Det här är ett väldigt långt inlägg. Kommer även finnas som sida uppe i huvudmenyn senare, så det är lättare att hitta hit igen. Hoppas ni orkar läsa igenom allt.

♥
Att förklara vad jag tror på eller vilken religion jag tillhör är alltid lite klurigt, eftersom jag inte bara kan säga att jag är någonting. Jag står inte bakom allting som någon världsreligion står för. Ska ändå försöka förklara så lättfattligt som möjligt.

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Tre punkter.

• Allting är ett. Universum, jorden och allt som finns här är energi som är sammanbunden. Ett evigt kretslopp. Alla träd, djur, människor, byggnader är energier som vibrerar olika. Alla själar är en del av världssjälen. Se även: Mina tankar kring abort.

• “Karma” och lagen om trefaldighet. Enklare uttryckt som “What goes around, comes around”, i meningen att det man sänder ut får man trefaldigt tillbaka. Skickar man ut helade, lyckliga energier får man lyckliga energier tillbaka. Är man elak eller skickar ut dåliga energier får man samma tillbaka, såväl i t.ex. ryktesspridning som ritualer.

• An harm ye none, do as ye will. Allting är tillåtet så länge det inte skadar någon. Fritt att bruka, göra och prova “dåliga” saker så länge de inte skadar någon annan. Ex: Det är okej att röka så länge ingen i ens närhet utsätts för passiv rökning.

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Dessa tre punkter är grunden i min tro. Jag funderar fortfarande över reinkarnation och har ingen riktig ståndpunkt i den frågan, ifall någon har funderat mycket över det så berätta gärna om era teorier! Har diskuterat det en hel del men är inte så pass klar över min åsikt att jag kan skriva om den kortfattat.

Självklart lever jag inte alltid efter det jag tror på. Jag kan också vara onödigt elak och göra dumma saker, men jag strävar efter att inte ångra någonting. Man lär sig något av allting man gör och allting som kommer i ens väg, beroende på hur man bemöter det och hur man ser tillbaka på det. Det som sker, det sker och sen har det skett. Jag vill inte vara bitter över tid som passerat.

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Tro och livsstil.

Hur jag strävar efter att leva är lättast berättat med Taoism (daoism). Jag tänker inte ge mig på att förklara taoism i fackspråk och med svåra ord, i och med att det i princip är en förolämpning mot taoismen själv, därför citerar jag ur en bok för att få er att förstå.

Tao enligt Puh av Benjamin Hoff är en av mina absoluta favoritböcker någonsin. Med hjälp av Nalle Puh berättar författaren om taoism, och om hur Puh är ett levande exempel av det. En helt underbar bok som alla borde läsa. Jag fick mitt exemplar av finaste Anna

Ett par utdrag ur boken;

“… Men ibland är den lärdes kunskaper lite svåra att fatta, ity de inte verkar gå ihop med vår egen erfarenhet av tingen. Med andra ord, vetande och erfarenhet talar inte nödvändigtvis samma språk. Men är det inte det vetande som härrör från erfarenheten värdefullare än kunskap som inte gör det? För en del av oss förefaller det ganska uppenbart att en hel del lärt folk skulle behöva ge sig av ut i det fria och vädra hit och dit – gå i gräset, prata med djur till exempel.

- Massor av människor pratar med djur, sa Puh.
- Det kan hända, men….
- Fast det är inte många som hör på, fortsatte han. Det är det som är problemet.”

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Piddel-i Pej-principen.

“Piddel-i Piddel-i Piddel-i Pej.
En trast kan sjunga, en mullvad ej.
Frågar du gåtor så svarar jag dej:
Piddel-i Piddel-i Piddel-i Pej

Piddel-i Piddel-i Piddel-i Pej
En fisk kan ej vissla, och jag kan det ej.
Frågar du gåtor så svarar jag dej:
Piddel-i Piddel-i Piddel-i Pej

Piddel-i Piddel-i Piddel-i Pej
Varför gör kon… Fråga inte mej!
Frågar du gåtor, så svarar jag dej:
Piddel-i Piddel-i Piddel-i Pej

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Min egen förklaring istället för mycket långa, om än mycket fina, delar ur texten:
Piddel-i Pej-principen (sången Nalle Puh sjunger) innefattar Piddel-i Pej och mening 2 i alla 3 verser.

1. “En trast kan sjunga, en mullvad ej” – handlar om att se saker som de är istället för som saker de inte är. “…trots det kan ni aldrig tro hur många människor som bryter mot denna enkla grundsats genom att försöka tvinga in en fyrkantig grej i ett runt hål, okunniga om den uppenbara sanningen att tingen är som de är.” Att inte se ett knotigt, krokigt och segt träd som värdelöst virke utan som ett träd man kan promenera under, vila i dess skugga och beundra dess egenart.

2. “En fisk kan en vissla och jag kan det ej” – att känna till sina egna begränsningar. Inte att sluta förändra sig till det bättre, men att känna till sina resurser, se bristerna med öppen syn och därmed kunna göra något åt dem.

3. “Varför gör kon… Fråga inte mej!” – att acceptera att man inte kan eller behöver veta allt. “Det vi behöver göra är att bli på det klara med vår och tingens Sanna natur och arbeta med tingen sådana de är.”

Piddel-i Pej är ungefär ett sätt att säga Sann natur eller Tingen är som de är.
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Puhs väg eller Wu Wei.

“Nu kommer vi till det som skulle kunna kallas det mest karakteristiska elementet hos taoismen i aktion. På kinesiska är det känt under beteckningen Wu Wei. Det är också det mest karaktäristiska elementet hos Puh i aktion. På vårt språk heter det just ingenting särskilt. Men vi anser att det är dags att någon tar notis om det och kallar det något, så vi tänker kalla det Puhs Väg.

Bokstavligen betyder Wu Wei “utan att göra, utan att orsaka, utan att förfärdiga” men i praktiken innebär det “utan beskäftigt, påstridigt eller egoistiskt ingripande…

…Wu Weis verksamma kraft är som vatten som rinner över och kring stenar och klippblock i dess väg – inte en mekanisk, burdus framfart som till slut brukar lägga hinder i vägen för naturens lagar, utan en som växer fram av en inre känslighet för tingens naturliga rytm…

…När man arbetar i enlighet med Wu Wei passar man in den runda tappen i det runda hålet och den fyrkantiga i det fyrkantiga. Ingen stress, ingen ansträngning, Det egoistiska begäret försöker tvinga den runda tappen ner i det fyrkantiga hålet och tvärtom. Klyftigheten försöker tänka ut listigare sätt att få tappar att passa där de inte hör hemma. Vetandet försöker räkna ut varför runda tappar passar till runda hål och inte till fyrkantiga. Wu Wei försöker inte. Den tänker inte kring saken. Den utför arbetet. Och det sker utan att den verkar göra något särskilt, men det blir gjort.“

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“Om vi ska kunna få kontroll över våra liv och åstadkomma något av bestående värde, måste vi förr eller senare lära oss att hysa självtillit. Vi behöver inte lasta över ansvaret på någon gudomliggjord superman eller sitta och vänta på att Ödet ska knacka på dörren. Det som krävs är helt enkelt att vi tror på den kraft som finns inne i oss och använder den. När vi gör det och slutar upp med att imitera andra och konkurrera med dem, då sker det något.”

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“Vill du bli verkligt lycklig? Du kan börja med att uppskatta vem du är och vad du har. Vill du bli verkligt olycklig? Börja då med att vara missnöjd. Som Lao-tse skrev: “Ett träd som man nätt och jämnt kan famna om börjar som ett litet frö, en tusenmilaresa börjar med ett steg.” Vishet, lycka och mod väntar inte någonstans itom synhåll i slutet av en rät linje: de är en del av ett ständigt cykliskt förlopp, som börjar just här. De är inte endast slutet, utan början också. Snön vräker ner, allt mer ju mer…”

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Jag och tao?

Min strävan är att leva i enlighet med tao. Fokusera på här och nu. Se saker som de är, acceptera dem som de är. Go with the flow, eller Puhs väg. Som vatten som flyter en naturlig väg istället för att bygga dammar och gräva diken. Att inte försöka göra saker till något de inte är ämnade för. Att inte försöka omforma mig själv till något jag inte är och att lita på min intuition. Att känna framför att tänka.

Fjällbäck drygt 1000 m ö h, Kebnekaise 2009.

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Redskap och att utöva tro.

Vissa saker jag tycker om att göra eller uppleva har direkt eller indirekt koppling till min tro. Tron på att allting är energi spelar in i mycket. Jag sysslar bland annat med Reiki-healing (handpåläggning), vilket innebär att verka som ett redskap för att leda energi till sig själv och andra.

Ifall någon sysslar med till exempel tarot, pendling, stenar (kristaller) inom t.ex. healing eller chakrabalansering, eller liknande saker får ni jättegärna kommentera och berätta lite eller tipsa om litteratur. Är väldigt intresserad av det och vill lära mig mer om det.

Kortfattat: Healing, chakran, energifält, vibrationer, kristaller, redskap. Slutsats: Helande och hjälpande inom “alternativ medicin”. Är utöver energimässigt helande också väldigt intresserad av alternativ medicin som i naturläkemedel, växter/örter och liknande.

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Det tar aldrig slut saker att skriva om, att berätta, men allting ryms inte här. Ifall ni undrar något, fråga! Ifall ni vill diskutera, diskutera! Ifall ni vill berätta om eran tro, gör gärna det.

♥

The Aum symbol, or also written as Om is a big piece of a puzzle in my family, mainly between my mother and myself.

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

Well, seeing as my mother is a very spiritual woman, the result was that most of my childhood and upbringing have been surrounded by the philosophy of spirituality. In addition, a vast majority of family and childhood friends where from India. So the Aum symbol was constantly being thrown around. It was on the walls as decoration to the parties we went too, it was on the doors and fridge magnets of the home’s we went too. It was everywhere.

WHAT AFFECT DID IT HAVE ON ME?

There is a story along with this. When I was seventeen my dear friend Suban Ta and I decided to go on an all-American College Road Trip (in Canada, I know… it was a bit ironic, but regardless that’s how we referred to it). While we were in freezing cold Ottawa we had an extra day to spare, and energy that need not go to waste. The conversation literally went as such:

S: So, you want to go get a tattoo?

E: When?

S: Right now…

*a moment of contemplation, where logic should have set in but never came*

E: why not.

I wish I was joking, but half hour later we were walking into a tattoo studio. Suban had already figured it out, knowing exactly what he wanted and where he wanted it. It was a lovely Koi Fish on his lower back. Me, on the other hand had no idea what I wanted! First I wanted a word, but that seemed to obvious, (the parentals at this point where still a big issue). So then I had settled on getting a mini Crown behind my left ear, which I was quickly talked out of because it came of as too pretentious. That’s when I saw it. Up on the wall was a perfect little Aum symbol. At this point, my mother was in India for almost 5 months and the sentimental value of getting this symbol seemed to link me directly to her even when she was so far away.

An hour later I walked out with my very first tattoo done completely on impulse behind my left ear. Today, I still don’t regret it. It remains my favorite tattoo and still has the most value to me.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Good question! The Aum symbol derives from the Hindu religion meaning the absolute. In other words the source of all manifest in existence. The symbol is used in daily life very commonly, may it be displayed openly in shrines, or worn on a pendent, it is even visible on letter headings, or examination sheets. It is a sign of spiritual perfection within oneself. Aum more of a sound than a word, often chanted in a mantra of prayer. This sound is meant to bring peace and harmony together.

DUAL MEANING IN FIJI? 

When I went to Fiji this past summer, I met a Fijian woman who came up to me directly asking me what meaning the tattoo had to me. I explained to her in not so many words exactly why I got. The woman smiled, and lifted up her sleeve revealing to me that she had the same symbol tattooed on her forearm. As a mini shock, I smiled back and asked her what it meant to her.

In Fiji, it is traditional that husband and wife once married get the symbol tattooed on their arms or hands symbolizing eternal love for one another. It is believed in their culture that in the after life, the symbol will help them find one another so they can be reincarnated together. Talk about a whole new meaning to everlasting love?

This new meaning, not only made my tattoo so much more valuable to me, but it really showed me the strength and importance of this symbol within various cultures. Even though Fiji has a wide mixture of Hindu’s living there, the symbol was able evolve grasping a new meaning and creating another cultural tradition.

i painted these three on 8.5″ x 12″ cork tiles i got from scrap, where i also got the cabinet samples. gotta love this place. all sorts of interesting materials to be had—and everything’s donated, to boot. these have flourescent green spray paint for the inner portion of the virus instead of tempra i used on the last pieces.

these are the next two on slightly larger cabinet doors, 14″ x 14.5″. michele helped me make a hexagonal template for spraying out of acetate—the negative spaces cut out of it are glued down on avidyaphage 3. i also started using a sharpie instead of painting the black lines—i think the lines are a lot cleaner.

in september of this year my friend jim inspired me to get off my ass and start painting again. i began a new series combining my enthusiasm for chaos and composition with the more precise style of my technical work. this, along with the influence of street art and vinyl culture, has formed the avidyaphage.

avidya is sanskrit for ignorance or delusion, considered the root of suffering in buddhism. its opposite is vidya, knowledge, which in this context is synonymous with prajna, or wisdom.

phage is a reference to the bacteriophage, a variety of virus that preys on bacteria. the upper icosahedron contains the viral genetic material, and the lower, six-legged tail portion clamps on to bacteria and bores a hole in the outer membrane. the phage then acts like a living hypodermic needle, injecting its dna into the host and hijacking its replication systems. bacteriophages are the most abundant and diverse biological entities on earth, and are used as alternatives to antibiotics in humans.

i’ve combined the image of the phage with the tibetan script of the word aum, which is visualized in white at the center of the brain in esoteric buddhism. it represents the body of buddha, a manifestation of pure wisdom. the avidyaphage is a rather creepy virus that sneaks into our minds, destroying all the ignorance that clouds our consciousness.

these first two pieces are acrylic, tempra, and spray paint on 12.5″ x 12.5″ recycled cabinet samples.

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Can bharatiya worldview meet western worldview ? Can both come together and co-exist ?

bharatiya Worldview

bharatiya worldview or darshana is based on the original thought processes that shaped bharatiya samskriti through millenniums, exemplified by thoughts such as: –

“lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu“
May all worlds experience well-being

“sarveshAm swastir bhavatu, sarveshAm shantir bhavatu, sarveshAm poornam bhavatu, sarveshAm mangalam bhavatu“
Health, peace, fulfilment and auspiciousness to all beings

“sarve bhavantu sukhinaha, sarve santu niramayAh, sarve bhadrAni pasyantu, mA kashchit dughabhAgbhaved“
Well being, fulfilment, secure-prosperity and happiness to all.

“Aum, shAntiH shAntiH shAntiH“
Peace to all

“vasudaiva kutumbakam“
Whole universe is family

These altruistic thoughts were the result of realization by rishis that supreme reality is one and the apparent diversity is a result of perception. This realization inspired them to understand themselves as comprising of purusha and prakriti, integral with the supreme reality; and they nurtured Nature and respected all beings.

Western Worldview

Western worldview is based on thought processes that shaped the aggrandizing behaviour of alexander’s greece, imperial rome, the catholic church and its offshoots- islam and protestant christianity, capitalism, communism, nazism and fascism. This worldview is characterised by fixation on materialistic things. Its roots may extent to the ancient egyptians who built massive tombs and displayed attachment to material objects.

The Contrast

In contrast to bharatiya darshana, western world view is unable to consider life as spiritual. It is perennially fixated on things physical and on material acquisitions.

bharatiya darshana considers supreme reality brahma as pervading the whole creation. Western worldview considers supreme reality as confined to some place apart from this world called ‘heaven’ and entirely dependent on the allegiance offered by the people on earth to feel contented; or they fail to recognise any supreme reality at all, beyond what is perceived by their limited senses.

While bharatiya darshana recognises spirituality as the core of every being, every creation in the world, western worldview denies spirituality in every being in this world, assigning it to an entity out of this world called God or Allah, an entity that threatens ‘eternal damnation’ upon people unless they bow down to it. Or else denies spirituality altogether, both in this world and in every other world, terming it ’super-natural’, ‘meta-physical’, ‘irrational’ etc.

A Metaphor

Metaphorically, bharatiya darshana inspires and provides opportunity to consider life as a sacred experience and to rise up to spiritual heights using intuitionary wisdom, like a bird rising in air using its wings.
The western worldview on the other hand impels people to behave like processionary caterpillars in their beliefs while wallowing in materialism, like a worm crawling in mud.

The western mind seeks to expand horizontally in the flatworld of materialism while bharatiya darshana inspires growth in a third dimension- the spiritual dimension.

The Question

This poses the question- Can a bird that rises in air dialogue with a worm immersed in mud ?

Answer

It is possible only if the bird stops flying and immmerse itself into the materialistic-mud world of the worm.
But, if the bird does that, it is not flying any more and will not be able to explain to the worm. On the other hand, the bird will have mud sticking on its body that will weigh down and hamper its movement of wings.
Even if the bird joins the worm in materialistic world and dialogues with it, the worm, limited in its flatwordly experience, may not comprehend the experience of flying that the bird talks of, it may misconstrue the message.
Some worms may even seek to devour the bird in their relentless search towards self-aggrandizement.
The case of Jesus was one such, of a bird who got devoured by the aggrandizing imperial rome that later hoisted his skeleton as a divine symbol from spiritual dimension and used that to maliciously brainwash and subjugate millions of people.

At present there are many birds who, through conditioning, have forgotten their wings that if used could take them to spiritual heights, and are instead engaged in crawling in the materialistic mud, competing with worms. Many such birds have, through lack of use, shrivelled their wing muscles.

When such birds exercise their wings, gradually developing their muscles, they may realise that they have the capacity to rise above the materialistic mud world and experience a new dimension.
With such continued exploration of the spiritual dimension, their intuitionary wisdom will gather strength and help them reach further heights. As they continue to do that, the mud sticking on their body, materialistic attachments, will dry out and fall away, making them lighter, feel more free, and able to fly higher.

When the birds start to fly, the worms may get curious. Many of them may discover that they too have budding wings and exercising it, over time, attain heights. Some others who do not have wings may start to introspect. When they emerge from such introspection, like from a cocoon, they may also have acquired wings that could take them to spiritual heights.

When that happens, dialogue between the bird and the worm-turned-fly would be meaningful.
It would be only then that bharatiya samskriti would be understood by the reformed western mind- one that recognises its own spirituality.

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A clarification:- bharatiya darshana and western worldview are not genetically acquired. They are acquired during the course of life. Upbringing and environs definitely plays a part in consolidating them. But it is quite possible for a person born and brought up in bharata deshaH to have western outlook (in fact most indians do so) while another born and brought up outside acquires bharatiya darshana through spiritual enquiry (although rarely does it happen).

Mantra Meditation involves meditating to sound.  Mantras are sacred phrases or sometimes single syllables, usually in Sanskrit, which are chanted to summon up specific universal energies or vibrations.  Each Sanskrit syllable is said to represent one specific universal energy or frequency, with the exception of the syllable AUM or OM which is said to represent all of the universal energies combined in perfect union, or yoga.

In Hinduism, the various gods and goddesses all have their own mantras, and chanting their mantra may help summon their blessings.  The goddess Lakshmi’s mantra is:

AUM

SHRING HRING KLEENG

MAHALAKSHMI NAMAH

AUM

Lakshmi Mantra

I believe this translates to something like ‘Salutations to the One who provides abundance’.  Mantras usually begin and end with AUM (OM).  The second syllable of a mantra like this, in this case the syllable SHRING, is considered the ’seed mantra’ and may be chanted all by itself if you prefer (and I usually do).  My two favorite mantras are AUM and SHRING (or as I learned it SRING).  You may chant either of these mantras as individual syllables.

Mantras each have a specific number of repetitions that it should be chanted. Lakshmi’s is supposed to be chanted 100,000 times.  That’s not practical in most cases.  For a meditation session lasting 20 minutes or more, you can comfortably chant 108 repetitions of the seed mantra.  The number 108 is sacred across a number of religions, and so, it is always a safe alternative to the official number of repetitions.

If you are busy meditating and chanting, how are you supposed to count up to 108? Good question!  In many Himalayan shops or spiritual bookstores you will find strings of beads, called ‘mala beads’.  If you count the beads, you should find that there are exactly 108.  I hold the beads in my hand, with my thumb and forefinger holding the first bead next to the clasp (or the larger central bead) of the necklace. With each chant, I walk my fingers over to the next bead.  When I’ve walked all around the mala to the other clasp, I know I’ve done 108 chants.  Note, in some traditions, they are very specific about which fingers you use with the mala, how you hold your palm and so forth.  Research them if you wish, but I haven’t found them necessary for my practice.

Mantras are most effective if you vocalize them in a loud, strong voice.  However, you can chant them softly too, if you do not wish to disturb others.  If you dare not make any sound at all, you can listen to a mantra with earphones on, or, you can just repeat the mantra in your mind as a silent thought.  All of these techniques will summon the power of the mantra, though, the first two are much more powerful than the last two techniques.

Healing Bleeding from the Teeth

Nature Cure

• Take 3/4^th litres of water. Drink before brushing. If you cannot drink it in one go, then take time to drink it. Then brush the teeth. You can take coffee or tea after 45 minutes. All the unwanted bacteria in the mouth and the intestines will be washed away.
• Brush with fingers both teeth and gums.

Mantra Healing

• Chant the mantra Om Aum (like Owl). Place your hands on the jaws and chant. Place the left hand over the mouth and then the right hand on top of it to handle polarisation of electro-magnetic energy.

Reiki

• Following the Quick Reiki approach

Give Reiki to both jaws.

Then to the nearest (related) chakra – Throat Chakra

Solar Plexus Chakra

Third Eye Chakra

Gem Stones

• Pray to Saturn, before meeting a Dentist.

Chant Blue Sapphire (Saturn is represented by it) or take pills of Blue Sapphire

Chant Om Sanaicharaya Namaha

Before the dentist appointment, take Blue Sapphire and Mimulus (for fear) pills

Bach Flower Remedy

• Agrimony is the base remedy for all teeth problems. The root cause for teeth issues is hiding your worries.
• The bleeding is only when I brush in the morning: White Chestnut
• The bleeding happens whenever I change the paste: Walnut

Mind Body Intelligence

• The psychological reason behind the issues is, ‘Not able to bite the reality’. Therefore, affirm, “I accept myself totally. I feel safe and secure”.

To purchase pills made out of Gem Stones and Bach Flower Remedies, please contact Shobana at 9884301634 (Chennai, India) or please send an email to balakumar49@yahoo.com

I went to see my yoga teacher’s master/teacher this weekend. I could not go to the practice that he held last night because of work, but I am glad I got to hear him talk and to see him. I am kind of embarrassed to admit it, but I really wanted to just see what he was like in relation to how I look at his student who is trying so hard everyday to teach me new things. I was a little nervous. But I went.

And it was totally cool.

I like the energy that people who are completely in possession of who they are can project. It is a unique thing to behold, and I know very few people who are really that way. I know plenty who think they are, but few who really are, and you can tell the difference immediately. I live in a place filled to the brim with individuals who claim to be uber-enlightened. You know, they have all the right music, incense, books – yeah, they bought the t-shirt. Funny enough, they tend to be some of the most judgmental and narrow minded people I have encountered. Like judgmental AND patronizing all at the same time. It is an UNjoy to behold. The guruji I saw on Sunday had it going on for real. He was totally different than the people I usually see professing their enlightenment. He was just really happy, and that is sort of what I hope enlightenment is really all about. And then he mentioned Osho, which is also cool because I have been digging Osho ever since I realized he could be all deep AND talk about the “F-word.”

Enlightenment is the understanding that this is all, that this is perfect, that this is it. Enlightenment is not an achievement, it is an understanding that there is nothing to achieve, nowhere to go.

Put that on your list of “Things that make you go, ‘Hmmmmmmm….’”

The thing is, I am seriously considering going to India. Yes, India. Yes, to do yoga. No I am not totally crazy. I don’t think. And since I began to consider this, traveling so far to study with someone, it seemed prudent to meet the “man behind the curtain” first. Frankly, the fact that this guy is my teacher’s guru would really have been enough, but still, I have always been the type of person who likes to get to know the people in whose hands I purposefully put myself. Okay, actually that is not entirely true, but in this case my curiosity and my interest led me to being mildly pragmatic.

And why would I consider something like this? Something that I know will be really hard, probably pretty uncomfortable, and not even mildly abundant in the types of things I typically choose to indulge in? I am not sure I have an answer to that question. Am I just wanting to be Elizabeth Gilbert version 2.0? Well, dividing a year into Italy, India and Bali doesn’t sound half bad, does it? But… Liz Gilbert I am not. I love Italy – and everything I encountered in it. I found Bali delightful – enough so that I am returning in two months. But India… now there is the enigma. I am not in search of some deeper meaning, or conversely some higher truth. [At this my amigo Fun Bobby expressed great relief, following his thinly veiled concern, when I casually mentioned I was considering checking out an ashram.] I’ve no divorce to get over, nor any sense of absence to examine.

No.

India comes at me for different reasons to numerous to expound or expiate here, though you can be sure one of them is a very bendy individual who calls Guledgudda home.

In some ways I imagine that if I am afforded the opportunity to do this it will end up being one of those things that you can consider in the future-past-tense, like “It will be a kick ass thing to have done.” In some ways I think it will be heartbreaking and in others inspiring. Will I take photos? Of course. Will I do ten hours of yoga a day? I hope. Will I write about it? I am not sure. I have a friend who, after every book we read, says: “I could’ve written that,” as an assessment of a book’s lack of significance. She said it of Gilbert’s book first. “I could’ve told that story, what is the big deal?” Well, maybe everything doesn’t need to be a big deal to everyone. And from the small deals sometimes the coolest things emerge.

There is a story there. It is about a boy who was chosen by his master to do important things and appreciates that there is always running water in Hong Kong. Can anybody write it? I don’t think just anyone could. But there may be someone who should.

I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me.