Thin Places Part 5
July 31, 2025
Thin Places Part 5
About four years ago, our dear friends Nanette and Sai Mudiam, led us on a pilgrimage to India. Sai, a native of Hyderabad, India, immigrated to the United States when he was in college. While we were in India, Nanette and Sai led us to several thin places, including the ashram, Kanha Shanti Vanam, near Hyderabad. We felt the veils lift as soon as we drove through the gates of this worldwide center for spiritual study and meditation, now called Heartfulness.
My body told me this place was sacred ground, and my heart felt that the people there were just as holy. Wide roadways took us through vast and lush grounds, with various meditation gardens and pavilions, representing all the world’s major religions. There was a hospital, a library, a film studio, dormitories, a hotel, dining halls, a shop, schools, apartments, and even markets. The massive amphitheater seats up to 100,000 pilgrims. With all the activity, there was a noticeable absence of noise and confusion. But more important was the uplifting emotional climate. Everyone greeted us with the word “Namaste” or by putting their hand over their heart and looking us in the eyes. We were welcomed.
The ashram grounds had been a desert wasteland just a few years before our visit. But when leaders determined it would be the new location for the expanding ashram, it was hallowed ground. They built a few structures on that parched earth and planted massive amounts of trees and foliage; all fed with water brought in from elsewhere. The trees and flowering bushes flourished as the planting continued. Now they no longer have to bring water in because the roots of the trees have raised the water table. Kanha Shanti Vanam, now a 1,400-acre oasis, boasts half a million trees, and counting.
This environment lifted me up in a way that reminds me of other thin places I had been in, like Lindisfarne in the north of England and Iona off the coast of Scotland. Meditating with some Heartfulness people and meeting Heartfulness Global leader, Daaji, made the time very thin. I knew everything I needed spiritually, mentally, and physically was right there. Very few places offer that inspiration and nurturance. When it was time to leave, I felt torn away and disconnected. But less than a year later, Lark and I would return for a longer time.
Maybe it is the meditative atmosphere, or perhaps it is the harmony among the people and between them and nature, or maybe it is the people’s dedication to making the world more conscious, but regardless of the reason, this is a thin place. The atmosphere was so transparent to the Divine that I felt God everywhere.
Spiritual practice: Set an intention for your life and plant a tree to symbolize it.
Self-inquiry: What do you need to begin that you hope will flourish?
Dear God,
I am so grateful for Nanette Sai and the fantastic experience of your thin places.
