Well, I'm home from my studies now but I have SO MUCH I need to catch everyone up on!!
One of my favorite classes while abroad was Psychology of Happiness. We evaluated different myths of things that make people happy and whether studies prove or disprove them. In one of our books, Stumbling on Happiness (a really great book that I would suggest reading), the author Daniel Gilbert travels the world to see how different cultures approach happiness. In his travels, Gilbert stops in Bangalore, India, the same city I'm studying in! While staying in Bangalore, Gilbert attends a weekend course at the Art of Living Ashram. The Art of Living follows the teachings of Ravi Shankar, who has many ashrams all over the world offering different courses; Gilbert attended a course entailed The Art of Happiness. So naturally as a class studying this, in the same city where the author was, we had to sign up for the same course!
A hop, skip, and a leap, and the scariest 45 minute rickshaw ride of my life later, we arrived at the ashram! And there to welcome us was a huge picture of Guruji himself!
Then we ran into some hiccups...
The national price of attending the ashram was 4,000 rupees, roughly $60, and the international price of attending the ashram was 20,100 rupees, roughly $300. Why this dramatic difference??? I HAVE NO IDEA. However, we were living in India so we paid the national price. We put in all of our passport info so they knew we weren't natives, but we were living in India. But of course when we got there they wouldn't let us in saying we owed the $240. Well after two hours of arguing, going over their website and proving to them that we did not cheat them (and being awakened to the fact that this establishment was just as much about the money as it was about meditation) we ending up compromising at an additional $80. Well.. half us did. The other half returned home the next morning, since they held us there until 11pm and it's dangerous to travel in India after sunset really, without a refund.
This was really hard for me. I didn't want to learn about breathing and mediation through an organization that was consumed with greed. But after talking with my mom, I decided that I didn't want to leave India with regrets. I wanted as many experiences as I could get my hands on. Even if it meant sacrificing a little pride and resentment. I knew I could still learn here and I had some healing I was hoping to accomplish here.
So into the ashram life we go!
The ashram was truly a beautiful, peaceful place to be! Everything was green and luscious and overflowing with life. We didn't have much time for site seeing though, either we were in class or eating, which was fine because I came for the class and the food was delicious!
The first day of class we pulled cards with different animals on them and split up into groups. My card/group was the cows. We gathered together and renamed ourselves The Holy Cows... a shout to India and America (everyone in my group thought "holy cow" was a funny American expression). I can't express to you all how much I loved my group!!! Even still we have a group chat where we frequently catch up with everyone. My group made the ashram home for me. And the sense of community wasn't just inside my group but everywhere! With all the groups, classes, and workers.
In class we learned amazing mediation and breathing techniques as well as discussed the secrets of happiness. And since I'm not going to make you guys pay for a flight to India and then $300 for the ashram experience, I'll just share those secrets with you:
1) Understand that opposites are complimentary.
I feel like I have been taught this my whole life in church and find it quite true. You can't have happiness without sadness. You need trials in your life in order to help you grow. A saying I like that wraps up this idea is "You can't have a rainbow without first having the rain."
2)Accept people and situations as they are.
You very rarely can change a situation that you are in. You can sometimes determine the outcome, but not the current situation. Whether you created it or someone did, you're there. Denial only makes things worse. Accept the situation and tackle it head on.
3)Live in the present.
You can't change the past and the future is always forever away. Of course, you can prepare for the future, but there's a way to do that while living in the present. Don't take anything right now for granted.
4) When people make mistakes, don't assume or get caught up in their possible intentions.
I thought this one was quite interesting. It's something I do a lot actually! Oh, that person hurt me? They must hate me! They must think this, this, and this about me and just WANT to see me in pain! ...99% of the time that's just not true. Usually people hurt you because they're humans and they just don't know what to do. And That, I can relate to. So basically, give people the benefit of the doubt. You don't know what they're going through. Forgive and move on.
And lastly...
5) Don't take on other's opinions.
It is always good to learn from other people's experience. Don't mix these up. But other people's opinions can get tricky. You can accept them, yes. But develop your own opinions. Whether it's about a presidential election, or about your next door neighbor. Don't just blindly accept someone's opinion as truth. Experience your own life and develop your own thoughts.
So those are the new 5 things I'm trying to do with my life. And continuing to rack up as many new experiences as I can.
Embracing other cultures.
Adventuring new sights.
Trying to see life through new perspectives.
Developing new friendships and working on already existing ones.
And enjoying life EVERYDAY!!!!
Overall the ashram was an amazing experience and I'm glad I stayed. Despite some organizational rules that I don't agree with, I am grateful for the things I learned in the Art of Living. Hopefully I can continue to practice them for the rest of my life.
