Dhamma Neeru, fountain of dhamma is the name of Vipassana meditation centre in Barcelona. It took me little more than an hour from the airport to reach Paloutordera station via train. Waiting for Jose, I sat down on the side pavement and had a bit of chocolate cake kept in my bag. Jose came few minutes later and with a beaming smile welcomed me with a big warm hug. Feels good to meet old friends in different locations and specially in a foreign country.
It felt quite familiar to enter the meditation centre, a sense of belonging and connection. Surrounded by beautiful trees, amidst a forest, this little centre was much needed space for the completion of my journey. I immensely felt grateful to Jose for arranging me to stay and serve there just for 2 days. He has been there in the centre since January, serving as a long term volunteer. There’s few months of waiting list for the meditation course, he told me, as this the only centre in Spain. What inspires them to volunteer in their prime youth for something so intangible. Maybe the same thing which inspired me to be in Gandhi Ashram, is it meaning to one’s life, or denial to participate in artificial scarcity created by society to make an effort to thrive instead of just survive ?
I was given the task to help in the kitchen, and I enjoyed peeling carrots, washing dishes and even made a dish by myself. I was struck by the detailed process made by the centre to guide the volunteers for preparing food, I am sure it helped to manage hundreds of vipassana centres worldwide. It is truly exemplary all volunteer run.
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