In the winter of 2017, I sat on the floor at Ramana Maharshi’s ashram waiting for lunch to be ladled on a banana leaf. The room was filled with pilgrims of every age, nationality, and class, ready to eat a basic lunch of rice and dahl. The simplicity of the food, ease of clean up, and swiftness of silent eating allow hundreds of people to be fed, thousands on festival days.

The ashram is nothing like a spa. The buildings are basic and kept clean. The programming is minimal. There are no attainments to achieve, and no inner circles to belong to. The main activity is to walk the 14 kilometers around the mountain and visit the sacred sites.

I had a few hours of free time before we made the ascent. I spent the morning watching a family of monkeys. The mama had recently given birth and was holding her baby close. She was blind and totally dependent on her mate, who attentively doted on her. The scene was so loving and so human.

Another member of my group joined me. She was in a perpetual search for Orangina which she finally found at the ashram. I felt a vague bit of schadenfreude as a monkey reached into her backpack, grabbed the bottle, and scooted up a tree. His facile little fingers opened the twist top, and he drank with relish.

When it came time to climb the mountain to Ramana Maharshi’s living quarters, we were asked to leave our shoes at the base of the trail head. Unlike the smart locals, we westerners decided to hike midday, barefoot, on sun scorched rocks.

When I got to the meditation cabin, the house was nearly full. I sat in the only open spot against a wall very aware that I was the only woman in the space.

I closed my eyes and I felt an unusual weight in my body. I settled into my breath and waited for my mind to calm down. Very swiftly and very sweetly, I noticed that I was dreaming: not fully asleep, but not awake either. It was the most pedestrian of mystical experiences. I received the gift of rest.

When I got back on the bus, people were sharing their purchases of prayer beads and statues of ganesh. I didn’t bother to say what I’d been up to. Ramana Maharshi had given me a very personal and subtle teaching camouflaged in the form of an unforgettable nap.