Maps and Territories

“The map is not the territory” is one of those phrases people utter when they want to sound profound (or perhaps, when they’re just lost), but the funny thing is, it’s true, at least for me here in Mysore, where the Google map I often look at before leaving the house ends up looking nothing like the route I eventually take to get somewhere, or, to extend the lesson from the spatial to the theoretical, the map I have in my mind before I go do something ends up being very different than the experience itself turns out to be.

Case in point: this morning, I planned to ride my (new!) bike to the Datta Peetham Ashram, which is the center of learning for this guru, Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda, who’s apparently world-famous, but about whom I only just learned the other day from my flute teacher, who is a devotee. People have told me that the ashram is an oasis of calm in Mysore and well worth seeing; I’d also been given an invitation from a fellow, Dr. P.V. Phanishree, a pediatrician at the hospital connected to the ashram, who specializes in, among other things, using music and meditation for healing of people who have neurological afflictions.

I’m not sure exactly what I pictured the place to be, but suffice it to say, it was different than that. First of all, Dr. P. wasn’t at ashram, as I misunderstood him to say he was; he was at home, having breakfast with his family (I think) when he received my call taking him up on his invitation.

Second, when he graciously said he would meet me should I only wait for a bit in the Universal Prayer Hall, it wasn’t clear to me he meant for like an hour and a half until he could make it there—not that I minded, actually; it was a lovely place to sit quietly for so long.

Third, when he did arrive, I didn’t realize I’d get a sort of V.I.P. “visiting professor” treatment, including a tour of the Vedic chanting school where about 60 youngsters and adolescents feverishly read aloud from ancient Sanskrit texts under the watchful eyes of their gurus.

And finally, I had no idea I’d get to experience a music therapy healing session, courtesy of Dr. P., with music especially chosen for someone with my birthday; I’m not sure it cured me of anything, but I was certainly transported to some kind of blissful realm during the half-hour so I lay in a recliner chair listening to the Swamiji’s music on headphones.

The territory of what I experienced was way different (and far more profound) than the map I had in mind for it; that’s for sure; also, on my ride there, I got lost four or fives times trying to follow the route I’d googled; each time I did, though, I just asked someone to point me in the right direction; each time, I got closer to my destination, from within the territory, right there, on the ground.