Shhhhhhh...

Hey Hi People! Wassup! :-)

It has been a while since my last post now, isn’t it? But I have intentionally taken time with this post because, because, well, because, I needed this much time to come up with “words” for something I experienced in “silence”. :-)

I did the Art of Silence (the advance course or the part 2 as it was previously called) at the AOL Texas ashram in March with one of the senior AOL teachers – Tanuja Limaye (lovingly called Tanu ma). The Uvalde, TX retreat center is a calm serene ranch where you don’t get phone network (wonderful relief for the ears) and no internet connection (wonderful relief for the world!). Couple that with Neelam Aunty’s food and you have the perfect place for the Art of Silence course.  And what can I say about Tanuja didi! She is one of the best teachers I have had the good opportunity to be with. Her strong, affectionate presence is something you have to experience firsthand to understand. Really.

And for almost a month now, I have been trying out to pen down my experiences into words. I could write about the emotional tug of war I was going through just a few days before this course. I could write about the so many “important” things I had in mind to dwell upon during the 5 days. I also could write about how these things were replaced by a single emotion – anger about a conversation I had with a friend, so deep that it captured my whole being. I could write about how I was able to get rid of the small mind gymnastics and how the deep silence penetrated deep within me and even after a month I feel so great about life (yay!!). I could write about the wonderful, wonderful people I met during the course. I could even write about how, coincidently, I met Random Reflections who I call RR, a fellow blogger who I have been following for about a year and how I made his anonymous life miserable by totally popularizing him and his blog during the course. I could even write about how much love and affection you can get from complete strangers who are ready to accept you, I mean really accept you for what you are for they are in that deep state of being where it happens naturally. I could write about how wonderful it is to be in a far off place, away from the world, enjoying a nice meal and singing and dancing in complete masti!

Yes, I could write about all these things. But words can never convey something which only can be experienced. Words can definitely never express the power of silence. That would be silly right? :-P

But I think this one pic says it all for me.

And I am going to cherish this for a very long time to come. :-)

Until the next time, as RR said, “Jai Jai Radha Raman Hari Bol…” !!