Nuwara Eliya - Reflection on Sri lanka

 Miles and miles of hills filled with tea bushes, and an infinite cascade of  waterfalls nestled in every curve of a hill. As the rickety train chugged on toward our final destination, the air cooled, the hills steepened and this is what was there to behold, seemingly endlessly.

At each train station, there was a town. Every town had a Buddhist shrine , a Buddha statue  and many tuk-tuks. Each town was comparatively poor in contrast to the high rise towers in Colombo which was home base for this journey to the other side of the earth. Closer to Colombo, many rice paddies, muddy with new harvest and replanting, lined the tracks - until the hills began to rise on either side.

 The sun shown brightly, while at the same time as we climbed into the hills, another layer of warm clothing was needed. This sunshine proved to be a deceptive beginning to what turned out to be a cloudy and rainy visit. As the sun set each day, mist creeped into every crevice of the old colonial hotel where we stayed. Rain poured down during the night and the wind howled through the garret. The experience was not at all uncomfortable for some reason.

 I had willed that I glean the blessing of each encounter and occasion and kept focus on how everything contributed to my reasons for throwing fear to the wind and venturing into this unknown. I had a dream but no expectations for how it might realize. Relaxing into who I am and letting that be, I  let the rain wash away the past, let the wind carry away my self-consciousness and fear of offending or being disappointed. The howling of the wind were trumpets hailing in the new experiences yet to come.

A tuk tuk ride through the plantations to the waterfalls was breathtaking even through the small windows of the black rain - proof covering on it.  Of all the sites and visits - tea covered hills, cuppa at a plantation, walk through the market and bargaining with the Tamil traders, great food, the workers with bags of tea leaves, roadside stands with coconuts, or monkeys posing,  - the waterfalls definitely hold the miracle of this paradise island.

As long as I can remember, waterfalls have drawn me into their wonder. Diving off a rocky cliff, plunging into the continuing stream or river below after resting in a gently churning pool created by years of water falling into it spontaneously, and with wild abandon. The water is never the same. There is only one dive per drop of water. Endless cascading fearlessly. Each time, and this time, I connected its energy in my heart center and felt deeply, the ever-changing me, as well.

Whatever the weather wanted to be, it had the freedom to be. Whatever difficulties I might have been having personally, they all had the freedom to also be.

 I will remember one waterfalls where I meditated for a short but meaningful period. The falls was split in two sections. One appeared to be floating into the air, gracefully floating on the wind's direction, letting it lead the dive into the rapids below. The other section seemed to be more of the steady and full bodied head first plunge - a high energy and bombastic splash all the way down.  I call this falls yin-yang and hold it in my heart as the essence of my new friendship with this small place on earth.

Oh my, breathe in with joy the promise held in the environment. Its beauty sustains the dance of life, supports change, nurtures growth. Dare we not face the challenges to change that which is destroying this earth today? 

What has been your experience of being in the presence of a waterfalls?