The country of Peru lies on the Pacific Coast of South America to the North. The beauty of the 11 hours of travel time from New Mexico to Lima, the capital city, is that you only cross one time zone and you are on a flight that allows you to arrive in the early evening. When you begin a tour such as this it is great that you don't have to travel overnight.
Peru is a country of 28 million people made up of mostly a mix of indigenous and European. In Lima where there are 8 million inhabitants the mix is very prevalent but when you travel to other areas of the country then the Andean Indigenous population becomes the prevailing culture and race.
Lima is a sprawling city that sits also on the Pacific ocean and is cooled by the cold water currents mixing with the warm equatorial waters. As a result, it never rains in Lima. The geography is very barren and the greenery is maintained by city trucks going around watering everything. The land may be brown and dry but the people and the culture is incredibly vibrant and colorful. Their famous Andean music, dance and food is now being respected by the world over for its unique and varied palette. After all, it was Peru that gave the world potatoes and corn. It also offers a tremendous look at ancient civilizations such as Incan and Tiahuanaco cultures. Everything in Peru can date back thousands of years. In fact, the culture of India and Peru has similar dating.
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| Dr Ardas Singh embraces a Peruvian baby at the Women's Prison in Lima. |
Our sangat in Peru is consistently growing. From our original tours, the sangat is maturing in its activities of seva, langar and teaching. The sangat is a group of incredible professionals that run the gamut in serving the economic vitality of the country. The Peruvians are gracious, generous and smiling. Their warmth and hospitality is second to none.
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| S.S. Gurubachan Singh Khalsa lead more than 300 prisoners in the mens maximum security prison in Peru participate in meditations of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. The meditations worked on eliminating stress and anger while connecting with one's self. |
Last year we reported that one of the levels of seva they were interested in was bringing the prison population the teachings of Kundalini Yoga and Shabd Guru. It has become such a successful program that now the 4 main prisons of the country offer classes in Kundalini Yoga. It is amazing to see 300 inmates chanting and meditating. It only makes us more convinced that our work is really great to reach people when they are young to help them avoid the entrapments of life that can place them behind bars.
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| Some of the inmates smiling after the session gather with our group for a picture. This facility was built for 2,000 inmates and now holds some 9,000. It is very rare to see them smile. |
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| A beautiful pizza lunch held in honor of The Lord Miracles Tour hosted by the Peruvian Sangat. |
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| S.S. Gurubachan Singh and Dr Ardas Singh at the main Lord of Miracles Tour lecture in Lima, Peru. |
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| 300 Peruvian's meditating to Gurbani Kirtan. |
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| Dr Ardas Singh gives group consultations on mental and physical health to many people after the lecture in Lima. |
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| At the Women's Health Center in the poorest district of Lima, Peru. S.S. Gurubachan Singh and Dr Ardas Singh share with them techniques to handle stress. |
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| Women from health centers in Lima meditate to Puta Mata Ki Asees. |
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| The master chef demonstrates the art of making Spanish paella at the home of Guru Simran Kaur and Don Miguel. |
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| Women at the maximum security prison meditate on relating to there grace. |
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| Prison guards were an inspiration to us all in their capacity to meditate. |
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| Celebrating with pizza in the gracious home of Guru Tera Singh and Guru Tera Kaur on the last night of our stay in Peru. Counter clockwise from left: Atmadev Kaur, Dev Murti Kaur, Guru Tera Singh, Guru Meher Singh, S.S. Gurubachan Singh, Baltej Kaur (standing), Guru Simran Kaur and Santokh Kaur. |
On the first day, Guru Tera Singh, Guru Tera Kaur, Simrat Kaur, Guru Simran Kaur, and Baltej Kaur arranged for a large conference with more than 300 inmates in the Men's prison. Dr Ardass Singh from Germany who is accompanying us on the entire tour, S.S. Gurubachan Singh and myself all taught during the conference. The impact was incredible and the change that they all went through was nothing short of the miracle of Guru Ram Das.
Following our wonderful Pizza lunch, the Peruvian sangat with Dr Ardass went to teach another class at the medium security prison for woman. For 2 hours Dr Ardass Singh taught them how to meditate, chant and feel inspired. If any of you have met Dr Ardass, who traveled with Yogi Bhajan on several occasions to India all understand what a graceful and powerful healer he is.
To complete the day, S.S. Gurubachan Singh Khalsa taught the Lord of Miracles lecture which was on "Reconnecting with yourself in Times of Uncertainty". The hall was filled with just fewer than 300 people of Lima who came from all aspects of Peruvian society. S.S. Gurubachan Singh explained to the group the power and importance of the breath and that through the breath you can know how to handle your life. Every answer to the challenges of life is contained in the breath. In these years there is a tremendous disconnection between one's self and reality and as a result people are confused, stressed, worried, fearful and depressed. We all experienced connecting with our selves through the simple techniques of Kundalini Yoga and mantras from Shabd Guru. In the end everyone was uplifted, recharged and happy.
The next day we had the opportunity to work with healers form all over Lima's poor neighborhoods. About 100 women participated in learning about how disease is dis-ease. To control your health and keep away from disease can be reached through proper diet, exercise and meditation. Dr Ardass Singh spoke on this importance as well and relating to how the Siri Guru Granth Sahib teaches us to live lives of truth in all aspects.
That afternoon we were invited to a wonderful Paella (pai-ey-a), a delicious Spanish dish, lunch made from beautiful Peruvian produce, and Spanish saffron rice. This was a truly memorable part of the tour to visit the home of Guru Simran Kaur and her husband Don Miguel. From the lunch we headed towards the women's maximum security prison. The women were overjoyed to see us and the class was nothing short of beautiful. 20% of the population of this prison has been practicing Kundalini Yoga for 1 year. As a result there is marked decrease in aggression, violence and substance abuse. The women members of the sangat who are instrumental in this seva of teaching at the prison are Guru Tera Kaur, Guru Simran Kaur, Santokh Kaur, Baltej Kaur and Dev Murit Kaur. These angels of Peru have been generously giving their time and effort as Kundalini Yoga teachers. It has been a great honor for all of us on this wonderful 8th Lord of Miracles Tour in Honor of Guru Ram Das to participate with them.
Ram Das Singh Khalsa reporting from 38,000 feet somewhere over Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian-Peruvian border en route to our 2nd city on this great tour, La Paz, Bolivia.