Breathing in Tranquility
- lindaglamour
- Feb 8, 2017
- 3 min read
Breathing in Tranquility scented oil during my hot stone massage, I can feel much of my tension dissipate. Briefly opening my eyes and gazing downwards from the massage table, I focus on three yellow flowers floating in the bowl below. I have seen these before. In my week in Kuala Lumpur and at The Sheraton Imperial, I have had a number of treatments so that the therapists now greet me by name when they see me in the corridors of the hotel.
It seems fair.
The weeks prior to KL were not easy.
For one week I have given myself the gift of peace, of being alone, of rest.
They say that there are three key milestones in life we all celebrate. Births, deaths and marriages.
Yesterday I headed out from the hotel to Central Market. But before heading into the depths of bartering and shopping, I sought out new sights - surrounding Central Market are a number of much older lane ways and housed along their paths, the temples of the Malaysian people. The Mahamariamman Temple, which is the oldest Hindu temple in KL and built in 1873 originally as a private temple, opened to the public in the 1920's. It has a five tier gopuram (tower) which is ornately carved and coloured. Out the front cars are decorated with blue bows. Before entering the temple one must remove one's shoes. I leave mine at the temple's concierge at the charge of 20c MYR (5cents AUD) and I walk barefoot into the temple.
Amidst the noise and colour I discover that I have arrived at the temple just as a wedding is about to take place. Men bare chested and saronged play loud drums strutting past the girls glorious in jewel coloured sari's. Everywhere there is the sheen of gold - bright around the necks and wrists of the women, more subdued on the decoration of the temple walls. Yellow flowers decorate the statues and are left in homage to the deities in their shrines. The smell of jasmine is inescapable. As I have done many times before in other places of worship, I light a candle - in this case, I offer a prayer and light a ghee candle and hope that it is accepted. I couldn't help but contrast the white and solemnity of a Western wedding to the noise and colour of this Indian wedding. Here, everyone is standing and watching the couple...the bride is led around the temple by a large number of women as they parade her through to her husband to be - who richly clothed and sitting cross legged in the centre of the temple.
Perhaps 30 feet down the street from the Mahamariamman Temple is another temple of interest and importance. This is the Guan Di Temple. It is Taoist and built in 1888 to honour the warrior Guan Di, the Toaist God of War. Guan Di stands imperiously guarding the entrance to the temple. Here, the smell of incense is almost overwhelming. It gusts around the temple in swathes of grey smoke.
The temples' walls are a rich red and again, the gleam of gold surrounds you. A tall rotating column upon close inspection features a myriad of tiny gold statues which blur together as they move. I stand against a wall and watch the devotees. They gather to themselves sheafs of decorated paper, bundling them together then setting them alight. Others wave large incense sticks.
Tables are laden with offerings, no doubt for loved ones to use on the other side. Here, one reflects upon death. What do we need when we have passed over? For me, I think of the offerings as proof that there are still ones who wish us well, who think of us and evidence of the best kind of immortality - that of loving remembrance.
My first visit into the Spa I am offered a range of fragrant oils to choose from. My first massage and I seek Harmony. The long smooth strokes of the Balinese style massage lull me into peace. It takes all my concentration at its end to make my way back to my room. I slip into bed, my skin still slick with fragrant oil and I sleep. Tonight I do the same after the hot stone massage. It would seem hot stones placed behind one's neck and knees should be torture but instead along with the stones placed upon the palms of my hands, I am lulled into another space entirely. Perhaps the most I can hope for is a re-birth; though I think the truth of it will be when I'm back and facing a new reality.
I have always believed that there is a path forward even, and perhaps especially, when I don't see it. It is there and I must now walk to it.
Comments