Paying Last Respects to U Goenka
The following is an update that allows the meditator to feel more connected to the happenings taking place now in Mumbai. As this is an email message that has been forwarded to hundreds and perhaps thousands of meditators in U Goenka tradition (as opposed to a private correspondence), it is (anonymously) shared here:
"[We] went over to the house this morning as soon as we finished sitting. They had commandeered a large part of the parking lot for people to leave their shoes and then we were ushered into a large room where they had set out chairs and dhurries for people to sit on. We were fortunate to be one of the first groups ushered up the the 13th floor where they had Goenkaji laid out in a stainless steel coffin with a glass top so you could see him inside. It was not the same one as in the picture that is making its way around and it was in a different room. I think that they probably had to shift some things around because so many people were coming. Originally he was in the shrine room which was too small for many people to pay their last respects.
It felt very nice there and we stayed for a short while. [It was relayed that] Goenkaji had taken dinner and was in a very jovial mood afterwards. Sometime after dinner he took rest and didn't feel well and the doctor taking his blood pressure said it started dropping. It went down, down, down right to zero. Then it popped back up a couple of times and then nothing... It was about 10:40 or 10:45 pm Bombay time.
This morning the phone was ringing off the hook for a short while here, but after that it has all been very quiet. At the house all those that came were very peaceful and quiet. There were no emotional acts apart from a few who were crying. As one looked around the waiting hall many people were meditating. It was very nice.
For many of us he was so much a part of our lives, from when we were very young, and this is the end of an era. A new one is beginning and I think he left us with the tools to take over and move forward."
"[We] went over to the house this morning as soon as we finished sitting. They had commandeered a large part of the parking lot for people to leave their shoes and then we were ushered into a large room where they had set out chairs and dhurries for people to sit on. We were fortunate to be one of the first groups ushered up the the 13th floor where they had Goenkaji laid out in a stainless steel coffin with a glass top so you could see him inside. It was not the same one as in the picture that is making its way around and it was in a different room. I think that they probably had to shift some things around because so many people were coming. Originally he was in the shrine room which was too small for many people to pay their last respects.
It felt very nice there and we stayed for a short while. [It was relayed that] Goenkaji had taken dinner and was in a very jovial mood afterwards. Sometime after dinner he took rest and didn't feel well and the doctor taking his blood pressure said it started dropping. It went down, down, down right to zero. Then it popped back up a couple of times and then nothing... It was about 10:40 or 10:45 pm Bombay time.
This morning the phone was ringing off the hook for a short while here, but after that it has all been very quiet. At the house all those that came were very peaceful and quiet. There were no emotional acts apart from a few who were crying. As one looked around the waiting hall many people were meditating. It was very nice.
For many of us he was so much a part of our lives, from when we were very young, and this is the end of an era. A new one is beginning and I think he left us with the tools to take over and move forward."