A kind of eloquent hush hung over the silent silk route. The winding road looked like pearl necklaces laid out on the lush, green mountain slopes. White translucent, shimmery clouds shone in the azure, still skies, broken by the beauty of the alabaster summits. The blue, shadowy mystery of the lofty mountain ranges! One could only prostrate in abject worship before this unparalleled creation. The splendour and incredible beauty just took your breath away. These enchanting mountains had their own intrinsic, heightened energy fields that lifted you to the hallowed realms of the Gods. In this vast, eternal lap of Mother Nature, where all her elements were at play, was I even a minuscule dot? A humbling experience indeed!
Our car was a tiny speck in this mighty, spectacular terrain. I could not help marvelling at the driver who manoeuvred the car with such precision. These tricky, winding roads and scary hair pin bends were as child’s play to him!
Veil after veil seemed to peel away. Time flipped back to the days when this old silk route was alive, teeming with an incessant buzz of activities: people from different nationalities, different regions, and different cultures. Horses, laden with silk, fur, spices, on the quietude of these majestic mountains; grating noises of carriages, squeaking along painfully; snatches of conversations of traders; monks with their prayer wheels: interesting confluence of different races, art, culture, religions. A fragrance of alluring colours. What an exciting thorough fare of mesmerising tales!
I was lost in a strange, inexplicable feeling of déjà vu…these flashbacks, were they from lifetimes past? There was a sense of timelessness. Images flitted back and forth like a kaleidoscope of colourful memories, experiences long forgotten!
The car stopped with a jerk - my reverie broken. Before me was the Tashiding Monastery. My driver explained, ‘It’s one of the most sacred, holiest monasteries in Sikkim. People refer to it as “the heart of Sikkim." The imposing monastery nestled in the backdrop of the majestic Kanchenjung; the clear blue skies, the carpet of pleasing green lawns just exuded peace and serenity: a sense of divine contentment. Even the mountains were in a silent meditation. Every atom, every blade of grass in this sacred path seemed to be drenched in purity and blessings, a path touched by the lotus Feet of the holy ones. The path where lotuses of love bloomed at every step. I felt a sense of lightness enveloping me and a deep sense of reverence - of having arrived where I was always meant to be!
I walked up the steps into the prayer hall, greeted by a fragrance so subtle, yet heady, divinely intoxicating. I felt the pervading presence of Guru Padmasambhava who had visited here in the eighteenth-century AD. A soft, gentle, barely audible chant of "Om Mani Padme Hum” seemed to fill the air, so soothing to the soul! I read later that this mantra was inscribed in stone on the “Manu,” or stone platter, by master craftsman Yanchong Lod. The mountains, the winds, the waters of the Rathong Chu and the Rangeet rivers, the deep ravines, gorges – all seemed to whisper this holy chant.
I sat down to spend a few moments in meditation. I saw myself in the flickering light of half burnt candles in a monk’s robe sitting quietly in a corner, chanting. My face mirrored peace, fulfilment, detachment. I was oblivious of everything. I don’t know how long I sat there - a few moments perhaps, yet it seemed for eternity. Was I transported to another life? Was I a Buddhist monk then? A million questions crossed my mind. I thought of my home filled with Buddhist ‘Tangha’ paintings, my love for Buddha sculptures and artefacts - remnants from the past perhaps!
As we drove back in silence, I pondered deeply, trying to decode the messages the universe was sending me, the significance of this tiny regression into the past. This life I took birth in a Hindu family. How many other lifetimes and other faiths had one traversed? I smiled as I thought of my chosen (?) path now and the oneness of the One Spirit, One Existence, the same Universal thread of consciousness in every atom of creation!
I looked at the effulgence of the setting Sun with my newly opened eyes and a heart flooded with bliss – a moment of realisation, that set me free.
Bio.
Shalini Nandkeolyar is multitalented! She has a diploma in acting from the New York Academy of Theatrical Arts and has acted in a number of plays. She studied English Literature and Philosophy and has a degree in Business Management. She is gifted singer and has a music album of Bhajans called ‘Arpanam.’She enjoys writing poetry. Her poems are exquisite, full of beautiful imagery and dripping with wisdom. Some of her poems have been published in a literary journal, ‘Rainbow’ and various other magazines. She is a Reiki Master, an evolved and committed seeker on a path of deep surrender.