The Western young generation is ever happy to come to India and nourish their soul, writes Keerti in the Deccan Chronicle, published on August 16, 2017.
There is a certain India in India and there is another type of India existing in the West. Travelling to the USA and other Western countries, one comes across a unique type of India which is spiritual in its own way. It does feel good to see it and experience it. There are Western people who seem to be more enthusiastically involved in yoga and meditation than Indians in India. It is not just yoga and meditation, there are other spiritual aspects which are also very popular, such as kirtans and bhajans professionally sung and composed by the local Western vocalists and musicians such as Krishna Das, Joshua and many more artists.
Taj Mahal in Agra had the maximum number of 6.48 lakh foreign visitors with percentage share of 23.1 per cent. (Photo: PTI)
The mantra chants sung by British Miten and German Deva Premal are equally enchanting the Western seekers. The Tibetan chanting of Om Mani Padme Hum and other songs are also enjoyed everywhere. Meeting such people and listening to their visits to temples of Rishikesh, Varanasi and Khajuraho, monasteries near Dharmashala, Ayurveda resorts of South India —is really delightful. They describe aarti in Rishikesh as very enchanting and hypnotic. You can hear them with a deep sigh exclaiming: “Oh I would love to go to Rishikesh as soon as I can manage it,” “Oh I am dying to visit Lumbini again.”
To the sincere seekers and meditators coming from the West, India does leave an indelible impression on their psyche. I do not see them talking about filth and garbage around the temples, which was also mentioned earlier. They are not complaining anymore about the poor infrastructure of our tourist places. The Western young generation is ever happy to come to India and nourish their soul. Deep within their heart they feel that India has so much to offer, which our young generation does not seem to be interested in. Our young boys and girls are interested to go to the West to find IT jobs and make their life prosperous. They even think of learning yoga in India quickly and have a Yoga Alliance (based in USA) certificate to be able to teach Yoga to the health conscious people of the Western world, which has now yoga centers in every part of the Western cities. It is a purely commercial interest. And the West does not mind buying it.
Beyond the selling and buying, it would be nice to look at India with a fresh perspective given by Osho. He says:
“India is not just geography or history. It is not only a nation, a country, a mere piece of land. It is something more: it is a metaphor, poetry, something invisible but very tangible. It is vibrating with certain energy fields which no other country can claim.
For almost ten thousand years, thousands of people have reached to the ultimate explosion of consciousness. Their vibration is still alive, their impact is in the very air; you just need a certain perceptivity, a certain capacity to receive the invisible that surrounds this strange land.
It is strange because it has renounced everything for a single search, the search for the truth. It has not produced great philosophers – you will be surprised to know it – no Plato, no Aristotle, no Thomas Aquinas, no Kant, no Hegel, no Bradley, no Bertrand Russell. The whole history of India has not produced a single philosopher – and they have been searching for truth!”
The Osho Upanishad, Ch 21, Q 1 (excerpt)
Chaitanya Keerti travels around the world to facilitate Osho meditation retreats. He is an editor of Osho World and author of ‘Osho Fragrance’, ‘The Alchemy of Zen’, and ‘Mindfulness: The Master Key’. More articles by the same author on Osho News
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