A shiny brass trident carrying the hand drum of Shiva, god of destruction, absolute wisdom and bliss, is trembling impatiently in the windscreen. Above and below the narrow serpentine mountain road, towering Himalayan cedars block the view, as we rumble along the potholed tarmac towards the Jhanna waterfalls. Here and there colourful villages perched on steep terraced slopes, flash between the dark tree trunks. At the tall waterfalls cascading from high meadows and snowclad peaks, we get out and put on our backpacks.
Continue readingHimalayan Sage
Song as a Symbol of Creation and of Illusion
“The sun had vanished behind the western peaks and darkness had descended on the lake. The dog sat just outside the circle of light. Its eyes gleamed. Gabriel leaned back and patted it. “Good dog” he said lovingly. “Are you my friend?”. As a reply the dog rested its head on his shoulder. It sighed and looked pensively into the fire. Gabriel was listening, and just like the dog, he sat for a long time without moving his gaze from the dance of the flames.
Continue readingRead a chapter of the novel Like Two Rivers, Chapter 0. The Source
Chapter 0. The Source. In this first chapter we meet the Himalayan hermit Babaji, seen through the eyes of Gabriel, an overwhelmed young traveler.
It was spring and a cold, ceaseless rain fell for three days, melting away the remains of the snow that also surrounded the temple and the pool by the hot spring. Throughout the winter, Babaji had, with a pick axe, fought against the might of the elements. Everyone else had taken shelter below, in the villages of the narrow valley. But not Babaji. In solitude, he had watched the slow spirals of the falling snow and his mind settle.
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