Magical Mystery Tour

Intriguingly, gods and holy men here seem to be associated with tyre shops. So far I've seen Guru Nanak Tyres, Ganesh Tyres and Baby Jesus Tyres. If you can't trust Baby Jesus Tyres, what can you trust?

Yesterday I attended a satsang with guru Sri Mooji. I really enjoyed his approach to awareness and letting go of the traps of perception of identity. Some of his devotees were a bit thick but he dealt with them kindly while letting them know they should be doing their own work before seeking out a guru.

I went to The Office which specializes in making samosas to order on the spot but he only had the makings for banana chocolate when I wanted savoury, boo hoo. One nice thing about Rishikesh is that it is all vegetarian. No meat. Mind you, it's dry too, so no booze. Not as fond of that.

The most exciting thing was going to the ashram that put Rishikesh on the international map - the TM ashram of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that the Beatles attended in 1968. It's abandoned and overgrown and we had to argue with the men at the gate over a price to let us in. It was wild to be in the pod John Lennon stayed in while writing many of the songs for the White Album. The Maharishi's digs even had a heating/cooling system and a helicopter pad. Unfortunately, some Indians don't seem to put any value on material history so they have been tearing walls down for bricks, stripping the wires, smashing the toilets and generally destroying the place. All the historical sites in India are in rough shape. We left when some guys with axes and pick axes started following us and sounded like they were demanding something in Hindi. One of them said he was a guard. India is full of self-appointed "guards."

On our way back before sunset there were funeral pyres along the river. It was affecting and somehow beautiful.

A few of us attended a sunset fire aarti at a Hindu temple along the river. It was fascinating, but the tourists with their cameras and phones literally barged into the rituals and made the priests and participants move around them. What fucknuts.

Anyway, full days. I'm beat and I have to pack up for Delhi, check out of my room and go have an ayurvedic massage.