Buddhist Caves

Today we had a driver take us to the Karla and Bhaja caves, both about 90-minutes from Pune. Here I am in the main Bhaja cave (with a sweaty belly from carrying my purse in front). It was a toss up between documenting my presence in this beautiful place or showing the chaos getting there. At Karla it was a bumper-to-bumper drive through the tiny town to the cave site, then a  body-to-body procession up the steep hill, through the tight passage made by vendors selling shrine offerings on each side of the path, with at least three high-energy marching bands going in the same direction. The music included drums, horns, and a very strong amplifier of some sort, so being right next to or in front of these revelers was deafening. Then, in the open area immediately outside the caves, we must have been asked 30 times if we would be in someone's photo. In most cases we smiled and obliged. One man stood me next to his wife, a beautiful petite woman in a gorgeous sari, telling me that they were from Mumbai, there for the day, and that he and his wife were electrical engineers. I didn't have the nerve to say, "And I'm from the U.S., and I teach yoga."

Inside the caves it was cool and serene. This person took lovely photos at Karla. At Bhaja there were tens of tiny meditation chambers. Now I'll know what to visualize when I say what I often say in class, that it's one thing to retreat to a cave and try to cultivate a calm mind; it's another thing to cultivate it in the hubbub of the world. Inside and outside those caves was a perfect example of both extremes.