Sweet, Sweet Victory

November 6, 2008

I did it!  I made it to the top of the hill at 6:30 this morning.  I realize that 670 steps doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is.  I was barefoot and now my feet are nasty and are in desperate need of a good soak.  I think that one of the first things that I will do back in the US is get a pedicure to fix these nasty feet of mine.  Wearing sandals everyday has definitely taken a toll on my feet.  Plus, I think that these feet deserve an award for walking me through India in flip-flops.  I have to give myself some credit for making it to the top today.  I was breathing hard and sweating a little, but I did it.  There were some times that I thought that I would have to turn around and wait at the bottom, but I just stopped for a minute to catch my breath and then moved ahead.  The view from the top was awesome.  Plus, I got to see the world’s largest statue of a naked man.  What could be better than that?  He is naked because it shows that he is detached from material things.  Typically there are naked monks in the area, but for some reason they are not around right now.  Where do naked monks go, and how to they get to where they going?  There’s a part of me that wishes that they had been around, because I think that the experience would have been a lot different.  We have visited many temples in India and I always feel like I don’t belong in them.  This is especially true when I look around and see people in prayer and meditation.  I feel like I’m violating these holy places with my presence.  I just don’t know how to feel I guess.

We have a lot of class time today.  I’m really tired from the sleepless night and the early morning hike.  After our first class we went to another Jain temple and watched as they anointed a statue of a man.  We were told that he is the prince of peace (strangely familiar).  Its so different from the kinds of religious rituals that I’m use to.  This ceremony lasted for about two hours, and we had to sit on the floor (fun times).  When the ritual was finally over we were blessed by the priest (I think).  It was a little strange but I’m glad that I got to see it.  This will probably be the only time in my life that I will see this and be in this spot.  After the ritual we met with the “pope” again to talk about everything that we had seen.  I’m more confused about Jainism than ever!  I understand some parts but other concepts are beyond me.  I think that I’m going to do some further research about it when we get back to Visthar.  After our final meeting we headed to another temple site.  It was another 200 steps or so to the top.  I was so tired by this point but I knew that I had to get to the top.  I pushed through and made it to the top.  I was happy that I made it because from the top we were able to witness the most beautiful sunset that I have ever seen.  I was so happy in this moment.