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“Be ready,” she told me.” “Ready?” I asked. “Like a cat”, she said. “When I say now, we go, we run.” I had no idea what she was talking about or where we were running. We were in India at the Khumba Mela, the Hindu festival that draws millions of pilgrims to bath in a holy river, it is one of the world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims. It’s so large it can be seen from space. We had our backs against the wall, my hand holding tight to my new Spanish friend, Asha, on tip toes, waiting to be ready. As I looked around all I could see were masses of people, colorful, happy, singing people. There was an energy of excitement in the air, as the marigold flowers descended onto our heads. The bright orange robes of my Guru along with his lotus feet became visible to me in the distance as he began his descent from the chariot he was riding during the procession towards the river. “Now!” she yelled. And we were running. We were running so fast my shoeless feet barely touched the ground. Holding my Spanish friend’s hand for dear life we were jumping over obstacles as I struggled not to fall over my sari. “My sari,” I called out. “Forget your sari, now is for living,” she yelled back as we flew through the crowds. Suddenly we were at the edge of the river, jammed with thousands of people. I realized we were running into the river I shouted, “No, I do not want to get in the river.” I was engulfed in fear. “This is all maya,” she yelled back. “You do want to get in the river.” According to maya this was not real, my outer reality was just an illusion and the illusion had me so engulfed in fear I was paralyzed, not able to move. I knew I had to move forward and leap into the river, it was the only place to go, yet I could not move. The crowds of people were pushing us more and more forward, their eagerness to get into the river overcoming any boundaries. My inner reality began to pray and chant and focus on my Guru, that was the message I had received and I needed to focus my mind, to move beyond the fear, to be able to physically move my body. This was all happening so quickly, everything around me was pushing me to take that leap of faith into the holy river. At that moment Asha pulled me into the holy river, that’s it I thought, I’m going to drown. I became submerged in the water, trying to keep my head above the water. Thoughts of my nude underwear were long gone as I struggled to stay afloat. I could see my Guru in the water ahead of us as I desperately grabbed hold of the nearest man to prevent myself from drowning. I knew what I was experiencing was magical yet I was terrified. I was in the holy river at the Kumbh Mela with my Guru and masses of people. People around me were joyfully swimming and splashing around in the river, bringing their heads under the water and having so much fun. I was still trying to stay alive. My feet did not reach the bottom of the river until we reached the steps to climb out. I am not sure if I swam or just floated to the steps. Relief and lightness ran through my body and mind as I climbed out of the river. Even though I was soaking wet I felt so much lighter. Faith had got me this far, faith in my Guru, and faith in my Spanish friend and most importantly faith in myself, embarking on this exciting journey to India. Feeling blessed to be so alive we danced and sang our way back to our camp, with thousands of people, grateful that according to Hindu tradition, our karma had been cleansed for many lifetimes.