Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga
Yoga_Life_Winter_2015_WEB
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OM NAMO NARAYANAYA MANTRA BANK<br />
Going up to Vishnu Peak<br />
“Om Namo Narayanaya”<br />
By Swami Shivabhaktananda<br />
In a natural rock cave, on the summit <strong>of</strong> Vishnu Peak in the Himalayas, is the ‘Om Namo Narayanaya Mantra Bank’,<br />
a repository for thousands <strong>of</strong> sheets <strong>of</strong> “Om Namo Narayanaya” mantras written by peace-loving devotees from<br />
around the world. It was established by Swami Vishnudevananda in 1987 as part <strong>of</strong> his ongoing mission for World<br />
Peace. A large crystal stored with the mantras transmits this powerful peace thought-energy like radio waves<br />
throughout the world. In May 2015, an expedition set out from Gangotri to make a new bank deposit.<br />
Our expedition party consisted <strong>of</strong>: Ivan,<br />
Ishwara, Swami Shivabhaktananda,<br />
Vyasa, Vinod, Krishna, and Prema,<br />
accompanied by a guide, and two<br />
porters to carry the mantras. <strong>The</strong><br />
expedition to ascend Vishnu Peak<br />
proved to be intense and much harder than any<br />
<strong>of</strong> us imagined.<br />
Early in the morning, we set <strong>of</strong>f towards the<br />
peak; the beginning <strong>of</strong> the trail was pleasant,<br />
meandering through forest. However, that did not<br />
last for long, and soon we were faced with what<br />
was really ahead <strong>of</strong> us – climbing! It soon became<br />
apparent that the journey was not going to be<br />
suitable for Vyasa, and we encouraged him not to<br />
pursue going forward as things were getting harder<br />
by the minute. He acknowledged our concerns<br />
and carefully made his way back. Those <strong>of</strong> us who<br />
remained then continued on our way up, crossing<br />
small glaciers, forests, and thick shrubs.<br />
After five hours <strong>of</strong> climbing, we could finally<br />
see the Vishnu Peak more clearly ahead and<br />
above us. At this point we decided to leave all <strong>of</strong><br />
our things behind and tackle the last part <strong>of</strong> our<br />
journey carrying as little as possible to speed up<br />
a bit – time was pressing, especially as we knew<br />
the way down would not be easy either. Prema<br />
and Vinod were tired and decided not to proceed<br />
any further, which enabled the rest <strong>of</strong> us to move<br />
a bit faster. Not only were the sun and hunger<br />
proving to be obstacles by this point, but mainly<br />
the lack <strong>of</strong> oxygen, as we were already over<br />
4,000 metres high. Headaches and nausea kept<br />
cropping up and made things even harder.<br />
After another two hours, we finally got to the<br />
upper part <strong>of</strong> the mountain. Our happiness was<br />
soon to be checked, however, when we asked the<br />
guide where the cave with the mantras was: he<br />
did not know. We walked around for the next few<br />
hours, searching for the cave with the little energy<br />
we had left, but could not find the right place. Our<br />
guide had been to the top <strong>of</strong> the mountain a few<br />
days before our expedition set out, with Deepak,<br />
the owner <strong>of</strong> an adventure shop in Gangotri, who<br />
has been staff in New Delhi for a few months.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team ready for the climb<br />
<strong>The</strong>y had reached the top <strong>of</strong> the mountain and<br />
had found something like a shrine, so we were<br />
confident that they had found the cave. Sadly,<br />
though, for our expedition it was to remain elusive.<br />
We all sat together and came to the con -<br />
clusion that it would be best to find another safe<br />
place and leave the mantras there on the peak.<br />
Chanting Om Namo Narayanaya with the last <strong>of</strong><br />
our breath and mixed feelings <strong>of</strong> accomplishment<br />
and failure towards our initial intention, we<br />
deposited the mantras under a beautiful square<br />
rock that looked like a hut, installed a small<br />
Vishnu statue that we had brought from Gangotri<br />
and had used to do Pujas in Swamiji’s cave, did<br />
arati, and started making our way down the<br />
mountain. It took us another seven hours to get<br />
down, testing the patience, endurance and faith<br />
<strong>of</strong> everyone, including the guide and porters.<br />
When night fell we were on our last stretch<br />
and by nine in the evening we found ourselves<br />
safely back in the Guha, having bid farewell<br />
to Krishna, Prema, the guide, and the porters.<br />
It had been a strenuous day and all we wanted<br />
was to sleep and overcome the pain in the body<br />
and the discomfort <strong>of</strong> having been at altitude.<br />
<strong>The</strong> next day was Mother Ganga’s birthday,<br />
an auspicious day <strong>of</strong> rest and festivity which we<br />
all enjoyed. For the occasion, we <strong>of</strong>fered a special<br />
Sivananda Guha, the starting point for the ascent<br />
“<strong>The</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> the trail was pleasant in the forest<br />
but that did not last too long!”<br />
bandhara in the name <strong>of</strong> the organisation at the<br />
Krishna annakshetra, where we were taking<br />
biksha daily for the Sadhus. We were blessed with<br />
the presence <strong>of</strong> more than 100 sadhus that came<br />
to partake <strong>of</strong> homemade samosas, gulab jamun,<br />
paneer pakoras, fresh mangoes and some other<br />
treats prepared by the kshetra.<br />
After our adventure to the peak, we spoke<br />
to Swami Hariomanandaji who was in Gangotri<br />
for the festivities, and he gave us better inform -<br />
ation about the cave and its location. He also<br />
mentioned a guide that had been there with him.<br />
Within the coming year, Deepak has been tasked<br />
with finding out exactly where the cave is so that,<br />
when we attempt this trip again in the future, our<br />
goal will be successfully accomplished.n<br />
In May 2016, Swami Shivabhaktananda will be<br />
leading a Himalayan Pilgrimage to Chardham<br />
Yatra and Vishnu Peak. Dates to be announced.<br />
Swami Shivabhaktananda<br />
is the director <strong>of</strong> the Sivananda Ashram <strong>Yoga</strong><br />
Camp, Val Morin, Canada<br />
email: swamishivabhaktananda@sivananda.org<br />
YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015<br />
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