Kanyakumari, October 31, 2008
The sore throat and a general sense of malaise has been with me throughout the long drive from Madurai to Kanyakumari, the very cusp of India, where three seas around the continent meet and mingle: the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea. Pilgrims come here from all over the country to admire the sunrise and sunset, very rare cases, can be seen from one vantage point. I need a break after the hasty and rugged visits Trichy and Tanjavur and I'm lucky because Vivekananda Kendra, the ashram dedicated to the Bengali mystic and philosopher, offers clean and comfortable rooms with bathroom. The Kendra is a sort of village-community nestled in a park. At the center is a school, a canteen, some little shops and a convenient internet point, from which I write. The connection to the small town is provided by a bus that is shuttling back and forth every 15-20 minutes. It seems the ideal place to relax for a couple of days and in fact after a short walk to the end (failed) to win the stunning return to my room and collapse. I have not written that the only security I found in India, at any place where I stayed, even the most unlikely, are the beds, mattresses leaning almost always low and hard on tables or on stone. A cure for my back ...
announced the following day the dawn is still hysterical screeching of the birds before the bell of the ashram. I get dressed and head for the beach, finding it already patrolled by schools and sellers of chai. I'm the only white tourists and how practices should be addressed with various offers and requests. The glow of the sky almost makes one think that the sun is already high and hence the surprise when you see the huge double disc planed horizon. The voices of the Indians on the beach wear you down for a second and also dogs stop tormenting her back on the sand, contemplating the rise of the world.
Come back to what I think this place is different from the Ashram of Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai, but also how the atmosphere and rhythm are comparable. Vivekananda and Ramana in a sense are the two paradigms of Indian spirituality: the ascetic who lives in the cave and the Monaco-errant. As the similarities here are very arbitrary, it could perhaps find a parallel between the Christian spirit of the Franciscans and the one - for example - the Capuchin missionaries.
Even the places dedicated to two saints at the bottom reflect the diversity of the two additional posts, both rooted in Vedanta . The Kendra, with its tree-lined streets that flow into the sea three, is a topographical metaphor aware of the message of Swami Vivekananda, all stretched out. And 'well-known Bengali Monaco's commitment in the social (schools dedicated to him across the country are an example), and his great ecumenical effort, exemplified by the famous Chicago speech, delivered at the World Parliament of Religions September 11, 1893. Both Kendra, with its iconographic museum, cultural center, large buildings and welcoming openness and invites exploration, both the ashram of Sri Bhagavan , built at the foot of the sacred mountain Arunachala Ramana where he meditated for other races twenty years, is a casket that reflects the deep inner reflection, contemplation. What conquest of India is precisely this movement of the spirit plural: one at the end of a long journey made up of meditation and yoga, but also compassionate contact with the men, pointed the finger at the social contradictions and invites the people of India back on its feet, the other calm and unmoved, pointing his finger towards the self , The self, the first man and the last place, center of gravity of the universe. Understand that there is no contradiction between the great orator that encourages action and almost silent hermit who is calling for "removal" of the phenomenal world, is the very essence of the Advaita-Vedanta philosophy.
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