Ice Ice Baby!

Belch! I felt like vomiting.

Sitting on my asana, I bent forward a bit to vomit. Suddenly I had felt a severe sensation of vomiting but that stayed only up to my throat, and nothing came out of my mouth. After I had restricted my diet, I never felt like burping. I could not figure out the reason whether I ate more dry fruits or it was the sudden shoot up of environmental temperature in the hot humid summer. But I knew for sure that I was feeling like sitting amid fire flames. They were burning me from inside as well as from outside. The heat was intense and unbearable for me. It was causing me much discomfort and uneasiness.

I recalled that many years back, I read about a saint that had a burning sensation all over his body due to intense meditation. The burning sensation became intolerable for him. To experience the coolness, he jumped into a nearby pond, but the searing pain did not cease. As soon as I finished my chanting, I hurried for a shower bath. The cooling water refreshed me a little. I felt relieved and relaxed. I did not wipe my body so that coolness remained for a longer time.

Once again, I sat down to do my remaining prayers. There was a feeling of freshness outside but internally the burning sensations of fire flames were engulfing me. I found it unbearable to continue further but with great difficulty somehow, I completed the chanting. I recalled that Swamiji used to eat snow when He was doing intense meditation in the Himalayas. I rushed towards the refrigerator. I opened the freezer, took out the ice tray, twisted it's both ends in opposite directions and popped three ice cubes in my mouth. Slowly the ice started melting in my mouth. I could feel the coolness passing from mouth to gullet then to oesophagus. Cold-water drops calmed the intense heat waves. How many ice cubes in total I ate on that day I do not remember now but definitely the cool-cool formula worked for me.

Whenever any obstacle has hindered my spiritual journey, the wisdom of great saints has always guided me to overcome that. No worldly advice, only with the musings of great men I am treading my solitary path.

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