>From Dana Sawyer in Banaras: Rick,
If you find out where in INdia this supposed group of ten thousand pundits is residing, let me know asap. I'll make sure I look into that one. Diidn't get to Allahabad to interview Vasudevananda; couldn't justify the time away from interviewing dandis. He's such a persona nongrata since the court prevented him from saying his the Shankaracarya in public. I've been to twenty-two of the thirty-eight dandi maths in Banaras already, and I can't find even one supporter of his position in the whole lot. Of course, dandis, like pandits, swing with the breeze, and Swarupananda has been courting them heavily. It's just the way of things in India. Most of the dandis are just sweet old men, half-hearted about their sadhana, but I've had a chance to revisit with two or three real gems this time. If you're ever in Banaras, I recommend looking up Vedanti Swami, who lives at the Karpatri Math on Gangasnan Marg, Kedar Ghat. He's the real deal - in the sense that he's very focused, very sincere, and deeply knowledgable (as you know, I don't buy the enlightenment piece) - by the way, he knew Swami Brahmananda and Brahmananda was his guru's guru. I also recommend checking out the mahant (abbot) of the Samadhi Math in Assi Ghat. He is the spitting image of the young Mahesh Yogi but, alas, he's actually older than Maharishi is now. Quite an amazing testimony to hatha yoga - and Brahma cintan (what they call TM). He's very jolly and sweet - but, thankfully, a bit leary of Westerners. A last recommendation would be to visit Swami Sivananda at Dharma Sangh, near Durga Kunda in south Banaras. He's published lots of book (in HIndi) and is very sweet. Lastly, for now, I took up trip up the Ganga to visit a friend in Ram Ghat, and on my way I stopped in at Maharishi's Ashram in Scindia Ghat. It was a nice old house that they've occupied and the manager was a very sweet guy. The house is quite run down and there's no money to repair it, according to him, but there is indeed a small Vedic school there (if you want to see a larger, more orthodox school, go up to Ram Ghat) and a lovely little Shiva temple out front. My wife and I played with the kids and heard some boys recite part of Yajur Veda. It was nice. We had ladoos (Ganesh's favorite sweet) with the manager and he told me that Mahesh YOgi has a school in twelve places in India, one near each Jyotir-linga site. I don't know if that's true but that's what he said. He was a very pleasant guy, as I said, but he needs to cut down on eating paan, it's ruining his teeth. It was also interesting to hear him admit that he is a Kayastha; I don't know if I've mentioned this but MMY is accused by pandits h ere in Banaras of hiring members of his own caste for all good positions in his Indian org. anyway, enough for now, more soon, and all the best, buddy. Happy Holi! Dana To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
