Have you seen Jonathan Spollen? Missing in Rishikesh since February 3rd, 2012

Here's a more thorough answer;

The ashram was abandoned in 1984 because the supreme court of India turned the whole place into a national park called the Shahaji National park. The Maharishi did not own this place and had it on lease. Once the ruling was passed, there was little the Maharishi could do but abandon the land. Just weeks before the place had to be abandoned, the local forest authorities told the ashram workers that they could take with them all that they could before the deadline and because of this there are no switchboards, taps, furniture and metal parts left in the ashram. Everything was ransacked and sold off in the local market.

The meditation halls were aircondtioned… In the 1960′s n that too in an Indian forest! There was a helipad, a post office and a bank inside the ashram. All this made the place pretty remarkable.

A lot of private companies are interested in acquiring this property and turning it into a meditation resort but the Indian forest act does not allow this. Only government bodies are allowed to touch the place and Indian government being corrupt and lethargic, you can expect this place to rot and crumple one day for sure.

There is only one guard looking after the place. By law, no on is allowed to enter this ruins but the guards are lenient and let people inside if you just hand them some money.

If anyone wants to get there, get to rishikesh and ask for ‘chaurasi kuti’ which means 84 huts in Hindi. The ashram had roughly 84 huts, hence the name.

Also, there is a ‘Vithal ashram’ in rishikesh. The locals might guide you to that ashram because vithal and beatles sound the same to them. Just ask them to take you to chaurasi kuti across the ‘barage’ which means a dam. So if you want to get to the ashram, cross the dam over the Ganga and get to the other side. There is a ferry service too.

I found it on this link which has more pics, to give you an idea of the size of the place & there are many more buildings besides these;
http://blog.ounodesign.com/2009/07/0...-in-rishikesh/

Man, that doesn't look very inhabitable KK - surely the dogs, monkeys & snakes have moved in by now.

It undoubtedly wouldn't suit you with your suit & briefcase but some of us spiritual types can talk to the animals you know.
KK

Thanks for filling in that Maharishi ashram question, KK.

(And, btw, really good that David could finally confirm that this "Nyaneth" = Neelkanth.)

Peak, sadhus may converge or take temporary refuge in such places, or more uninhabitable even. More even, their vocation may sort of call for it. (Seeking out deprivation and asceticism and such. Among some sects, seeking out "dark" or reportedly haunted places or where the dead reside even, certainly. It's all about challenging oneself, and seeing how far one can take this "detachment." Spiritually, psychologically, materially. So that finally and if one succeeds, one may be liberated from one's earthly and karmic bounds. With some of these more "extreme" sects, also seeking to reverse taboos. So to engage in them, instead, in order to ideally overcome them.

Others may of course want to describe it differently, it would be sort of my rough description of the general idea. It would ideally be a life stage to come at the end of a life of successful and dutiful and orthodox material attainments, family and employment and due religious observance and such, but this doesn't prevent many a youngster from seeking it out, and as said it can naturally be a handy social niche for some who for some reason don't get along well in mainstream society. Being a holy man asking for alms sure beats being a beggar, to some.)

Although I've seen nothing yet to suggest above that they do stay at this place. But it could hold an attraction to drifting Westerners, sure, and it seems to have been said so above (the Beatles and the Maharishi? That would no doubt have to be the Lourdes of India and of Rishikesh to no few, of course.) Maybe even the occasional sadhu then, what do I know. (I've specified a couple of times before I don't know that precise area, at all.)

I don't want to come across as insisting to be the harbinger of bad news here, far be it from me (and besides indeed what do I know, any more than anyone else), and I want this to end well as the next person would, of course. But just a note that going after some spiritual pursuit and that in itself not ending well aren't mutually exclusive.

A wannabe sadhu can also stumble over a rock, etc. Indeed, with their tough life -- and in its purest form, it is really incredibly tough --, they may be quite susceptible to such mishaps. (Then some have speculated it may take a bit of a confused mind to get at that stage, or as an outsider and as suddenly, in the first place. That's not the safest of states to be in, is it.) Then indeed not all of them or various other types of "spiritual" seekers are quite as hoochy-coochy, or even mentally stable or whatever, as one might wish for.

I personally don't see why that camp was there, and in the state it was reportedly found in, and those few documents a kilometer further on. One can speculate, but I see nothing to immediately support any theory, either. Neither robery nor accident nor spiritual pursuit, for that matter. It doesn't seem to add up, in several ways, and looking at it from the one or the other angle. But of course I've not seen that spot, nor been to Rishikesh and searching there and engaging with people, etc. Nor know Jonathan, or his friends, his backgrounds.

Let David and Lynda and other family and friends and searching parties follow their instincts on it, by all means. Nor of course am I saying just give up, not at all. Which would be a stupid as well as an inhuman thing to say, in any event.

I'm sure this is exactly what Jonathan's family and friends must be facing. So what the hell they are looking at, at all. And I do of course hope they may find him, alive and well. If not, at least an answer.

Message received loud & clear Mach, but it's probably best to stick with positive thoughts & not dwell on the negatives especially since David's already stated that there is no evidence pointing to an accident in the area of the waterfall.
I think members are not wanting to get into this sort of discussion so can we leave it there??
P.S. No reply expected or neccessary.KK

I have received the following slightly confusing email from one Santosh of Adventure Trekking today- we were in contact earlier (see post 379 in this thread) when I had enquired by email about Jonathan.

Except the salutation, this is the complete text of the email.


I have asked for a contact phone number for Santosh. Will post it here if he responds. It is better for one of the family/close friends to contact Santosh so that they can check/verify etc- or determine if this is an earlier discredited sighting. Also, I have an emergency of sorts going on myself, so busy. (But will help with calls/language if required)

The email was received from adventuretrekking@rediffmail.c om at 1737 IST, about 5 hours ago.

Phew. That would seem like a lead, Capt.

Well done, again.

I've spoken to a few too .. @ the paharganj park.

Just a quick question, I've been reading this from the start but haven't seen it noted and possibly a question for David and Linda, but has Jonathan ever suffered from any kind of mental illness? If not, is there any mental illness in the family?

I appreciate and understand if this question doesn't get answered but some of his behaviour in his last weeks (and more notably the description from Capt's contact above) paint a picture of someone not neccesarily in their best way, either physically or mentally.

NB

Hi all,

I have just updated the Hindi poster as the picture on the left was distorted somewhat through the image being stretched.

The new Hindi poster can be found at the following link : http://i39.tinypic.com/344wdty.jpg

I have also attached a new Hindi .doc and .pdf to this post.

It would be great if they could be added to the first post.

I have also made some updates to the website http://www.findspollen.com. You might let me know if you think there is anything important that should be added.

Thanks again,
George



The posters are now in the first post of this thread.

Shailja GH is where the French guy was staying who is also still missing. I seem to remember you contacted them by phone if i'm not mistaken & they said they hadn't seen Jonathon??? If they know his visa's expired they may not want to admit he's there because they will be in big trouble. At this stage it may be advisable to not waste any time & contact the police in Joshimath & ask them to check all rooms at shailja GH.

Just don't try to feed them!! KK

George dargan, i noticed you are logged in, can you contact Lynda or David & bring Captains post to their attention, i think they need to act quickly on this??

It's a very touchy/difficult issue at the best of times, but especially so when it becomes convoluted with the spiritual sorts/paths. I think most would agree that if one were to drop their belongings & disappear into the wild without notice &/or concern for family/friends .... then not all is right.

Are adventure trekking in Joshimath the same company that David was speaking with in Rishi? http://www.adventuretrekking.org/