Ujjain, India
Back to India Again
Back home, Rajasuya
had kindly arranged for me to avoid chaotic traffic conditions by taking a
sleep stay somewhere in Mumbai. He booked me into the airport Niranta Hotel to
save time and catch quality rest. He also arranged for me to get escorted
through the airport to security and my gate. What a breeze!
“No Rahul, let’s walk
the stairs,” I said after he pushed the elevator button, “I’ve got to get some
walking in.” He agreed and executed the
typical waggle of the head. But he didn’t understand my logic. Oh well.
There at the gate, I
met Bhakti Vaibhava Swami of Germany. That’s
nice! I thought. Then we were driven from Indore to Ujjain. While passing
through green and countryside, I mentioned to my comrade monk that I’m not much
of a ‘meetings’ man, referring to our purpose in reaching this destination. Our
mid-term sessions are annual and I go out of a sense of duty. When I said that
it’s worth the while because we get to see other leaders of the mission and
enthuse each other, he remarked, “I feel the same way.” He implied that the sanga, the association, is key to our
spiritual success.
We arrived at the
temple/ashram and were greeted by a
second chanting party—the first was at the Indore Airport. A slew of young brahmacharis more or less carried us along, escorting us to our
quarters by way of the elevator. Oh
well, the stairs were short. We just had
one floor to go. Both the Swami and I
had kichari and sambar before we calmly moved our way into the conference room. There we stayed for a while until it was time
for a short break, lunch, before hopping into a second sedentary session. No
walking, and no theatre practice for the Walking Monk today.
May the Source be with
you!
1 km within the
airport, only.
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