Parting Thoughts on Rishikesh

Some places in this world are blessed with a something else that gives them an eternal quality - they linger in memory and emotion long after the traveller has put their pack down and unlaced their boots. From my own experiences spaces like Mt Athos in northern Greece, the rolling hills of Tuscany, and the cloud-locked quiet of the Blue Mountains in winter come to mind. These types of places have qualities that resonate quite deeply within you (or me at least), perhaps recalling in one some lost snippet of the music of creation or reminding you that grace is a quality honed and practiced, not purchased. Rishikesh is just such a place. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago there is a magical quality in the air that fills the senses with a pointed hope, and relaxes the body (particularly handy if you are doing yoga, of course). However, the depth of Rishikesh's magic is brought out by its human qualities - its people.
A passing comment I made to someone I later interviewed came back to me as an explanation for why Rishikesh is such a special and efficacious place to come and find a spiritual path - there are no arseholes here! There are simply no arseholes. The locals are almost universally friendly and charming and are always welcoming, and Western travellers are open, friendly, and jovial. Almost all are willing to tell their story, and as a born listerner I find myself wishing to stay longer, drinking the heady layers of emotion and meaning that people speak of so freely to me. It is a great honour and privilege to be able to listen to these people, and that I can call this my work, my job, just seems beyond belief. I'm not quite sure what I have done to deserve it, or that I do.
Academically speaking (for a moment) my time in Rishikesh has taught me a great deal, not only about spiritual tourism, but about Western spirituality, personal meaning and identity, and the ways in which being 'on the road' can bring to light new tones of emotion or resurface those buried at home. I think I was probably starting to become a little cynical towards those types of notions. Looking back only just a few weeks I can see that I thought such talk to be over-romanticising what was actually happening. But such is not the case, and the rich meaning people can get from their travels I now see as far more significant to their everyday lives than I has previously imagined. This also makes me think of how these types of spiritual pursuits, if we can call them that, are portrayed and thought of in Western popular culture and philosophy. It is now with the narrowed eyes of the critical academic that I look upon commentators who see only frivolous hedonism, meaningless voyeurism, or youthful experimentation here. These arguments miss the point entirely, not to mention the reality. People come to places like Rishikesh to try and become better people, better humans. They want to fix what they feel is wrong or misguided in their lives. Here they can find paths, teachers, and techniques for that. I think it says a great deal about the Western world that we tend to look upon such individuals as hopeless cases or social misfits. Shame on us.