Matthew: Varanasi

So we are nearing the end of our trip, Patrick and I. I have been under the weather for a while but am now quite recovered. My attempts to meet with and participate with schools have not been very successful. But I wanted to describe a little bit a wonderful experience for us yesterday. We managed to be offered an audience - darshan - with the Jadaguru of the North who is staying in Varanasi while he is recovering from pneumaonia. We offered him fruit which he received very graciously before returning a piece to each of us as prasad - blessing. He is an older man with flowing grey hair and beard - stronly build and a radiant and warm but strong face. He immediately made us feel comfortable by talkinfg of spirirtual matters which would be familiar to us. He then repeated several times that man is not God but when the light of God shines through hime he is not other than God. Two of his disciples tried to rephrase this to make sure that we understood. I ventured that it was similar to Jesus saying "Why callest thou me good ...and they immediately concurred finishing the biblical quotation for me. The Sage, whose name I do not know even yet, invited us to have breakfast which was received from the hands of one of his chief disciples. It was a simple dish of rice balls mixed in rice with herbs and spices. After this encounter and bidding farewell to the Spanish Gentleman who had effected the introduction we retraced our steps down beside a temple and onto the ghats - the bathing steps which form thethe city side of the river Ganges. It was still early morning anfd a huge amount of activity with people bathing, chanting, teaching, and vendors setting up for the days business - also children going to school.
Today we have just gotten back from a visit to the Deer Park where the Buddha gave his first sermons just 8 miles from Varanasi. It is a Peaceful spot which was as well after the hectic drive throught the noise and dirt and chaos of the traffic. It appears the the two strams of opposite moving traffic are like streams of water which spread out and run together and one has to remind oneself that these streams are composed of steel and flesh and blodd.

Matthew Signing off