Nature always makes me think and reflect. Dharamshala did more than that – made me go silent within and gave a sense of tranquil. Incredibly grateful for this.

This blog is a picturesque one and me being me, couldn’t stop myself from drawing parallels.. Going over the pictures and selecting them for the blog, kindled joy and brought a big smile in me.

We are so much like the trees of the forest – part of a group and yet unique to ourselves. Each one of us have a story to tell and each story is different but put together, we can be beauty personified and yet formidable!!

 

Ah, this bright orb!! The sun never fails to perk me up. The way the sky changes colour reflecting the sun is a delight to view, each time and every time. It signifies that today will go and tomorrow will come; and tomorrow will dawn as beautifully as today dusks. Hope and belief, as a dear friend would say!!

Cold temperature isn’t something I am fond of. However I love seeing snow and an icy mountain, in person. What a paradox!! There is something about icy mountain peaks that gives me immense joy. She looks formidable with all her icy nature and yet looks so accessible and approachable.. Yet another paradox!! Such is life – filled with many a paradox. We need to enjoy the Yin as much as we enjoy the Yang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the icy white mountain peak lends that chilly look, dusk makes the icy mountain peak look golden and so warm. It is like that warm brown croissant, so welcoming and appetising.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature is a mixed bag – the icy peak alongside a green peak.. far away and yet appearing near, is civilization with all the little and big plants. All this – in the Prayer Walk area around The Dalai Lama Temple. It gives a spiritual touch. It was hard to walk away from this sight and when I did, it was with a ‘Thank you’ to the Universe for making me be at this place and at this time. A lesson reinforced – to be prayerful and grateful.

 

This was a beautiful journey of treading carefully on these rocks to reach the ice cold stream. To reach a destination that we want to reach, the path taken can be rocky and one less travelled. However, we need to watch each step that we take and at the same time, have an eye on a few feet ahead. As a fellow retreater very nicely put it, “When you have physical limitations, you figure out ways to go past them, accepting them as a reality.” I recall my fear when I stepped on these rocks as some were wobbly. I wasn’t sure of the strngth in my ankle to take the wobble and so I sat on the rocks and moved or steppd down from one rock to another, while in a sitting position. What joy it was to move, however it was, just to reach the stream and to an element I love – water!!

This was the brrrrr ice cold stream. Arriving at the destination is worth all the difficulties undertaken. That feeling of “I have done it” is one that is unique to each one of us. The journey taken and the feeling experienced, is different to each of us and there is no small journey or big journey. There is only journey!!

The layers and layers of ranges reminded me of the layers and layers that we wear day in and day – not the layers of clothes but layers of mask 🙂 Not everyone wants to go past the masks nor do we allow them to. There are those who go past a mask or two but there are only a few who we allow to go past all the masks – the trusted council!! A lot of effort for the others to put in and much more effort for us to allow them to. We are all beautiful individuals, inside out!! So what’s stopping us from removing the masks??

If these roads appear winding, life is no less. The path seems so clear from a 30,000 feet level but if we are at the roads, it seems so overwhelming. A road that looks never ending. Step back, move to a different point on the same spiral or at the same point at a different level of the spiral, situations look so different. The haze seems to lift, the path is relatively clear and the road ahead is more visible. Remember that in life, it is always – One step at a time!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a few days with nature and in a place that can be so healing!! Life is so full, being prayerful and grateful!!