I recently took my first trip to Nepal and have been reflecting on why I felt drawn to go in the first place, my experiences there, and what my intentions are for the future. I’ve also realized that while this was a very personal trip for me, many people close to me weren’t clear on why I went, why it was so important to me, and what is it about Eastern religions/spirituality that has made such an impact on me. So, I wanted to take the time to write all this down, for whoever is interested…
What made me want to take this trip? This is a loaded question with a fairly long answer, but it all comes down to the simple fact that I have found complete, profound truth in Eastern religions and philosophies (which I realize are 2 different things). I grew up in a Jewish household; I could read, write and speak Hebrew at a young age, I got Bat Mitzvahed, confirmed, and travelled to Israel. I am extremely proud of my roots and would not have wanted to grow up any other way. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from my Temple. It is an honor to have a connection to a people that have persevered through some of the most oppressed, grotesque times in history. However, my relationship with Judaism was never one that shook me to my core, that made me feel certain of the truth of our existence, that dispelled all doubts in my head. God was always more of a concept to me than something tangible. God felt like an overarching figure to pray to for answers or solutions to problems. A formless being to instill both fear and reassurance. Something that you’d hope to get a response from. It seemed a bit … impersonal. Distant. Somewhere up in the sky, untouchable. I want to be clear that I am not denouncing or renouncing Judaism. I still respect it very much as a religion and hold its traditions close to my heart. As baba Ram Dass so beautifully put it - it's not about "being" one religion or another. It's about getting free. When you realize the truth beneath it all, you can look at many different religions with a lens, knowing they're all saying the same thing but from a different perspective. As Ram Dass said, "Often the religion you were born with becomes more important to you as you see the universality of truth.” Approximately 1 ½ years ago, I began studying Eastern religions (primarily Hinduism and Buddhism). While I won’t get into the details of each and their nuances, since that obviously cannot be described briefly in a blog post, I will say that my life changed at that point. I was finally able to say “I have found truth.” Everything I read, heard and studied made perfect sense. There wasn’t anything for me to doubt or argue. I was finally introduced to the idea that God IS tangible - it’s you. It’s me. It’s every single being in the universe. There is divinity in every tree, fire, animal, human… everything we see, everything we touch. God wasn’t some idea floating in the sky. We are all incarnations of God, playing out our own karma, in an endless dance with the universe around us. This was such a beautiful, clear concept to me that I now have the phrase “Tat Tvam Asi” in Sanskrit tattooed on my arm, which translates to “You Are That.” It is a phrase used many times over in the Chandogya Upanishad, where a father is teaching his son about his true nature, and ends each explanation with “You Are That” (“that” being God). One of my favorite lines is “Even though we cannot see it, the Self is within all things and there is nothing that doesn’t come from it. This invisible and subtle essence is the Spirit of the whole universe. That is reality. That is truth. And you, Shvetaketu, you are that.” Is there a more comforting concept in the universe than the assurance that you, yourself, are an incarnation of God? How could you ever feel helpless or alone after realizing that? You have the strength of God within you - it’s not something you have to look up to the sky to ask for. You already ARE IT. And the best part is, so is everyone else! We are all exactly the same. We all have the same divinity flowing through our veins. Yes, we all have our own egos and personalities, and our divinity is masked through a concept called maya, which is essentially our sense of duality. It’s what makes us think of the world as “me” vs. “them.” It’s what makes you think you’re stuck in traffic, not part of the traffic. But the beautiful thing is once you realize that this is all just a funny trap we’ve all fallen into, you can start to catch yourself. When you get annoyed that a stranger starts talking to you on an airplane, because you thought you just wanted to listen to music and isolate yourself from the world, you can suddenly look at them and smile, realizing it’s all a test. That’s just another version of God, staring you in the face, seeing where you’re caught. What would happen if you participated in the game, rather than fought it? What could you learn? After diving deeper into the religions, I knew I wanted to travel to a place where this was practiced. I wanted to be surrounded by the people who grew up with these philosophies in their hearts, who treat strangers as divine creatures, who live to serve others rather than oppose them. I wanted to hear these truths spoken from the holy masters of these religions, not just read them on paper or listen to lectures. I wanted to feel the truth of it all, and that just simply does not exist in our Western world. So, when the incredible opportunity to travel to Nepal with Emory Hall arose, I applied immediately. I could write an entire blog about Emory alone, but for those of you who don’t know her, she is an incredibly talented photographer and photojournalist who has lived in and traveled to Nepal for almost 10 years, speaks fluent Nepali, and is so seamlessly integrated with the people there that it’s hard to imagine her living in America. Getting accepted to go on this trip with her, as an eager student essentially, was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. I was suddenly able to travel to that part of the world, with someone who already had so much experience living and breathing their culture, navigating their streets, praying in their temples. Everything fell into place in that moment. And in saying that, I’ll now get into the depths of the most life-changing trip of my life… (Click on "The Journey" at the top/in the menu)
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