Enlightening Adventures

A Spiritual Swim with 70 million people!

 Kumbhu Mela in Haridwar India

The Kumbhu Mela is an amazing event!

110 million people attend over the month that it is running. It is the largest gathering of humanity in the world, and obviously the largest spiritual gathering.

The whole purpose of the Mela is to celebrate special cosmic solar convergences that happen every 12 years at a specific place on earth where the sacred Ganges River reaches the plains from its Himalayan beginnings. This event has been celebrated for an estimated 5,000 years!

The flow of humanity is awesome; pilgrims, yogis, sadhus, and just regular folk from all over India have come. The trains had people riding on the top of them, or hanging on the side of the engines. I went there by train and had a reserved bed in the sleeper car, however that did not mean anything. I woke up with a strange lady sleeping next to me on my bunk, and Tavi, my stepson, had 2 people sharing his bunk. There were 5 people sleeping on the floor between the bunks! The hallway was stacked with people, and when I opened the door to the washroom 5 sadhus (wandering monks) almost fell in!

From our hotel we could watch the streets full, yes FULL of people every hour of the day walking, as there are no cars allowed. Most people carry their basic needs wrapped in a cloth on their heads, so the streets are a sea of luggage with people underneath!

The main event at the Mela is the Royal Parade on the special day when the stars are in alignment. There are an estimated 70 million people attending this parade, so the whole route is lined with millions of people. This started right outside our hotel, so Tavi ( who was making a documentary on the event) and I were out filming and we realized, “Hey we could just stay near the front of the parade, nobody seems to notice.” So there we stayed.. Pretty soon Naga Babas, Sadhus who wear no clothing but are covered in ashes from their fires, came running in thousands to the front, as they are the leaders of the whole parade. There were all sorts of Babas, many very simple, innocent and spontaneous, some quite fierce, and in every shape and size. Their hair is worn long and matted, sometimes tied in buns that can look more like huge round bee hives.  Their hair can reach their waists or even their knees! Next entry to come

Once the parade started we were swept up by the press of bodies as it moved forwards. I had positioned myself by two bands with all the instruments of a classic northern English marching band,  drummners, bugles, trombones!!!  The bands were dressed in a mix of English marching band costumes and jazz concert, the drummers formal in their shiny gaitors and maroon uniform jackets, the trumpeters looking like they had just staggered out of an all night jazz gig, leather jackets crumpled, ties askew. Add in Indian spontaneity and it produced pounding rhythms, and dancing and general fun to be had as the drummers went wild, the trumpeter’s berserk and the dancing hilarious. Behind us the chariots with turbaned enlightened Sadhus, blessing the millions, in front the Naga Babas with their spears, clubs and tridents waving in the air. There were elephants and parades of camels ridden by uncomfortable looking nagas and sadhus,  more bands and thousands of floats with different spiritual masters on them. 

 What if you had 5 minutes to live?

A great way to check in on your spiritual state  is to answer the question “What would you do if you had only 5 minutes longer to live?” The answers I have received from others ( I will tell you my answer at the end of this story) have ranged from “Scream the whole time” to “Laugh the whole time”. Some people would go into panic, fear, rebellion and intense anger. Others would spend those 5 minutes expressing gratitude to the people around them. One person would get on the phone to their family and let them know that all is well and not to grieve or worry. Another would hug everyone around them.

One surprising response was from a young man in his mid 20s, a swear word  tattooed  across his knuckles, a former roadie and homeless bum. He explained that he would explain to everybody around him that he was comfortable leaving the body and that they should learn how to be comfortable too, so that they could live a completely joyful life.

My answer when asked this question was to express immense gratitude to all those with me at the time, to laugh and enjoy those final moments by hugging each one and letting them know through my blissful body language that all is well in the universe and in my inner space with or without a body.

When I did this exercise with a group who have been meditating together for some months we had so much fun.  As we each spoke there was the marked increase in appreciation and gratitude for each other, a depth of feeling that was tangable, like deep meditation.

My question for you is “What would you do with your 5 minutes?” If it is going to be nasty fearful 5 minutes then as quickly as possible start a meditation practice and decide to learn all you can about death from the best sources.

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