Best (Enlightening?) Spiritual Experience in India

I went to the Rajneesh Ashram to see the big guy. My question was an odd one. Did he miss being a Philosophy teacher? He answered in that slurring voice otherwisw and vague while looking over at his Rolls Royces. I received instant spiritual insight. Being a poor professor is good, getting money from drugged out, spiritually adrift forens with too much money is better..

The best proof of this is an IndiaMike post by a young Indian girl who moved to the west and has since found her own self worth raised to a level she never knew exisited

But yes I do believe most westerners gain insight from leaving their protected zone of normalcy and seeing a world which moves at a different pace with sometime (and sometime not) different values

I'd like to think we all learn from each other

Hmmm..I dont know, I 'lost' my religion. Does that count?

Reading the 'best of alt.atheism' on the computer,at the age of 23.....

Great quotes,had me in splits, then a wee bit serious, then with gritted teeth and then abject defeat in the face of logic. Just like that, I knew I'd been had, big time.

Then followed a period of depression(in that moody teenager style) and then it all went away. I KNOW I'm a better person for that.

Richard Dawkin, Daniel dennet, Stephen J Gould and a whole bunch of others showed me everyday 'miracles' and that I'm immortal too, in every DNA word.

Like the Mahabharatam,


As long as the sun, the moon, the mountians and seas exist....

So will I, so will I.

I guess I'm more an Agnostic. Believe that something is out there but not quite sure what. Evolutionary Science, Big Bang or Great power or combination of any or all However luckily you don't have to be spiritual to be enlightened . All you have to be is alert and alive

yes, and you don't have to leave the US to do that....

Yeah steven_ber

Gr8 retrieval Lotus-Flower!

“There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

In Jaipur I got really drunk and at 0300hrs I went outside, found a ledge to sit on, and watched a cow eat garbage. And at this point, I said to myself "life is sweet."

Oh and in Goa one of my closest friends went psycho and we haven't talked since.

Good times.

I went to Haridwar.....hoping to wash my sins in the ganga....but apparently ganga has done enough sin washing and has become so dirty i did not feel like stepping in teh water....but i decided i might as well dip a little...so as i approached the banks on teh night of aarti (prayer) being pushed around in teh crowd i suddenly found myself surrounded by a bunch of old ladies who sang hymns together....and they sang with such beauty...as though the noise aorund me died and i felt my soul lift up in teh air beyond the corwd far away...in a crowd where it was hard to move i felt an isolation and as though i was in teh presence of god....all alone in this beautiful spot being blessed....a feeling i have never felt before

But surely if you did believe in God, then a "railway platform in Gujarat" would be your ideal Temple, Steven??? KK

The realisation or understanding God is a tough thing. The journey in search for this ultimate truth is life.

I posted a whole pilgrimage log on line. It was 'enlightening' for me, but then.. spirituality is such an individual thing, isn't it? If its a beer you're looking for, and a beer you get.. well.. hey that's a great experience. For my log, search for '17 days' here on Mike. As for 'the best' for me... now that would be a very tough choice. For many, I guess the touching down of the plane fulfilling a lifelong dream of Mother India beckoning might just do it. For others (not IMers for sure) getting back on that plane might be the most special moment.

EM

i was staying in Asvem, north Goa in 94, i was on a almost deserted beach, every day i was past by 3 fishermen & they always gave me a big smile & waved, then this day they came by carrying an empty net & looking rather sad. & i thought to myself, "i wish i could catch them the biggest fish in the sea". then in a matter of minutes i heard these big splashes at the edge of the water, when i looked up, there was what i thought was a beached dolphin, when i stood up i seen it was a massive sting ray, so i ran along the beach to a fishing boat, took the oar & put it under the ray & helped it back into the sea, only when i sat down, i thought "no way, i've just wished to catch the biggest fish in the sea", don't get me wrong, i'm not saying it was the biggest fish in the sea but it was the biggest fish i've ever seen.

EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING

Inside the Tibetan temple at Sarnath there are the usual wheels ... had a little play with them ... whilst using the big 'un ... quite interesting ... nothing special