Caterpillars

I am fascinated with the hungry caterpillar which does nothing but eat and eat, hogging on leaves, oblivious to the world. And then one day, it stops, spins around itself, a silken thread, and cuts itself off, in complete isolation. I have heard that, inside the cocoon, it competely liquefies before it transforms into the butterfly. The struggle of breaking through the cocoon is also an integral part of the transformation, as it strengthens the wings. For us humans, the caterpillar stage could be the 'doing' stage, when the whole focus, the self worth lies in doing and the senses are engrossed in the material world. And then one day, the doing stops and the silken thread of thought is spun out. The disengagement from the material world begins, doing loses its charm and the focus turns inwards. The 'being' stage begins.The transformation happens. There is pain involved. The breaking of the cocoon is the breaking of the conditioned mind of self and others. And one day, the ugly caterpillar is the beauteous butterfly. Nature, in its magnanimity, provides us with these analogies of hope!

Meeting Him

I had heard of this temple on the hillside in Pyramid Valley. And so, early one morning, I announced in the dormitory, that I wanted to go.Would anyone come? And Roma, a fraglie, fifty eight year old, crowned with a mop of curly hair, said yes. So we set off. There was no path on the hill, steep inclines, interspersed with rocky patches. It was intimidating for me, given my arthritic knees. But Roma held out her hand for me to hold and asked me to trust my feet to get me there. Which they did.
There was no temple. Just a pergola and underneath it, a life size statue of Shiva. No priests, no paraphernalia of worship. Just him in the wilderness, sitting in silent contemplation. It was a little startling and then we felt a sense of freedom. We went up to him and touched him. "My hero!" said Roma. I touched his snakes, his rudraksh beads. We stroked his back, shoulders. Rain water had accumulated in his lap. Ants crawled over him. He smiled. We hugged him.
We sat down next to him, held him and meditated. And I felt as though the hill had claimed me. I was one with the earth, with him.
We got up. I went around the pergola, collected some wild flowers and placed them at his feet. And then we came back to the world.

GCSS at Pyramid Valley 2013- Memories

GCSS at Pyramid Valley 2013- memories

The most magical thing in the world is meeting a stranger and finding within the next few minutes/hours an old friendship with deep roots. Somewhat akin to accidentally discovering a treasure. Came back from the GCSS at Pyramid Valley and am on a high. Had lots of interesting experiences which stretched limits of my credulity. But I find the real high for me, comes from connection. These treasures found along the way, these unknown people who suddenly come into my life and to whom I can speak from my heart, without worrying about whether or not I sound cuckoo. They are the real blessings. God is kind.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I almost did not go for the GCSS at Pyramid Valley, this year. One of the deterrants was that none of my friends were going. And how could I go alone with my arthritic knees? Ironically though, these were the friends whom I had met last year at PV or had consolidated my friendship with them there. Eventually, one of them agreed and I went. And I met Anuradha, from Dehradoon, same age as me, blinded at the age of nine. And she was alone. We became friends almost instantly. I asked her, "Anu, you have come here alone?" She replied," Who is alone in this world, Rwitoja? Its actually very difficult to be alone." PV is hilly terrain, uneven, lots of stairs to climb. She asked for help whenever she needed it and help was in abundance for her. Her warmth, her love ensured that she was always surrounded by people. I made many new friends at PV this year. Her words will remain with me. Its really very difficult to be alone in this world.