9 (spiritual) takeaways from 9 weeks in India

Since I keep claiming that my traveling is focused on spiritual research and exploration, while I could be writing an article about “9 must see Hindu temples” or “9 vegetarian Indian food you don’t want to miss” or any other 9-elements list, I’ve thought it would be more apt to wrap my head around what I learned about spirituality in India that I either didn’t know before going or I had the wrong idea about.

As with all learning, there needs to be constant review and adjustment so these elements might evolve on my next trip(s). At the same time one should always approach such deep concepts and cultures with a healthy dose of respect and humility. I recognise full well that my understanding might be limited or erroneous at times.

That said, to the best of my research and understanding, I’m presenting to you here my 9 (spiritual) takeaways from 9 weeks in India.

Yoga vs. Hinduism

A friend of mine recently asked me if the yoga philosophy and Hinduism are related and how. While I am still working on fully understanding the intricacies of various philosophical schools, I can confidently say that they are much more related than what I had been led to believe. Spirituality here generally comes in very non-secular outfit, contrary to what we are mostly led to believe in our asana classes in the West. So Hindu gods and goddesses and their myths act a bit like parables and teach universal truths about life and consciousness. Studying yoga in India necessarily comes hand-in-hand with a healthy dose of what I’d consider, in Italy, theology.

Better talk about yoga marga than yoga

Without getting into a theoretical and philosophical discussion, which would require a completely separate article (or collection of articles), going to India really drove home for me the understanding that there are many different paths of yoga. They are call yoga marga, or yoga marg (the presence or not of the “a” depends only on whether you are in northern or southern India). While doing a Yoga Teacher Training teaches you this, I realized it fully by being in India and talking to different teachers, practitioners, devotees and common people. As yoga is much connected and interwoven with Hinduism, it’s no wonder that most of the people I ended up talking to and spending time with seemed to follow more often the path of devotion (bhakti yoga) through their dedication to a god or goddess.

Yoga capital or yoga capitals?

Before going to India I, as many others, thought that Rishikesh was the yoga capital of the world. Heck that’s what’s written in most guidebooks and travel and yoga blog posts! While it’s true that Rishikesh and its surroundings have attracted mystics, sages, yogis and yoginis for millennia, it is by no means the only or even most yogic (pass me the term) city in India.

Given that there are many different yoga marg, my layman understanding is that depending on the path you’ve decided to follow, you might actually find another city in India more aligned to your practice. If your path is as a Krishna bhakta, a devotee of Lord Krishna, following the bhakti marg, you could consider going to Vrindavan for instance. Even if your practice is mainly linked to the physical practice of asanas and your preferred asana style is ashtanga, you better head straight to Mysore.

So while Rishikesh undoubtedly is a place of spiritual power, the “yoga capital of the world” statement rings a bit too much like a PR stunt.

"We must understand that yoga is not an Indian (thing). If you want to call yoga Indian, then you must call gravity European”
Sadhguru

Falling in love with India

“I fell in love with India” “It opened up my heart and nourished by soul” Before going to India, and even when in India, I met so many Westerners like me that told me a variation of the above statements. While I don’t deny - how could I? - their experience, it’s not quite clear to me how much these feelings have to do with India itself or rather because it’s in India that these travellers have finally dedicated some time to dig deeper within themselves, becoming “seekers”. For sure, being surrounded by temples, ashrams and yoga practices helps but these experiences come with an (un)healthy dose of chaos and challenges. So while India might indeed change your life, you might also just “happen” to be in India while you were changing your life.

80% of the conversation will lead to yoga and spirituality

Related to the above, India is indeed special with respect to most other countries I’ve been to, in that you end up talking about spirituality, yoga, and universal consciousness with most everybody you meet. While in Italy a taxi driver’s main conversation topics would cover soccer, politics and maybe now Covid conspiracies, in India you would - willingly or not - easily slide to talk about stories of gods and goddesses, mystical experiences, philosophic teachings about life and how we are all part of a universal, divine consciousness. While not everything is necessarily factually correct, for me it beats the latest political gossips any day.

Finding yourself “thanks to” or “despite” being in India?

For all seekers (aware if it or otherwise), India is a place to find themselves. I do wonder if it’s indeed “thanks” to India or rather “despite” India. Before making me into another of those superior Westerners, let me explain. India is overwhelming. The noises, the traffic, the smells, the sheer amount of people. It requires a significant cultural (and logistical) adjustment, which does not appear like a conducive environment to do self-introspection. However…cultivating detachment from the fear of death when crossing a busy road (which road isn’t busy here?), keeping your inner calm while bargaining to within an inch of your life with the tuk-tuk driver… I would argue that it’s all the challenges and the difficulties brought by this adjustment that help strip away the superfluous layers of ourselves.

Spiritual consumerism

Yoga can be well said to be one of the (if not the) most successful of Indian exports. And as with all goods that are high in demand, market always develops proportionally. If you search YTT (Yoga Teacher Trainings) in Rishikesh on Google maps, to say one city, you will find a peppering of red dots. And even more signs and posters while strolling its streets. Without getting into the discussion of whether spiritual teachings should be free or not, it’s a fact that unfortunately many people (Indian and foreigners alike) that are earning their living from yoga and similar practices are not genuine in their intentions and sometimes superficial in the knowledge they are sharing. However we are desperate to find that unique experience, that training to end all trainings so we easily fall prey to these fake gurus.

The importance of having a guru

The concept of needing a guru as a precondition to progress on your spiritual evolution is quite foreign to the Western thought, which in the last century has glorified the ability of each individual to carve its own path and achieve her ultimate goal through her own effort. In India, the relationship between a guru and his disciple(s) is the subject of many scriptures, books and discussions. I’ve been told that a guru is akin to a plane, that is able to take you faster to the place you need to reach. Or a torch, that lights the way. The focal point here is: how fast do you want to reach your destination? If you have a lot of time (i.e. many lifetimes), you could go and explore through trial and (often costly) error. If you want to go faster, you need someone to guide you.

Beware of the dangers of spiritual practices

Riding on the coattails of yoga, in recent years a variety of more or less exotic (read esoteric) spiritual practices have found their way to us in the West. We try one, pick up another, with the same underlying belief that underpins common perceptions of homeopathy: at most, it doesn’t work. Wrong! What I’ve been told in India, over and over again, is that spiritual practices are powerful and could have negative effects if not performed properly (and in most cases under the guidance of a guru, read above). Friends have recounted story upon story of people getting serious physical ailments from erroneously working with energies that they didn’t understand and were not ready for. So India taught me a healthy dose of respect and that it’s best step back to the basics, instead of experimenting with too advanced techniques.

There would be many more insights to write about…but then if I had finished writing everything I believed should be said, would’t I just be too boring?