Dear , 

On our recent trip to a small village named Lhalung, nestled in the rugged terrain of Spiti valley (northern parts of India), we visited a monastery complex, the oldest Gompa was 1016-years old. Yes, you read it right, it was over a thousand years old!

Each gompa - the old and the new - had fascinating art, gilded wooden figures, paintings made from natural colours and ancient embellishments. Personally, I get so absorbed in the moment that I become oblivious to my surroundings. Another part of the old monastery had a stupa in a dark room which you had to walk around a certain number of times - either 3, 7, 11 and so on, for blessings.

Like most Eastern religious places, you are supposed to take off your shoes before entering holy places. While I removed my own footwear, I unknowingly carried my daughter's shoes in my hands as I walked around the stupa and from one gompa to the other.

This was until Bhavika brought it to my notice and said we shouldn't be carrying footwear inside and asked me to leave it out at the door. I was in such a state that I didn't even realise that I had shoes in my hands.

What is it that the divine wants? Does it want you to have your shoes on? Or does it want your full and undivided attention in its presence? The answer here is very simple - the shoes were left outside the Gompa, as we forgot about it and we proceeded in clockwise direction around the monastery complex.

Sometimes, following norms, being rigid with norms is the dividing barrier between religion and spirituality. To follow things to the tee takes away the essence of being lost in the moment, to lose ecstasy for normality!

Here are a few related articles -
The Divine Simplicity, When Less is More

Five Ways to Make Peace Our Natural State of Being?