The Calling

In August, I traveled to Portugal for a delightful four-day festival organized by the Osho Darshan Zen Center. The venue was a divine location just outside Lisbon, on the River Tagus where it reaches the sea. All of us who were up early were treated each morning to the most-amazing sunrises. The air was so fresh and clean it made breathing stage in Dynamic Meditation a sheer delight. The days were full from morning to evening with workshops, music, dancing, song, laughter, and connecting. There was also ample time to relax and just be.

After the festival, I had some days to enjoy the beautiful Atlantic coastline of Cascais. Incredible to imagine I had been here in 1986 when Osho was in Sintra, just up the hill a few kilometers away. It was the last stop on his World Tour before returning to India. During my morning walks as I looked out across the sea, nothing seemed different as it did then: same sea, same vastness, same timeless. And yet the saying goes: “so much water down The Ganges”. Indeed, life is a paradox, a mystery, and time a very strange thing. Many times in these days I was reminded of this.

Before my flight home, I enjoyed to explore one of my favorite cities in the world: Lisbon. I don’t know why I click there, but I do. I love the atmosphere. I love the feeing of Portugal’s long history vibrating in the air and so tangible. I see I have used the word ‘love’ twice in two sentences to decribe this city. Yes, I guess it is also romantic! And perhaps because of the closeness of the river and sea, the Portuguese, and even visitors like myself, hear the call: the call to explore the horizon and see what lies beyond. It could be a metaphor for meditation and the Search. After this festival and my relaxed holidays, not to mention all the soft, loving hearts I met everywhere along the way, I left Portugal feeling a renewed enthusiasm to explore: Not so much the world outside myself, but the world inside that keeps calling me on. Thank you, beloved friends. I will see you again.