“He is almost gone” one of the elderly men says to me when I ask for permission to enter their room. He is referring to another elderly man, who is lying motionless on his bed. “Namaskaram” I repeat a few times to him in a loud voice till he is able to notice my arrival. His eyes meet mine. There is no reply in words. We don’t speak … Continue reading He Is Almost Gone
“Mam, is there anything you need?” she asks. Surprised by her attentiveness I simply reply “I am fine. Thank you.” Yet during the flight while she walks up and down the aisle of the plane, she asked a few more times if there is anything I require along with a brief question of where I am going. I answer briefly in one sentence while being … Continue reading A Love Letter from God
Satsang with Swami Chidananda Puri Ji: Daily five Yagnas have to be observed by a householder. They are called Pancha Maha Yagna. Understanding these Pancha Maha Yagna is imperative in this world at this time. It will nourish family life. What is the inner meaning of Pancha Maha Yagna? Our Rishis say every individual that comes on this earth comes with some debts. Debts that … Continue reading Pancha Maha Yagna
An elderly woman gave me a two Rupees coin during the Narmada Parikrama. That is a fact. That one saw her as Maa Narmada and the other one saw her as a beggar is each one’s own perception. One single event seen by two different people invokes two entirely different narrations about that one single event. Mind is Maya. Everything we see is mind’s creation. … Continue reading I Do Not Know
Did you ever think about the last breath you will take in this body? Mine is surely not yet. My hair will be white. Skin will be wrinkled. Movements will be slow. Body skinny. Shoulders hanging forward. Unless of course Yama [God of Death] decides differently. He choses when the moment arrives, that one single moment: a last exhale. A soft silent sound of air … Continue reading The last Breath
Vaishno Devi, Kashmir, India, 2015: The path is carved into stones. It is dark and narrow. Water flows gently from the cold natural rock walls next to me. I carefully watch and copy the people around me. “Jai Mata Di” the woman ahead of me keeps proclaiming in loud repetition. I copy whatever she does, yet let my voice be almost inaudible. I am unsure … Continue reading Did you skip walk today?
Encounters during my Narmada Parikrama, a walk of 3,118km along the river Narmada in India. Especially in the late afternoon farmers switch on the water sprinklers to irrigate their rice fields along the banks of Narmada Maa. Each time we pass them it becomes a little play. They rotate in the typical circle rhythm and like children we always carefully watch for small gaps in … Continue reading Lalsingh the red Lion
Narrative about my walk of 3,118 km along the river Narmada in India. During the Narmada Parikrama because of incredible exhaustion of walking and circumstances at some point during the journey no energy was left anymore to filter expressions. Everything came out as it is. Anger was unfiltered anger. Joy was unfiltered joy. I could not run away from it. Nor could my poor companions … Continue reading The Godly Seed of Honesty
“Next year I will return to Kailash.” I say. “Why next year? Come now!” Shiva replies. And so one month later I kneel infront of Him while my eyes fill with tears. Little seems left in my life that evokes such joy in my heart. It was my third visit and third Parikrama on foot around sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet. Each time I had … Continue reading The Trilogy of Kailash
“If you have to pick one person that has been your greatest teacher on your path, who would it be?” he asked me. I liked his question. But who to name? To pick only one? Impossible. Everyone and everything is my greatest teacher. But today while I bid the regular good-bye to my dear four-legged friends, I feel to answer, out of love: The black … Continue reading The Black Dog
Monja 