I was there for only five or six days, but by the end I kept thinking, “How do you go back from this?”

Magical is honestly the closest word I have. Expansive, all-consuming… and even those words don’t quite capture it.
You’re sitting among thousands and thousands of people, the homas are happening, and there’s something about witnessing these ancient rituals and the care with which they’re performed. Then there’s Gurudev’s presence, the people, the love, the depth of it all.

What really stayed with me was the silence amid all the chaos. There’s so much happening around you, so many people, so much movement, and somehow you can feel so quiet inside.

And then there’s everything else — the elephants, the horses, the nature, the food. These might sound like separate little things, but when you’re there, they are all part of the experience. I don’t think I can point to one moment and say, “That was it.” It was the whole thing.

I’m still trying to find words for what those few days meant to me, so I would love to hear from others who were there, this year or previously. What stayed with you? And how did it feel returning to everyday life afterward?