VARANASI

Avimukta
· The Crossing ·

SATYA Yātrā 2027

12 nights: 7-19 January
or
9 nights: 7-16 January

Apply now

Avimukta: The Crossing

Avimukta is the place where nose and eyebrows meet, where iḍā and piṅgalā, the lunar and solar currents, converge into suṣumṇā, the central channel, as one torrent.

In India, Avimukta is the place where the rivers Varaṇā and Asī converge into the Gaṅgā and flow true north.

Varanasi. The place Śiva never abandons. The Unforsaken Place. And known for millennia as Kāśī.

Inside, Avimukta is sandhi: the crossing between the seen and unseen, the known and unknown, between human and divine.

And outside, Kāśī is Avimukta: tīrtha and Mahāśmaśāna, the crossing place and the Great Cremation Ground. Life and death converge here.

Modern life makes escape easy, and most triggers can be evaded. You can control how close you get, how much you take and for how long. The patterns stay intact and the crossing is avoided.

Kāśī is a pattern interrupt. Escape routes close and control fails. What you normally avoid is all around you.

Kāśī stretches the human capacity to receive more of life at once.

Kāśī gets into you through breath, food, water, hands, skin. Your gut, your lungs, your immune system meet Kāśī.

Sometimes there is simply too much.

Bell, horn, conch, animal, engine, pollution, smoke, ash, triśūla, bodies, corpse. Everything can penetrate at once.

Stay with Kāśī and distinctions sharpen within the density. You begin to know which bell is sounding, where the procession is going, which shrine is buried in the wall, which alley leads to which ghāṭ.

The crush is directional and the noise relays signals.

What appeared tangled and congested reveals an intricate order.

And through the intensity, the threads come into view.

Threads of a secret map. An entire pilgrimage threaded through one city. Flowers threaded into garlands. Shrines threaded through alleys. The living threaded among the dead.

Avimukta, the place Śiva never abandons

Śiva is consciousness itself. Nothing is outside it.

For the sādhaka, awareness does not abandon the body. Every sensation, however uncomfortable, is consciousness-power in expression.

People have travelled here for centuries to practise sādhana, bathe in Gaṅgā, receive darśana (divine vision), die, be cremated and cross.

We go alive, ripe.

Dedicated time with Umā is priceless. For me, being in India with her is an experience of one door opening to more opening doors, allowing for the magic of each moment to be realised. Umā’s ability for a plan to co-exist with having no plan unravels into a beautiful orchestration of profound experience.

I feel invited to to fully participate and embody faith, will and action in my spiritual and daily life—awakening to the realisation they are not separate and are equally as important.”

— Luca Mezzofanti, Australia (SATYA Yātrā: Kiṣkindhā)

This SATYA Yātrā includes:

  • 9 or 12 nights in Varanasi with Umā
  • Single room* with private bathroom in guesthouse accommodations
  • Two meals per day, beverages and prasāda (blessed food offering)
  • Sevā (service) and/or dāna (giving), as it arises

* Shared double room may be available upon request.

This journey felt like an access point into an India I have never been able to access before. It was an opening to slip into, and receive the codes and the medicine that the land holds.

I feel I was shown the real magic—how rituals and ceremonies done were the real deal. And this can be assimilated into my life in so many places, because it taught me that magic is real, and it is based on my CHOICE. To see that ceremonies are done because it actually does something in the geometry immediately, it changed something profound in me.

 

I’m so very appreciative of every place that was seamlessly woven into the geometry of our journey together. Thank you for holding a space allowing the mysticism and fairytales to be revealed.”

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—Marthe Magerøy, Psy.M., Yoga Teacher & Craniosacral Therapist, Norway (SATYA Yātrā: Kiṣkindhā)

Frequently asked questions

Please read the following information before registering for SATYA Yātrā.

No formal study of Tantra, Yoga or Āyurveda is required. The yātrā itself will be an experiential education in SATYA: the Synergistic Alignment of Tantra, Yoga and Āyurveda.

You are requested to establish a regular sādhana to prepare for SATYA Yātrā, and we strongly recommend that you engage in at least two months of SATYA Sādhana Monthly before the yātrā begins.

If you have any questions about this, please contact us or ask in your application form below.

You’ll be provided with a list of recommended items to pack, including the type of clothing that is culturally appropriate.

Among other things, you’ll want to have clothing that is easy to move in; warm layers for mornings and evenings; cushion or blanket for seated meditation; sun protection; insect protection; toiletries; notebook and pen; etc.

Note that January mornings and evenings in Varanasi can be cold and foggy. Be sure to bring warm layers according to this season.

A small sitting mat made of woven natural fibre like grass or bamboo can also be useful to have in temples, where sitting on cloth is sometimes not allowed.

We recommend you plan to arrive in India at least 2-3 days before you travel to Varanasi for yātrā, giving yourself time to purchase clothing that is appropriate for temples (details provided after registration) and any other needed items. This shopping is best done in New Delhi or other large cities.

The most important preparation for this SATYA training is to be in a self-responsible practice of being physically, emotionally and mentally healthy before you arrive.

You are also requested to establish a regular sādhana to prepare for SATYA Yātrā, and we strongly recommend that you engage in at least two months of SATYA Sādhana Monthly before the yātrā begins.

Seated meditation is a part of our practice together on yātrā. Please prepare physically and mentally to be in seated meditation for at least 30-60 minutes at a time. Note that we are often seated on the ground for several hours a day, in temples, in meditation or in other circumstances.

When planning your travel, plan to arrive in India at least 2-3 days before you travel to the Yātrā location, giving yourself time to rest, acclimate and purchase clothing that is appropriate for temples (details provided after registration). This shopping is best done in larger towns or cities.

Before registering for SATYA Yātrā, please contact us with any questions or concerns you might have about these preparations, or ask your questions in the application form below.

We recommend flying into New Delhi at least 2–3 days before Yātrā begins to rest and acclimate.

On 7 January, there are direct flights from Delhi to Varanasi in the morning. A private taxi will meet you at Varanasi airport at approximately 11:00 a.m. and take you as far into the old city as the road allows. From there, because the lanes narrow into alleyways that cars cannot enter, a SATYA representative will meet you and guide you on foot the rest of the way to the guest house.

Please pack with this walk to the guesthouse in mind. These narrow alleyways are often crowded and the paving uneven, so a suitcase is impractical to carry along this path. We recommend a backpack or a soft bag you can comfortably carry yourself for 10-15 minutes.

Lunch will be provided after your arrival at the guesthouse, before our opening circle.

Two meals are planned for within our daily yātrā activities. There may sometimes be food at other times of day, such as prasāda (blessed food offering) at temples. Drinks throughout the day are also included.

If you have questions or concerns about this, please communicate these to us before registering, in the contact form on this website or in the application form below.

Chai with or without black tea may sometimes be available, but please do not rely on having it by a certain time of day or even daily. 

The final deadline to apply for SATYA Yātrā is 15 December 2026.

However, spaces are limited, so you’re advised to apply as soon as possible.

Before registering, please be sure to read our Cancellation & Refund Policy: https://satyatraining.com/refund-policy/

Yātrā pricing

12 NIGHTS:
7-19 January 2027
€3330 €2790 until 15 Nov.

9 NIGHTS:
7-16 January 2027
€2700 €2250 until 15 Nov.

Payment plans may be available, and you are welcome to enquire about this.

How to apply

To request your space in SATYA Yātrā: Varanasi, please click the button to fill out the application form.

FINAL DATE TO APPLY:
15 Dec. 2026

After you submit your application form, we will respond by email within a few working days to provide next steps.

Apply now

When I’m in India with Umā I’m deeply *in* India—no longer a foreigner on the outskirts glimpsing in, but a practitioner carried into India’s multifold richness by someone of this culture, bringing me in.

India’s sacred traditions abound from Umā, and she is incredibly skilled at unfolding them for us. She is known and honoured in the villages where we stayed, and door after door opened for us—to ancient cave drawings, to mysterious monoliths, to sacred pujas conducted in our names and, perhaps best of all, into the homes of wonderful people who welcomed us with open hearts.”

— Lisa Bailey, Sweden (SATYA Yātrā: Kiṣkindhā)