Barlow, Mauritius
A grand total of 31 people came to partake in a 10
kilometer trek in the area of Flacq.
The group is what we call a Nam Hatha group who assemble
regularly to chant. This team makes it a habit to take a
weekly walk as a meditation.
seeing the group with their flowing clothes of dotis and
sarees while carrying in their right hand a cloth pouch
which contain their meditation beads. They are chanting
japa, a word mentioned in the Gita.
If I am not mistaken this group started their japa walking
routine a year ago when I came to visit Mauritius. I am
glad to see them keep up this Saturday morning practice, a
practice of which became a daily affair for our guru,
Srila Prabhupada.
This weekly affair begins from the home of Dev and Devika,
who today took a step up so to speak, when they received
diksha (initiation). This very reserved couple proudly
accepted the new Sanskrit names of Dinanath (for Dev) and
Damayanti ( for Devika). The fire ceremony which
accompanied the name giving took place in the Bon Acceuil
temple. Congratulations! More name giving was to come
though. For late afternoon a drive to Barlow allowed us to
participate in the installation of small brass deities. I
was given the honor to name this pair of dancing- posed
deities. Nimai Nitai, it was. We indulged in a rocking
Kirtan (chant) and read from "words from Apple", George
Harrison's intro to our gurus book, "Krishna". What a
proud message! that was written, spookily enough, on
31/03/70. check today's date.
The final stop for the day was a drive to Grand Baie where
an old friend, Jay Sookar, offers aroma therapies. He's a
master healer who also applies ayurveda and shiatsu
treatment. As he was working on my physical machinery, I
took him down the road of my walking history. It seems we
could identify the beginnings of a dis-alignment. in 1996
on my first walk I dared to walk most of my 8,500
kilometers across Canada on one side of the highway - a dangerous
undertaking. The road, when constructed slopes slightly to
accommodate run-off rain. That was likely the culprit -
the shoulder of the road.
10 Km
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