On my second trip through New Delhi, I had come to the end of my tour with Team Ozzie and Pancham. We had gotten into the city on an overnight train that I’ll tell you about in another post, and I knew there were two places that I felt I still needed to see in New Delhi. What can I say? I cannot be somewhere and not try to explore. I’m a restless traveler.
Yet I was a little tired after so much of what we’d seen. I wasn’t necessarily physically tired, but in some ways I was emotionally tired. During the course of our two week tour, I hadn’t really taken the time to recharge spirtually in the way I usually do. Breathing/meditation, prayer? Nope, that went out of the window. I think I was just so overstimulated (adults can be overstimulated, ya know); and every night that my head hit the pillow, my mind was racing with what I’d seen and learned that day while traveling through Rajasthan.
I’m glad that I decided to go to the B’Hai Temple because it gave me a few moments to slow down. By the way, here’s a little on the B’Hai faith. While I like my own faith orientation, I have to admit that I am little intrigued by the B’Hai.
When you get off the subway and begin walking towards the temple, it resembles this futuristic structure rising out of the ground.
After going through gates with metal detectors, you get to walk through the temple’s gardens. I have to admit this was the most grass I’d seen to date in Delhi, which can be a fairly dusty place. It was nice to be surrounded by so much greenery.
I joined the crowds walking towards the temple.
Honestly, I had no idea where I was going and what I was supposed to do when I got there, so I just followed the crowds climbing the stairs towards the temple’s entrance.
I admired the pool in front of the temple. They spared no expense building this space.
After dropping off my shoes, which is required to enter into the actual temple itself, I lined up with the crowds waiting to enter the temple.
We got a basic introduction with facts about the B’Hai faith before entering the temple.
I wish I could actually show you pictures of the inside because it has such a calming and majestic feeling, but visitors are not allowed to take pictures. It actually reminded me more of a modern church than anything else.
I sat down. I closed my eyes, and I took several deep breaths. I said a few prayers and just released. I don’t know why I hadn’t done this before during my time in India, but I finally felt relaxed in the B’Hai Temple in a way that I had not for the previous two weeks. You can stay in the temple as long as you want, and I took advantage of that. I was happy for a little refuge from how harried and crowded Delhi can be. Since I don’t usually travel for such long periods of time, I wasn’t used to having to spiritually recharge. If I ever travel for over three weeks again, I’ll have to remind myself of how important and necessary it is for me to reconnect with this aspect of my life.
How do you stay relaxed, take care of your mental health and/or stay spiritually connected while traveling?
