Well once in a while, the workaholic in me decides to take a back seat and the free soul sets out to explore the unseen. I realized that it had been a year & I had not taken a break away from the daily grind. Thus, I looked for the most opportune time and set out to the mountains.
I did a bit of research and got to know that there is a Bon Monastery in Solan. Well the web only had dated information about this Monastery but it was enough to pique my interest. The visit became one of the items in my itinerary.
An Innova was hired for the day and the driver shared that the drive to Dolanji is around ninety minutes or so. And then I set out. A little excited, a little nervous about this little adventure; I was looking forward to my rendezvous. This was the first time I would have visited a Monastery.
The drive was beautiful, the weather was lovely, the rain drops kept up their pitter patter throughout the drive. Luckily the driver had an aux wire as well and thus my favourite tunes played and made the journey even more memorable.
A few kilometers before the Monastery, we crossed a bus stand and saw a monk waiting for the next bus. The driver asked him to join us as he would have helped us get to the destination. He was an old monk & I took a liking for him instantly. When we reached the last stretch of our journey, the road was more of a rubble and I realised how difficult it must be for these people to travel on a daily basis.
The monk was kind enough & agreed to show me around the Monastery. A short uphill walk brought us to the quaint little Monastery. There were classes going on & so we had to wait for some time for the prayer room to get opened. During this time, quite a few monks passed us and they exchanged few words in their language. I knew for sure that they spoke about me, actually enquired about me and all I did was smile. The old monk did all the talking on my behalf.
And then came the time to visit the main prayer hall. I had never seen anything so beautiful. The books, the idols, the gong and so much more. They lit the incense sticks in front of the Goddess' idol. The monk said.."go ahead & pray for whatever you seek". And I did....folded my hands, closed my eyes and bowed before the Goddess. Well if it comes out to be true, then I would definitely share it here as well but only time will tell...
Since I had taken up so much of the Monk's time, I offered him my gratitude and said that I would be leaving now. He then said something that not only surprised me but also made me very happy. He said-
"You've come so far...don't you want to see the rest of the Monastery?"
My joy had no bounds and I said "Yes ofcourse I would like to see all that is there!"
He then took me around the library which has been maintained very well, explained to me about the various scriptures and books kept at the library and also showed me the seat where His Highness "The Dalai Lama" sat when he came to inaugurate the library few years back.
We walked around a bit, saw the classrooms, and other sections of the Monastery. I thanked the Monk for his generosity and decided to walk back to the car. As I walked by, I looked back to the time spent at this beautiful place...set amongst the clouds, peaceful. serene and soulful.
When I had reached there, I had the restlessness of a city soul who had been travelling for a long time without rest. But when I was going back, I had a sense of peace within me. I felt rested, calm and happy.
This visit will always be engrained in my thoughts as one of the memorable journeys I have ever undertaken. Needless to say that the drive back felt even more beautiful as we cut through the rain drops and sped towards Kasauli...
Wanna go back again....and again.....
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