Preaching and another ashram

At the end of the visit, there is an exhibition of photos relating to His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Beatles. Despite it not being what I was expecting, I'm still glad I saw it.

Just outside the ashram, there was a marquee set up. Inside, a guru was telling the story of the god, Rama, to a crowd of several hundred devotees. Navin insisted we went in to listen for half an hour or so. He assured me that, even though I wouldn't understand a single word, I would be uplifted by the tone of his voice. He was wrong again! All that happened as I sat cross-legged on the packed women's side of the carpet was that I became incredibly hot and then I got cramp 😂. As soon as I felt it wouldn't appear too rude, I extricated myself and waited outside for Navin. There were many women sitting writing in notebooks. Navin later explained that they were writing the name of Rama over and over again (like in the old school punishment of doing lines!). They can then submit the filled pages to a 'bank' that looks like a small temple in order to accrue credits to gain access to heaven. It sounds bizarre to me!

Next, we visited another ashram, which was a haven of cool and calm with a beautiful garden. For the first and only time today, I could sort of understand why someone might want to stay in an ashram for a while and do their daily meditation and yoga. The feeling didn't last long as our next and final stop of the day was at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram.Read more