News of the Weird

People come to India for many different reasons.

We've met people here who are searching for something, i.e. "I'm searching for myself." or "I'm searching for meaning." One such fellow from Australia regularly comes to India to meet with his Yogi. And it is the opinion of his Yogi our problems stem from our ego; the egotistical and self-centered life leads to pain, he says. Apparently, one must slough off one's ego to achieve Yogi-hood and greater happiness. Though the idea of becoming a Yogi sounds rather egotistical in itself to me, I can see how unpacking one's ego creates a situation wherein you have less to lose. You are freed of the need to "say face", and perhaps better equipped to answer life's problems. It's the ascetic's value system taken to a psychological place. Getting rid of "stuff" includes this internal baggage.

So, the Buddha goes home and begs from his wife and son.

However, I think this was all to prove a point and Buddha never meant for begging to become a lifestyle. I any case, we are not giving very much (if at all) to the beggars here. I do not see this as a sustainable lifestyle and I don't feel inclined to help prop it up. I say as much when the beggars ask for money and, though they probably have no idea what I am saying, my intent is clear enough.

Perhaps in the future I will bless them and say, "Congratulations, you are now Yogi. Yogi's have no need of money. You are free."

Perhaps that sounds simplistic, but much of life is down to personal choice and the sentiment above salutes that. While the poor here are born into it, it is less crazy-making for all to see poverty, in part, as personal choice. This is something which must be understood, if you are to remain in India.

We've met other travelers too. We met a couple who have a deep love of raw foods and pirated software. We've met several Europeans on bargain holidays. We met an American who, just two days from landing in India, had a profound need for hash (or some drug, any drug) to ease the pain of it all.

However, we've met no Canadians. We hear from some Indians, "Oh, yes I just saw a Canadian couple this morning." But we've not seen them. Not that I am upset about that. We're here to see India. However, It occurs to me that the lack of Canadian travelers could be down to the weak Canadian dollar. The British pound, Australian dollar, and Euro are all worth at least twice as much as our sad loonie. Even the US which is verging on bankruptcy has a stronger dollar. Now that's weird.