My 34th Summer

Just wanted to say 'Thank You' for all of the birthday wishes. I completed my 34th revolution around the sun today and I feel like I'm at the top of my game!

Iris sent me a beautiful package of goodies complete with pictures, snacks and oils. My colleagues took me to a Thai restaurant this afternoon for lunch and gifted me with a bag of baby carrots... did I mention that one of my nicknames here is 'Baby Carrot'?

Just finished my 5th round for the day and headed to dinner soon. It was such a gorgeous, sunny day here in Flagstaff---perfect for celebrating a birthday.

We are going to be sharing some dessert later on during our meeting tonight, so the festivies continue. Catch you guys tomorrow...

L

A Day Off

I hope everybody had a great Memorial Day weekend---the official start of summer. For me it was pretty much the same-old-same-old... you know: rounding, transcending, rounding, transcending with the occassional break for a meal here and a lecture there.

However, today we had a rare day off (not from rounding, but from our studies). Tomorrow we plunge right back into the thick of it. I have to say, I actually prefer to be studying something. Being that I'm in Flagstaff, AZ there's not much to do with a day off.

Iris contemplated coming out for a few days to visit. But I discouraged the idea thinking that we'd be too busy with our studies. Didn't anticipate a whole day off! Oh well. I just spoke with her and she still might come out at the end of the week. If it works out I will be VERY excited to see her.

AND, by the way, I turn 34 tomorrow at 4:30pm. Everyone keeps asking me what I would like to eat for my birthday dinner. I asked Korrin to make a tofu cheesecake. Should be a good one.

Alright, I have 2 more rounds to do before dinner so off I go. Over and out!

L

"The Light Man"

My meditation colleagues here in Flagstaff have taken to calling me "The Light Man." And to make matters worse, I've started referring to myself as The Light Man.

It's funny now, but I've got to make sure I get it out of my system before I get back home.

...can't be walking around LA referring to myself in 3rd person. That would be serious weirdo behavior.

But for the time being---in our little bubble---it's quite amusing and makes conversation so much more interesting!

Truly,

T.L.M.

Finish Each Day

Right now the sky from my window is deep blue with an auburn pinkish hue on the horizon. The wind is crisp and the atmosphere is ripe with all that's possible, all that's beautiful in the world. This moment reminds me of one of my favorite Emerson quotes:

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

Hallelujah

This morning was one of the rare occassions that I had to listen to a little music. I only had time for one song though. So I played 'Hallelujah' by Jeff Buckley.

I wasn't a big Jeff Buckley fan until Gina, one of my students from Equinox, went to a Jeff Buckley concert and told me all about it.

This is such a great rendition. You should get it if you don't already have it. Oh, I miss my music so much!

This is a very good day!

L

Just Do It

I wrote what I considered to be a very interesting and thought-provoking post this morning and as I clicked to publish it, the hotel's server went down and I lost the whole thing.

There was a time when that sort of thing would have really bugged me. But after it happened I just shrugged and went about the rest of my day.

It's funny how after doing this kind of "inner" work on ourselves, over time we start to normalize what others see as dramatic shifts in consciousness.

Thinking about the way we used to react to things that didn't go our way versus now, it's almost like we were another person.

Now, we are in an age when everybody is talking about meditation, intention, affirmation, law of attraction, etc. It's easy to get caught up in the hype of it all and become a "mood maker"---someone who tries to appear as if they are unaffected by their outward circumstances.

What we need to remember is that it's okay to be affected by what's happening on the outside. The trick is to remember who we are on the inside: light beings experiencing ourselves in human form with infinite potential, infinite adaptability, and infinite access to whatever support we need to get through our most challenging moments.

No "trying" needed. We just do it!

L

French Fries on the Ganges

My friend Richard sent this photo of me meditating on the banks of the Ganges in India. Thought you might enjoy. Although, I was probably just sitting there with my eyes closed thinking about how good some french fries would taste right now or something like that ; )

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I woke up late this morning. My phone alarm was going off for half an hour but I guess I've normalized the buzzing of the alarm because I slept right through it. Not a good sign of things to come. Particularly with me having to get up even earlier when the rounds get increased to God-knows-how-many in the next couple of weeks.

The same thing happened to me when I bought a cd-alarm radio a year ago, and was using a CD with 60 minutes of "Om" chanting to wake up. It was beautiful. At the designated time, the alarm would start with sounds of the tide ebbing and flowing on the shorline and then Master Charles---the monk who cut the CD---would start chanting long, rich "Oms" chants over and over for an hour. I felt like I was waking up at some tranquil monestary in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Then one time, months later, I had to get up especially early to make a flight.

At some point in the night, I started to have this crazy dream where everyone I encountered was chanting Om: my mom, my friends, a traffic cop, santa claus, etc. You know how ANYTHING can happen in dreams, so I didn't think anything of it.

Then my phone rang. I woke up to find that my freakin' alarm had been going off for like an hour, and that the Oms had been incorporated in my dream. My friend was downstairs to drive me to the airport and I hadn't even packed yet.

I jump up and start frantically getting packed and we ended up having to "Batman it" over to LAX from West Hollywood in morning rush hour traffic to make my flight. I barely made it. But I never woke up on time from that Om alarm again. Thankfully, the clock radio broke and I had to start using my phone alarm.

So I'm worried now that I'm going to start sleeping through my phone alarm and miss rounds.

Now, this is not a huge problem considering what's happening in Iraq. But I guess stuff like this keeps the times interesting. I'll let you know what ends up happening.

Hope you are seizing ths awesome day.

Cynics

Note to self: Let go of control. Follow charm. And remember...

"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing."

- Oscar Wilde.

Indian Food

We had a bit of a hailstorm here in Flagstaff this afternoon.

Oh man, and I feel like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I've had a mild headache for much of the day. It could have something to do with going to bed at midnight and waking up at 4:30am multiple nights in a row. I dunno.

It seems like the headache is starting to subside though. I've taken a couple of naps today and I've been drinking lots of liquids. It's very dry here. The heels on my feet are starting to crack a little. I've bought some lotion and a pumice. Hopefully I can soften my dogs up again. I'm open to suggestions if you have any...

We're actually going to take the night off tonight and go out for Indian (insert a very weak-sounding 'yeah!'). I'm still not crazy about Indian food after having eaten it 24/7 less than a month ago. But it's more about the fellowship, right? We'll see how I do.

I've already grown tired of making lunch for myself everyday. I've resorted to eating meals of just dark chocolate and fresh strawberries. And ordering out for lunch. Easy.

Seems like just another day in the Flag. Only 2 hours of meditation left. I'll start that in about 12 minutes. Ok, catch you on the flip.

L

Up Close and Personal

This is a recent photo of me in my hotel room. This is the bed where I do my meditation routine. You’ll see my khaki-colored Pashmina on the bed that I use to keep warm while meditating. You can see the clock that I keep time with on the pillow. And I keep that tissue box next to me in case I have to blow my nose for my pranayama (breath exercises).

Field Report

As anticipated, the 11 of us in the group of trainees are really starting to grow closer together and more cohesive as a unit. There is a lot of support from everyone to do the best they can, to keep up and to understand the material. It's very tribal. I'm really enjoying the group meals and outings. And strangely, we've started to normalize the 5 hours of rounding each day.

Thom is in LA this week running a meditation course for children and for adults. We're talking to him throughout the week via conference call. In the meantime, we have a bunch of material to commit to memory for testing this weekend. Memorization has never been my strong suit, so it will be good to flex that muscle.

All else is good in Flagstaff. Have a good week wherever you are...

L

Spring Water

Yours truly in Arizona tasting fresh mountain water from the source. Hopefully there's not some uranium refining plant a mile up the street...

L

Red Rock

Taken at the beginning of our hike to West Fork creek.

Cabin Fever

I just ate an avocado, tomato, almond salad with a little sea salt, lemon, and flaxseed oil mixed in. When 4:40 rolled around this morning I was tired! But then I rallied and pulled myself out of bed to start the first of my 3 rounds. It took a little over the hour I had budgeted because I stayed in savasana a little longer than the alloted 10 minutes. The next 2 rounds were similar. And to think this is just the beginning!

We're going out for an excursion in Sedona today: we're going hiking and then to a swimming hole near some red rocks. That'll be fun. I've been getting a bit of cabin fever staying around the hotel so much. Have a good one!

L

Curb Your Expectations

Don't expect mangoes to fall from walnut trees.

-Marcus Aurelius

Be Here Now?!

This is starting to feel like that movie Ground Hog Day---in a good way ; ) I actually enjoy waking up at 4:40am and doing 10 minutes worth of pranayama, 20 minutes worth of asana and and hour worth of meditation. As I'm moving and breathing the sunlight pours in through the living room window and by 8 it seems like the whole world has come to life. Now, I'm sitting here with my headphones on listening to She Talks to Angels, by The Black Crowes.

In my spare moments (of which there are few) I've been reading a book called "The Dancing Wu Li Masters" by Gary Zukav, the dude who wrote one of the first "spritiual" books I ever read called Seat of the Soul. In Wu Li, Zukav gives an simplified overview of Quantum Physics, that science that says everything we know as our reality is just that: our reality. We create what we want to see and experience.

The most fascinating part is that this understanding of the world has become the rule, and not the exception. Western science is validating what's been known, studied and practiced in Eastern philosophy for thousands of years.

What I'm presently studying in Flagstaff is the Vedic body of knowledge, which is the oldest of the Eastern philosophies. And it all connects! I feel so fortunate to be able to take advantage of this opportunity and I look forward to sharing what I learn with all those who want to know.

Anyway, one thing I found very fascinating in this Wu Li book is how Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity inspired his mathematics teacher, Hermann Minkowski to explore a mathematical formula that PROVES that "all of the past, and all of the future, for each individual, meet and forever meet, at one single point, now. Furthermore, the now of each individual is specifically located and will never be found in any other place than here (wherever the observer is located)." pg. 173

In other words, it's ALL happening right now! Scientists have speculated this for decades now, but it's starting to really leak into text books as well as into the collective consciousness. A sign of good things: Everything is being created in the present. We are being more present with ourselves than ever before. We are realizing that by being rooted in the present we manifest our "future."

This is the best news I've heard all day!

It's a Beautiful Day!

Right now, I'm sitting in a desk chair with my feet propped up on a coffee table in the middle of my Residence Inn living room waiting on my next lecture to start in about 20 minutes. I've already rounded for a few hours this morning (woke up at 4:40 to begin those) and I ate some granola for breakfast. I took a long hot shower, but on my only pair of long pants for the 4th day in a row (because it's still cold outside) and I long-sleeve button down shirt. I feel good. My body feels more balanced than normal. Still just taking it all in one moment at a time. Thinking about all of you guys from my classes, from my family and group of friends. I can feel your support and I hope you can feel mine. Have a beautiful day!

78 More Days To Go...

I feel like I've been here for a month now.

The only problem is I've only been here for 5 days. I think it's the 5 hours each day of rounding. If we're not rounding we're listening to lectures. If we're not listening to lectures, we are studying. And if we aren't studying we're eating or on rare occassion doing nothing.

The days are fantastically packed with things to do. And for the most part it's very interesting stuff.

And to think, we only have 78 more days here in Flagstaff. At first it seems a bit overwhelming, but that's why it's good to take things one moment at a time. Keep it bite-sized.

It did snow last night. That was nice because it broke things up a bit. I need warmer clothes because all I brought were t-shirts and shorts.

Let the Rounding Begin....

We have these 11 x 14 journals and the tradition is for each trainee to hand write the different steps of the ceremony in the book, mostly in Sanskrit. So one person reads each letter of each word of each step while the rest of us transcribe it all into our individual journals.

Just looking at the amount of accuracy and attention to detail we are putting into our journals, you would think we were rocket scientists charting a path to Mars. It's kind of nice. No one is supposed to see your journal and I'm probably not even supposed to be blogging about it. So don't tell anybody... but that's what we're doing.

It took us about an hour to get through a quarter of 1 page. The whole text is probably about 50 pages or so long. So you can do the math on what kind of time commitment this will be.

In between transcribing, we are "rounding". A round consists of yoga, pranayama (breathing exercises), and meditation. One round takes about a solid hour to perform. We are building up to performing lots of these every day. Again, I can't go into too much detail but we will all be rounding aficionados by the end of the 12 weeks.

I've only been outside once today (to walk around the block and deliver something). We're off to our teacher's house for a night of relaxation so I've got to get ready to go. It's about 40 degrees at night by the way. Have a good one!

Teachers Training is Starting

It amazes me how fast time flies! I can't believe I'm already in Flagstaff doing my meditation teachers training program. It seems like just yesterday I was planning my Costa Rica Yoga Retreat (which took place back in March!) and now I'm sitting in the Residence Inn smackdab in the middle of Arizona with 10 other blokes learning about teaching Vedic Meditation.

I'm so excited. When I pulled up yesterday from LA, I was a little surprised by the weather, which was cold and drizzly. For some reason, I forget that other places (outside of LA) have seasons, and therefore are subject to regular rainfall and even snow. Apparently, it snowed here for about 5 minutes yesterday.

Everyone seems cool and ready to do what we're here to do. Actually, I got to know mostly everyone in India a couple of weeks ago. One other guy flew in from London the night before last. But I remembered meeting him through the meditation community about 2 years ago in West Hollywood.

We brought my friend Korrin in from LA to cater our nightly dinners. She's a most excellent vegetarian chef that I met in Erewhon about 4 years back when she was doing a cooking demonstration. So the stage is set for a fantastic summer of learning, growing and meditating.

I may not be able to get to the computer as much as I did in India but I'll do the best I can to keep you guys in the loop. I've got to get back to a meeting now. Catch ya later....