This image is located in a courtyard just outside the ashram where I am staying. It is a statue of Vishnu and Lakshmi........................So today is the end of my first week in my self-directed retreat. The room where I am staying is large enough to do all the things needed to complete my daily routine. The routine begins at 4:30 am when the monks begin to chant and sing, now this may sound romantic but the hall that the singing emanates from is made of marble and the main singer is amplified through a very poor speaker, think loud and tinny. This goes on for an hour then I meditate for an hour, after that I rest, and then it's snack time, fruit and nuts. After snack it is time to bathe, there is no running hot water so I have to heat about 2 gallons of water in a bucket with a thing called a heating-rod. You know that life is a bit boring when bathing with 2 gallons of warm water is the highlight of the day..............After bath it's about 45 minutes of Yoga, yes Yoga, I got a book that has simple asanas with breathing techniques. (at some point I may blog about the whole Yoga atmosphere here in Rishikesh). After Yoga another hour of meditation then rest. Around 10:00 am I do laundry and house cleaning, then it's off to get something to eat...........There are several restaurants that I like, I usually eat one meal Indian food the other continental. Then I walk and find a place next to the river to read. More walking, then back to the room where I meditate for another hour. Then I do Tai Chi and leave the room again to shop or walk and get my evening meal. Around 7:oo pm I'm back in the room and read until 8:30 or so then sleep till 4:30............................That's it, I'm not sure if I'm doing myself any good but I feel relaxed and when I close my eyes to meditate there is more space and less clutter........... That's about it for now. Next post will be a walk upstream where the real action is..........NAMASTE
The above image is of Siva the destroyer, much revered in India. Because the Hindu believes that death is just a shedding of this incarnation and one will now move on to a new life they heap much praise on Siva....................Each evening at the base of this statue they hold a ceremony and people light candles and put them in little boats with flowers and float them down the Ganges.
This is outside the main temple and is a statue of Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield. The story is from a century or two before Buddha's time or about 2700 years ago. Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver. Of the the three main gods there is Brahma the creator, Vishnu and Siva the Destroyer. 
Above is atop a temple that is next to the river. I'm pretty sure that they are of Ganesh and Vishnu. Vishnu has all the cool incarnations Krishna, Buddha and Rama among others that we don't hear much about in the west.....................
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