Journey
through
Timeless
India
by
Nancy
Freeman Patchen
About
the
Author
Photo
by Sir John Ihm
I have always
had an incredible curiosity about people and places. I have always wanted
to explore intriguing, faraway, exotic climes—and India fits that
description. I love India. The Creator really shook the magic wand when
s/he created this sacred land that offers such a diversity that one often
encounters a new reality on every street corner. And I love Indians. They
are the kindest, most generous people on the planet. My journey was only
accomplished through a thousand helping hands along the way. Unfortunately,
I don't remember many of their names, but I won't forget their smiling
faces.
Throughout my adult life, I have been an avid and enthusiastic seeker
of the meaning and mystery of human existence. Although I had a standard
education, including studies at the University of Madrid and San Francisco
State, I found that the subjects, even philosophy, did not contribute
to my yearning in figuring out what life is about on the most profound
level. Somehow my education or luxuries of a middle-class lifestyle had
not given me the satisfaction that this is all life had to offer. I wondered
about the crucial issues of daily existence: happiness, suffering and
death. My quest for understanding inevitably led me to India, the planet's
storehouse of spiritual knowledge.
I found India to be more than I ever imagined. On my initial trip, I had
planned to stay for four months. I ended up staying for two years. During
that journey, I spent six months in an ashram studying Vedanta (Hindu
philosophy) and Sanskrit. However, the highlight of the trip was traveling
from city to city with an enlightened Guru from whom I received
many answers to my burning questions about life. As a result of that trip,
I wrote the book, Journey of a Master, which is a comprehensive
biography of Swami Chinmayananda. After several short trips, I returned
again for a major stay of three years at the end of 1989. At that time,
I served as a volunteer editor of Tattva Loka, the prestigious
spiritual magazine, published by the Shringeri Matha in south India.
Since I did not care to live in a city, I was able to travel the byways
of India, while keeping in touch with the Bombay home office using “Speed
Post.” My habit of traveling alone without any schedule availed many
opportunities for various adventures that regularly presented themselves.
My love of nature took me to many moutainous areas of natural beauty where
I encountered huge trees hanging with wild orchids. There I met some of
the simple villagers and tribal peoples. They always treated me as an
honored guest, even though I was an intrusion in their lives. I feel so
grateful to have been touched by these simple, yet very authentic, people.
Most of all I learned to understand and value a very ancient culture and
religion—a religion so emcompassing that every other religion is
but a tributary of this wealth of knowledge. None of the masters of any
of the later religions uttered any truth that was not already stated in
the Hindu scriptures. Because of my devotion to the value and perservation
of the culture, I returned at the end of 1999 as a guest lecturer in several
universities in Chennai (Madras). I shared with the young people my varied
experiences of traveling in India and also insights into creating a successful
life for themselves in their own country.
Did I discover the meaning and mysteries of life? “Yes and No.”
Discovering a deeper reality that is unseen and unknown in the normal
mundane world, I began to realize and understand that if the Divine is
One, then all our ordinary existence must fall under the category of “Divine.”
Yet I also discovered that the life is a continual process with never-ending
questions, answers and surprises.
I had two principal reasons for writing this book. One was to share India:
an incredible reality that I feel has something significant to contribute
to the world. My stated intention “to demystify India to the Western
world” means opening the mind to different realities: the deep connections
to humanity's past, a distinct cultural mindset, the history of thousands
of years of enlightened sages, and the injustices meted out to the third
world countries by the Capitalists.
The second reason was to share my adventure with the hopes that you would
be inspired to live out your dreams and to experience different worlds,
different mindsets and different you's. I think this personal message
is clear. The earth is a bright and wonder place—full of awesome
experiences. Choose your venue and have your adventure. You'll never be
the same person. Even if you go home and sit behind a desk to push papers
the rest of your life, you will know in your heart you have touched Life
as revealed uniquely to you through people, places and experiences. It
just has to make a difference in your being a human—and becoming
more than a human.
With Love and Respect,
Nancy
December 2002