Day 11, 23/08/2012
In the morning we all met for Guru pooja and Yashita performed it beautifully everyday. I remember that particular one very vividly.
And then I met Shashi and she recounted her experience of Sadhguru and Mt. Kailash. She told me that Sadhguru kept looking at the bag in Shashi's hands till she finally mustered the courage to go give it to him. She told him that one of the meditator's, Aishwarya who couldn't make it had sent it on behalf of the A1 group. He took it and held her index finger while he asked her what was in it. First she blanked out and said I don't know, then he asked her in another tone "You don't know what's inside?" and she said "Oh yes, she said there are some dry fruits and a poem". Sadhguru gave her a hug and kept his hand on the top of her head. 10 years later she is still unclear about how long it was and what happened, only when some of her friends came and asked her to move so they could get a hug did she realise that she was still standing with Sadhguru. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed listening to her encounter and felt satisfied that at least my love had reached him. I will always be ever so grateful to Shashi for being the loving brave messenger!
Today when Shashi and I were jogging our memories together she recounted that when I gave her the bag i told her to tell him it's from the A1 group and she had said that why don't you say from you. I had said to her at that time, "woh toh jaan jayenge" That he will know who it is from anyways. Humbled again!!!
So now we went onwards with big good news in my system and the desire to reach the sacred Lake Mansarovar.
Ravindra Anna blessed us with his renditions of bhakti sangeet while the scenic beauty enthralled us.
SAND DUNES !!! (Zhongba County, Shigatse, Tibet, China)
The stop above was just spectacular and unbelievable. My first sight of the dunes had been in 2012 in Rajasthan and one takes it for granted that such phenomenon happens due to hot and arid conditions. Yet here we were at 3800m altitude, passing through grasslands and lakes, streams and mountains and suddenly a patch of sand had appeared. I had never thought that one could be wearing so many layers of clothes on a sand dune!! As visible in the pics we all were happy and enjoyed taking in the beauty and pics.
Not very long after this we had our first sighting of yaks and then Mt. Kailash and then Lake Mansarovar.
It was a humbling moment (aprox 2:45pm), and one of gratitude and relief to have finally reached our first destination. Having a clear darshan of Kailash was beautiful. We could see the lake with big strange looking cloud above it. We all were excited yet silenced by the energies of the sacred land. After settling our duffle bags in the shared tents, we sat and meditated by Lake Mansarover with Kailash watching us.
Swami Prabodha guided us through a 20-30 minute meditation process at the banks of Mansarover. It felt quite long, because we knew that after the process we had to take a dip in the in the lake. Mind you, the outside temperature was about minus 5 deg C and we were sitting in a single layer of clothes. Swami Probodha told the men to go a little further and then into the water to give the ladies privacy. And everyone ran into the water chanting Om Namah Shivaya. When I took my first step into the lake, I felt a soft and grassy bed beneath the bone chilling piercing water. There were squeals of laughter and screams of excitement all around. Ladies holding hands and dunking their heads in. I had thought I would take a little swim but I couldn't feel my legs till my thighs, so I bellowed Om Namah Shivaya, held my nose with my hand and put my head into the water, except it didn't go in. Laughingly I chanted again and managed to dip my head 3 times and I ran out shivering and laughing with joy and numbness. The body felt like it was being poked by needles even when I came out and immediately went to change out of the wet clothes. We were allowed maximum of 10 minutes in the water but most of us were out way before. (Padam however went back into the water later again and almost got Hyperthermia)
Later, we gathered in the big tent to have a telephonic call with Sadhguru who was then in Lhasa. His words were uplifting yet tears rolled down most cheeks. He gave us certain instructions and wished us the best. We wanted more but had accepted the reality of going on this journey with Sadhguru in our heart.
Everyone had been tested mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Everyone broke many limitations within. Some suffered altitude sickness but were stable. Paati (Grandma) was feeling fine :-)
As the night fell, the stars started illuminating the sky and they were right there, almost within reach. We all felt more blessed that it was Shivtratri, so the moon did not take away from the stars. I saw many shooting stars. My dream of standing in peaceful vastness had come true. It was absolutely exhilarating, I felt expanded and FREE.
The fun part was the toilet tents, some that did not have a functioning zipper. I chose one of those to relieve myself while sticking my head out looking at the starry night and talking to Yahsita in the tent close by. (Hahaha, I was amused! Sorry about the details, but I was just so awestruck) Yashita and I were in splits of laughter at my silliness.
In the tents everyone wore many warm layers and doubled up sleeping bags to get comfortable and sleep. It was a very windy night and wild dogs were barking and howling. Surprisingly I had no sleep in me again inspite of the previous sleepless night in Saga. I heard some voices outside that said they were going towards the lake to watch the night time activity. It was around 12:00am and I too walked towards the lake and met up with everyone there. We were looking out for Beings over the waters. It was cloudy on the other side and I could see frequent greenish flashes of light in the clouds, but it looked distant. There was no sound after the flash of light. It was quiet apart from the wind, their was a certain eeriness as well. After maybe an hour or so i decided to go rest for the next day. I did not sleep.
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