My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
We were at
the Rumtek Monastery, and we were enthusiastically discussing Tibetan Buddhism
and life in Sikkim, with our guide, Monay. An old man standing by smilingly
said something, and our guide laughed and translated – “So many questions you
have!”
That was so
true. We did have innumerable questions, and it was good to see our guide
answer us patiently. We told him to tell the old man that yes, we had many
questions, we wanted to know more about the monastery. He smiled again, and the
smile lit up his eyes, and his age lines seemed to smile too. I usually avoid
clicking photos of people, but something about this old man made me want to
click one of him, so I asked him, pointing to him, and then my camera. He
nodded, and I clicked these two photos.
As we
turned back, our guide told us that he was among the oldest inhabitants of the
monastery, one who had been blessed by three Karmapas (the leader of this order)!
He had been a child when his parents had brought him to seek the blessings of
the 15th Karmapa who had arrived in Sikkim on a pilgrimage. When the
16th Karmapa arrived here in exile from Tibet, he joined the order, and in recent times, he has also been fortunate to live with the
present Karmapa, the 17th. He
is now in his 90s according to our guide, and yet is active, both physically
and mentally. He is truly blessed, isn’t he?
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So true! He is blessed! He has a calming effect too. And content.
ReplyDeleteLooks like he has 100s of stories within him, waiting to come out.
Yes, Nisha.. that calmness and contentment was the most striking thing about him. Unfortunately, he couldnt understand english or hindi, and apparently doesnt speak too much, or it would have been nice talking to him
DeleteThere is something that makes me uncomfortable in the presence of most elderly people. It's like a feeling of a subtle guilt for being young and strong whereas they are not anymore. However, this old man doesn't project anything of this sort - he's young and strong in his own way.
ReplyDeleteThats an interesting thought, Antonina. I have never really felt uncomfortable around old people, but that is probably because i grew up in a house filled with them! our house, when I was growing up had, apart from my grandparents, scores of grand uncles and aunts, and i was close to all of them... and this old man actually reminded me of them...
DeleteWell, he just taught me - Wrinkles can't deter ur smile and spirit. If i ever visit this place, i m definitely going to look out for him. Amazing soul. God bless him!
ReplyDelete