Fool Me Once Shame On You...

Turns out, some of the so-called "cell phone super powers" from my last posting are bulls#%t.

Thanks to some curious friends who I eagerly sent the emails to, I've found out that not all cell phones have all powers (and some powers are not even possible).

I decided there were seven major ways I could handle my dissemination of misinformation:

A. I could do a George Bush and just keep the lie going with false claims that it worked on my phone, and claim that if it's not working on yours then you're not a patriot. Like Richard Pryor once joked (on stage) to his wife who caught him in the act of cheating, "who are you gonna believe? Me, or your lying eyes??!!"

B. I could do a Dick Cheney and erase my original post and deny that I ever even sent anything out. Or, falsely accuse someone else of breaking into my blog account and posting it.

C. I could do a Bill Clinton and use verbal spin to make it appear as if I had done nothing inappropriate (until someone can actually subpoena my computer and prove it).

D. I could do a John Edwards and drop to my knees admitting that I was gullible for believing in cell phone powers and apologizing for posting the blog

E. I could do a Hillary Clinton and wait for all hell to break loose before unapologetically saying that if I knew then what I know now I wouldn't have posted the blog (well of course not, duh!).

F. Or I could've done a Barak Obama and immediately recognized the subject matter as "dumb" and refuse to post it on my blog in the first place.

I guess I'll do a "Light" and just tell the truth: The claims are mostly BS (although strangely the car door thing worked on my car---but not on the cars of my friends). Anyway, if you are interested, click the link below to read the real scoop on the Cell Phone email:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/cellphones.asp

Did You Know Your Cell Phone Has Super Powers?

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

Light's Note: I tried all of these and they work...

FIRST: The emergency number worldwide for mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number (112) can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

SECOND: Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone. If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).

Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!

Light's Note: Amazingly it worked on my Honda Civic Hybrid too!!!

THIRD: Hidden Battery Power - Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time.

FOURTH: How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? To check your mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

And finally....

FIFTH: Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial:

(800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411

without incurring any charge at all. Program this number into your cell phone now. This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving, so email it on to your family and friends.

10 Things I'll Miss About India

10. Hearing chants and prayers all hours of the day.

9. Swimming in the Ganges River.

8. Going out to dinner would run you $3 at the most.

7. The sun, moon and stars appear closer.

6. Seeing people smiling at the simplest things.

5. Watching the Sunrise over the Northern Indian mountains.

4. Watching the orphans at the ashram play among themselves.

3. Eating fresh Papaya.

2. Dressing only in a wrap, t-shirt and sandals everyday.

1. Taking in all of the different colors of daily life.

36 Hours Later...

I'm SO excited to be back in LA... and here are my top 10 reasons why:

10. I get to sleep in my own bed.

9. There are no flies in LA.

8. I can go to almost any restaurant in LA and drink the water without first signing a release form.

7. I love to eat fresh salads and unpeeled fruit.

6. No more car horns constantly and endlessly honking honking honking.

5. I no longer have to constantly look down to avoid stepping in cow s#@t.

4. There are no cows wiping their noses on my shirt as I pass them by.

3. No place beats southern California weather.

2. I can eat food other than Indian food without a hassle.

And the Number 1 reason I'm so excited to be back in L.A.......

Toilet paper!

Fine Level of Feeling

Today is my last full day in Rishikesh. We are finishing up our last meeting in about half an hour.
This morning during breakfast, as I was sitting in that Italian place I've been frequenting lately, I felt a one of the deepest connections to spirit and source that I have experienced here in India. Funny how those moments can come at the most random times.

It seems that everything about this place centers around devotion. Every sense of my body is constantly being stimulated by the divine and I don't think I've ever been more present and available to myself.

On the way back from breakfast, Iris and I were talking about what this journey has meant for our bond. (She almost didn't come to India because of some stuff we were going through back in LA), and how we really have to keep accessing and trusting our fine level of feeling, or inner guidance---no matter what.

The lecture this morning emphasized affirming the "high end" of a given experience as opposed to focusing the most negative interpretation of what happened---which we all have a tendency to do.

Every situation presents an opportunity for growth and refinement, and validating the high end means extracting what we did right in a given situation, or what we learned that will help to catapult us to the next level.

As you can see I'm feeling all lovey dovy right now so I'm really enjoying this moment. But I have to get to the last lecture. I'll try to post a blog from Delhi if I can.

In the meantime, looks like I may have gotten a little "Delhi-belly". But I'm taking it really easy today so everything hopefully will clear up before the plane ride home.

Light-post

Swamiji---My First Real Live Guru

Last night, I met my first real-live Indian guru by the name of Swamiji.

His real name is actually Hector Jenkins and he grew up in Detroit, but of course they keep that on the hush hush...

Kidding.

His full name is actually H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji. But everyone around here just refers to him as Swamiji.

First off, let's go back in time to when I arrived in Rishikesh---which I just found out is short for "rishikesha", or people with long hair. Rishikesh is sort of the Northern India capital of Saint-dom where people with long hair (i.e. saints, gurus and yogis) came to do their thing in the 1960's and 70's.

Anyway, Swamiji is the founder (or inspiration) behind the Parmarth Niketan Ashram where we are staying.

All over this place are pictures and posters of Swamiji. Even in many of the shops around Rishikesh there are photos of the local guru. The most popular one I've seen is of Swamiji standing at full profile against blue sky and clouds cupping a handful of marigold petals that are blowing away in the divine wind.

His black hair is long and flowy with gray streaks in the front. And his manicured, full beard extends down to his collar. In his photo he has that unmistakable look of Indian richness and grace.

Ever since we arrived, word had it that Swamiji wanted to meet with our group and properly welcome us to his ashram. Well, yesterday turned out to be the day he requested that meeting.

I have to admit I wasn't dying to meet this dude. Mildly curious, yes. But I definitely could've left here without feeling like I was cheated had I not met the guru. Plus, I'm pretty happy with my own guru (Thom) and it's hard to compete with Thom in my mind.

I know, who said it was a competition? I figured I was being overly judgmental and that I should give the guy a chance.

So I took a nap and decided to wake up at 7:30 (when the Ashram dinner would be served), and eat quickly because we all had to meet in front of reception at 8 dressed in Ashram-chic garments ready to meet the master.

I roll over and look at my watch. It was 7:50. (Insert explicitive here) I get up and throw some white stuff on (I think it was an embroidered gown and a doti, and I shuffled over to the reception, still half-sleep from my nap.

I noticed my eyes were burning and I had that I-slept-for-an-hour-after-eating-italian-food taste in my mouth. At 8 everybody's waiting and soon after we entered swamiji's private little garden setting which was located just off of the reception area.

There were bamboo walls and floors, plants and an open-air ceiling in his quarters. He was seated lotus-style in the middle of the floor and we all just sat around him. It was pretty cramped, especially with my long legs and all the clothes I had on, but I just made due.

My first impression was: hey, he's such a little guy for a guru. But that shouldn't of been a surprise because most Indians that I've seen are small in stature.

Swamiji was extremely soft spoken and it was hard to make out what he was saying at first. Thom and him started exchanging niceties and then Swamiji open the floor for questions about absolutely anything---his words, not mine.

People started asking questions about the land and the children. I don't know if I mentioned this before but the ashram is host to what seems like a couple hundred orphans in Swami training.

His answers were pretty broad and somewhat inspirational. You can tell he is used to talking to the masses. His words are basic and relatable. No $25 words, as Thom calls them.

If it hadn't been so hot and cramped, and if I hadn't just woken up 15 minutes before and gone without dinner, I probably would have been more engaged in what was happening.
Instead, I was just hoping it would be over sooner than later.

Don't get me wrong, he was obviously a nice, smart, guy and he clearly had a high state of consciousness. But I didn't get the sense that I was sitting among greatness of the M. Gandhi or the Martin L. King variety.

Swamiji had some cool answers to our questions. Nothing particularly profound. He was funny and down to earth, which was refreshing. And I'm glad I got a chance to hang out with him for an hour or so.

He says he comes to LA and gives lectures at Golden Bridge Yoga a couple times a year. Maybe I'll get to catch him there sometime...

As for now I can check that one off the old list: met Indian saint/guru

Light-er

The Holy Flies

Since I last wrote not much has happened outside of attending lectures, swimming in the Ganges and swatting flies.

I swear I must spend half my time (when I'm anywhere other than in my room) swatting away flies. They are EVERYWHERE and in droves.

The way I figure, if you take the cows out of the equation, there would be much less cow shit on the streets, thus reducing the fly population considerably.

This afternoon, while we were eating at a new Italian place I discovered I was staring out of the window at all the cows and in the sunlight I could see all of the swarms of flies surrounding them. Mind you, this is in the middle of a restaurant bizarre!

I'm thinking, "this would never fly in LA (no pun intended). The FDA would have all of these restaurants shut down.

As we were eating, one girl at our table found half of a fly cooked into her naan bread. Yes that's right, only half. She wanted to notify the staff and I asked "What exactly do you want them to do?"

But hell, we've all probably eaten at least half a dozen flies since we've been here. And since they cook everything to death you wouldn't even know you were eating flies.

Oh, and if you were wondering why they serve naan at the Italian restaurant, the answer is they serve everything at all the "western" restaurants from Chinese to Israeli to indian to Italian. And surprisingly it all tastes pretty authentic.

Actually, considering where we are, the restaurants are pretty good and efficient. And without the blessed cows, India wouldn't be the India that we know and love today.

I know I tend to focus on the stranger sides of this society. But there is much beauty here as well. Much much beauty. I can't wait to publish some of the pictures when I return to LA next week.
Speaking of which, today I started making plans to get back to Delhi on Monday. I can hardly believe that 10 days have already passed. Iris and I decided to forgo the 3rd class train ticket adventure and hire a car to drive us down. We'll see how that works out.

Ok, I would like to go and sit for my evening meditation now. But before I sign off I wanted to leave you with an uplifting thought:

Anything is possible. We never want to think we are not good enough for whatever desire we have. That means, no more small thoughts! We ARE good enough and we are supported by our divine deserving power. So go out there right now and make it happen. We want to take giant leaps without looking back. Look forward so if we stumble we fall forward. We're not interested in falling back anymore.

Light-house

The Massage

I'll start with the good news first:

I haven't gotten sick and it doesn't look like I will (somebody knock on some wood). Our room is the only one with a working airconditioner which is great for those extra hot days. Overall everything seems to be falling in place just perfectly.

On to the more "interesting" news:

I'm completely over Indian food. Right now---as I type this---I can't see myself eating it anymore but I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice. There's simply not much else around.

I'm craving something fresh like a salad or anything for that matter other than bread, paneer and daal. It is mostly vegetarian which helps but it seems as though everything is made with milk, cream, and/or cheese.

I narrowly avoided a fight with a gang of monkeys over at the ghat where we all swim.

Apparently, they don't like direct eye contact and they are not afraid to get a little aggressive. They are kind of like that bad nephew of yours that you don't quite feel safe with. You'll be joking around with him one day and he'll take it seriously and give you the look that is subtext for "I'll kill you if you keep f-ing with me."

Well that's the look I was getting from the monkeys for staring. I looked away, and after some heavy tension he and his boys backed away.

Whew! Almost got my ass kicked by a gang of monkeys! I've seen it happen once already to this one tourist guy and believe me it wasn't not pretty...

And finally there's the business of this massage I just got about half an hour ago from Bob the friendly barber.

I was speaking to Bob the other day after my haircut and he was telling me that he does full body massage. "Really???" I excitedly replied. "How much?" 300 rupees he answered. That's about 8 bucks US. "And how long does 300 rupees buy me?" One hour. "You have a table?" Yes, or course. "Cool. Let's do it!"

Cut to 1 hour ago. I get a knock on the door at the designated hour and its Bob the barber. I look behind him and I don't see a table. In fact he doesn't have anything with him. I'm thinking, "okaayyy."

Bob walks in and then I notice a bulge in his back pocket. Its his oil. I'm guessing we are going to use my little twin bed and the sheets on my twin bed since he apparently didn't have any.

He suggested rolling a yoga mat onto the dusty floor and doing the massage there but I quickly vetoed that idea.

So we settled on using the bed.

I was already naked under my doti, but then Bob started taking his pants off. He was wearing underwear.

Next he took the rag that was wrapped around his oil bottle and wrapped it around his waist. Meanwhile, I went and got my only 2 towels and spread them across the mattress, not really knowing what to expect.

Next I tentatively lie on my back with my doti covering my privates... only because I didn't know what the custom was.

Bob moved my makeshift draping up past my belly as if it was in the way and started lathering my thighs up in oil. He must have poured out half the bottle.

Then he started rubbing oil much closer to my pubic area than was ever allowed in my massage school, and I thought about saying something.

Then I started to wonder if I had overlooked some kind of secret password in my conversation with Bob. Was he expecting something more than a massage from me?

Just then, Bob the barber began working his way down my legs and later had me flip over onto my stomach.

Again, he poured a very generous amount of oil on my lower back and butt cheeks, climbed ontop of the bed, squatted over me and started massaging the oil into my butt cheeks.

This was the same song, second verse. It wasn't so inappropriate that I felt the need to stop the massage but it was way past ordinary boundaries by western standards---unless you're having one of "those" types of massages, which I didn't think I was having. But I wasn't sure.

The rest of the massage flew by. I'm sure the whole bottle of oil had to be empty by the end of the entire thing. And parts of the massage felt soothing. Parts felt amateur. All in all it was a decent experience.

Bob mentioned that he has a wife and two kids. Even still---if he told me he was into men I wouldn't have been surprised.

After Bob left I hosed off in a cold shower (no hot water here) and put on some fresh clothes, went downstairs and got some fresh linens and towels and changed everything out.

On to the next adventure...

Light-box

The Sounds of Rain

I woke up this morning to the sound of thunder. The rainclouds hung thick above the Ganges and the current looked strong. No swim this morning, I thought. And off to yoga I went.

Later, after breakfast, I got a haircut and shave at the local barbershop. Had it not been for the flies picking at my ankles, the experience would have been extraordinarily delightful. After the cut, Bob, the young-looking Nepalese barber gave me an amazing head, face and arm massage. Amazingly, the cost for the cut, the shave (with a razor) and the massage all together was $1.40. So I felt a nice tip was in order.

Later on, we finished the reading of the Gita which now means we will go back over the subtler points as well as do a more extensive Q & A with Thom.

Speaking of which, I have an embarrassing story from last night. Thom was reading chapter 11 of the Gita and I was seated in the front row, fighting to remain alert and awake.

There were 50 of us in the room, all seated around the little makeshift platform where Thom was sitting.

Previously, I had mentioned to Thom how soothing and melodic his voice was and how many times, when I listen to him---no matter how much energy I thought I had---i will spontaneously begin to transcend (or get the feeling of going to sleep).

He agreed, and explained how many times the voice of someone's meditation teacher can be quite soperific---sleep inducing, and that he's used to that happening.

Regardless, when I'm sitting in the front row of someone's lecture I at least want to appear to be paying attention.
So there I am, sitting under the bright lights, heavy-eyed and drifting in and out of consciousness when the windows and doors started rattling, signalling the oncoming of the storm.

Soon after though, even those sounds started to blend into the background.

Meantime, I apparently was hovering in that between state of not being fully sleep and not being fully awake.

All of the sudden I hear "BOOM"---the window had been slammed shut by the wind---and I jumped clear out of my seat, dazed and confused, looking like a deer in the headlights, right there in the front row. And I was the only one who jumped.

Thom paused and everyone laughed as I relaxed back into my chair, realizing that it was just the sound of the window. Needless to say, I was not only thoroughly embarrassed for losing my composure but I sat there wide awake for the rest of Thom's lecture.

The rain has since stopped and the weather is now even more beautiful than before.

Light-Saber

Yoga and the Morning Routine...

Good Day!!!

Now that the Bhagavad Gita course has started I feel myself starting to drop into a bit of a morning routine including: waking up at 4:30 or so, meditating in my room, yoga from 6 to 7, swimming in the Ganges from 7 to 7:30, breakfast at Madras Cafe, blogging, and then going to Thom's first talk at 10.

Will and I taught (or I should say co-led) a yoga class this morning that felt really good on all levels. About 30 of us showed up and we managed to build up a nice sweat within the allotted hour.

It was also nice to put on the old "teaching"hat again, but in a new environment. A cool thing about teaching newbies is that I can break out some of my old yoga jokes and still get some laughs. As for you guys, don't worry I'm getting new writers for the fall season ; )

Anyway, we plan on teaching that morning class for the remainder of our time here.

Also, I read about some of the recent news going on in the states this morning, particularly the shooting at Virginia Tech, the east coast storm, politics, and a few other headlines. It's amazing how the days blend together over here. There's no television. Only newspapers and round-the-clock worshipping, chanting and praying, regardless of whether or not it's a weekday or a weekend.

It seems that everyone is up and at it by 7 and that life moves at a real time, moment-to-moment pace without much regard or anticipation for what could happen in the future or for what's happened in the past.

This just my own perception of course (and it's not to be confused with the reality of the individuals living here).

Ok, off to my morning lecture. Stay tuned for more updates!

Type to you later...

Light-Brite

OK, Here's The Deal...

Yesterday, the other 33 or so people arrived for the retreat, making it a total of 50 attendees. It's a meditation retreat by the way.

I don't think I ever formally mentioned that. We are here to study Vedic worldview of the Bhagavad Gita with our meditation teacher Thom Knoles. His web site is www.introtomeditation.com.

I've mentioned Thom before in my yoga classes. He's quite a remarkable presence and I can't say enough great things about him and about my experiences with him.

Another part of the reason I'm in India right now is because I'm training to be a teacher of the type of meditation that Thom instructed me in four years ago called Vedic Meditation.

Thom initially trained as one of the original Transcendental Meditation teachers about 40 years ago. Vedic Meditation comes from the same tradition as TM, yet Thom is not affiliated with any organization.

The course on the Bhagavad Gita starts today and continues for the next 7 days. Then I'm back in Los Angeles for a week. And come May 1st, me and 10 others will go to Flagstaff, AZ (where Thom lives) for a 12-week intensive VM teacher training course.

Ok, I'm running a little late for the morning talk, so I will fill you in on more later....

The Horns are A'Blowing in Rishikesh

I was lying in bed this morning thinking about what sort of things I wanted to share with you guys and I decided that it would be more interesting to share my thoughts about my experiences more than the experiences themselves. This may seem obvious to some of you but I guess I'm a little slow in these matters of journaling/blogging.

So to kickstart this new angle, I would like to just list a few things that I've noticed since my last blog:

1. I find the setting of Rishikesh to be one of the more charming places I've visited in the world. The Ganges looks clean and crisp. The land doesn't seem to be overly developed (especially considering the age of the community here). I was joking to Will as we were walking across the bridge this morning to meditate on the Shiva Ghat that if you were a developer, you would see this place with completely different eyes than that of a meditator. Same if you were a pickpocket. Same if you were a broom salesman. In other words, consciousness creates our reality. And another way of saying that is truth and reality are observer dependent---different for everyone depending on your angle of approach. In fact, it's almost insulting for one person to think that someone else should share their vision of what they know to be true or even possible.

2. I did eventually end up diving into the Ganges, and it was just as cold as I imagined it to be. Maybe even more so. Right before I was teetering on the edge of a dusty boulder, along side of the freezing Ganges River, wearing nothing but Speedos. Some Indian children were playing about 12 feet to the right of me and their father was lazily watching me stand there and contemplate the temperature of the water. With a smirk and a shrug, he silently motioned with his hand for me to just jump in already. And in what-the-hell mode, I dove in.

It was pretty invigorating and felt amazing once I got out of the water. The current moves pretty quickly downstream toward some rapids. So for a longer swim you have to trek up stream about 100 feet and jump in. I tried that out once with another girl from our group and together we floated downstream for a few minutes. That was fun and I'm now looking forward to incorporating a daily dip into my India routine.

3. One of the more jarring things around here is how everyone uses their scooter and car horns constantly! Iris mused, "People around here drive with their ears." And it's true! They don't use it as punishment like they do in the states. They use it to signal that someone is behind you, almost like how bikers will yell "to your left" when they are quickly approaching you and you are blocking their bike path. Well, imagine walking down a 10-foot wide version of the Santa Monica promenade on a crowded saturday afternoon. Now, add motor scooters and bicycles attempting to go full speed and blowing their horns everytime they are behind someone. Add cows standing in intervals throughout the path blocking traffic as well as fresh mounds of cow dung. Add people carrying food carts through. Add flies. And add a little more humidity than LA and you can get a basic idea of what it's like to walk down the streets in the middle of the afternoon.

4. One of the coolest things about this place are the people. Pretty much everyone you pass at least looks like the western idea of a spiritual guru. I was sitting along the path yesterday just people watching and you would think that everyone had their own fashion stylist from Vogue Magazine (the India issue). Everyone looks so ornamental as they stroll by wrapped in dotis with their Pashminas wrapped across their shoulders. I'm really getting used to wearing just a t-shirt and a sheet wrapped across my waist. And all you need is your shawl to sleep with, to dry off after a swim and to protect you against the flies and mosquitoes while you meditate.

Ok, this is long enough for now. More later after another swim in the river ; )

Rishikesh---Day 1

For a 6-hour drive, it seemed to go by rather quickly. We hired two very comfortable cars with air conditioning (a luxury that, while not essential, is much appreciated) at $70 bucks a head---I'm quoting prices merely for point of reference by the way.

Along the way up we stopped for lunch at a bus stop with traditional Indian food. Most dishes seem to come with paneer (buffalo cheese cubes) and/or they are prepared with buffalo milk.

I've been trying to be flexible with my diet by taking in a little more milk than I do in LA (which is usually none at all). At times, my stomach has felt a little queasy but I think if I continue to ration the dairy in very small doses I'll be fine.

Anyway, we finally made it into Rishikesh by around 6:30pm (6am LA time).

Apparently, Rishikesh is one of the major staging points for spiritual treks into the Himalyas as the streets seem to be filled with ashrams, spiritual seekers, people chanting and performing pujas, and bystanders.

I haven't had much time to look around because it was getting dark quickly and we entered an ashram which seems like a little village unto itself.

The ashram is called Paramanth Niketan---I think that's how its spelled. Google it if you get a chance.

After arriving we walked (barefoot) to a fire ceremony on the banks of the Ganges river. There were a few hundred people in attendance and it was quite a beautiful scene with the auburn sun descending in the haze of wood fire, and the peaceful sound of steady chanting... Literally something out of a movie.

We then ate together, although I wasn't very hungry at all.

My energy level started to majorly drop off during our meal and I found myself having to rally to keep my eyes open. I'm still doing much better today than I was yesterday.

Oh, and I didn't mention that we joined 9 others who flew in from LA, Australia and London. There should be about 50 of us altogether within the next couple of days.

I'll get into why we're all here on tomorrow. Too tired to type any more---and I'm looking over at my roomie Will who's over in his bed with his eyes closed.

The idea is to get up at the crack of dawn---and I mean the crack (5 am) and go walk across this bridge to bathe in the brisk Ganges water.

Now, I still don't know how I feel about that (for many many reasons) but we will see---and you will read about---where inspiration takes me when that hour comes.

For now, good night. Or good morning ; )

The Hard Sell

Our first day in New Delhi in many ways felt like a test to see how long we could all stay awake. So we decided to stimulate ourselves by venturing into "old" Delhi to take in the sites of the street vendors and spice markets.

We hired a couple of cars to drive the seven of us around for the day. First we stopped at a couple of gift shops that sold everything from ivory statues of the Hindu deities to hand-embroidered bed covers and traditional Indian garments.

Talk about "hard sell"! Oh my God. Everywhere my eyes fell, some salesperson would go to that item, pull it out, show me all angles and uses, and tell me how wonderful it was. Imagine that happening every time you looked at something. After a while, I would just turn away but I would be met with a stern "listen to me. Just look at it. You don't have to buy it." "I don't have to buy it, my ass," I thought. The hard sell coupled with the harsh mid-afternoon hot sun seemed to really drain everyone.

Next we went to one of the oldest parts of Old Delhi: the spice markets. Apparently, not much has changed around this area for the last 1000 years or so, and it looked and felt like it.

There were no westerners around. The busy streets were full of the rickshaws (those bicycles with two seats on the back) that we were actually being transported by (we ditched the cars when the streets got to narrow), motorized versions of rickshaws, people pushing sweet lime juice carts and others walking, riding, and moving. Thom said the area hustles and bustles like this 24/7.

We stepped off of our rickshaws in the thick of it all. Walking along the spice market road, it seemed like every vendor we passed was selling the exact same thing out of these big burlap sacks: dates, cinnamon, dried red peppers, cloves, cardamon, etc. I don't know how anybody makes any money seeing as how the market is thoroughly saturated with everybody selling the exact same thing.

Anyway, we passed by guys squatting in circles talking politics, people making and selling other goods in the street.

Interestingly enough (at least to me), I didn't see very many people smoking. Only one or two, here and there. Everyone seemed occupied enough not to pay much attention to us.

We walked through a spice factory / storage ward where everyone started choking, coughing and sneezing due to the heavy concentration of peppers, cinnamon and all the other spices stacked all around with not much ventilation.

Needless to say, we were happy to get back to our nice hotel, get showered, meditate and relax. Dinner was great. We ate at a fancy Indian place in the hotel. And I imagine everyone managed to pass out by around 9.

I slept pretty well and woke up (as expected) at around 3am. But then fell back to sleep at 4 or so, and slept through the rest of the night.

So far this morning, I've worked out, yoga'd, meditated, eaten breakfast, and soon we are leaving for Rishikesh (a 6-hour drive north) in about half an hour. I feel good, rested, and ready for the next part of our journey.

Type to you again from Rishikesh.

Made it to India

My trip was very uneventful and low key. So far, there have been no packed flights, long lines, crowds of beggers or anything of that nature.

Delhi does have that familiar third-world aroma of burning wood that I remembered from my trip to East Africa a couple years back.

Right now, I'm lounging pool side at this swanky hotel waiting to check into my room. The weather is teasingly mild but you can tell that come mid-afternoon its going to be hot as hell.

The gang and I are spending the day here in Delhi and then hiring a car tomorrow morning to go to Rishikesh in the north, where we will be for the rest of our stay until we fly out.

India is exactly 12 1/2 hours ahead of LA time. I feel awake and vibrant. Hopefully this will last for the rest of the day (fingers crossed).

Until next time, be well.

From the Plane

Ok, so I broke down and got that new Blackberry that my older brother kept pushing on me. Now, I'm testing it out to see if I can leave a blog from it.

I'm literally sitting on the plane right now. The leg room situation is a little suspect. The American Airlines flight is completely full---as all airlines usually are these days.

I've got my girlfriend Iris sitting right next to me talking on her cell to her best friend. And luckily we made a Wholefoods run on the way to the airport. So we're all ready to go.

Thom, my meditation teacher s two rows up and there are a couple of others from our group on board.

Thanks again for all of your kind words, emails, well wishes and support. According to the monitor up front we've got 5447 miles to London. I'll type to you guys later.

No More Yoga---For Now

I taught my last yoga class (until August) on yesterday. I'm actually looking forward to the break from teaching.

It's not because I don't thoroughly enjoy it. But like anything good, it's nice to step away and then come back to it fresh and renewed.

I go through this sometimes with new songs. If I'm not careful I'll milk a great song to death in about 2 days and then 3 days later I'll never want to hear it again. Then I'll walk into class and someone will go, "Hey could you play that song you played the last class?" and I'll start thinking to myself, "uuuhhhh, not that tired old song again."

Now, I have to be more careful and space out good song so I can avoid that experience. The other day, my friend Will (who is also a yoga teacher) was asking me for some new music to play in his yoga classes---he was saying how rare it is to find a really great song. I told him that I had over 300 really great songs---that I'm tired of listening to. But I seriously digress.

Where was I? Ah, teaching. Yes, it will be good (I imagine) to come back to my classes at the end of the summer and be in a different head space.

For now, I can't say that I'm REALLY looking forward to traveling to India. (A) Because I don't really love crowds, (B) Because I'm a germaphobe and (C) I have a slight aversion to getting violently ill.

But I'll just have to deal with whatever happens and remember that it's all happening for the best. I'm sure it's going to be fine. Let me say that louder to the Universe: I'M SURE EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE GREAT!

There. Now I can relax. Ok, more updates from Asia so stay tuned. I've still got lots to do to prepare for my trip. I'm looking at the old "To Do" list in my peripheral as I type so let me get started.

Open Letter To My Concerned Friends

So I've got this list of things to get for India which includes a water filter, wet wipes, probiotics, grapeseed extract, and one friend told me to make sure to bring diapers. Not sure if he was kidding though. I've also heard: take Pepto Bismol with you and eat three chewables a day; as well as: take a bottle of tequila and drink a shot every night to blast away any unwanted bacteria (I guess I would do it right before my meditation??); and I won't forget this one: get a Blackberry 8800 for the GPS navigation system (can you see me being guided through the alleys of northern India with a doshi on, stepping over homeless people and following the automated Blackberry lady's voice? Oh, and my mother told me not to eat ANYthing until I get back because she recently saw an episode of House MD where a patient contracted an incurable disease from the food in India.

So in gratitude, here is an open letter to all of those who have offered advice and/or tips about how best to do India:

Dear Concerned Friends and Family,

Thank you for the info. I'm not leaving until Tuesday so that should give me time to organize all of the things that you have suggested.

I've got the Center for Disease Control shipping me one of those one-piece "outbreak" jumpsuits complete with a facemask, bio-safe gloves and oxygen tank.

I stopped by Costco and picked up the 6 rolls of toilet paper you recommended. They didn't have adult diapers though so I will try to borrow some from the nursery home next door to my apt.

And while I'm at it I'll stop at the corner liquor store and pick up a bottle of Patron (I just hope it doesn't break in my luggage). In the meantime, keep brainstorming and let me know if I'm leaving anything else out.

And if I'm already gone---no worries---you can just text me on my shiny new Blackberry 8800. You've got the number.

Peace and Love,

Light-Saber