Dear Friends,

I am siting in the early twilight on a steep incline of marble steps leading down to the most powerful river I have ever seen. It is late January of the New Year and a chill is in the air. We are gathered here in Rishikesh, a high mountain village in the foothills of the Himalayas where the powerful primal river known as "Mata Ganga" (the Mother Ganges) gushes out of the high snowy mountain peaks to cascade down into the plains below, bringing life to all of India. It is the center of yoga practice in India - named for the Rishis or yoga royalty who gathered here and meditated down through the ages.

In all my travels over a lifetime of 65 years I have rarely seen such beauty and power. Only two hours earlier when we arrived by train in the foothills city of Haridwar, I saw the Great Mother Ganga for the first time in this lifetime. It was a scene from countless picture books suddenly sprung to life - worshippers dipping in the river, releasing flowers into its streams along with the ashes of loved ones. Nearby was a 10-story-high statue of Shiva. According to ancient legend, the great river first flowed from his Rishi knot of powerful braided hair.

It is here that scientists believe human life first sprang up on this planet and where the mystics say God brought life and inspired reverence among millions who came to worship at the waters' edge.

Now I am one of a few hundred who have gathered here in a service of chanting and commemoration for the passing of a great man, our beloved teacher Yogi Bhajan. A few dozen of us are American Sikhs and yoga students who came with Yogi Bhajan's birth family and staff, headed by his wife, Dr. Bibi Inderjit Kaur, to return his ashes to his homeland. Over nearly two weeks of traveling from Delhi to Anadpur Sahib to Amritsar and the Golden Temple and other points across India's northern Punjab state, we have participated in ceremonies in many temples and released his ashes in the Sutlej River at Kiratpur. A final, small portion of his ashes was also released today in the Ganges to honor his mother's side of the family.

Here in Rishikesh we join a few hundred yogis - from sweet-faced young children to mature practitioners in saffron robes - sitting with their teacher and Yogi Bhajan's fond friend, Swami Chidanand Saraswati ji, or Muni ji as he is affectionately known to thousands around the world. As the red ball of the sun dips below the mountain ridge, our voices merge as one in th2e chanting - the hypnotic toning of Hindu chants joining with long passages of "Wahe Guru" familiar to the thousands of us who learned it from Yogi ji. The ceremony is known as Arti, or the festival of lights. As the darkness encompasses us, we light our ceremonial candles from the central fire, moving them in widening arcs in front of us in rhythm with the chanting - lighting the darkness with the eternal flame of God-consciousness.

We are linked in respect and reverence, paying homage to a great soul who has passed from physical life but who now touches us all from the other side. We are teachers, as he inspired us to be, and we are also "chelas" (students) as we sit by this great river in homage to God who created us all.

India is a land that has touched us all over the years we have come here on pilgrimage. It is a land of stark contrasts - of wealth and poverty, of darkness and light. Some who visit here cannot handle the poverty and darkness. It is equally difficult to handle darkness in our own lives wherever we live. Yet now we must handle the darkness in order for the light in ourselves to grow and prosper. Why? Simply said, darkness and light come from the same Source of All Life. It all exists to teach us, to inspire us to reach out and help. The light that is eternal in us is that which embraces the darkness with love.

Tonight we came to light our candles in the dark and live the legacy our teacher gave us. We came to pray with those of all spiritual paths, to dip our feet in this powerful source of life, and to rise each day with reverence to do our yoga, prayers and meditations. We came to live as lights in the darkness carrying that light around the world.

Each and every one of you is here with us in prayer tonight. We carried your prayers to the Golden Temple, where your donations will go far to feeding the poor who flock by the tens of thousands to our free kitchens. We carried your hopes here to the great river's edge. And your lights shine brightly with ours.

Bless you in all ways always,

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