Today I achieved Zen, which was the entire goal of this trip.  I found spiritual enlightenment thanks to a lack of sleep.  Well, that and we visited Auroville, India today … a massive global “village” where like-minded people come together to live, meditate, reflect … and, uh, be silent.

Here’s the backstory … try and keep up.  In the mid ‘60’s, a holy woman everyone calls “Mother” had a vision to create a sort of utopian Shangri-La smack in the middle of Southern India.   People from around the globe could come and commune and embrace quiet reverence, which is weird to me, but whatever.

A massive functioning city infrastructure was built around this giant golden orb called the Matrimandir.  If you combined a golden spaceship with the giant sphere at Epcot … that’s what it would resemble.  The “city” is teeming with Shamen, hippies and hoards of people who call Auroville home.  It’s like a United Colours of Benetton ad … except everyone has dreadlocks and wears white.

I read this article … and it sums it up nicely.  “Built with the support from all over the world, Matrimandir stands as a living example of human unity in diversity which Auroville seeks to express and manifest a unity essential for our planet’s survival.”  (I couldn’t have put it better myself …)

I’m not going to give away the entire experience once inside … but it’s a surreal place of holiness.  I would use the term “sacred” … but I don’t want to scare anyone off.  No one makes a sound when inside the inner chamber, where a beam of light from the sun hits the largest optically-perfect glass globe in the world. It puts the sanctity in inner sanctum.

If it makes absolutely no sense to you whatsoever, you’re not alone.  But I was meant to be there.  Everyone is given a token and a number when they arrive.  Mine was … I kid you not … “B-52”, ironic since my favorite group are The B’s.  Kate, Cindy, Fred and Keith function on the belief that cosmic forces guide all of us. Going here just sort of reinforced the whole trip.

The outskirts of the Auroville were once a French colony, so boulangeries and patisseries line the streets.  Once enlightened, I was starving.  I ate a croissant with jam.  And I could NOT get Madonna’s “Ray of Light” out of my head.  Zephyr in the sky at night, indeed.  I’m still humming it right now.  (“Aaaand I feeeel … like I just got home … and I feeeel …”)

Speaking of … on the way home, I promptly fell asleep in the car ride back to Chennai.  The first real rest I’ve gotten since arriving in India.  I woke up feeling refreshed, renewed and revitalized.  Thanks, Mother … I’m a believer.