mystery and the potential for spiritual awakening.<br />
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I've also been up to the new lighthouse in 1974 and taken in with a sweep, what felt like all of Tamil Nadu. But the old one keeps calling me back to share secrets held within the folds of its womb, the <a href="http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/As/India/TamilNadu/MahishasuraMardini.htm">Mahishasuramardini Cave</a>. "I will reveal all to the ones who trust me" the steps whisper, as I place foot after foot with reverence on their tilts and twists, struggling to keep balance. <br />
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Kim has called them the “priceless sacred caves where <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/od/godsgoddesses/p/vishnu.htm">Vishnu</a> sleeps and <a href="http://hinduism.about.com/od/hindugoddesses/a/durga.htm">Durga</a> battles.” <br />
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This single thought from Kim wrapped up for me her understanding of the mysterious paradox that is India. Think now of the lighthouse balanced on the shoulders of these deities, beaming this wisdom to whoever is tuned in. <br />
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As the new lighthouse sends its million watt beacon in a grand sweep over the bay, the old one quietly whispers wisdom to the ones who climb the ancient steps to gaze out <br />
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This <a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-10/chennai/28676240_1_lighthouse-mamallapuram-town-panchayat-arjuna-s-penance">link</a> speaks of lighthouse tourism as the next big thing in India. <br />
We have a chance to come in with our unique CTT perspective and I eagerly look forward to reader feedback here. This will help us customize our Cyber Yaatras as well as the LightHouse Packages we planning to offer in 2013 spring in the Mamallapuram region. <br />
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The old lighthouse is a protected monument so I hope they preserve the sanctity of the surroundings. It wouldn't do to have recreational activities in the vicinity! But it would be an even more pressing need to crack down on the graffitti once and for all. Again I was appalled at the crude etchings on and around The Butterball. I thought there was far too little surveillance at such an important site.<br />
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Just came across this article "<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3524757.ece">Mamallapuram: monument of neglect</a>" in The Hindu. Worth a read.<br />
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The way they carve and deface these precious monuments makes me cry. I've noticed that monuments for which there isn't an entry charge are quite neglected. It would be a great idea to tax all those picnickers and useless underemployed couples and their ill-bred spawn who go there for "timepass."<br />
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And it would be a great idea for the so called “guides” to educate the rifraf on the need to respect, indeed revere these irreplaceable sites.</div><br />
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<u><b><span style="color: #20124d;">Kim's reactions to her Lighthouse Trip</span></b></u><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">"I think one thing that moves me about these two wonderful carvings in the old lighthouse cave is their grand statement on power. Vishnu's seems at first glance to be a passive power; he sleeps while his attendants repel the demon that is threatening him. And Durga's seems to be an active power; she herself battles the buffalo demon, personification of the evil which threatens us all.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Some might say that these two carvings turn gender power stereotypes on their heads, as it is the male manifestation of God who is passive, the female who is active. But I think there are more subtle messages to be found here.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">I love it that Lord Vishnu's power is so trusting. He seems completely calm and at peace in his sleep. His serenity is deeply sensual and full of sexual potential, the potential of creation gathering within him as he rests. His arms are languid and relaxed, one fallen idly to his side. He knows his attendants can repel any danger which might threaten him in the midst of his creative meditation. He has nothing to fear, no need to act.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">Durga's power on the other hand seems to spring from an intuitive knowledge of when to act. Her carving is filled with energy and engagement; there is dramatic motion and sweeping form all around her. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">There must be a relationship between her aggressive outward contest, and Vishnu's peaceful inward trust; between her active initiative, and his passive delegation of power. Each knows how to respond to the moment. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">As you know I found Vishnu's sleeping form in the Shore Temple nearby even more powerful. I love it that it was carved from bedrock, that the temple itself was raised over him only afterwards. Somehow his bedrock form seems to symbolize how elemental his creative sleep is, and again, how sensual. Here in this carving, he's stripped of all his outward manifestations of power...no mace, no conch, no couch. He's bare and alone, yet wholly at peace and empowered in his bareness. He helps me understand that indeed, nothingness is everything."</span><br />
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</span></div>Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041569299499678526.post-52749754058476726562012-04-30T08:01:00.000-07:002012-12-18T01:32:03.324-08:00Namaste Chakratirtha!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I first encountered the word Chakratirtha in 1986 on a sudden, unplanned first visit to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri">Puri, India</a> with a group of friends. I was fascinated by the word but put it away in an obscure corner of my mind. Little did I know that years into the future, the name, the location, the concept would all become a vital part of my life. It had a pleasant association with a <a href="http://puriholidayresort.com/">beautiful hotel</a> located on a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/hotel-holiday-resort/hotel-at-chakratirtha-road/318066011581828">road of the same name</a>. I visited the hotel and the road twice more in succession and the word would occasionally circle back to me out of nowhere. It had a comforting ring to it, a sense of mission accomplished. The word evoked images of a wheel spinning in holy water. I never probed its deeper meaning. <br />
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While chakra means wheel among other things, and tirtha is "ford, a shallow part of a body of water that may be easily crossed," the sacred connotations of crossing are something I didn't think about nor did I consider how they connected with each other. <br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daya_River" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">View of Daya River from Dhauli Hill, Bhubaneswar, Orissa</span></a><br />
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Click on the links to know more about this legendary site as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orissa" target="_blank">crucial crossing</a> in history and spirituality </span></div>
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I hadn’t stopped to wonder about the purpose of these sacred pools in metaphysical or metaphorical terms, which to me now seems more important than the act of physically dipping oneself in them. Such is the mundane, stressful and often pointless existence of IT professionals(yes I was one) that when they do get a break from it all, they would rather stop thinking and let <i>feeling</i> take over. So feel I must have subconsciously done, nurturing somewhere in memory my experiences of these trips, allowing the sound of the words to echo in my thoughts and the meanings to reveal themselves. <br />
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How much I had cherished them revealed itself to me in 2010. My life took an unexpected turn towards Chakratirtha Road. There were dreams, recollections, an insistent inner urge, surfing and delving for more information, comparing and exchanging thoughts. All leading to what this venture – Chakratirtha Travels - is all about. I found myself guiding these two spiritually thirsty yaatris who felt the same inner call. They already had an irresistible feel for the terrain through our shared cyber journeys. They were now physically traversing it. The trip led to a creation that awaited its moment of birth.<br />
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Two years later Chakratirtha Travels is officially on the map. I am amazed at discovering diverse locations named Chakratirtha. I have also found my way to the sacred ford that gives its name to the road I stayed on. And the deity at that tirtha is indeed represented as a wheel containing water. <br />
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For me the chakra has evolved into a spiral, which is a powerful symbol of creation and growth in many cultures and spiritual systems. <br />
“The<a href="http://celtic-symbol-dictionary.com/celtic_spiral.aspx"> spiral</a> was the earliest known decoration used in art. The directional flow of the spiral symbolizes our movement through the experiences of life, death, and rebirth. The ancient <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts">Celts</a> believed in this idea and as a result, their myths and legends refer to this journey.” (Courtesy <a href="http://celtic-symbol-dictionary.com/default.aspx">Celtic Symbol Dictionary</a>)<br />
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Our chakra logo is inspired by the Celtic triple spiral symbol. <br />
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Again, tirtha is reminiscent of the “<a href="http://www.thinplaces.net/openingarticle.htm">thin places</a>” of the Celts. I quote “In simple terms a ‘thin place’ is a place where the veil between this world and the Other world is thin, the Other world is more near. This meaning assumes the perceiver senses the existence of a world beyond what we know through our five senses” (Courtesy <a href="http://www.thinplaces.net/openingarticle.htm">"Thin Places, Travels Through Celtic Holy Ground"</a>)<br />
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Turning back to India, <br />
“The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra">chakras</a> are believed to be a number of wheel-like vortices which, according to traditional Indian medicine, exist in the surface of the subtle body of living beings. The chakras are said to be "force centers" or whorls of energy permeating, from a point on the physical body, the layers of the subtle bodies in an ever-increasing fan-shaped formation. Rotating vortices of subtle matter, they are considered <i>focal points</i> for the reception and transmission of energies” (From Wikipedia)<br />
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<b>Namaste Chakratirtha!</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">You and I are touching hearts again! We hope to be a focal point too.</span></h4>
On this page you see a triple spiral … ancient steps leading to a mysterious location - you could take them to climb up or descend into depths ... a foot on a wave; a beautifully embellished foot, clearly divine. All coming together to invite you. What could it all convey?<br />
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“<i>Crossing thresholds, bridging realms</i>” </h4>
Thin places are the tirthas connecting the human with the Otherworld, dissolving the boundaries between them. Internet is a ford connecting people across time and space in this world of ours. <br />
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<b>Namaste</b> to our visitors. We welcome you to cross with us!<br />
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Chakratirtha, according to one definition is “swirling pool of sacred water.” The water itself is the wheel, the medium the message! We invite you to travel with us online. When the time is ripe you’ll find the foot on the wave drawing you to India in person. You will tread these steps and listen to the echoes of ancient footfalls. You will “take in the aromas of the earth and the energy of the spirits that exist and have existed in our beautiful land."<br />
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Bon Voyage from our team of three which is me, Kim and Karan. <br />
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Incognitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11172283530358540991noreply@blogger.com15