Off to India

People engage in various activities to break their everyday cycle of life. Traveling perhaps is my thing.

What if we do not return to the cycle we have once left behind? How can one do that?

Of cause running away from the cycle is not the answer. Because if one engages in certain activity in order to stay away from the cycle, eventually that becomes his/her cycle.

What is it that we are trying to break free from? Work, relationships, everyday routine, troubles, problems, etc.

But what is the deeper personal relationship to all these that we are trying to break free from? We relate to all things we engage in at a deeper emotional level - and that is what we are really trying to break free from (in fact longing for something is also a mean of breaking free from a certain emotional state). We try to break free from our everyday stress, sorrow, boredom, unsatisfactoriness, fear, anger, pain, etc. By doing so, we look for the answers outside.

We think a certain change to our everyday life will make a difference. It will for a short time, only to fall back in to the same emotional state - because the changes you have made eventually become your everyday life.

Therefore, something inside oneself must be maintaining this emotional body regardless of the outer changes. Basically, the emotional body does not go away no matter how much we run away from our "everyday life". And as long as the emotional body exist, the distress of everyday life exist.

What is the root cause of all these emotions? It is how we relate to everyday life? How we relate is determined by how we think and how we think is conditioned by everything we have learned and experienced since our birth.

But is it really true, the things we "think" to be the right. wrong, good, bad, etc.? If so, why would you find another one million people with opposing views to you. Why are humans divided through language, country, race, beliefs, etc.? Are we born with all that or have we not been conditioned with all this?

Like that, have our thoughts not been conditioned by all the different ways we think to generate distress of our everyday life? In fact the so called "everyday life" not a pigment of our own conditioned thoughts?

Break free from your conditioning and you will find freedom from and within your everyday life.

Past few months that had been in Sri Lanka

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If I were to talk about the past few months it is most definitely a mixture of topics. Mmm where should I start...

I don't think I mentioned anything about the renovations I had managed in our house in SL. What a rush that was!! First we needed tools, and material but I didn't know what exactly. Then when I found out what we needed, I had no clue where to find them. It is not like in NZ where you can go to "Bunnings" Wearhouse. It is pretty much like the "Bunnings" had been exploded into bits and a mob had raided the place and collected whatever they got their hands on. It is necessary to do ten stops to find everything you need for a days work. Anyhow, a few months of get cracking and dusty business it came to an end; like all good things that come to an end, better or for worse ;)

Then a new project arrived when my fathers little business concept actually coming alive. But, during which time I was employed at an Engineering Firm for about a month. It was a mixture of me slowly giving it up and them firing me. How it functioned was anything but efficient, resulting in some serious cutting cost measures. Since, then I thought of working on developing my fathers business idea.

There was the Sri Lankan New Year and Wesak Fullmoon Celebrations that had been. It has been almost ten years since I last stayed through such event. Then there was a wedding (Dinuka & Prabashi) and what a wonderful wedding it was - congrats you guys.



~Colombo - Beirre Wewa (reservoir) and a shot from Galle Face~


~Wesak Lantern, made by me~



~Mt. Lavinia sunset~


~Ama and Dinal - nice seeing you again machan!!~


~Nissan/Datsun B11 86', my not so bad tourer~

Itchy Everywhere!!

It is itching, sharp, almost painful, yet glorious to itch on the first instant, annoying there after... Itchy Everywhere!!

No clouds in sight to prevent that perfectly right angled Sun from spreading its burning rays over Sri Lanka, setting its hot dry season to full swing. Current weather may be the leading cause of this itchy problem, but needless to say the Cement dust swirling around the currently renovating house of ours may be adding to the quality of this itchy sensation.

In Sri Lanka

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It had been a good five years since I last stood on this magical land called Sri Lanka. Many forgotten memories kept rushing back, in a way to confuse - things are after all quite a bit different from back in the days...



~Kiri Vehera, Katharagama (a giant Buddhist Stupa)~



~Kirinda Temple, South East Corner~



~Passing through Udawalawe National Park - spot the elephant in the distance??~



~Baby Tea plants through the covers of a greenhouse, I have been putting together~



~Handy commuters, the Three-Wheels~

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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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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...

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.

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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~