Past few weeks...

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~Impenetrable Amber Fort - ancient capital of Jaipur state~



~A grand entrance~



~The surrounding hills of the Amber Fort are protected by lookout posts and secondary forts - Amber Fort was founded by Maharaja Man Singh, the Rajput commander of Akbar army~


~Who ever they had to feed by cooking in these must have been really hungry!! umm may be an army??~



~Sun set over the glamorous city of Jaipur, viewed from the Tiger Fort, a truly tranquil place~



~Taj Mahal, what Love can do to the soul of a man~



~North West post of Taj Mahal - on the horizon with the Yamuna River lies Agra Fort (hard to see), where the Emperor Shah Jahan was held imprisoned during his final years. His only wish upon custody was quarters where he can watch the sun rise over the Taj Mahal, for which he said, "the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes".



~My father and I~


~Three weeks ago~

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Wake Up

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From time immemorial, I am trying to wake you up but you don’t.

Not complaining, for such is not my nature; mine is to wake you up.
Not frustrated for I can’t be, just know that I have to wake you up.

I put melody in bird’s chirping, coolness in the summer breeze,
Burning heat in midday sun and deafening noise in monsoon thunder
To just do one thing, wake you up.

Spark in your first kiss, comfort in mother’s embrace,
Rush in your home run and the musky flavor in lobster bisque,
I did it all to do just one thing, wake you up.

Desire to own, taste, destroy, love and hate,
I placed so you’d WANT to wake up.
Also put the fear in you
So you’d keep on desiring all and to wake up.

I made life beautiful,
So you can love the beauty and wake up.
I made it miserable
So you will hate the misery and wake up.

Now I think it is time you woke up.
Don’t argue about genetics, Darwin, evolution and creation.
I made them so, don’t ask me how and when,
All I know is why, and that is to wake you up.

You say, you can’t or you don’t know how?
For millions of years, in thousands of ways
As guru’s, gods, priests, friends and lovers,
I have been telling you how.

As Krishna, I told you to see me, see you
Not yours who you kill, to rid the world of evil.
As Buddha, I told you to pay attention
Be mindful of sufferings (good, great and bad).
As Shiva, the Tantric, I asked you to find me
In all ecstasies, from sex to breath of fresh air.
As Nisargdatta Maharaj, I told you,
You are That whom you look for.

Do ask me why I want to wake you up?
That is simple; you are asleep.

Do ask me, who am I?
That too is simple; I am you, asleep.

~ by Sunil K. Vidyarthi

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Isipathanaye (Saranath's) Migadaya (Deer Park)

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The legend says that after attaining the enlightenment the Buddha had made his way from Bodhgaya to Saranath's Deer Park, where he held his first sermon. As a Buddhist kid growing up I remember this place as the Isipathanaye Migadayeda on the story books. Overall, a very quiet place and very much a village. If I leave the guest house after breakfast I could definitely get back for lunch after walking right around the whole Saranath including those chai (tea) stops of cause, and I did that at least twice.

A person known among the villagers as Dr. Jain and his family (wife, two daughters and a grandpa) runs the guest house, but it felt rather like they are hosting me at their house - so I decided to address them as Uncle and Aunt. Aunt of cause a housewife, cooks three meals a day as much as you can eat, delicious to the bone, vegetarian of cause. Uncle, however, runs a free school for a hundred odd village kids and other community work. He gets funding through an organization he had set up: SAVE Programme (Social Awareness in Village Education), http://www.visitsarnath.com/.

I guess this is the most rewarding part for me, I thought I would share this with you also: there is a way of life outside the running society. This whole family is well educated, Dr. Jain in fact holds a PhD and once held high ranking positions. He said it was busy. Now, to me he looked busy occasionally, but he says he's happy. I am not implying a way of living for anybody, rather I say the running society is in fact within you no matter what you do. The running society: always about getting somewhere, achieve something, next thing and the thing after. It is the heavy baggage everybody is carrying, constantly - sometimes even at sleep or while on a vacation.

What if we leave past in the past and future to the future - what about the Now? Future plans are necessary, and when you plan, plan; what's the point in thinking of the plans constantly? When there is a problem there will be a solution - I mean haven't you solved problems before? So have faith in the present. In the present the baggage is light and not much need to be done. Right now things are pretty easy, until the thinking happens about the imaginary future.

Somebody once told me, "sit-back, relax, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride!!". Free as that, and free enough to enjoy the small things.

From what I remember I think this is what I wrote in Jain family guestbook: Dr. Jain, you must be a free man for doing what you do - I am glad and wish you well; and Aunt, thanks for your yummy food :)



~Dhamek Stupa built by King Ashoka, 500AD~


~Buddha preaching his first sermon~


~3hrs a day of schooling plus a lunch for free, otherwise schooling is not an option for these kids~


~Village school was interrupted by unexpected visitors~

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Mystical Varanasi

Ancient city of Varansi, also known as Baranas is truly the beating heart of Indian spiritual culture, and the oh beautiful holy river Ganges is it's main artery. They say that by taking a bath in the river, at least once in their lifetime for a Hindu would wash away their bad karma. Hence, millions of Hindu devotees from all around the world make pilgrimage to Varanasi.

Varansi had seen thousands of years of civilizations come and go, parish and reborn. It tells the stories of that it had witnessed by it's colors, the culture, arts and the music. It is this sacredness, all the mystics and the culture that caught my heart in this beautiful city of Varanasi, may be my favorite city in India.

~puja at sun rise~

~One of the many river ghats~

~Sun rise over Ganges~

~Along the river~

~Wall art~

Super Smooth

I was riding the free bicycle I have acquired from the local bookshop, with a brand new seat in fact, when glimpses of the setting sun appeared behind the trees. Despite the desire to stare at it, I knew I shouldn't, specially while riding a bicycle, on a road in India. So I decided to have a proper stare once I reached the paddy fields, across in which the road that led to where I stayed.

The sun had placed itself over the horizon over the fields, transformed in to a fat golden circle, and shining brightly in Orange. For whatever the reason, sometimes you get to see the setting or the rising sun like that in this part of the world. The local kids are playing a game of cricket in the fields, I guess they are enjoy lesser of the sun. There is even a small crowd gathered - spectators rather than supporters. Some listening to music, some are humming, occasionally singing out loud, and some just staring blindingly in to the distance. I, however, paddled on my bicycle over the little dirt road across the paddy fields.

Young rice plants rising above the muddy waters were so clean and green, and looked even brighter on the setting sun light. Cool welcoming breeze coming over the paddies carried no dust at all, and left a cool sensation on my face. Which reminded me once again of the most amazing hair cut I ever had, plus the shave.

The most amazing haircut: tiny little room on the side of the road, yet a comfy leather chair. Scissors, no electrics, but all the necessaries were there. "I need a haircut, short maybe", I said. So there was the spray, chop chop chop, blade on the sides - he took his time. Finishing off with the haircut, he asked if I wanted a shave, and "OK, what the heck" just popped out of my mouth. I had second thoughts, but I guess I was curious at the same time. So the adjustments to the chair was made, spray again, then some sorts of creams, thorougher facial wash, shaving cream, close shave with the blade, then some sort of cream, a facial massage which lasted for a good five-ten minutes, wash, and a aftershave which almost had me jumping out of the seat. Then, another massage that started from the head, down the neck, through the spine, from shoulders to tips of my fingers, and finally cracked my neck, twice!!

Needless to say, I watched all of this unfold with a somewhat funny mixed with terror at times, but in the end it was super - 'smooth' is the word :) Hope you enjoyed the commentary on the sun, the cricket, the paddies, and the wind. I guess I was pretty high from the haircut at the time.

Silence in Bodhygaya

Bodhygaya, India - where the Buddha attained enlightenment, claimed to be one of the most secred places in the world. I now know what that means. The profound spiritual energy that emanates from this place is highly healing to any sort of mind or persona. If I had to choose a word to best describe this place it would be the 'silence'.

Noises are many here, yet this is the silence that all of those sounds appearing from, including your mental noises. Have a look to see for yourselves. Place to look is within and I guarantee it's always present where ever you are, what ever the time of the day. It is like writing on a blackboard. No matter what gets written on it the blackboard is always present. All noises (within and without) appear from that silence and disappears to that.

Locals here refer to it as the village, and specially from where I am staying (about 15min on bicycle), I guess it is the village to go in order to find food, Internet, post office and shops. The place is full of many devotees, spiritual seekers and monks from all walks of life. It is actually not so hard to find oneself in the middle of a deep spiritual conversation with someone you just have met while you are sitting down for dinner. Countless reasons, all personal and individual have led all these people here. It may have been out of devotion, pilgrimage, in search, or even holiday.

It is hard for me to explain exactly what Bodhygaya is. To me the mare explanation of how the place looks like or how it's people are is unacceptable, rather it is a place to feel. Yet there are no words I can find that can describe the feeling...


~Bodhygaya main stupa~


~Candle light festival~

Kolkata, India

That's where I am at the moment. What a place to start off in India (for the first time). I guess until today I was struggling to fully comprehend this place. I mean it is so different from everywhere I have been.

Taxis are still old school Indian manufactured cars (just like the old Indian movies, not the new Bollywood). Road code is hardly any. To get from A to B without bumping into anything is the mission when you are in the road. Street I'm staying in is hardly wide enough for two cars to pass, nevertheless it is crowded with people, taxis, rickshaws, beggars and sellers. Makes me laugh when I thought back: I have to cunningly avoid this certain beggar lady with a kid asking for milk money - I mean she wouldn't take "no" for an answer sometimes! Moreover, both foreigners and locals here think I am Indian because of my Sri Lankan appearance. Would have been great if I could speak some Hindi. Nevertheless, when it comes to buying something there is the constant bargaining. I did discover that it is bad luck when the first costumer of the day leaves the shop empty handed, so the shop owner will drop the price down to whatever it is necessary so you would buy something. I bought a Lonely Planet Guide Book (I was just having a look really) for one third of it's selling price! But I must confess, I did get ripped off here more times than I would expected to. Oh well, once the lessons are learned it would hardly repeat twice; I hope.

Today I feel much more comfortable, I guess I am finally prepared to accept the way of life here for what it is. Now it is not too bad, and I see why some foreigners tend to live here or spend weeks or months. It is active, fast phase, and almost a struggle and a challenge to get anything done here in Kolkata, specially the mare survival. But the relaxation/peace that flows underneath it all is the magic. It's all chaos outside, but the flow itself is at peace. I guess it is the faith in the unknown that gets people through - or the faith in Gods that would hopefully make tomorrow alright for them...

The Life (like the flowing river)

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Stop and be the Witness of it all, here and now.
You will see the life that you live is like a -
River that flows from the mountains to the sea.

Around the bend in front of you, you can't see.
Twists and turns along the way that had been,
because of that the river had brought you here and now.

The beauty and excitement the river had to offer,
you must flow down the river (gladly) to discover -
as you are here and now, in the journey of life that you live.

..

Magick River and The Bamboo Palace

"Why this place then?", I asked Antares who was kind enough to let me stay in his Bamboo Palace for a couple of nights (expecting nothing in return). I was a total stranger to him at the beginning; I just happened to sit next to a friend of his, Naima in the bus, crossing the boarder from Thailand to Malaysia.

His answer was simple, "it is the beauty of this place". I knew exactly what he meant, there was a definite magic in that place. It is hard to put it to any sort of order, so I thought I rather share my experience instead.

It was the first night. We watched the sun setting over the mountains. Antares cooked us a delicious dinner, followed by tea, a little chit-chat and music. It was dark by the time I made it back to the bamboo palace. I relaxed on the hammock, staring at the mountains in the distance. I remembered that the mountains were in all shades of green during the day, but now it was misty blue.

The surrounding jungle comes to alive at night. Within that certain quietness, I could extract individual noises out. There were hundreds, if not thousands of different sources of noises. Combination of all is the voice of jungle at night.

With the moon shining behind the mountains I could see some clouds starting to gather. Naima said, "it's going to rain". She was right. The jungle quietened down to a mare whisper. The wind brought hints of cool wet rain. Suddenly it started to pour.

I could no longer hear the river as the rain fell hard on the roof. Some rain which managed to squeeze through the coconut leave sheltered roof, it made a splatter on the bamboo floor. Flashes of light from the lightning over the hills helped me to find my sleeping quarters in the dark.

Slipped in to my sleeping bag, and more blankets to cover, I was wide awake. I knew I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Rather I would listen to the approaching storm with a certain unrest mixed with a joy of excitement.

...

Couple of days later Antares showed me a place, a bit up the river from where the kids took us swimming earlier. There, we could dive in to the river from a height without getting our heads smashed on the rocks underwater. There was something surreal about this place. To top it off, one or two Angle Flies who happened to glide in.

I wanted to take a picture of this place but didn't know where to start really. Then it occurred to me, Antares who calls this place home is as much part of this place as the river itself.

Don't we tend to overlook the people, the animals, the trees and the birds from the landscape? Don't we separate it's people from the land itself? I guess it comes down to even you and me: we think we are so different from the nature, but we are essentially as much part of it as a mare plant sprouting out of the ground - I guess we tend to forget that...

~chilling out in the Bamboo Palace: watching the day go by~

~jamming session with the random Cuban musicians who happened to rock up~

~The Magick River and the Magick Man (Antares)~



~The Bamboo Palace~

~with the kids from the village~

Phuket

Phuket, an island in the South East Coast of Thailand could be summarized in two words: Western Playground. Completely outrun by Thai's who are after the tourist dollar and tourists who are willing to pay double/triple prices. I was in the heart of Patong Beach where it's all about go-go bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants and street stalls. It wasn't my thing, I thought. However, walking around for two hours with this sense of disgust it occurred to me, my judgements of what I am seeing is not going to change anything.

Don't we do this all the time? Don't we have a "point of view" about almost everything? I guess it is in our nature to judge, define, find meaning (why and how) and categorise. But is this so necessary? Rather one could simply view it with no point of view for what it actually is.

Then, I was having fun in Phuket. Of cause there were certain things I didn't do. Why? Because the desire for this and that is spawned from the same source as my point of view. If I don't listen to my point of view, then why not the desire also. Hence, there were many things that I would find enjoyment or pleasure in. In fact, almost everything I came across.

One could only enjoy it truly, only upon accepting it for what it is - whatever it may be..



~Waiting for the tourists~



~Lizards and girls on the street (50baht to take a pic with em) - haha just joking, Nanna is just a friend~



~Setting Sun, colorful skies~

What are you complaining about..?

Two senior members of Rabbi Goldberg’s synagogue came to visit him and while they were waiting to be ushered into his presence, Mrs Goldberg brought them two cups of lemon tea and a plate with two cakes on it, one small, the other big.

“After you,” said one disciple to the other, offering him the plate.

“No, after you.”

“No, no, I insist, after you.”

“No, you take first.”

Eventually one of the two helped himself first — to the bigger cake.

The other was incensed: “What! You helped yourself first and took the bigger cake!”

“So?” said the other. “And if you’d chosen first, which cake would you have taken?”

“Why, the smaller one of course!”

“Well, what are you complaining about? You’ve got the smaller one!”

Our contradictoriness

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We are in such a hurry to grow up, and then we long for our lost childhood. We make ourselves ill earning money, and then spend all our money on getting well again. We think so much about the future that we neglect the present, and thus experience neither the present nor the futures. We live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we had never lived.

Paulo Coelho, from the book 'Like the Flowing River'

Ko Phangan and Fullmoon Party

Beautiful Ko Phangan, a remote island in the south east coast of Thailand. There is such a laid back atmosphere here compared to the other places I stayed in Thailand (Bangkok and Ko Samui). The little bungalow/hut I found is cheap, traditionally built, bare minimum really, but the front door opens out to a beautiful sandy beach. Being able to wake up to that cool sea breeze in the morning, I guess, sums up living by the sea.

The main reason for my visit to this island was to catch the October Fullmoon Party. Having to travel by myself for over a month now - I was looking forward to a party. There is a lot more to this place than a mare party. However, the fullmoon party was nothing like any other party.

It was travelers of all sorts, reunite over a massive festival in the beach on a fullmoon night. There were tunes to suite all tastes: trance, house, drum n' bass, hip hop techno, jungle, reggae and it wasn't hard to find something fit your rythem. There was skipping ropes and limbo on fire. One would describe the lights, colors, shapes, people, fire, music, moon, beach and sea as quite "trippy". I guess it was simply a party that was held in a secluded island, massively populated by all sorts of party goers, and creative to the max in all sorts of party aspects.

Eventually, I sat down in the beach looking out to the sea and there it was the rising sun in the horizon, behind me playing trippy trance. That was one of the most amazing site I've ever witnessed. It is funny to realize that I have never actually sat through a sun rise over the sea. Darkness was fading, and all that aliveness (which I knew existed) coming to light. The world is waking up - and it was beautiful. There were no pictures to show for it, but I guess no experience can completely be described by photos, even with words for that matter.

I like it here, and I think I will stay behind for a few more days. My only means of transport is by walking or bicycle. However, there is something sweet about the simple life.



~North of Ko Phangan~



~Jenny, a friend from Vietnam, stumbled upon in Ko Phangan~



~Sunset view from my bungalow~



~Fullmoon Party Oct.09`~

~my little bunglow on the beach~

The Moment

...

Yet no sort of magic can kindle anew
a past that is over for ever,
nor summon the future before it is due:
our moment is now – or it’s never.


Piet Hein

Freedom

Economically, you can, perhaps, arrange the world so that man can be more comfortable, have more food, clothing, and shelter, and you may think that is freedom. Those are necessary and essential things, but that is not the totality of freedom. Freedom is a state and quality of mind.

J. Krishnamurti

Angkor Wat revisited

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Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat - English translation, the City of Temples. This is truly an ancient world wonder hidden in the jungle just North of Siem Reap, Northern Cambodia.

I among many temple goers alike entered through the massive entrance gates in the dark, it must have been 5.30 in the morning. Even in the dark one could see the outline of a giant structure (carrying a similar shape of a Hindu temple) far in the distance. There I sat in silence, watching the site that is coming to light from the rising Sun behind Angkor Wat.

Angkor Tomb is the main attraction which rise over 200m from the ground, completely made out of stones and not a wall left untouched with some sort of a stone carving. German traveller I had met who works for a museum would spend days on studying the stories told by those stone carvings. I however decided to wonder around the temples, as some would call "temple hopping" with no specific direction - I mean where do you really start in a place like this, every temple has something unique to offer.

During it's glory days it would have been such an impressive civilization. I could however comment on the present, and I almost felt like the jungle is reclaiming it back to the nature. There are giant trees growing within the temples with their roots wrapped around the stone structures. As much as the trees are destroying the temples, they are also holding the stone walls together. There is a profound peace and quietness dwell within those walls, and I wonder may be now it is finally at harmony.




~People gathered to see the Angkor Tomb at Sun Rise~



~Angkor Wat East Gate entrance~



~Swallowed by the jungle~



~Refreshments on the side of the road~