Special Features (2007)
The Sacred Retreat Tour will be traveling to northern India, where there are many sacred sites to visit. The energy of this area is palpable, and worthy of the thousands of sages and yoga adepts that have walked this ground. Treat yourself to spiritual grandeur! Here are a few of the places we will be experiencing... |
Lakshman Jhula
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< Lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula
The legendary suspended bridges of
Rishikesh are located at Lakshman
Jhula and Ram Jhula. From these
bridges an incredible and picturesque
view of the Ganga and the surrounding
foothills of the Himalayas. Beautiful!
Cows, pigs and monkeys share the
bridge with the people, and there are
views all around!
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Vasistha Goofa Cave >
The energy-filled dark stone cave, where the famous saint Vasistha meditated on the banks of the Ganga. It is said that during a bhandara (feeding the masses), there was not enough food for the preparation of sweets. The resident sage told a disciple to go take some sand and water from the bank of the Ganga, and upon returning to the grounds, it was made into milk and sugar, used for the kheer (rice pudding)! After the bhandara, the disciple was told to take a bowl of the kheer and put it back in the Ganga, and upon doing so, it turned back to sand and water.
This is indeed an auspicious place for meditation and manifestation of dreams! |
View from Vasistha Goofa Cave, overlooking the Ganga........
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< Uttarkashi
The beautiful grace of Uttarkashi is also the origin
of rivers Ganga and Yamuna, the sacred rivers of India. Also known as the 'Devbhoomi' (the land of gods and goddesses), Uttarkashi is a breath-taking region of the Himalayas, with enchanted valleys, mystical lakes, sacred streams and rivers, and an awesome high-rise panorama of rocky ridges and snow-capped peaks. Home to many of India's sages and mystics, these Himalayan regions will touch your heart and carry you effortlessly into the inner world.
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Gangotri >
The land of dreams! Gangotri is considered
one of the four pilgrimages that every Hindu must take once during his/her lifetime. Gangotri's strong mystical energy is powerful, palpable for anyone who enters the region.
A true spiritual aura permeates this area. Gangotri is considered to be the spiritual
source of India's most sacred river, the
Ganga, and Gangotri is the place where the Ganga's purifying waters are said to touch
the earth for the first time. Her thundering waters at Gangotri will call you within.
In the Himalayas, many mystics and yogis
have spent decades or lifetimes in the mountains caves, meditating and engaging themselves in deep spiritual practices. Despite the severely cold winters in these areas, many of the mystics and yogis remain in Gangotri year round. (During an earlier trip to Gangotri, Dale and Ragani met a yogi who had been in silence for many years. He was residing in a tiny hut in Gaumukh, the physical source of the Ganga. Dale and Ragani were wearing their parkas and long underwear, even while sitting in the sun, and this thin yogi was wearing only a loin cloth around his waist and sitting in the shade (cold!) of his hut.) Indeed, these areas are home to incredible yogis and ascetics.
It's no wonder that this land is called
"Devbhoomi" or "land of gods and
goddesses". There is an unmistakable
and profound spiritual energy that
permeates this entire region of the
Himalayas.
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The is the entrance to one of the legendary
caves in Gangotri where many yogis have lived
and practiced their sadhana (spiritual practices)
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When in India and the surrounding Himalayas, it is amazing to realize that you are in the presence of
the sages, who are always around. Though they are not always seen with the eyes, the energy of their tapas
(spiritual practices) and meditation can be felt... Here the energies of the heart can meet, for there are
no separations within the cave of the heart.
Meditate in this atmosphere, take rest in the land where the sages walk, and bask in the energy of
thousands of years of spiritual practice. Allow it to transform you. That is the power of India.
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