Journal
Guides for seekers
Practical writing on the things people actually ask us about: what the Kailash yatra asks of your body, how altitude works, how to build a practice that survives contact with an ordinary week. Written by the people who lead these journeys.
Sacred Atlas
Places described in the books of the masters, with every claim cited by chapter. See the map
Babaji's cave near Ranikhet: where Lahiri Mahasaya received Kriya Yoga
Two books, written decades apart, describe the same hillside above Dwarahat. What each one says, and the official route to the hill today.
Kainchi Dham in Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: Sri M meets Neem Karoli Baba
Sent by his teacher from the caves of Kumaon, a young seeker finds a crowd, a Hanuman shrine, and a laughing saint who picks him out from the back row.
Lahiri Mahasaya's house in Kashi: a householder's room at the centre of Kriya Yoga
The great Kriya Yoga master never left home for a cave. He taught from a small front room in the lanes of Kashi. Here is what the book says about that house.
Manikarnika Ghat: why the masters send seekers to the burning ground
Kashi is built around a cremation ground, and Manikarnika is at its centre. Two teachers from different lineages explain why a seeker might choose to sit there.
Trailanga Swami and the ghats of Kashi: what two lineage books say
A silent ascetic on the steps of the Ganga, remembered by two different lineages. What the books actually say about him, and what is only said.
Kailash & yatra
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: a complete guide
What the yatra actually asks of you: the routes into Tibet, the permits each one needs, the altitudes you will sleep at, and the three days of the kora.
6 min read
Lipulekh, Nathu La or Nepal: choosing your route to Kailash
Three ways into Tibet, with very different physical profiles. Which one suits you depends less on cost than on how your body handles altitude gained quickly.
3 min read
The Kailash kora, day by day
Fifty-two kilometres around the mountain, in three very unequal days. What each one asks of you, and why the second morning decides the yatra.
4 min read
What the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra costs, and why
Quotes vary widely and the headline figure tells you almost nothing. What is fixed, what is discretionary, and the four questions that reveal which is which.
4 min read
Adi Kailash or Kailash Mansarovar: which yatra, and why
One needs a Chinese visa and three weeks; the other is inside India and takes under a week. They are not substitutes for each other, and the choice is clearer than it looks.
3 min read
The Annapurna Circuit: what the trek actually asks of you
One of the great Himalayan walks, and a genuinely good place to find out how your body handles altitude before you commit to Tibet.
3 min read
Kashi: how to visit Varanasi as a seeker rather than a tourist
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, and one that gives very little to people passing through quickly. What to know before you go.
3 min read
Preparation
Altitude on the Kailash yatra: what to understand before you go
Altitude is the most common reason a yatra goes wrong, and the least understood. What acclimatisation is, what it is not, and what to watch for in yourself and others.
5 min read
Preparing your body for the Kailash yatra
Kailash asks for sustained low-intensity endurance and efficient breathing, not strength or speed. What to train, in what order, starting six months out.
4 min read
What to pack for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
The plateau is cold, dry and fiercely sunny, sometimes within the same hour. A kit list built around what the kora actually does to you.
4 min read
Classical Hatha Yoga
What Classical Hatha Yoga actually is
Not a slow class, and not a style among styles. What the Hatha texts actually describe, and how that differs from what most people meet in a studio.
4 min read
Tapasya: what the word actually means, and what a 21-day practice does
Usually translated as austerity, which makes it sound like deprivation. The root means heat. What a fixed period of daily practice is actually for.
4 min read
Pranayama for beginners: what it is and how to start safely
Breath regulation is given more space in the Hatha texts than posture, and treated as more consequential. Where to start, and what the tradition is careful about.
4 min read
Practice at home
How to start a daily sadhana that survives the first month
Most daily practices fail in the second fortnight, and almost always for the same handful of reasons. How to build one that holds.
4 min read
Brahma Muhurta: practising before sunrise
The hour and a half before dawn. How to work out when it falls where you live, and how to move your practice there without simply losing sleep.
4 min read
Abhyanga: the traditional practice of self-massage with oil
Oiling the body before bathing is one of the oldest daily practices there is. How it is traditionally done, and how to fit it into a week that already has no time in it.
4 min read