Following is an account of Jim's last days from someone in Uttar Kashi.
Jim's Last Days About 1 PM on Wednesday 21 October, right after lunch, Jim told his buddy that he was going to walk to the upper Bugyal (mountain meadow). His buddy asked him not to go alone, but Jim went ahead. The upper Bugyal is one hour from the Ashram and 1000 feet up. It is on a clearly defined path that is travelled every day by the villagers and is not considered to be a dangerous walk, but Purusha normally do not take that walk without a buddy. According to the saddhu who resides there, Jim arrived at the upper Bugyal about 2 PM. For some reason he decided to climb higher, probably so that he could see the high peaks. As he had a pack with him perhaps he planned to make this higher climb all along. Based on where his pack was found and on his sandal tracks, it seems that he climbed another 2 hours up to a point where he could see a small part of Bandarpanch (a very large 21000 foot massif) and then left his pack and climbed some more. His decision to leave his pack and go still higher was possibly made because he just wanted to go a short ways higher to get a better look at Bandarpanch before dark. He left the pack at a small natural cave with a fire place. He might have been tired and so left the pack to climb just a few hundred meters more. Likely, when got higher, he realized that darkness was coming on quickly, and then he turned around to go back to his pack and somehow got off the trail. Clearly from where he was found he missed his pack on the way down. In that area, if you get off the trail you can easily end up on a spur that suddenly drops off hundreds of feet This seems to be what happened to Jim, either because of increasing darkness or the anxiety about increasing darkness, he went past his pack, then he lost the trail down and went out one of these spurs and then fell a very long ways. His body was found a long ways below the point where his pack was found at the base of a big drop. Death must have been very quick The Ashram dog had travelled with Jim on this walk and the dog went down and sat by the body all night. This dog, Hanuman, was accustomed to taking walks with Purusha but had a particular affinity for Jim. Once before, when Jim went for a walk, he had lost his reading glasses out of his pocket. The next day, when Jim was having lunch on the outside deck, Hanuman came up and laid the glasses at his feet. He often slept outside Jim's room. The Sadhu who lives at the Bugyal had suggested, when the first morning search party spoke to him, that they investigate the area where "a dog had been barking all night". But the seach party was convinced that Jim was much higher as the Sahdu had seen him climbing much higher up the mountain than where the dog was barking.They only found out later that he had been higher but had fallen. The previous night (Wednesday night), when Jim had not returned, his buddy got concerned and went out with the Ashram manager and 7 staff to look for Jim. They did not find Jim and returned to the Ashram for more help. In the morning, on Thursday 22 October, all of our staff, as well as many Gajoli villagers, and some Purusha went out. At least 50 people were searching for him. About 10:00 AM, two of the Gajoli village pandits again heard the dog barking and went to investigate and found the body. If not for the dog's barking, it could have taken days to find the body. Around this time the Ashram manager and a group of Purusha found the pack 1000 feet above. Several Purusha, including Jim's buddy, went all the way to the top (about 13000 feet) with a guide looking for Jim. They heard shouting from far below and believed that Jim had been found and was OK. The came down and about 4:00 PM learned that he had perished. Once the body was discovered, there was a long wait for the police to come before the body could be removed. The police arrive shortly before dark and removed the body down the hill on Thursday night to Uttarkashi. Michael Busch contacted the family in St Louis. The family sent a very beautiful note of appreciation for Purusha and for Jim's life on Purusha. They asked that Purusha in Uttarkashi handle the funeral as Jim would want, but they also asked that he receive last rites from a Catholic priest before the cremation. The next day, Friday 23 October, Shri Sant-ji, our Ashram managers, and several Purusha went to the police. The police signed off that Jim's death was accidental and released the body before lunch. Therefore it was decided to do the cremation that day before sunset. The only problem was that the Catholic priest was on his way back from Rishikesh. However, he arrived back at about 4:00 PM and came directly to the hospital where he performed the complete Catholic ceremony. In the meantime, 14 Purusha had come down quickly from Kunsi and Gajoli. They arrived in time for the Catholic ceremony at the hospital. This ceremony was filmed by Reid Martin, Rob Wofford, and Tim Jones. Andrew Lawson Kerr will make a video to send to Jim's family. The Purusha then took turns carrying the litter with Jim's body on it through the market down to Kedar Ghatt on the Ganges. The Ashram staff led the way singing, "Rama nama satya hai" "Ya he sapke ghati hai".(sp?) "Only Rams name is eternal, everything else passes". When we arrived at Kedar Ghatt there were 11 Pandit boys there with their Acharya. The minders of the Ghatt lit a fire and Jim's buddy did Havan reciting "om swayha" as he made offerings to the fire. These were the only offerings made during the cremation ceremony. Meanwhile the experts laid the pyre on rocks right out above the water and put the body onto it and then heaped on more wood. Then ghee was poured onto the wood and the fire from the Havan was brought over to light the pyre. As soon as the pyre caught the Pandit boys started chanting the 1000 name of Vishnu. Purusha and the Ashram staff sat near by and watched as the flames consumed the body. The whole experience was very Vedic. And very complete. It felt very purifying, neat, and clean. Later as the fire burned Purusha meditated. Everyone felt like it was a very good meditation. We came back several times later in the night to build up the fire and in the morning there was nothing left but ash. This was subsequently washed away when the Ganga rose later in the day. Many of us had previously done a lot of second guessing. If only we had told Jim more strongly not to go on walks alone, etc But it became clear to us that time of death is not something trivial that can be altered by a few words. Jim's time was up. It was very obvious to us that his last year was one of great fulfillment for him. He was having very good experiences in program and his face was always full of light. After the cremation all of us there felt very light and free of burden. And we felt that Jim had happily moved on. Jai Guru Dev
