Leaving Pashupatinath

The annual pilgrimage to Pashupatinath is over and Kathmandu is full of Saddhus who have yet to leave. Many believe that the day after the festival it will rain. The rain will be the gods way of making the Saddhus go back to India. This year was no exception. The forecast called for clear skies, but it did rain.

One of the problems with the Saddhus leaving is the question of what to do with so many Cobras that were brought up by the snake charmers. They were illegally brought across the border into Nepal and their owners do not want to risk taking them back across the border. In previous years the snakes were donated to the zoo near our house. The problem was that many were severely malnourished and eventually died. There were so many of them that the zoo was not prepared to take care of them. This year the zoo refused to take any of the snakes and issued a statement to the newspaper that they should be turned loose. This was not my first suggestion of what to do with these snakes. There are enough ways to kill yourself in Kathmandu. We don't need dozens of hungry King Cobras turned loose in the crowded city.

I have to say that I have been very interested in the Saddhus during their visit to Kathmandu. Many are still hanging around near my office and they are a fascinating group of people to study. They are trying to find salvation or enlightenment by renouncing the temptations of the flesh. Some will stand in place for years without sitting down. Others will only drink milk and never eat food. Some will torture their bodies so that they cannot be tempted by anything that is desirable. Others will force themselves to consume human flesh to show their devotion. They truly live a life of torture and self deprivation......... Whether or not you agree with their theology you still have to respect their desire and dedication to what they believe in.

Saddhus are not the only group to teach their followers to deprive themselves of anything that they desire. I have seen this kind of teaching in many other religeons, including Christianity. The focus becomes on the deprivation of the desires of the flesh and not on the reasons you are depriving the flesh. The focus becomes inward instead of towards the one that is being worshiped. How many other religeons teach that the way to salvation is through following a set of rules and always obeying them?

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that I belive that rules are bad, or that following them even when you don't feel like it is a bad thing. No, I am just curious as to how many people look beyond the rules to focus on the reason for the rules. For instance, do I follow the speed limit because I fear the police officer or do I realize that the speeding laws are created to help give me some guidance so that I do not crash my car? Am I kind to the poor man that lives next to me because I feel like I have to be or because I believe that God was kind to me in the midst of my poverty and I want to share that love? Do I serve the widows and the orphans out of duty or out of a passionate desire to share the love that was shown to me?

The Saddhus are a interesting group. I have seen them in many other forms. The religeous person who spent their whole life looking for God.
The missionary who spent their whole life trying to teach others to follow their religeon and they were not sure why?
The confused young person who tried one religeon after another trying to find what he is looking for.
The business executive who believed that climbing the ladder and earning lots of money would one day make all his dreams come true.
The man at the airport who believes that he has to convert someone to his faith so that he can earn his salvation.

The Saddhus have caused me to examine my own life. They have caused me to ask myself why I believe what I believe. When you take away all the religeon what is left? What is the motivation behind everything I do.

The Saddhus did not try and teach me anything but because of them I have learned alot about myself.

Posted by Jon at February 21, 2004 12:11 PM