TACKLE LONELINESS

Friday, April 25th, 2025

Mauritius

I remarked to Akilananda from Mauritius that each day we see the same European woman, a senior, emerge from the hotel where we spend time at the beach at Belle Mare. She takes advantage of the morning sun and air as we do, and also goes for the dip in the ocean, as we do. She appears to be all by herself. While it's not my business to probe into her preferred lifestyle, it struck me that she is lonely, and that for some reason or another, kills me. Akilananda picked up on this vibe as well.

I know that loneliness is a common challenge for this day and age. For me, personally, it is not an issue. I can boast that I have real family around me in the form of the community members with me. Men, women, adolescents, and young children make up our daily devotional event at the beach. It is a reassuring feeling, a safe and nurturing environment. My morning is filled with company, afternoon as well, when I had lunch with disciples and my godbrother Sri Niketan, after which I ventured off to the Krishna Balarama temple where a full house attendance was there to honor His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami. It has been a year since his passing. Here also the feeling of family was not amiss.

For a final occasion of togetherness, a good number of island devotees attended a sangha at Samba's temple.  It was outrageously fun as I saw the opportunity for a kirtan dance. I do notice one thing – a lot of devotional practices in our lives are fairly sedentary. “Let’s do something different.”  So with a great mridanga drum player, we danced an hour away.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!

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