Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Oct 18, 2014 18:15:30 GMT 5.5
Seventeen years ago, Vishwanath Ashram (aka Machin Manao Seva Ashram) was my home. A person who loves seclusion, I had been happily alone there most of the time (I did not see the old priest there that often as I did not live in the same hut as he lived in down near the foot of the hill) until a friend joined in with me in that kind of lifestyle.
That friend (M. Dorendro from Turel Wangma, now in the army) was not that fond of talking that much, and so he was a good companion when I required a quiet society. We lived in and with Nature--it was an unadulterated life of an innocent entity of nature like that of a tree, grass, or snail. We read a lot and I did a lot of thinking. It was spiritually a rich experience that still communicates to me some soothing experience when I remember the deep, quiet life then. That gives me some rest in the fast, crazy, and mindless city of Delhi.
I left the ashram when I had to move to Imphal for my further studies. Soon after the old priest passed away. Then, oja Kunjo moved there with many of his students. Once in a while, when I was available, I went there to take some English grammar classes at the request of the students.
The place was good. Full of plain, simple, and good life. The sweet smell of incense sticks, the calming, soul-reaching sound of bhajans sung by the students. It was a paradise. I miss those days. I wish we could live that again!
Oja Kunjo has moved back to his home. I don't know how the ashram is now. Is anybody living there? Is the mandir bell ringing every day? Is the place still smelling sweet--incense sticks burning? Is there some sweet, deep, soul-reaching bhajan to be heard still? Flowes still blooming?
Time! It does something to us. We can't do anything but just feel and live what it does to us.
That friend (M. Dorendro from Turel Wangma, now in the army) was not that fond of talking that much, and so he was a good companion when I required a quiet society. We lived in and with Nature--it was an unadulterated life of an innocent entity of nature like that of a tree, grass, or snail. We read a lot and I did a lot of thinking. It was spiritually a rich experience that still communicates to me some soothing experience when I remember the deep, quiet life then. That gives me some rest in the fast, crazy, and mindless city of Delhi.
I left the ashram when I had to move to Imphal for my further studies. Soon after the old priest passed away. Then, oja Kunjo moved there with many of his students. Once in a while, when I was available, I went there to take some English grammar classes at the request of the students.
The place was good. Full of plain, simple, and good life. The sweet smell of incense sticks, the calming, soul-reaching sound of bhajans sung by the students. It was a paradise. I miss those days. I wish we could live that again!
Oja Kunjo has moved back to his home. I don't know how the ashram is now. Is anybody living there? Is the mandir bell ringing every day? Is the place still smelling sweet--incense sticks burning? Is there some sweet, deep, soul-reaching bhajan to be heard still? Flowes still blooming?
Time! It does something to us. We can't do anything but just feel and live what it does to us.