Just came back from a one week trip to Taiwan. The package tour included a one night stay at the 5 star hotel in Taroko National Park in Hualien. The park offers breathtaking view of gorges, cliffs and gushing rivers deep below. The Silk Place Taroko Hotel is the only 5 star hotel in the park.
The front facade of the hotel looks like any ordinary mountain hotel . The interior is well furnished and the decor blends with its natural surroundings. However what is most breath taking is its roof top infinity pool and Jacuzzi. The infinity pool overlooks a deep narrow valley with a stream running at the bottom. Besides the pool is a big open deck with lounge chairs and sofas.
It was getting dark when we braved the cold water in the pool at 4 pm before dipping in the jacuzzi. Some hotel staff were already preparing to light up torches and a small bonfire. A show was scheduled at 8.30 pm.
I was expecting a tribal show but it turned out to be a band singing mandarin pops and some of their own composition. Instead of lazing myself on a deck chair or sofa while listening to the performance I walked along the railing overlooking the gorge which was visible by the hotel lights. Away from the stage I could hear the gushing of the river in the valley below. As I looked at the scenery below I began to wonder whether the wilderness minded the intrusion by the hotel. If the hotel is not there the whole place will be in pitch darkness and the mountain, the rocks, the stream and all the living things will dwell in the natural darkness. Do they feel being invaded?
However recalling a passage from The Dharma of Mind Transmission: When the sun shines over the four directions, the world becomes light, but true voidness is never light. When the sun sets, the world becomes dark, but voidness is never dark..... the nature of voidness is clear and undisturbed.
I know the feeling is only in the mind.
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