Meditative places in India to settle down

paintbusters

pollock, in 400 days, I turn 62; wife and i leave usa for india, to live on $600. monthly., 10 year visa, must exit every 6 months. I was in india in the 60s, again with wife in 90s. We will be looking to spend several months in many nice places, i saw and hope to find rural villages on the rail line, affordable houses with courtyards, some one to cook and shop, a tabla teacher. We hope you'll tip us any nice place you find. We sure want to know where you alight...

Haylo

I don't.

I think it's great that members show exactly what sort of person they are, and we should certainly not discourage that.

Gametotravel

Aka Unity in Diversity!

dzibead

So we know who to avoid.

livingbeing

I just got back from India, 3rd trip in 3 years, plus I grew up in India, in Mussoorie and Lucknow area.

Go to Kullu and that general area. It's spectacularly beautiful, "valley of the Gods". It's also easy to get to, one hour flight from Delhi to airport in Bhuntar. This area is home to huge apple orchards, and the joining of two rivers, including one named after the goddess Parvati, wife of Shiva. Near Bhuntar is Manikaran, sacred site of Shiva's deep meditation, and hot springs. It's on the Parvati river.

From Bhuntar you can get to Kullu very easily, home to a big festival in October. Kullu has white water rafting in spring. climate is like maybe virginia, with an autumn that is mild and slow, very little snow. However, if you go further up to Manali, it's colder there and more rugged, the gateway to Rohtang pass, a very dangerous road goes up there, which of course gets a lot of traffic during summer.

I found the entire area practically a paradise, and with a deep sacred feel to it, given the many temples and long history of spiritual retreat. less populated, good natural food from the area, easy to get around ( lots of taxis, buses, scooter cabs, etc ). Internet access is also quite accessible at internet cafes.,

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Paul S
Photographer

Paleface

Meditative places in India to settle down is somewhat contradictory, one could say there are no places, as peace is all in the mind and thus location is irrelevant, or one might suggest anywhere is fine because again meditative places are only in the mind. Equally is one ever settled ? Does the world of competition ever recede, can one escape the ever present static of modern life ? Far from the madding crowd, as the old movie title went. Well it’s a dichotomy some of us grapple with and the first step is the life change. The mental decision to up and shift elsewhere and begin anew is something most folks can never accomplish, due to the fear of what will be. The fear of this, or that and the other can be paralyzing. But once the fear has been conquered then the work of being peaceful becomes much easier, in the sense that fear always works to dominate peacefulness, which is why inner tranquility is so difficult to attain.
But of course location is important, my wife and I have relocated a few times and presently are completing a house in Uttarkashi area, which is located in a peaceful setting, high up a ridge with uplifting forested vistas to stare at and get lost in. Water flows by from a spring and the land is still wild enough that Leopards are frequent visitors to our doorstep being on the hunt for our dogs, and Leopard gets lucky if we are foolish enough to leave dogs outside after sunset, especially in winter.

India does have so many locations to offer for anybody looking out for a slice of land, and a house to shelter one, whether it’s to rent or buy. My preferred location is Uttaranchal, or Himachal, but we settled in Uttarkashi so there it is. Goa, Kerala, Oceanside, the Western Ghats, several locations in Madhya or Rajasthan all tempted me, but UT it is. I lived in Vrindavan for many years, and Brajbhoomi, the land of Krishna is culturally unique but environmentally a disaster. The NGO of which I was a founder member still runs in a sustained way but the state of Yamuna, the disappeared Leelavans and the heavy footfall of yatri’s was something I no longer wished to continue to heartache over. Krishna, one could suggest led me to Shiva, His Yamuna to Ganga, from the Doab to high Himalaya which are as different as chalk and cheese. We were led to this land we now live upon but perhaps this is not the right forum for explaining the how and why of it, but make no mistake the lands in the upper reaches of Bhagirathi are of a special gravity, and fulfil any spiritual criteria for meditative places. But as I’m sure we are all well aware of, a peaceful, easy demeanor doesn’t arrive just like that , the topic is highly subjective, distilling to what one is looking for, is there an objective to scale or will the journey suffice.