A visit to Arunachala Ashrama, Nova Scotia

[Guest guest]

Sounds beautiful, Andrew. As l read your rich description of this site l was

wishing l was there, altho admittedly in warmer weather. Thanks for sharing

this. jerry

[Guest guest]

In the rural hamlet of Clarence, Nova Scotia, in the beautiful agricultural

countryside of the Annapolis Valley, there is an ashram and retreat centre

dedicated

to Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi, an adjunct to the Ashram by the same name in New

York

City. Though it is only an hour's drive from my home, and though I've known it

was

there for a long time, somehow I never got around to visiting. Until last week.

I

emailed

saying I would like to visit and got a reply from Dennis, the devotee who

manages the

ashram, asking me please to come. So I went, on Friday afternoon. The ashram

property

is an old farm, nestled against the south-facing slope of North Mountain, which

is a

steep 700 foot high escarpment which forms one side of the valley. It's a quiet

place

at this time of year, only Dennis, a tall, scholarly man in his early 50's with

a calm

and gentle manner, and one retreatant, Sriram, who is in New York for a year on

a

teaching fellowship were there that afternoon. I was welcomed into the warm

kitchen of

the 200 year old farmhouse and we ate a delicious lunch of pasta and salad while

out

the window an early snow fell steadily. The view up the valley from the kitchen

window

is wonderful. Outside, two mourning doves sat all fluffed up against the cold in

the

branches of an apple tree.

After lunch, Dennis showed me the temple, which is in a former one-room school

building, beautifully renovated. Prayers and devotions are done there every

morning

(starting at 4:30!) and evening. Inside is a peaceful, simply beautiful space,

high

ceiling and tall windows, at the end of the room, on a raised dais, sits a life

size

statue of Sri Ramana, a cast taken from the one at Arunachala in India, there

are a

few relics, some verses done in embroidery hanging on the walls, a photo of the

late

Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawata, the founder of the New York and Nova Scotia ashram,

and a

frequent visitor in Nova Scotia.

We went back to the house for tea, and talked a little about our lives and

histories,

about bhakta and jnana. I mentioned Harshasatsangh and the NDS, Dennis

remembered

having once spoken to Harsha by phone.

It was a delightful afternoon, and I shall certainly be returning, often I hope.

 

love,

andrew