Henry is an elderly Alzheimer patient whose illness has progressed to a stage where he is unable to recognize his daughter. He spends most of his time unresponsive and stooped over, unable to answer simple yes or no questions. Then something magical happens. He is fitted with a pair of headphones and listens to music of his time. Millions have watched this video as it captures beautifully how he comes alive. After listening to music he is able to answer questions, talk about his youth, and even sing.

Henry is benefiting from the work of Dan Cohen, a social worker, who has shown how music can help people suffering from dementia. Dan’s work took off when he got funding to buy 200 iPods that he then supplied to four facilitates around New York. Soon there was a flood of stories on how music was bringing alive elderly patients suffering from dementia. The youtube video is a trailer of the documentary “Alive Inside” made by Dan that documents the stories of these patients and that will help spread the word on the power of music in helping patients. You can do your part by forwarding this on by liking or sharing this story or sending the link to someone who may benefit from it. Here are some resources that you may find useful:

Listen to NPR coverage. It also has some useful tips.
Dan Cohen’s non-profit to help elderly patients with dementia
Donate your unused iPOD/nano
How-to-Guides
The power of music on Alzheimer patients
Gil and Denise Story

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As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants we too are conditioned to believe that we cannot break free from our ego. We have grown up with our ego and believe that the ego is all there is to us. But if we look past our conditioning we can easily realize that the puny ego is nothing before our mighty soul. Once this realization takes root we can easily break free and un-tether our spirit. Just like a small rope cannot hold back a mighty elephant, nor can the puny ego hold back the mighty soul.

Note: This story has been adopted from a similar story whose original source we are not aware of.

Related: An Overflowing Cup

Travel Truths
Like the saying goes, “Things are never as they appear to be” is the first lesson when travelling in India. Being a land of contrast and diversity many preconceived notions as well as assumptions are either overruled or intensified. There are many things that people perceive to be true about India. When you get there you don’t just know any more, but now have experienced it.

Dress like the Natives
You might think it’s unfair and backwards, but it helps to dress ‘Indian-ish.’ Like the saying goes, “When in Rome do like the Romans.” Dressing Indian shows respect for the culture and its people. It is a bit of a double-standard especially when Indian women show their bellies, but cleavage is not popular. On the flip side, take advantage of the bright coloured shawls (or pashchima.) and throw them over your shoulder. Stay away from shorts or tanks. You could be the subject of what they call ‘Eve’s teasing; the North American equivalent of sexual harassment. With many Westerners going to India today, it is not as rigid as it used to be in terms of wearing traditional saris or looking Indian. In large cities like Delhi and Mumbai, you’ll see both men and women wearing Western clothes. But don’t let this fool you into thinking their attitudes are.

Travel is Risky
Travelling does have potential risks, but don’t let fear take you away from a trip of a lifetime. In 2003, there was an escalated concern of Pakistan and Indian starting WWIII including a travel advisory not to go to India. Because of this I was going to cancel my trip. In the end, I decided to go. When I got to Delhi I learned from the locals that the situation in Kashmir was not any different than before. Down in Kerala (the south of India) people were oblivious to the situation (it was business as usual). Indeed none of the political issues are to be taken lightly. While travelling stay aware, be cautious and if you are concerned register yourself at the Consulate. In the event of a crisis they will at least know where you are.

Death by Disease or Accident
In tropical climates there are usually areas Malaria infected areas. However, with over 1 billion people and crazy drivers I am more concerned with being killed in a traffic accident than contracting Malaria. Statistics show accidents are 3 times higher in countries like India than developed ones. The rule in India is the bigger one has the right away. Many pedestrians and not just foreigners have been killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Customer Relations
Hospitality is not a thing of the past in India. If you are lucky enough to befriend some of the locals you will be treated to a home-cooked meal. And if things go well you could experience many home-cooked meals. Nothing compares to an Indian dinner lovingly cooked by an Indian woman.

Being a customer is not the bad end of the stick either. India is full of auspiciousness. It is believed that by giving the first customer a discount it will bring good luck and fortune for the remainder of the day. Simply put, if you have friends tell them to shop there and they’ll also enjoy a discount.

Poverty
One of the hardest things to deal with is the poverty. Sometimes just coping with it is the best you can do. It can get nasty with beggars following you and tugging at your clothes. Little children also appear cradling a 5-month year old baby; something equally as distressing. Unfortunately, as good as it feels to give money it usually encourages more beggars to arrive on the scene. It’s one of the most difficult things to handle as a foreigner. And interestingly enough, they always spot you first. When faced with such a situation it is wise to remember you are one who has the money to travel to India, the nice clothes and can eat.

Myths, Truths and all that lies in between make learning curve what it is when travelling in India. And I think these nuggets of how things are (or not) help clarify the misconceptions when the situation is not exactly as you dreamed it might be. In fact, India exceeds the tiny dream imagined. The writer Richard Bach once wrote, “The IS has imagined it better than you.”

This is a post by Heather Morton of The Yoga Way. This is the concluding part of a two part series. You can find Part 1 here.

More about India:
CIA Factbook on India
CDC Health Information for Travelers to India
World Heritage Sites Of India
Incredible India
BBC on the Himalayas
Poverty In India
Despite cell phone boom in India toilet access still lags

Tara and Bella show that it is possible to bridge unbridgeable differences. They show that companionship, friendship, and love know no boundaries and no barriers. If they can do it so can we. We can allow the grace of life to flow freely in our hearts and let love and amity bloom.

Related: Followup story on Tara and Bella

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In ancient times there was a conquering army going through villages wreaking havoc and mayhem. The soldiers killed indiscriminately and were especially harsh on the monks, taking special care to humiliate and torture them, before killing them. When the army arrived in a town the general asked for a report. His subordinate replied, “The population is subdued and terrified!” This gave the general some satisfaction. Then the subordinate continued, “In the local monastery all monks have fled, except one.”

Hearing this, the general became furious. He rushed to the monastery to meet the monk who dared defy him. When he saw the monk he pulled his sword out and pushed it towards his stomach and hissed in a low but terrifying voice, “Don’t you know who I am? Why, I could take this sword and run it through your belly without blinking my eye!”

The monk was not fazed, he replied gently, “And don’t you know who I am? I could have your sword run through my belly without blinking an eye.”

The general was awestruck by the fearlessness and the deep spirituality of the monk. He sheathed his sword, bowed, and left without uttering another word.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Fearlessness is the first prerequisite of a spiritual life”. Fear is the creation of the ego and as long as our attention and thoughts are related to fear, we are fully subsumed in our ego and far from a spiritual experience. But the flip side of this is that without coming out of the ego and directly experiencing a deeper Reality it is difficult to be fearless. How can we trust the existence of a deeper Divinity on mere hearsay? So here is a chicken and egg problem: Without fearlessness there is no spirituality and without spirituality there is no fearlessness. How do we come out of this?

The drama created from our fears by our ego is a subtle mechanism that keeps us engrossed at the level of our ego. All our fears are directly related to the ego. The fear of embarrassment is the ego’s desire not to look stupid in front of others. The fear of loss of health, love, or wealth reflects the ego’s desire to be in control. The fear of failure is connected with a desire of the ego to grow in size and importance. The fear of death reflects the ego’s aversion of being annihilated into non-existence. On the other hand the soul knows no fear. It simply exists in peace and joy, unaffected by our day-to-day concerns. It is no wonder that fearful state of the ego and the fearless state of the soul are incompatible. The question for us then is how do we proceed from the state where fear dominates our thinking to a state where we are predominantly fearless?

Some are born with a strong sense of the spiritual. Some fall into a state of heightened spiritual awareness spontaneously or due to some deep shock to the ego-mind-body system. But for the rest of us who seek a more systematic path the answer lies with the different paths of yoga. This may seem as stating the obvious as the definition of yoga lies in the movement out of the ego into a deeper Self. However it is important to understand that there is no single answer and there are many paths. Some of these may lie with following a religion or religious doctrine. There is no incompatibility between yoga and religion, and yet it is also true that there is no need for a religious belief to pre-exist for yoga to succeed.

The numbers of paths of yoga are numerous: each one suited to a particular situation, or personality type, or the state of spiritual evolution of a person. Some of us may have to bounce around till we find a true fit while others may quickly settle on one path for life. Sometimes as we make progress we may find that we outgrow a given approach and may have to move on and find a new path that better fits our current situation. How do you know that you are on the right path and making progress? The answer lies within. Check your deepest thoughts. If you find yourself spending less time in thoughts relating to fear then you are on the right track.

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