Tarak Paul, great guy doing great things!

We were fortunate to cross paths with Tarak Paul on the road the other day as we were riding up to the Nepal border  from Varanasi.

Originally from Calcutta, Tarak has now been cycling now through india for 3 months with a plan to continue for at least 2 years. Tarak is cycling to raise awareness about the importance of planting and not cutting trees!
As he rides he stops at schools all along the way and encourages the students to plant trees around their homes. He is specifically encouraging them to do so on the family members graves/ashes because then these trees are least likely to be cut as they will have an additional significance to the families.

He encourages children to be respectful of their natural environment and to make steps in their lives to live more sustainably. Like cycling!

Really wonderful person with a positive enthisiastic energy doing great things for the planet!

Thanks Tarak!

Samadhan- meaning to solve

It's mid day on a Sunday in Dehradun. We are laying on our yoga mats in Ghandi park sleeping after having taken a night bus into the city the night before when two young women our age in white and red saris come and ask if we are okay.

A crowd of all the men hanging out in the park quickly forms as they are also curious as to what we are doing.

We explain that all is well, we're just taking a rest before catching a train that night.
The young women explain their mission. They are working as lawyers in practice for an NGO called Samadhan that provides free emotional, physical , and legal assistance to woman who face abuse throughout India.
They help all women, and those with unknown or mixed genders that are facing abuse regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religion. Completely free of cost.
They have a 24 hour helpline for immediate assistance.
And they provide a safe space for women to come to and recover in confidentiality and with support from other women who have gone through and experienced (mostly sexual) abuse and recovered from it themselves.
They also provided legal assistance if the women want to press charges.

Every weekend the women and Samdhan go out into the community and raise awareness about women's rights and about there presence in the community to provide help. They quickly seize the opportunity of the crowd drawn around us and start speaking with strength and passion to this group of men, telling of their mission, encouraging them to take the help number down and share with women they know.
Their strength in talking to this group of men, mostly workers taking a a sunday nap or stroll in the park, is inspiring. They bring out a banner and have us all get together for some photos.

They invite us to visit their center and we cycle up to 'mam's home where they explain further their mission and experiences. And give a tour of the space they provide there to women in recovery.

They have provided this space and support to many women who have faced sexual abuse in the area, both indians and foreigners. Women who otherwise would have felt alone and helpless in this situation.

They are a group of women with such a strong positive energy and continued faith in the good of people. As we leave they have us first take photos together and take a little video where we express our feeling of inspiration in their strength and they tell us that they love us!

We feel greatful to have gained their contact information so we can spread it further throughout India so more women can reach help when they are in need.

CONTACT INFO
Whats app number: 09012511119
24 hour call line: 9897757509
Website: www.samadhanngo.org
Email: samadhan09@rediffmail.com
Founder and amazing women: Renu D Singh
Samadhan is based is  Derahdun Uttrakhand but has many people working all over India and in Nepal as well.

The timing in meeting the women of Samdhan felt especially fitting as I'm now reading 'May You Be the Mother of A Hundred Sons' by Elizabeth Bumiller.
Published in 1990, it's a book on issues and hardships faced by women throughout India, from the view of an outsider but with a good effort to remain open and unbiased. I had just been reading about dowry related abuse experienced by women before setting the book down to nap when the women of Samdhan arrived. Bringing things a little more up to date with what is being done to combat these still issues that are still very prominent in Indian society today.

While religion and culture (in india in particular) can make issues more complex. We find that most issues we are facing today come back to common root causes and common solutions. As we move further away from our connection with the land, and with our fundamental needs we become more disconnected with ourselves and with others. As we loose respect for ourselves, as we lose our sense of worth and place we lose respect for others and their own sense of place and worth.
In traditional societies the role of a women is absolutely essential. Nothing gets done without her from the growing and cooking of food, to the growing and nurturing of the community. As people urbanized, whether by desire or by force this role is reduced, many essential functions of the mother are replaced by the market and monetary income which is often the realm of the husband.
These strong powerful women who were once the most essential and appreciated by society often get turned into feeling like a burden.  
As we move forward, finding ways to empower women in their role of those that nurture society is absolutely essential. No sustainable progress can be made without them. It's a shame for such an inherent and instinctual desire to selflessly care for a nurture others to be put to waste.
As women we have the ability and responsibility to heal and care for a largely broken society and encourage pur sisters around us to do the same.
Let's get to it.

Back down to 'India'

From the high dry cool mountain air to the  hot and humid plains. The climate, landscape, and culture transforms quickly back to what feels more like the 'India' that would come to mind when one thinks of the name.

After the top of the final mountain pass leaving the region in rain shadow we continue to wind down over a couple of days. Going from nearly 4000 meters elevation (actually the lowest pass) to near sea level. Cruising through the first real jungle experienced in over 3 months is exhilarating as the views become obscured by a thick wall of sub tropical trees and shrubs. The silence of the dry mountain desert is replaced with the loud hum of insects and the songs of birds.
Feeling giddy with all the greenery. :)

The increase in stimulus and in life continues into the villages and cities as we come into Manali and Kullu areas. More crowded homes, people, traffic, pollution bring a shift in energy, and a less personal interconnected energy between people. We try to face this shift with an open mind, not to find judgement and comparison with that of the life up in the high mountains. Instead focusing on how all these people are just like us, with the same physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Being around so many people is an exciting opportunity to share in the compassion of this oneness!

As we continue from Manali down down the Apple orchards are replaced by increasingly tropical trees, curry trees call out from the roadside along with guava and bananas ready to pluck.
We can't ride to close to the edge as nettle is thriving there as well. An abundance of nutrition ready to heal the body and soul.

We feel greatful to be experiencing this transition on a bicycle. Feeling more connected to the shift in environment, people, and place than we could have inside the closed doors of a vehicle.

Our first night after Manali we are feeling very much back in 'India' as we are  reminded by the tremendous hospitality here. As we are asking about a safe place to put our tent a family on the hillside welcomes us into their home for the night. We spend time talking and exchanging ideas and culture on the terrace and then they treat us to an extremely rich fulfilling dinner of chapattis dripping in ghee and perfectly spiced vegetables straight from their backyard. In the typical Indian way we are served first and treated like royalty as they bring in cut up fruits and warm glasses of milk to top off the meal, always trying to give more and more.
There is a feeling of immense warmth in this hospitality as the gratitude feels mutual.
Or gratitude at their generosity feels at balance at the happiness and fulfillment they receive at being able to give.

After we finish eating they send us to bed then have their dinner. Though we always wish we could enjoy the meal all together with them in a more casual way we appreciate that this isn't the way new guests are often treated in a Hindu home. The saying 'Guest is God' is too engrained into their being.

We are sent off in the morning with giant smiles and kisses blown back and forth between the beautiful two wives of the house. The ladies that make everything in the family happen with such grace and selflessness.

Continuing down the vegetation continues to shift and we continue to be greeted with warmth. Pedestrians and drivers share smiles, 'Namastes', and some calls out of 'very nice!'
Curiosity of people in what we are doing and what we think of their country increases as we leave the well cycled tourist route between manali and leh and become more of a novelty.

We have a train booked from from Dehradun to Varanasi for the next day so it's our only day to ride as far as we are able before taking a night bus to Dehradun in the evening. After this the culture people and place shifts much more rapidly as we get whisked a way to a new world with the power of fossil fuels.

Shooooooom!!!
(We are actually on the train flying past fields of rice in Uttar Pradesh as I write this)

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

Cycling impermanence

Dhamma lessons through cycling:

As the time spent climbing this pass increase, the time left to the top decrease.

As the time spent peddling with effort increase the time left until peddling with ease decreases.

As the time spent whizzing down this mountain increases, the time left to the bottom decreases.

As the time spent in thirst or in hunger increases, the time left until this throat or hunger is quenched decrease.

As the time spent in a feeling of danger or stress increases, the time left until feeling safety and comfort decreases.

As the time spent alone increases, the time left until being in the company of others decreases.

As the time spent in the daylight increases, the time until darkness decreases.

As the time spent inhaling increases the time until the end of this breath decreases.

As the time spent alive in this body increases the time until the end of this body's life decreases.

And vice versa.

On and on.

All that can be perceived to have a beginning, within this beginningless and endless cycle of existence, will come to an end. All is impermanent, there is nothing to attatch onto other than to remain aware of the impermanent nature of all things.

Cycling through the mountains I practice this mindfulness of impermanence with each action and each experience. With mindfulness there is no positive or negative experience, there is no suffering, as the mind understands all to be transient.
Why feel mental stress in a situation when it is only going to pass into a new situation?

It brings me a sense of exhilaration and excitement in each moment as I become aware that this moment will only exist now and that it will change into something new and unknown. There is no time to waste missing this moment because it's the only chance I have to be in it...

I was cycling and now I'm standing.
My shoe was untied and now it's tied.
I was asleep and now I'm awake.
I was silent and now I'm singing.
This food was raw and now it's cooked.
There was sun and now there are clouds.
I was going up and now I'm going down.
We were together and now we are apart.

On and on moving from one moment to the next.

There are 5 truths that are always present in this living body- all else is perception created in the mind
1) we are either awake or asleep
2) there is either daylight or darkness
3) we are either inside or outside
4) the body is in one of four position- laying down, sitting, standing or in motion
5) this body is always inhaling and always exhaling with its impermanent nature. As a breath is created it is bound to end and in this understanding all other forms and beings follow under this law of impermance with beginnings and endings. When something begins the time of its existence increases while the time it has left decreases.
Let go and enjoy the duration as it is.

The mind likes to be entertained. So rather than letting it wander around to thoughts of past and future, creating  tensions out of nothing. We can entertain it with mindfulness of the impermanence of each moment.

So simple.
Such a relief.
And really such fun!

Thanks to Mahabodi dhamma meditation center in Leh for the evening meditation sessions that cleared out mind and refreshed our practice in mindfulness.

May all beings feel free of attachments to the future and past as this is nothing more than a thought. May we all feel ourselves and others to be forgiven. May we all feel ourselves and others to be appreciated.
May we all live a life of love and compassion. 
May we all be free of suffering.

:)
Ladedah and ThaThaTa

Finding balance in a shifting world

Cycles of energy spiral and shift
From one being to another
From one form to the next

We sit amongst the half harvested field of wheat, sipping on the well known mountain chai of numkeen (salt and butter tea) and dipping in wheat chapatti made from last year's harvest
Or
Resting among the stacked barley scattered within the harvested field eating kholoc (numkeen chia with tsumpa or roster barley flour) the tin can of tsumpa in the center
With the pit toilet (composting toilet) readily accessible and lines of donkey, cow, dzo or yak poop drying near the house waiting to be applied to the field to supplement next year's crop.
This cycle of energy comes alive as it is always spiraling and shifting from form to form, being to being.

In these Ladahki and Zanskari villages we have been blessed to experience and learn from this interconnection that is completely interlinked with the way of life here. Traditionally there was no such thing as waste as everything needed to live, sustain and survive was taken from the earth and then returned back in its different forms. Even though some of these places we visted and spent time do not yet have a motorable road they now have access and are using some packages products from the market and supplementing more and more with subsidized wheat and far off industrial grown rice and dal.
With this so-called development inching its way into this fundamental, self-sustaining way of living there has since been much breakdown in this once interconnected cycle and deep rooted values and wisdom. This breakdown is and has been seen and experienced everywhere as this harmonious way of living was how all life had lived, however the drastic impact is shown readily and clearly within the still partially routed Ladakhi culture here in the high desert of the Himalayas.
This impact goes far beyond this relationship with the land and immediate environment but also in the breakdown of community. Previously any struggles faced were remedied and supported within the community, Any help was met through time and reciprocal actions- even people coming from further away villages would make the journey to extend their time and hands in the neighbors harvest. Now government figures in far off cities decide on how these people should live without having ever cut grass or harvested barley.
This cycle of give and take within the community and between the land and animals was based upon dependence- giving each person purpose and dedication to this cycle.
Although this self sustaining way of living, especially in this harsh environment takes tremendous amounts of physical work from dawn to past dusk these individuals are the most rich in happiness through their connection with themselves, one another and the world around them. They each know their place, having a strong sense of belonging, without a questioning to their identity....
isn't this what we all look for?...
There is no need to look and strive for more purpose or to satisfy and supplement the identity with extra labels through actions or things. Simply living in the cycles that govern all life that allow for survival is enough.
Days are filled with hard work but the long days provide just as much time for interaction and connection with one another and leisure acitivies. Following harmoniously with the cycle these yearly and daily tasks are done with a mindful and calm pace as these traditional ways of doing these tasks take time and throughout this time laughs, rest and connections are interconnected in this cycle. 
While the several hands sickling or pulling the wheat, barley or black peas from the land constant conversations, discussions and gossip is exchanged mixed in with the numerous tea breaks. Through out the daily harvest it is common to have people from the community drop in for a chat and a helping hand in the harvest.
While carrying loads of grass or peas on one's back or the back of donkeys passing conversations are had between neighbors often ending in holding 'O' (yes, yes) or Jeu, Jeu, Jeu (respectful acknowledgment)
Words cannot fully describe this way of living that we truly all long for as it is always within our hearts, based in our roots of existence.

Once in Leh (the main city of Ladakh) we watched a film showing that released many tears in the truth it way able to reveal and linked with many of the thoughts, conversations and feelings we have been experiencing throughout this journey.
Please take the time to watch this film called Ancient Futures as it will relate to all that are in anyway affected by this Western life and globalization.

**** here is a YouTube link that shows the film in full: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ayFTIcmO_Fw

Of course we can't all go back to the land in the way of the Ladahki people and nor should we as each group of people and each environment call for a different way of living. These differences that make cultures should be valued and appreciated.  Instead of "bringing the remote to the mainstream" (one of the many road signs of the Border Roads Organization/ BRO) may we see the beauty, resiliency and importance of the many side streams that are essential in maintaining and providing life to the ecosystem of which we all live.

Ladakh used to be known as Little Tibet with Buddhism still very prevalent within its prayer flagged strewn mountains and the many stupas  dotting the landscape. With this practice and philosophy present in many of the minds and lives here The Middle Path is seen as a way of hope- to not continue to live in such isolation as these villages once were but also not to totally leave this way of living to come to cities and depend on the global economy for survival.  Instead taking a path in the middle that keeps the community intact and allows for more dependence within the local environment (people and nature).  As we are all looking for this balance of how to deal with this growing globalization and development this Middle Path can be seen as the route everywhere as a means to localize- supporting local craftsmen/women, artists, musicians, farmers- supporting one another and our immediate environment and growing a stronger, more resilient community and ecosystem. In return giving each a sense of belonging.

So how can we live?
1) with awareness-
May we do our best to be aware of these effects on the relationships we have with ourselves, each other and the world around us as these interconnections and cycles always exist and are waiting to be expressed more fully in harmony with all life.
2) with pride and respect-
Pride for our own culture and the joy to share with others. Respect for all others and their way of living. To be open to learning from these ways of living and being and with wise thought be able to distinguish and utilize that of which compliments living in harmony with all life.
3) with oneness in our hearts and minds
This oneness is always present within our hearts but it is just the mind that tends to create division. No matter birthplace, religion, occupation or livelihood; no matter young or elder-
We all come from the creation of the universe, living under the same moon, the same sun, all with the same basic needs.

~May we live simply and with compassion