Bird of Passage: Death on the mountain

2007 May 20th

Sugata left his body early Sunday, 20th May morning. He died in the new annex of his hutte, (‘Shangrila’), which is where he wanted to be.

A simple ceremony was held for Sugata on Saturday June 30th, full moon, conducted by Rev Dhammaratana from Stockholm, in the Annex of Sugata’s hutte at Shangri-la. Symbolising the transfer of the spirit, we emptied water from a jug to a cup, which in turn we emptied over a silver birch tree growing outside the hutte. Resplendent in monk orange against a dramatic sky, Rev Dhammaratana led us up the mountain. Gunilla, his daughter, carried Sugata’s ashes in his silver-fox rucksack on her back up the hill, and once suitably high enough (and far enough away from habitation to obey Norwegian law) she scattered Sugata’s ashes on the Hadangervida (‘Europes largest uninhabited plateau’ as Sugata was fond of reminding us).