Monday, June 4, 2007

The labyrinth



My spiritual teacher, Lee Lozowick, always talks about how most paths have a labyrinth of some sort, some means by which payment is extracted from the aspirant, some kind of test to prove worthiness, capacity, seriousness. In the tantric traditions this is called adhikara- which means "to make oneself ready" (adhi-ready, preparation /kara- to make)

I have decided to look at my current Visa complications as a labyrinth.

What visa complications you ask?

I applied for my visa with plenty of time for it to clear Indian channels of bureaucracy. Of course in the first mailing, I forgot to include my passport. So then I mailed them that.

On the visa application form you have to list two references for your stay in India. Well, I made the mistake of listing The Iyengar Institute as a reference. The nice lady from the Indian Embassy calls my house and Kelly answers the phone since I am not home. She asks him if I will be studying yoga while I am in India. He tells them yes. So then they decide that I have to apply for a student visa. They will need more money and an official letter of acceptance from the school.

So I get Anne (my sister who invited me on this trip) to fax me a copy of our sacred blue letter that is the only letter of acceptance we have received from said institute. I send them the copy of the letter and more money. Well, the lady in the visa department says the letter is not official enough and without a formal letter she cannot grant my visa. But this particular information is left on my voice mail with no number to return her call.

Anyway- long story short, I leave about a dozen semi-frantic messages on some machine at the Indian Embassy and send of a couple of emails to the visa application department explaining that I am not really a student- just a tourist who will be taking some yoga classes and oh, I have made a mistake and please do not hold my ignorance regarding my application against me, I have so been wanting to go to India and the letter I sent is the only acceptance letter the institute gives and so on.

After two days of this- and no small amount of worry, mind you- I get an email back saying that my case will go to the head visa officer and I should hear back on Monday, which is today. So that was mildly reassuring because at least I knew that my messages had actually been received by a person and even if they decline the application I can at least get my passport back and try to reapply through other channels. It is a bit nerve wracking to not have my passport and to not really know how to get a hold of the people who do have it.

I have decided it is simply a test. A labyrinth. Just a small price to pay up front for the trip. (Although $2000 plane fare, the cost of the being unable to earn money for the duration of the rip and so on is a reasonable price in my mind, but I am not in charge of the labyrinth! That much is abundantly clear.)
So I sit home today, glued to the computer in case word comes via email and right next to both of my phones in case they call me with news.

It would after all be a bit silly to have a blog about a trip to India if I cannot go because I cannot convince the Indian Consulate that I am worthy of a visa. That would suck.
Anyway- I am hopeful and I have dutifully asked Ganesh for help- being that he is not only in charge of removing obstacles but for beginning new endeavors, learning and travel., I figure this is right up his alley. ( Although someone once told me that sometimes he can gives obstacles so we can learn to overcome them...which takes us right back to the labyrinth idea.)

Anyway- that is the first story of the trip and I haven't even left home. Pray for me.

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