~~OM~~

I recently returned from a short visit to the Himalayas. Joined by three dear friends, Sanjay, Sushil, and Swami Ramkripaluji, we visited several places in the Kumoan before we headed for Yamunotri and Gangotri.

We took mules into the higher mountains on the way to Gomukh. There were no bridges, so the mules had to cross the many rivers and tributaries we came upon in mid-stream.

The oxygen was so sparse, one could hardly breathe, and when I dipped into the freezing water flowing from the melting glacier, the cold was so biting that I breathed deeply, and the air was so thin that I fell faint. I grabbed onto a boulder at the river’s edge, pulled myself out, and tried to still my breath.

Then I realized: that was not a bath. That was a baptism.

Swamiji

August 30, 2009