Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Kamalashile - Part 2


...and so that brings us to the second day! The day the course began! Nothing will be mentioned here about the processes of course, but things went pretty smoothly. I did forget to mention about the food in the previous post. There is a unique tradition in Kamalshile of serving rasam and rice prior to serving sambhar. The sweets and payasam(kheer; a liquidy sweet) and curry and rasam and sambhar ensured that all course participants added atleast a couple of kilos before they left from the place. Not to mention the amazing seva of cooking and serving food done by Jeethu, Sudhee and gang. After the morning Om Namah Shivayah Chanting, Suryanamaskaras and Kriya which were so beautufully led by Prashant (who somebody thinks I have a lot to learn from), off we headed for breakfast! Guess what?! My favourite!! I almost screamed out of Joy; Dosas!!! Seva was certainly what I had expected I will get!!! I was really being pulled out of my comfort zone!! But luckily for me, I had Ravi to help me and together we managed to undo what a lot of others had done!!! Just as we finished, we heard that the water from all that raining had flooded the temple and had just touched the feet of the Divine Mother and was receeding back. Off we went, rushed into the temple, pulling our pants up and taking our shirts off! We waded into the temple, but alas, the water had already receeded quite a bit. Lunch was then followed by the next session and after enough breaks, off we went on the nature walk; To one of the most beautiful and accessible waterfalls!!! We had to climb a hill, cross a couple streams of flowing water, more climbing and finally, there it was in its greandeur. Quite small, but powerful. Ravi and I made the mistake of walking barefoot! The tiny stones rough terrain made our feet beg for some protection, but then again, hey, "Sarvam Guru Mayam"!!! No pain, no gain!!!

A hasty return from the waterfall, some of us lost our way and entered private property. The owners were kind enough to guide us along the right path and there were no legal issues to be bothered about! Once we got back, we found that the hall was taken by the volunteers who were doing their long kriya and so we couldn't go in to change (we were drenched both in the rain and in sweat- which is not a very comfortable feeling). Some of us were musing on the thought of eating some bajjis, which Mala outright turned down. Finally, the doors opened and after a quick change, we all ran out for dinner. Dinner in Kamalashile is a unique affair. It consists of Kanji (Boiled rice made in the form of a porridge), with salt, some vegetables and some very tasty coconut chutney! I did forget to mention the really nice Kashayam (spiced warm drink that is very good for the health) that we all got before we embarked on the nature walk!!! Post dinner, satsang time!!! Yay!!! Amidst all the nature walk and everything, I had totally forgotten about Chayanna's Keyboard. As I entered the satsang hall, there it sat right in the front. After the satsang, we all officially went into silence. A silence that each one of us celebrated and continue to celebrate within us. A silence that leads one from the gross to the subtle. A silence that takes one into the world of thoughts where the possibilities are endless. Our celebration of silence had officially begun!!! As I picked up the Keyboard to take it back to Chayanna's room, Sudhee walked across the room and gently reminded me that come what may, it was my responsibility to bring the keyboard before the satsang and take it back after the satsang! Day one of the course was over!!!


Jai Gurudeva

1 comment:

Shruthi Srinivas said...

Hey! you haven't missed out anything.
I can recollect and feel each moment while reading along...:) :)

Jai Gurudev