Grand-Bassin, Mauiritius
After attending the mangal arti at the
Phoenix centre, a small but growing army tagged along with Kala, Abhaya and
myself through what Kala refers to as “the highlands.” We started trekking
through paddles in Forest-side and to reach our destination in Grand-Bassin.
Our troupe was armed with meditation beads as well as parapluie and raincoats.
Mini frogs leaped along the road. Also for
a change, instead of having sugar cane fields on both sides of you, cabbage
patches and tomato plants and lokhi squash could be seen through the drizzle. I
couldn’t for the life of me, see one cow or one bull to pasture on the whole island.
One person who came to join in stride was
someone who I met on my trek in Ireland in 2008. He heard I was doing this in
Mauritius, the place he had moved back to. Raghupati told me he has a Muslim
friend who asked why the swami is always walking?
“How did you reply Raghu?”
“I told him that the swami likes simple
life. He wants to meet people and encourage them in a spiritual way.”
“That was the right answer Raghu. Thanks a
lot,” I told him.
Our final footsteps occurred in a deluge of
rain. At Grand-Bassin we came upon a towering statue of Shiva. And that was
situated by a gorgeous lake with temples surrounding that edifice. It was
totally sacred.
For a finish to the day Dinanath organized
a 400 people festival at his home. I was asked to speak on Chaitanya, the
wanderer with the maha-mantra. He was king of the monks, you could say. His
intent was to distribute the kind of produce you don’t find in the market
place. He delivered prema, a fruit of love for the Divine. That is to His great
credit.
13 KM
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