His One Great Desire.

    His one great desire, was to see Ganga merge back, into the salty, briny, Bay of Bengal. A seed had been planted in the young boys mind, many years earlier. Tales told around a blazing fire, by his Guru, of past adventures.

     His Guru's Hermitage was nestled in, by the banks of the mighty river. He listened to her rushing by in the Spring, as the snows melted. For the rest of the year she was mostly quiet. 

       He had travelled north with his Master, up to Dev Priyag and the 4 Dhams but quietly to himself, he imagined the cities she travelled through, as She journeyed east. He fantasised about where she loved the most. 

      He saw the river as a great allegorical confirmation of love, it never ends, it's always flowing and it comes from above. 

      When his Master passed away suddenly, he remembered the river and the great message She had taught him. His grief was brief, as he could see that his Master had merged and become everything. 

     His Guru's last request was to be taken back to his Gurus resting place and to be buried there beside him.

     He had spent almost 3 years tending to his Masters Samadhi. Here, he had watched over his Guru's resting place, with great love and devotion.

     He kept a diya lit at all times. Day and night, he had done severe tapas and pennance, in this harsh and remote landscape. For 3 years he had been immersed in a trance of devotion. Now he felt the time was right, to depart and make his way along Ganga, down to where, she merged back into the ocean. Taking with all the blessings from the thousands of souls that worshipped her Divinity. 

       It was a dream he'd spent many nights playing out in his mind, as he waited to fall asleep. 

       He passed through the city of lights and trekked on foot and by boat, right down to the ancient, ruined, sprawl of Calcutta. Here he visited Dhakshineshwar Temple and Ma Kali. Close by, he stopped at a cremation ground. Here, he fell into a blissful, divine, ecstasy,

      He danced and sang ecstatically all through the night and well into the morning. The aunties  from the nearby village. looked after him. They fed him and clothed him and sheltered him. He never felt hunger but they fed him anyway. He never asked for a thing but he indulged their loving hearts, to their loving hearts content. It was here, he spent the best part of two years, lost to the world, in pure, being, awareness and bliss. Sat Chit Anandam.

       Devotee's had started to gather around, this bright, shining light. He would dance and sing and tell stories, most nights or he would sit as silent as a ghost, before the raging fire. He would bless them and guide them and answer their simple questions. 

     When he felt it was time to return home, he never looked back but he carried that place back, with him. But never spoke of that time, to anyone again.