Posted: April 9, 2021 | Author: bansuri | Filed under: Musings | Tags: advaita vedanta, Mauritius, memories, Music, rain, vipassana |
Such a feeling of nostalgia, this evening.
Maybe it’s the weather. Beautiful rain drizzling with melancholy.
And couple that with my shuffled playlist, throwing my way everything from shivashtakam of sacred chants, to piya dekho na of kaavish to beti of zul ramiah.
How well we create this world of ours! Through our senses and our intellect, we make sure to anchor everything we experience as reality, ready to burst out in bubbles of memories at the slightest trigger!
Somewhere at the back of my mind, I can hear Goenkaji’s voice calling me to feel the breath, feel the breath... and Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji’s stick swinging back and forth, as if reminding me of netti, netti!
But no! There my mind runs away again. At least right now it is stuck with MS Subbulakshmi and her rendition of Bhaja Govindam.
Still with rain as background music though.
*sigh*
Posted: April 9, 2021 | Author: bansuri | Filed under: Bansuri's Stories | Tags: cavadee, kovil montagne, Mauritius, sittirai |
How to practice detachment
When the mind is bombarded with sensory recollections
During every waking second?
For instance, however much I miss the spiritual experience of Sittirai Cavadee, that’s not the only thing I miss.
Let’s start with sleeping on the floor for ten days. I swear it felt like a camping experience. Bangalore Ramani Anmal’s voice and Amlavadi’s kanda shasti permeating through home. Mom’s freshly cooked roti and idlis. Incense. the ‘milky stench’ of all those carefully kept pink pieces of cloth previously used for cavadee before. Washing the kudams. Kaavi (or alta).
The smells. Oh my God, the smells. flowers. incense. grandma’s prayer books’ bag.
A very simple example?
The weight of my paalkudam – right on the middle of my head, making my two shoulders slightly tensed and prompting me to stand straight. With milk streaming down my fingers. Mom’s hand on my waist for support. Grandma singing Kanda Shasti behind me
the burning hot road. water from hoses momentarily soothing those itchy, burning and mind-numbing feet. but before that –
#sittirai #cavadee #mauritius #kovil montagne
Hey Krishna! 