B I K IN G FO R C ON S C I O US N ES S

BY DADA VIMALESHANANDA

I S B N 978-1-105-44609-2 F I R S T E D I T I O N January 2012 C O P Y R I G H T 2012 Dada Vimaleshananda. All rights reserved.

ANANDA MARGA PUBLICATIONS ANANDA KANAN 3157 COUNTY ROAD 1670 WILLOW SPRINGS, MO 65793 PH: 417-469-4713

BIKING FOR CONSCIOUSNESS DOES NOT MEAN ONLY MOVING ON A BICYCLE AND DOING MEDITATION ON THE WAY. IT IS A WAY OF ENFORCING A WARM RELATIONSHIP AMONG FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS THAT ARE CAUGHT IN THE DRY RACE OF SURVIVING FOR MONEY.

THE MESSAGE

"Only the warm human relationships among people of any creed or nationality can help human society to find its balance"

ABOUT DADA VIMALESHANANDA

He is a monk of Ananda Marga - a spiritual organization dedicated to the all-round upliftment of society. In the attempt to making Ananda Marga known to a greater public of spiritual seekers he was engaged in the "Biking for Consciousness" endeavor. As Public Relations Secretary of Ananda Marga in North and Central America he is traveling and visiting locations that are sometimes remote or distant. He loves it as his missionary spirit can't be restrained by his simple orange robes. He needs to express his full vitality as human being looking for young people willing to do the same.

REVIEWS OF DADAS FRIENDS

As a bike rider myself, I especially appreciate Dada's "Biking for Consciousness". Our Spiritual Teacher, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, asked us to tread lightly on this earth. When we bike, we tread lightly and have the time to smell the fragrance of Mother Earth and appreciate the magic of our Cosmic journey. Nada Khader Executive Director WESPAC Foundation www.wespac.org Ph: 914 449-6514

Dada's amazing ride proves that mind conquers matter, and spirit conquers both. Whenever I feel that the prospect of undertaking a big challenge in my life is too scary, I remember what a wise man once told me "get and stay out of your comfort zone." Dada took that advice a thousand notches further and jumped to the adventure of riding a 2nd hand bike between Ohio and Nicaragua, inspiring many people along the way (and through his blog) to take chances and live simply. Next time you feel miffed about the complications in your journey, think about Dada and his humble surrender to the unexpected turns of life. Paresh

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Biking for Consciousness the beginning

Since he arrived in Columbus - Ohio, Dada Vimaleshananda has been using a bicycle as his main transportation vehicle. "I don't have a driving license and I use public transportation that is not always available all the time".

With one month left on his visitor visa for USA he is considering to bike up to Nicaragua. "Nowadays transportation is becoming a luxury. We have to find better ways to help each other and step out from the commercial dynamic of buy and sale that is strangling the life vitality of the whole planet". Biking for Consciousness does not mean only moving on a bicycle and doing meditation on the way. It is a way of enforcing a warm relationship among fellow human beings that are caught in the dry race of surviving for money.

"Boundaries are man-made. Birds do not need a visa to fly from country to country. Why human beings should discriminate between a person who is born in one country or in another? In today's world this is becoming an absurdity".

In 1959 the philosopher P.R. Sarkar gave a theory called PROUT, Progressive Utilization Theory in order to give solution to the problems of this world and bring the whole human society to live in harmony and peace. His teachings are still unheard. For example cooperatives and cooperative movements are not able so far to get the great public attention they deserve.

"The great disparity in wealth between country and country or even in the same country need to find peaceful ways to balance and charity so far have not being able to fulfill completely such a huge task. Only the warm human relationships between people of any creed or nationality can help human society to find its balance. This is possible only through spirituality. Any dry theory or top level meeting and high sounding agreement will not help. Actually it is just delaying human progress."

Is biking going to help for rising Consciousness to level needed for such a warm relationship? "Well, at least it will not harm and with a bit of effort from every side maybe more people will find better ways to communicate the simple truth that human society is One and cannot be divided".

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Some data regarding biking long distance

After some trials and research on the internet the following data has been collected: The average speed on a long trip is 10 to 12 miles per hour. The distance to cover in one day in order to be consistent with traveling by bike is over 50 miles. For traveling a distance of 300 miles it may require 6 days. The distance between Columbus Ohio and Austin Texas is of 1,236 miles that means one month of travel to reach the border with Mexico.

Greyhound carry bikes as luggage if conveniently packed in a bike box. A test of 27 miles gave three and half hour for covering the distance without luggage and light lateral wind.
MONDAY, MAY 5, 2010

The first trial

After the brief calculations it was the time for the trial. I did 50 miles on a stretch with full load. There was lateral wind and I could not go beyond 12 miles per hour. Yet I kept a steady speed above 1o miles. I stopped only for nature call and in the end it took little more than 5 hours. My legs are still sore but this is quite natural too. As I arrived Kiirtana Devi called on the phone offering me some of her experiences biking for 11 months in Central America. She was very supportive and surprised at the same time. Too early to decide anything, I think, my legs are still sore and 50 miles are not so much considering that some bikers run for 100 every day. Janardan May 5, 2010 10:45 AM Dada this is a great way to call attention to this cause. You have my full support. Dada also makes sure that you have the proper equipment and bike repair locations along the way. I would also suggest to bike for no more than 5 hours. Good planning will make this successful.

Vera May 6, 2010 03:50 AM yes, Dada, encourage the biking and the consciousness; we may all need to get back to biking, walking as we seriously consider getting off of fossil fuels; the spill in the Gulf may be the necessary push to stop this madness of drilling off-shore and on-shore--the pollution of our land, air, water is unbearable--

Anonymous May 6, 2010 09:01 AM I am sure Dada Vimaleshananda is going to make a new way for young how to keep good health and mind. He is very happy to start his Biking on 14th of this month. Dadajii you have my full support, as I know your kind and creative nature it will be great successful. Biking is nothing but to throw this human touch will be more important.

Dada Visnupremananda May 12, 2010 10:50 AM All are excited to what Dada Vimaleshanandaji are going to do once he rolls his bike from Columbus, Ohio to Managua, Nicaragua on the 14th of May 2010 with a mission "Biking for Consciousness". The local people in Managua where our school CEAMNICA is located are giving their fullest support to Dada. The school located in one of the poorest area at the capital of Managua where former rebels, civilians and militaries during the civil war are now living together forgetting the past deeds that many lives and properties were destroyed.
Kislaya Kunjan May 21, 2010 07:10 AM

Here is the news coverage by Tribune Star, Terra Haute, IN: http://tribstar.com/opinion/x1414106011/STEPHANIE-SALTER-If-you-see-a-bicyclistall-in-orange-wish-him-peace-and-a-safe-journey/print

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

High Tech

Second day of use for the new computer I set up a blog and I want to post from both email and mobile. Will it work? Biking for Consciousness Cell: 614-441-7868 http://www.dadavima.blogspot.com/ Skype: dadavima yes! It works and now from the library I can blog ... Do you remember "Zen and the art of Bike maintenance"? It was one of the books I

cherished reading during the age of dreams, some 3o years ago. Somehow "Biking for Consciousness" is becoming a personal journey, a way to find my own consciousness and conscious behavior; a path of self-discovery where biking is just an excuse to get enough pain in order to keep the mind focus on the goal. I don't know how many times I will reconsider the decision to -- GO FOR IT! Too many coincidences bring me forward and so far I am on track.

TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010

Which Consciousness

Let us start from Food Consciousness. Actually I have a great appreciation for Food Banks. I have volunteered with them in Philadelphia as well as in Fairbanks, Alaska. In Montrose Pennsylvania the local Food Bank distributes not only shelf food but also fruits, vegetables and plants to create the consciousness of growing food in their own garden.

Lynn Senick is working at the Trihab Food Bank in Montrose and she distribute personally the brown bags in a different location from the food bank in order to make sure that their clients are able to get it even if they don't have transportation. We are talking about a rural area in North Eastern Pennsylvania where there is need of food

even if most families are used to grow in their own garden.

In Columbus - Ohio I looked on the webpage and I paid a visit. It was a very nice beginning of the biking day. Lorraine welcomed me at the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless. She gave me all the assistance she could, including the chart of all the places where I could get food and lodging. "Once I was homeless and I know what it means to be on the road" she added full of admiration for what I was doing. I replied that through Biking for Consciousness I am a homeless with a cause that keep me happy and motivated. On the way out of her office I met one of her clients who noticed the guitar in the backpack and asked me to play. I was too happy to refuse and I improvised in the middle of the road. He asked me a recording and I gave a cd of the same kind of music I always play - BABA NAM KEVALAM - "Love is all there is"

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010

More meditation and more gears

When I was passing through London in the countryside I stopped in a playground to do meditation. While I was already in meditation I hear: "Who are you?" I didn't answer but when I opened the eyes there were no more kids and I proceeded. Today I decided to reply and it was a little kid that came close to me trying to find out who I was and what I was doing. She is in the photo and she was in a neighborhood where I was hearing people quarreling with loud voices. Maybe a peaceful meditation may help and I really felt some reason to be there.

In the "third hand" cooperative bike shop I looked for some pedals with straps and I found also a pair of shoes. I spent a total cost of 10 dollars.

Now I have the old bike with good pedals, gloves, shoes, a saddle bag, a repair kit with a spare tube and tools. And above all few friends that are supporting. Confidence is growing day by day. May 14 will be the kick off. More meditation and more gears. That is life.

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2010

Topiary Garden in Columbus

Sometimes intuition works in a wonderful way. I was biking in German Town in the southern part of Columbus, Ohio when I felt to ask for the library. The closest location was the Central Library that is hosted in a marvelous building. I did some internet and when I went to throw a piece of paper in the dustbin by the information counter I looked to the clerk as I felt he would tell me something. In fact he indicated me that he would recycle the paper in another container and immediately after he told me if I had visited the garden behind the library. I asked what was so special and he told me that it was a Topiary Garden, one of the three existing in USA and the only one reproducing an actual painting through the landscape. I didn't know what Topiary was but certainly I got curious enough and I walked there. What a wonder at my eyes. It is the reproduction of Georges Seurats famous Post-Impressionist painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte. I really enjoyed to meditate on the lawn under the shade of a tree and then I proceeded venturing in one of the actually most depressing areas of Columbus where building are foreclosed one after the other. Such a contrast, yet this is the same city just few blocks away. What to do for such degraded places? I thought that it would be wonderful to exchange the living quarters among people living in a good area with

one in a not so good one. Actually there is nothing really good or not good. It is just relative. But what about changing the people for some time? Maybe an exchange of one year would be sufficient and then back to their original home. Would it make a difference?

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2010

The final destination - Nicaragua CEAMNICA school in Managua

Last time I visited the CEAMNICA school in Managua I brought for them 4 computers Imac donated in USA by one company who was replacing them. For the students and the staff it was a nice addition to the computer room. This time I will not be able to carry on a bike anything of that kind. Yet I think that there is something more valuable that will be materialized when I will arrive in Managua school. The fact that I didn't forget them. In Ananda Marga we have many service projects, some of them very successful and other less. For those volunteers who manage the projects it is a matter of dedication. If you can share some of your time with them, it will be a big gift for the project and also to yourself. Most of Ananda Marga service projects are located in difficult areas. Haiti

scores first and it was first even before the earthquake that have hit so hard this already strained and impoverished area of the planet. Nicaragua is now overshadowed, almost forgotten but it is actually not less poor and in need then Haiti. Only it does not hit the news right now. Fortunately the civil war is a matter of the past but the scars remains. In Nicaragua Ananda Marga has several projects besides the CEAMNICA school including a Naturopathic Clinic where it is possible to receive training in alternative medicine. There is also another school and a land waiting to be developed as a selfsufficient rural center. I remember visiting also that place on Sunday and passing through a group of people who stopped our car in the village area. They were drunk and they were complaining that we have left the place without developing the social services that we had promised. We need more resources to accomplish these types of endeavors and above all we need to raise consciousness. It is a collective effort, it is not a matter of one person but in any form I can still give the example and don't wait for the crowd to come. "Biking for Consciousness" makes me believe that something can be done even if you don't have a car or a driving license, even if you have nothing more than an orange dress to swing around, even if you have lost the memory of your personal family and dear ones. So May 14 it will start from Columbus, Ohio and it will roll and roll up to Nicaragua. It is a promise.
FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010

May 14 - the first day

6:47 - It started! Finally rolling with all the gears that I would have dreamed for: bicycle pants arrived by mail just yesterday afternoon; a camel backpack with 1 Gl. of water storage and a rack with companion bag; one bag of electrolytes, granola bars and sushi nori seaweeds. Thanks for the help! The time to arrive on the main road and already something odd on the road side: an orange T-shirt. So strange that I decided to pick it up and I made a knot to the handle of the bike. It is a kind of pledge that I will make it up to Nicaragua. First stop at a nice country cemetery, the best place for meditation and inspiration. Getting again on the road I passed a man with a big hat and a dog at leash. He asked me if I was cross country biking. "Yes I am, up to Nicaragua". He was pleased - was he a mythic hobo? Maybe he was. I felt like receiving the first blessing for the trip. Before getting on the bike trail I stopped to the local library eager to post news. It was too early and I ended up in a pleasant conversation with a farmer who uses to mow the lawn in front of the library. He thought I was a Buddhist monk. A biker joined the conversation. He is a trail sentinel and he offered me to accompany me for part of the trail. He taught me about all the type of animals I could encounter on the way to Nicaragua and how to deal with them. He also suggested me to carry water sanitizer and a mirror when I bike on the road. I mentioned that sometimes cars are not so nice with bikers. He added with a serious voice - "It is an understatement".

When we reached his destination he bought me the lunch and bade farewell with good luck. I felt that I have been approved for going ahead. Enough gears and enough inspiration I guess. On the bike trail a couple stopped by telling that they saw me biking on Lane Ave in Columbus. They were so excited when I added that Columbus was my inspiration to bike now to Nicaragua. Finally I stopped to an open library where I am sending these notes. What if I imagine that every morning is the first day of the journey? Every day is so wonderful by itself. It is so exciting. I imagine that I dont have any experience and I am guided thumb by thumb, inch by inch towards the destination. For today it is Dayton.
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2010

Dayton

70 miles hit me hard in the legs. I arrived in Dayton and I called my host. He apologized that his plan had changed and he was going to Columbus. My head spun - what to do? Go back with him to Columbus? No, never. I asked him to find a place among his friends. He suggested me to go downtown and ask to the bikers that surely were in numbers at the "Urban Festival". I started biking towards downtown and I saw a bunch of homeless people by a church. I asked them to help me. Sure enough they pointed me to the service organizer. Cindy placed a call to the local men shelter, stored my bike at

the church, gave me a token for the bus and asked his people to take care of me. She gave me her phone so that I could call when I would be back to the church in the morning for getting the bike and continue my trip. It worked very well!

At the shelter Josh took care managing at least 10 different requests a minute from his different clients. It was just amazing watching him at work. He set the vegetarian supper and the serving of blankets for the night through the other social workers at the shelter. They were very kind and attentive. A cordial sense of hospitality can be given even in a shelter where the environment may appear harsh and cold.

Early morning I caught the bus for getting back to the church and by 6:30 I was calling Cindy who graciously came to free the bike and set me ready for the journey of the day. We shared a prayer and a song. Her eyes where glittering out of the pleasure to serve the Lord through his progeny. She engages the homeless in a choir and they tour different churches. After a couple of granola bars I was on the road again. A brief stop at the Gettysburg Cemetery to drop these notes on the diary and here we go towards Richmond. In Richmond I received a familiar hospitality by Mark and Hopi with her two years Daughter Lina (in the picture) It was the place where all desires got quickly satisfied including a ping pong match at Mark's office after the dinner. We challenged ourselves in single and double with addition of Mark's friend Kurt. I remained late night talking about meditation with Kurt and in the morning Mark set on the road for Indianapolis. In Indianapolis I visited three families including Steve and his wife Anya. Here are the comments they dropped in the time I was taking a warm shower:

"You said you were born in Italy, but you didn't insist on being/feeling Italian. With how you are and what you do a nationality would be too narrow of a description. It's always

wonderful to meet someone who is above all a person - interested in being useful to a community, whichever community it might happen to be."

Anya I wish to relate one incident. When I was looking for Steve and Anya place I asked directions in a gas station. One customer gave me some direction and I started to go accordingly. After some time a car stopped me on the way and a nice person told me that he could give me better directions and he was worried that I was going to get lost. So he did and I got to Steve place very conveniently.

MONDAY, MAY 17, 2010

Rain

After three days without getting wet it was the time to experience biking under the rain. As all the first time there is a kind of magic, though not really comfy. I picked up a bird from the side of the road who was not able to fly, maybe a broken wing and I set it on the grass off the reach of the cars. Maybe I could have brought it to

an animal shelter but I didn't know where and soon after I proceeded the rain started.. All the rain gears actually didn't work very well. As soon as the rain got consistent I got soaked wet. I kept going and I started to have new thoughts about society and its movement. I thought that there are three main movements: 1. Reactionary movement where society keep busy in the altercation between two groups in a constant action and reaction trade off. 2. Neutral movement where society pause off and rest on the illusions of the laurels it has acquired, normally at the expenses of some emarginated group of the society. 3. Progressive movement where society choose deliberately a goal beyond the ordinary scope of achievement. In the effort to pull forward it draws resources and creates the necessary cohesion for strength. Such progressive movement is normally initiated by a visionary leader who can project the future as the most desirable present to be. What have the rain to do with all these thoughts? Maybe my brain has gotten frozen in time. As I reach a huge congregational church in the middle of nowhere I decide to stop and the pastor welcome me to use the bathroom as long as I need. It takes me a good hour to get the hands again working properly and I struggle with all the zippers in my bag. Finally I emerge from the bathroom and the pastor welcome me to use the entrance as for the rules of the place no stranger is allowed in the rooms. Fair enough, I have a nice couch to do my meditation and drop the notes for the day. The rain seems to stop and I prepare to proceed towards Terre Haute still in Indiana. Maybe it is my imagination but I noticed that in Indiana there is a high concentration of correctional institution. A car stop me in front and the person driving cautions that there is one correctional facility just in half a mile and I may be stopped by the police because of the color of my dress. Actually I don't have choices; all my dresses are orange including the one still wet in my backpack. I request him to escort me until we reach the facility just in case there is to explain my position. He agrees and when he reaches the correctional facility he speeds up waiving a good luck. He is working there. Still on the way I am stopped by a person who question me what I am doing. "I am biking to Nicaragua". - I reply and he is happy with it and turns his van around. As I reach Terre Haute I enter a wind and solar energy shop to ask directions for the

laundry mat. It is almost across the street. I can finally dry all my cloths and have lunch. what a relief! I have almost finished when one lady approach me with courtesy asking about my wellbeing. "I am very fine, Thank you" and in my mind it comes to ask about the local newspaper which I already spotted on the internet with the intention to get an interview for the "Biking for Consciousness" initiative. Sure enough she give me the name of the best columnist that she knows personally as they go to the same church. She add that this is the best time to go to newspaper and in two minutes I am on the way there. At the newspaper the person is not there. What to do? I ask for the library and it is just across the street. So here I am writing the posting for the blog and waiting to phone to the newspaper. I like synchronicity - it is what makes me feel that the Lord is bringing me along on the top of his hand; and the article got published! Anonymous May 18, 2010 02:30 PM Dada, it was a pleasure having you at our home. Your message of peace, unity, and acceptance was encouraging, thought provoking and inspiring. We wish you well on the rest of your travels and in your effort to increase awareness for your school. God Bless Dan Gisel Terre Haute,IN Anonymous May 18, 2010 02:32 PM Dada, you convey peace to those around you, and we are grateful to have had a small time with you. We appreciate words of wisdom and of your many experiences of disciplines. We look forward to reading your blog to support your travels. Happy Trails to You Bethany Gisel Terre Haute,IN Travis May 19, 2010 01:26 PM

Not sure if my message went through... but if you need a place to stay in or around St. Louis our home is open to you. I also have friends who run a community collective (with a bike shop nonetheless) nearby, so just let us know how we can be of help. My number is 314-443-0819. Enjoy the ride!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2010

Motivation

As I go along the trip I notice that it is important to remain motivated, Particularly when you get beaten up physically or you get in the uncertainty of the future. From Terre Haute I proceeded towards the unknown as I didn't have a place to stop arranged before St. Louis. 180 miles would have been too many for one day and somehow I trusted that something would have happened along the way. I saw two dogs that started running on the other side of the road like happy to see me passing by. One of them crossed and I stopped to wait for him. He got a bit surprised; he looked at his companion on the other side of the road and almost got an accident with a car. Not all the dogs chaise bikers I believe but some do. I had to run few times at high speed to avaid pretty nasty small dogs running at my heels. Bikers I believe knows what I am talking about.

Yes, motivation. There is no recipe; sometimes it is just faith. A tiny little girl see me passing and start running like the dog did just to share what I was doing. She made my day. I believe that motivation is just to notice all these little miracles that happen all the time while biking and maybe in everyday life too. Yet I have a couple of tips that I practice consciously: every day is my first day. I try to forget whatever happened the day before good or bad and start fresh with the enthusiasm of the first day. And when I have to stop along the road because of a nature call particularly, I try always to stop on the top of a hill so when I start biking again it is graciously easier. As I arrived in Effingham there was still enough light to proceed forward and I made my mind to reach Walmart in Vandalia, buy a tent and camp somewhere in the dark. That was my last resource although not my desire. After 105 miles I was really tired and my thoughts were wondering about to find any good reason to stop biking all together and take some other more comfortable vehicle of transportation. I remembered the girl and somehow I kept going. When I reached Vandalia in Illinois it was already dark. I entered the first place open I could spot and it was a recreation place for young adults care of Patty. I asked directions for Walmart and I presented my predicament regarding where to pass the night. She felt bad to let me go without at least trying to arrange something and she call her Pastor Bob. He came personally with the solution giving me a voucher for a local inn. Another little miracle to say the least. I exchanged my Baba Nam Kevalam music Cd for Patty's book on her daughter Tabhita and I proceeded for the inn with a very light heart.
Kailash May 20, 2010 04:35 PM

Keep going Dada! I have faith in your mission, so I hope you can use it, too. Keep these updates coming. Kailash

FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010

Graduation Day

East Saint Louis - You don't want to go there, it is a bad neighborhood. According to the directions for reaching Washington University in Saint Louis by bike I had to pass north avoiding both the freeway and the critical part of the town. Instead, when I took off from Patty and Fred's beautiful place and wonderful hosts, I found myself heading tight through that notorious place. I asked again directions along the road and they added that I had to take the walking bridge by the Queen Casino, a landmark in East Saint Louis. When I reached there I asked few more directions and I found people very happy and friendly. Yes area looks odd but I like people and I felt at ease with them. So I crossed the bridge and I was in the "good" Saint Louis where I struggled to have good directions for the Washington University.

It was graduation day! Families and students with the characteristic green long dress and flat hat were parading on the lawn at the center of the Campus. Biking among them I was feeling out of place. Then I took the ideation to be a bird. Nobody care actually if a bird fly here or there, he is always at home. I sat in meditation and merged in my own self. When I finished I started for the address I had of the Washington University Coop. At the door Jerome Bauer, professor of religious studies and Sanskrit scholar opened. I

thought he was a student. I asked him where my host was and he gave me directions for another nearby house. My host Myf told me about Prof. Bauer and how he struggled as an activist in a very conservative private university for creating spaces for cooperation and cooperative living among students.

We went back to see him and we had a pleasant conversation. I asked him if there was any person who would have been nice to meet and he mentioned Swami Cetanananda and Swami Nispapananda at the Ramakrsna Mission. He used to send his students there and he liked to visit them from time to time.

When we met Swami Cetanananda he had just finished his class on Vedanta for its students. I mentioned that I was a monk from Ananda Marga and he was quite surprised. Biking to Nicaragua? He could not believe it. Both of them are devoted to the scriptures and they take care meticulously of the archival artifacts which help the preservation of the spiritual legacy of their order. They had traveled extensively in their life collecting precious manuscripts and photos that are now preserved or exposed in different locations and collections in the world.

We bade farewell. Accompanying Prof. Bauer to his home I was holding him with one hand by the arm as he cannot see well and with the other I had my shoes that have given up after being soaked wet for the third time in the trip. We embraced each other and I was at Myf's place for the night.

MONDAY, MAY 24, 2010

Southern Hospitality

Yard Sales! This is the season. I am biking on the historical Route 66 in the rural Missouri. It is beautiful scenery, good weather and also ... lot of hills. People are more relaxed, they say lay back. The route 66 sometimes disappears and you get pleasantly lost in a different world. So it happened two times. The first time route 66 became a gravel road. As I wonder what to do a young couple's car come besides and ask me directions. They were also lost. I suggest them to go back as with the car is easier and take on the other side of the highway. It was the right advice. I follow the opposite and I venture for a while on the gravel road where I get chased by dogs with no human being around to ask further directions. Finally a car approaches me and give exactly the same indication I offered to the young couple. This time I accept the advice and I trace back the road. Below is a picture to justify with myself the loss of time.

The second time I got lost I arrived in a hidden small forgotten Motel where I rang the bell to ask directions. There was no lobby, just a house and a porch. Ed confirmed me that there is no way to proceed besides venturing on the freeway for two or three miles across the bridge. I would need somebody with a truck to ferry the bike and myself. I am at a loss. He offers me a glass of water that I really appreciate. We sit in the porch. He is curious about what am I doing at his place. The Motel got cut off the visibility

when the highway changed its route. He has been there 50 years and he rattles sometimes due to the smoking side effects. His neighbor is cutting the grass on the field where previously the highway was passing. I ask if he has plan for doing something there. He replies that he is too old for making concrete plans, let the young ones think about it. He would like to stop smoking. He asks me if meditation can help, he has a vague idea of it. I teach him the process and two times he opens his watery eyes and murmurs: "Too much concentration". It is very true, meditation requires concentration. He really feels grateful and he offers food to take with me for the trip. I accept a cheese sandwich. It is time to go and as I make a start Ed propose to give me a ride. He has a truck just right and we are on the way. He drops me on the right spot and with a smile he waves me from the window of his truck. I am on my own and on the right track again. "A yogi is never lost" - so it was told me once I was wondering in Philadelphia. It is so true. Even in the middle of the historical rural Missouri.

This is Barbara at the Community House of Prayer of Saint Robert, MO. When I arrive in Saint Robert is getting dusk and I decide to go straight to the Police Station asking for hospitality. In Saint Robert the Interfaith service for helping travelers on the way has been cancelled due to lack of funds. I am directed to continue my way and I set the back light on the bike, determined to bike the night long towards Springfield in Missouri where Brad and Rebecca are waiting the following day. At the entrance of the outer road I spot a laundry mat that is a kind of safe place when you travel in the night. Aside there is an open glass place with some people taking dinner. The Community House of Payer is open. From the flier that later was given me I read: "C-HOP aims to increase our hours of operation until we reach 24 hours per day, 7 days a week."

They start calling their contacts and they also face the same reality like at the Police Station. There is no organized program for hosting stranded travelers. This time they really go an extra mile. Brian and Barbara get permission for me to sleep in the chapel and they remain themselves to sleep on the couches. In the morning I am set to go. After a mile or two Barbara waves me with the car and stops in front of me. She wants me to offer breakfast. She could not suppress her Southern hospitality as she calls it. I call it Universal Hospitality and it warms my heart for the whole trip towards Springfield.

Brad and Rebecca mobilize as soon as I call them from the road. I am still 45 miles from Springfield in very poor strength condition. Without asking for it Rebecca offers to send Brad to the next town for giving me a ride home. I am too tired for refusing it. When Brad loads the bike on the rack behind the car he starts teasing me about the weight of it. "It should be at least 60 pounds". He wants to give me a round in the beautiful surrounding of Springfield. He was born there and I feel how he treasures it. He brings me to a spot that he enjoys particularly, where the stream of water run under and above the street level with a relaxing sound. He has his cat who decides to take a leave in the bushes. It took a good half hour to get him again and I appreciate the rest in the lovely place by sitting on the grass by the car.

When we arrive home he asks her wife to unload the bike if she could. Rebecca tries and finally she succeeds. It is really heavy for anybody.

Rebecca has prepared spaghetti as she knows I am originally from Italy. Unfortunately

as a vegetarian I cannot compromise and she helps me to fix a sauce just for me in the kitchen. We take dinner on the lawn in front of the house where the neighbors are familiar and friendly. After dinner Brad starts to take care of my bike, Rebecca secure me a place to stay with his son for the next stop. I agree to take one day off the road and rest for my fasting day. Is it still and expression of Southern Hospitality? Yes, part of a Universal Culture that makes living on this planet so much more pleasant and joyful.

THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010

Family and Sports

Brad and Rebecca are the first family I have chance to spend more than one night. They really welcome me among them like part of their family to the point of arranging the next stop with their son's family. The bike had the time to be brought for servicing and finally I get all the gears working properly. Kay, the owner of the bike shop decides to waive the bill. She holds an annual "Celebrate Life" bike tour in memory of his son Kevin and I am impressed by her inner joy and presence.

Brad and Rebecca decide to accompany me few miles off town to set me in the right direction and spare me what could be hard as I am recovering from a fasting day without food and water. Yet when I start biking I am happy to be alone again with the road as companion, the eyes on the front tire, not looking for reaching any place besides keep going ahead and never back.

Rebecca told me that when she bikes she looks at the next oil spot. These are the type of lessons you learn and they are life lessons. I have always cherished sports and sport people for this reason. Health is just a byproduct, what matter is the character forming characteristic of almost all sports at any level. Les come to meet me on his bike along the way to his house, a few miles from Neosho where he lives. The whole family has soccer in the blood. Amy is a supporter and the two sons are champions at the age of 7 and 3. They really love playing and Amy tells me how she is very happy that this activity keeps them away, for some time at least, from video games. She works at the Health Department where a sign camps in the entrance: "Do not sit like couch potatoes". I love it and we take pictures under it before leaving the next morning. Amy wants to make sure that I meet her coworker who has cancer. The whole team of workers in her office supports her in many different ways including all wearing a violet t-shirt. Such signs of solidarity really touch me. It remembers me of one Indian historical epic called Mahabharata in which the king is blind and the wife in solidarity wear a band on her eyes for sharing the same darkness of sight of his husband for all life.

Family value is a very important value. Once my spiritual master Shrii Shrii Anandamurti pointed out how divorces and drugs are the two main social problems of USA. By the way Ananda Marga followers are celebrating today His birthday anniversary on the full moon of May that is also a family celebration. I wish to join in the celebration although biking as usual on the long ways of Oklahoma. I have been hosted at the Rescue Mission of Pryor where they gave me special attention with food and accommodation. Blake offers me his food and I sleep part of the night in the shared room. In the morning I cannot sleep and I go outside to meditate under the full moon. It

is beautiful. At 4 am Blake also somehow comes out and I ask him if he wishes to learn meditation. It is his beginning and a blessed one. It is my celebration and gift for Baba's Birthday. At five I am ready for the biking towards Muskogee, in the fresh of the day, the dawn rising slowly. It is a new day; a new beginning; a new determination to go ahead meeting new people and new challenges.

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010

Madness

I arrived at the Rescue Mission in Muskogee already wearing out for the second fasting day that was due for the full moon. It was supposed to be the shortest biking day with only 40 miles but the reception for this special day was short of my expectations. After being so much cared and welcomed at all places, to be told to come back at 5 pm didn't really made the mark. I tried to hang around in the hot of the day trying to find a lemon and a banana that were needed to break the fast in the following morning. I begged for them at the nearby Salvation Army with the result that after buying one banana at the gas station, a car stopped and the lady of the Salvation Army gave me her banana that she had for herself in the car. Amazing gesture though and I proceeded for finding the lemon. I had to go up to Walmart almost 6 miles away and I was completely wearing out. I remember to have paid 35 cents in a kind of disgust and when I came out a kind of

madness took over. "I will not go back to the Rescue Mission". I was very close to the highway and although I had done the police check and I was allowed to go there before 9.30 pm the feeling of being over controlled and ruled over got the best of my ego. In few pedal strokes I was on the highway brimming of renewed energy. I made for the next stop, McAllister, around 60 miles ahead and after 30 I called Les to help me out and get me in a safe place. Of course I didn't do what was sane to do but for some mysterious reason everything went well and at 1 am I was in the car with Paul, a wonderful host and a warm person. To tell the trust the ride in the night was dreadful and enchanting at the same time. I was biking under the full moon of May across the lakes and the meadows. I was lost in the delight of the beautiful smell of violet marsh flowers. I merged in a wonder of natural beauty and I forgot of all cars and trucks that most probably could not even see me as I was gliding in the darkness.

I remember lecturing Les about internal and external enemies and how the internal ones are the real ones. If you conquer them the external ones get easily overcome. But the experience I was getting all through was that both internal and external enemies were keeping me alive in the eternal struggle of life. If I was defeating them I would have missed them. Sometimes I need to be mad in order to be saved and feel alive. "Like a child I run in this life, always cheerful and never sad. With energies that are coming from nowhere I keep moving forward for I can't give up hoping and trusting. I am alone in the thought of love for all. I embrace the air and kiss the clouds. And the birds seem loving it too as they swarm around over my head almost telling What? Is it a stranger? Is it an orange biking stranger? Can we come with you? Can we come with you? Can we?"

I discovered another reason why I bike for consciousness. Life is so boring if you don't like watching TV and playing video games. I don't like reading books either. What else can I do besides meditating? While biking under the stars, at the light of the moon, passing by the surreal world of a big stone cemetery fill me up of a transcendental feeling. I was pervaded by a consciousness that I don't belong to this world, nor this

world belongs to me. My existence is for love and love only - BABA NAM KEVALAM Love is all there is. Anonymous May 28, 2010 04:15 PM Dada, it was great meeting you! You are the 1st couch-surfer at my place and I wish I had more time. From this time on when I speak about "rambotan", then, I will remember you... Be safe on the road and may the people you come across with in your journey will find favor as they help you... GOD BLESSES! Les, is right...you can inspire people! - efren -

SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2010

Amazing Grace
Les tried very hard to set me up for the night in Durant. When I reached there I went to the Police station and they suggested proceeding for Denison, twenty more miles. At the Fire Brigade apparently nothing came out. I asked directions and after getting enough water I made a start for Denison. Already on the way a lady called me from a parking lot and invited me to go to church with her. She had followed me from the Fire Brigade and she started calling her church friends and pastor in order to find me a place for the night. Pastor Jonathan agreed to have me at his Bible class at his house and we proceeded there. I asked permission to take a bath and I meditated outside. A good number of people were eating and enjoying the congregational atmosphere. When I finished the meditation the Bible class had already started and I listened attentively to all the comments. In the end I could eat my food and some extra provided by the pastor, one tomato and olive oil. Somehow the ice didn't get broken. The lady was expecting that I would be introduced to the congregation but it didn't happen. She brought me to a place that was empty and she accommodated me on the porch as inside the rats have done a feast and it is really too smelly. She felt bad but she had done whatever in her capacity to help me out. I felt grateful in any form and in the morning I was happy to proceed towards Dallas.

For a biker the road is extremely challenging. Trying to find the correct way I got in a parking lot where there was a nest of car dealers. I asked for directions and they looked at me in amazement recommending being careful on the way. The way to Dallas is really not an easy place for bikers. I struggled mentally and physically like never before. Finally I reached the place of Ananda Marga in Richardson,TX and the key was not there. I sat in meditation on the door mat completely exhausted. The door opened.. Dada Advayananda just came back from India and he was also surprised to see me. I thought he was still in India. Once more a happy ending unfolded from the most critical situation. I couldn't believe it, I rushed the bike inside and before anything else I opened the freezer ... yes, there was ice-cream. Now I could take shower and do meditation. I thought again about the day and I could not find more words. It was just ... amazing grace! I was ready for Memorial Weekend.
aronal Jun 1, 2010 09:47 AM Dada, it was great to meet you. I hope your journey is safe and your adventures are positive. I've posted an entry about you on my journal. http://aronal.livejournal.com Thank you for sharing some time with us. Lanora, Namaste

TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010

Water
From Dallas the task is now to get to the border of Mexico in three days before the visa expires. It is just impossible to accomplish it by only biking; still I wish to stay on the wheels as long as I can. I leave 11 pm from the safe haven of Dallas. In the Ananda Marga meditation center of Richardson, TX we had a collective meditation and a potluck dinner. After everybody left I got all my gears together including a small bottle of WD40 for the chain, some food for the travel and a pack of batteries for the backlight. I decided to travel in the night after thoughtful consideration about the heat of the day. Actually the plan didn't really work as expected. I didn't have enough sleep and at dawn I found myself running in the lawn off the road. Yes, it is possible to sleep even while biking! It was time to sleep wherever possible. I spot a tree in the lawn of a car repair shop, closed for Memorial Day, spread the mat and forget about the world, just sleep. When I woke up the sun was already high. When I arrived in Italy, TX I looked for the library

and it was closed. Finally I got the deep realization that "It is Memorial Day! Everything is closed." So I continued biking ahead and I finished the water. The heat started to become unbearable. I was in danger. Neither the cars nor the darkness constitute real dangers. But the scarcity of water it is! My senses went in survival mode. With no gas station in sight I started scanning for any possibility of water. Arriving in the outskirts of Hillsboro, TX I saw the sport complex and I rode the bike across the lawn straight under the shed on the biggest construction. It was the bathroom and it was open with regular water faucets and cleaning material. Wow, this time I really thanked the hospitality of the township, not having any person or family to thanks for. Only a black bee was mysteriously hovering around in the bathroom. Everybody knows that water is the source of life but until you don't experience what it means to be without water, particularly in the heat, you are not going to give the right consideration for its value. By biking it is easy to realize that you can leave without oil but not without water. As I left Hillsboro after 105 miles and no proper night sleep I entered in the last 20 miles from Waco,TX . A car stopped in front of the bike an offered a ride. I immediately accepted. Ryan and Lanore were coming from the Renaissance Festival back to Austin,TX. What a miracle! They drove me to their home, made sure that I could eat to regain strength and with the help of warmshowers.org they facilitated the arrangements for finding a host for the night. Jim convinced his parents to receive me and I was by their house where Ryan and Lanora handed me over together with the bike for a quick night sleep. In the morning I just got curious to know more about my host but Mike had already left for work and June was not up and she would have left soon also for work. In the bathroom I found the most interesting clues. There were several pictures of koalas and the following quotes that I liked so much: "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly" Anonimous. "There is no snooze button on the cat who wants breakfast". "Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle" Christian D. Larson At 6.30 am I was on the bike with a name and telephone of a friend of June in San Antonio and a blessing in my heart.

Mark Stosberg Jun 2, 2010 08:13 AM You are almost to the border now. You can make it! Anonymous Jun 6, 2010 01:48 PM I am excited that you're making your goal!!! With all the posts, I feel like I've become a part of this!!! Thanks for choosing the path that included St. Robert, MO. BABA NAM KAVELAM!!!!

THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010

Meditation

Boarding a bike on a bus is quite an interesting task. First you have to buy a box and then you have to disassemble few parts of the bike and fit them in the box. When I was at Greyhound station in San Antonio and I had already purchased the box, a young sister offered to buy the bike. I was surprised, just two hours before a person who I was asking directions for the bus station suggested me to sell the bike. Instead of refusing I offered her my contact and to call me the day after for a final decision. In the meantime Bertrand came to pick me up and brought me to his clinic called STOP SA, where SA I believe stands for Substance Addiction. He requested me to teach meditation to one of his clients as well as to the staff that were interested. It was a wonderful opportunity to devise a way to introduce meditation in a psychological way that everybody could start practicing. "Most of the time the mind is engaged in thinking about the external world and activating the sensory and motor organs to satisfy desires. Now think that there is a bird watching what your mind is thinking. That bird you can call it as you wish, it is in fact yourself within you. Now the whole purpose of meditation is to divert the mind from thinking about the external world and direct it towards that witnessing entity, that bird, those two eyes that are always watching whatever is in your mind." I started to try on myself this type of ideation and it really helped me. Although I do meditation since 1986, I need to discover ways to focus my mind on the inner self. Meditation is such a wonderful gift for human beings and I do believe that a proper introduction can help anybody to get a taste of it. Then it will be up to them to proceed with the convenient guidance.

Next day early morning Bertrand brought me again to the Greyhound station with the bike well packaged in a box and I boarded the bus for Mexico. Arriving in Monterrey bus station I dragged the box outside and resisted from taking the Taxi. Instead I unpacked the bicycle to get it ready to ride to the Ananda Marga place. A person helped me out in the process with lot of sympathy for my endeavor. He was coming from the hospital and he didn't have the money to proceed for his destination so he was waiting for his wife to meet him with the required means. He was hungry and I could offer me the remaining cereal bars I had for the travel. It was nice to ride again the bike. Still I cant understand why I was suggested to sell it. In the evening Marco from Monterrey came to help me trace the route for Mexico. He is part of the Ciclistas Borregos and he offered me to ride with them next Saturday instead of traveling alone the next day. I thought a bit and then we agreed to visit him next day at his place from where I would be able to travel with the entire group the next morning. This is really a new experience, being accompanied by a group of cyclists along the way. Now that I am in Mexico I switched to speaking in Spanish and I enjoy it very much. I will continue to blog here but I will try to keep up with a translation on dadabici.blogspot.com

SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 2010

Never ending grace

Biking in Mexico on the highway is very dangerous. This morning was my first day of travel and I was very fortunate in many ways. As soon as we arrived to the meeting point Marco introduced me to his friends that are cyclists of the club. They were looking very professional and everybody had a helmet. Marco explained me that one time he had an accident and the helmet broke but not his head. He hinted that it would be important to get a helmet. When we were on the road he tried to guide me telling what you suppose to do when you ride in a group and it was a big lesson. It is not so easy when you ride at relatively high speed almost elbow to elbow with another biker and wheel to wheel front and back. My luggage was not well secured and it became a danger for the group so I had to stop and ride off the big group. Marco was with me and after some time Mario joined as he had also to stop loosing contact with the group. Everything went well until I was with them. At a certain moment they had to come back and let me bike on my own. I was on the highway at full speed when the road became one line due to constructions. One truck tried to warn me but there was no space for both. I could not handle the pressure on the limit of the shoulder and I lost control of the bike. As I fall the cars behind stopped and making sure I had no serious damage they invited me to get off the road in order to proceed. I put myself together and I started to ride again. I kept as much as I could off the road but again I had to share the only line and one truck went on the shoulder in order to avoid me. Finally I was on a segment that had two lines and shoulder and I really thought if it was not better to give up and go back to Monterrey where I could do nice meditation without the danger to be run over by a truck. As I proceeded a car made sign to stop. I thought that they wanted to take a picture and I proceeded. Again the car stopped in front of me and made a Namaskar or Namaste sign. Claudia was following Yogananda teachings and she was too happy to find me dressed in orange as a sannyasin on the road. I felt that Baba sent her as I didnt have a place to stay and I was feeling quite beaten up. She offered to stay at his shop and when there she helped me with whatever was needed. After some time her friends came. They were all doing yoga and meditation. This time I was so happy to be able to talk of

spirituality and we had a very blissful sharing including a nice chanting followed by meditation. We shared a water melon and we got some pictures together. Tomorrow I will proceed for Ciudad Victoria. There is no need to wait. More grace will be coming, never ending grace.

MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2010

Coincidence

Every day is a new adventure in the sense that something is going to happen that is not expected or planned. Indeed I love it, but it takes a lot of energy and surrender. After 80 miles I was in sight of Ciudad Victoria. I had received specific directions from Felipe and Claudia in Linares not to enter the town but stay on the peripheral direction to Tampico on the coast. Felipe indicated that I would find a "Ranchito" on the way where he invited me to spend the night.

As I arrived in the area I looked for all the "Rancho" that I could find but I didn't receive any benevolent look. I was tired and hungry. I stopped in a gas station asking for internet, a motel, a bus station receiving the same answer for all - go to Ciudad Victoria. It was 10 miles away and off the direction to Tampico. After a quick evaluation of the

situation I decided to take the road for Ciudad Victoria with the thought that at the worst I could take the bus the evening itself to Tampico. As I was on the road the "Hotel Mi Ranchito" sign appeared on the right side. No doubt that was the place. Mirna welcomed me and soon her husband Aron joined and I was their guest. They really wished me not to have trouble in any form and in the morning they gave me farewell with the invitation to come back any time. It is fasting day and this time I wished not to risk over my capacity. I made for the bus station and I found a bus company who accepted the bike without having to dissemble it. As I arrived in the bus station of Tampico I found an internet cafe and as soon as I connected on my email there was Claudia giving me the directions for her cousin. She wanted me to take the taxi but I felt that at least I had to bike there. I asked for directions and there was a lot of curiosity for my visit. When I arrived to Jorge and Elvira house already somebody had phoned to Jorge announcing that I was looking for them. Her two sons are busy preparing for examination and Elvira is helping them for their studies. Yet Elvira found the time to bring me to the local newspaper for a brief visit and in the evening we were all together with the sons, her sister, her daughter and her husband doing Baba Nam Kevalam chanting and meditation.

After the sons offered me one of their bicycles that were in good state although they were not using them at present. It is difficult to bike in Tampico as the cars don't respect bikers and the traffic is high speed. In the morning I put the mind to find a progressive solution that could make use of bikes in a social context and not at a personal level. In Monterrey there is a bike track of more than 10 kilometers and a park with a bike track too. In Tampico I don't know so well but maybe a civil group can take the task and devise some solutions for the benefit of all. My bike got some rain in the night but it is ready to go for the first day of coast line towards Naranjo area.
THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010

Another world
As soon as we reach out Tampico on the old road along the coast we enter in another world. The road is still very good in the place where Elvira decides to let me proceed on the bike. Soon it will become covered by sand and finally will take the roughness of a pure dirt road. I stop at a house where one small truck has a load of coconuts. I ask one to buy and he fills my bike bottle. He refuses to get paid and I can only be grateful and proceed. It wont be the last time I cant pay for the food I receive.

I pass several schools and kinder where the kids seem not so much surprised about the passage of an orange robed biker. Two truck drivers exchange opinions about who am I and decide that I must be from India. There is some truth in it in the sense that the place remembers me the rural areas in the Indian countryside. I feel blessed to be on a road where there is almost no traffic and when you cross any vehicle there is a waving or a sign of courtesy.. As I overcome a man on a donkey I feel that a bicycle is relatively a faster vehicle. I stop and he accepts graciously to be taken in a picture.

When I arrive to the small town of Naranjo I ask where I can spend the night and I get the indication of a hotel. Unfortunately it is full and as I bike in the downtown area a person get curious about what am I doing. First it is a lady first from her shop and then another one who stops by me. They call a friend who may be able to set me up for the night. We proceed there and in the end we end up doing Baba Nama Kevalam to try to alleviate the mental sorrow of one more friend who is in clear distress.. The mother of the house is Margarita and she prepares quesadillas for the whole group. They all pig penny to set me in a hotel room as they may feel inconvenience to accommodate me in the house.

From Naranjo I decide to avoid the main road and go on the coast again towards Tamiahua. When I arrive there I look for fruits in the market. Somehow I have the desire to make a public contact and I ask for the Municipality. Tamiahua is a fishermen town. In the square a crowd of men are on strike and they discourage me to go to the Municipality. They are protesting because by law they cannot fish for 40 days and they want some money to keep going in the time being. After spending some time with them I take again the road towards the next bigger town and finally I feel again some energy that had got exhausted on the dirt road. It is needed for running on the highway towards Poza Rica. Adios Paradise land, at least for some time. I arrive in Poza Rica in the night and it is my first time I bike after dusk in Mexico. My mind and body are tired. The

environment is no more so loving and welcoming like in the countryside. I wish to get out of the big town and I decide to get to the bus station. Vera Cruz is the destination and I arrive there in the small hours saving two days of biking on not safe highway. I ask for the beach and I receive good directions. No danger at all as the hotel area is very well guarded. Finally I find an entry to bring the bike on the sandy sea shore and I enjoy a beautiful meditation. When I finish a person come close. He is the guide and guardian of the beach. He is also drunk but still quite lucid. We converse for a while and he buys me some water for the trip. He gives me his business card and a hand shake wishing best for my endeavor. Still in the darkness I make the way out of Vera Cruz. It is almost dawn and I stop in a gas station looking for a place to lie down and rest. Two police men have already taken the best spots and I take a nearby space without disturbing them. Soon they would get up for their duty, salute politely and get in their car. Finally it is my time to ride again trying to get to Alvarado before the sun becomes too hot. The fruit of the area is the pineapple. Finally I find an internet cafe and I avoid checking email before completing the blog. I had so much peace without email that I wish to keep it at least for some more time. No mention I am floating in bliss.

... and the simple joys are the most beautiful; they are the ones that in the end are the greatest ones.

TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010

Update
There are several notes in my diary that I dont have the possibility at present to put in the blog including last images. The journey has become very fast due to weather conditions and also other difficulties that compelled me to take few buses and rides in order to keep going and make still possible to arrive in Nicaragua. I am writing from Huehuestenango three days of biking from Guatemala City. ShadeTool Jun 21, 2010 10:43 AM Dada, I just found about your great adventure and social movement you started and I'm really inspired by your conviction, and great energy to travel all this journey for consciousness. If you would like to make a documentary about this great journey I'll be more than happy to help you do it. Take care and great luck, Abhimanyu

TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2010

Columbus - Managua - May 14 - June 21

Reaching the school of Ananda Marga in Managua is an end and a beginning at the same time. Yesterday night I was welcomed by Dada Visnupremananda at the school. He was so surprised to see me more than one month in advance. He is leaving tomorrow for the United States and I really forced to arrive before his departure although I didnt know when he was going to travel.

30 miles from Managua I decided to connect to internet and find directions for the school. Immediately Dada Visnupremananda spot me on yahoo and ask me where I was. As we finished the chat I went to get the bus to cover the last miles and arrive before night. The bus charged the exact amount it was left in my pocket and arriving to the bus terminal I received guidance how to bike towards a specific traffic light near the school. In Managua traffic lights have specific names and it works very well for locating places more than address or streets and numbers. I made it there shaking the bike to the last strength on the block paved roads. Close to the traffic light land mark I asked for the school of Ananda Marga and a family accompanied me to the gate. In Villa Reconciliacion the school is very well known and more than 100 students are at present enrolled. Writing from the computer of the school it is a big relief and at the same time I feel the responsibility to make something concrete for all the effort done to reach here. It is a dangerous area where robbery is common and sometimes people loose life for it. I met Jonathan on the way to the school. He is a young healthy man that knows dada here. I asked him what his job was. He replied that he has no job and he was just there. I asked him to come with us to the school. He politely refused showing the mark of two bullets in his arms. His brother got recently killed and that side is off limits for him. We bade farewell and soon we were talking how dada try to engage these young people in positive activities and little jobs. They know him and respect the work he is doing for the school and the welfare of the neighborhood. But it is not easy and sometimes he has also to face the hard struggle against criminals who try to steal the little belongings where he

lives, a television and a stereo. This is more or less a brief description of the environment and I really dont know what is best to do at this point. Do you have any suggestions?

Anonymous Jun 22, 2010 08:35 AM For those criminals they need to be involved in any activities that their mind should not think of anything bad to do. They need to have for example sports to let them keep busy or some little job that they are always engaged. Otherwise they will just sit and do nothing or drinking and smoking pot and at any time they will steal including day time. Dada Visnupremananda aronal Jun 22, 2010 11:29 AM I'm very glad to hear you made it to the school safely; Orion and I have been following your blog. Anonymous Jun 23, 2010 08:15 AM Wow! Congratulations. You made it. Good job. It is too bad about all the stealing and the violence. Maybe the criminals would like to do yoga or a type of cool dancing. The alcohol is probably very bad for them. Nathan

MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2010

Flor de Caa
He was sitting on an old rocking chair looking in the distance over the sky horizon, in

the direction of the sea. His black eyes were steady but quick to start at a voice call. "Don Ramon" a young lady called, "The school in Agua Viva has been ransacked!" Don Ramon leaned forward but didnt rise. "They have stolen all the food that was for the meals of the school kids. It happened overnight and I have been to the Police. They told me that they will send a patrol to verify. It is a very isolated place; I doubt they will be able to do anything. The families of the area are very poor; it was the only school receiving food support in the whole county." Don Ramon listened with apparent detachment. Not a word came out from his thin lips. The lady felt compelled to continue. She explained how one of the school teachers was very active trying to get support for the school knocking at different doors and avenues. She had some success and the school although small with only two classes and running with a double turn, was in a good shape. In the middle of the cane plantation the kids had to walk in the muddy land. Some parents were accompanying them, particularly in the evening when the second turn was ending close to the dark. No special events had happened till then. It was a surprise for the whole community. People were bearing the poverty but nobody had dared to steal food, the food given by a foreign organization, rice, beans and maybe some snacks. It is elections time and the politicians of the county are busy attending to the benefic events. The move quickly, their names are printed everywhere they have turned even a single stone accompanied by the date of the historical event. People say they are useless. They only know how to fly their tongues. Don Ramon, of course, is not one of them. He prefers to look in the distance, quietly. He knows that the solution of the problem is neither with the politicians nor with the poor people. The bottle of rum is filled with honey. Don Ramon has stopped drinking since long. The lady has finished talking and feels better. Don Ramon gives her the bottle saying: "Put it in a jar and throw the bottle in the trash".

MONDAY, JULY 12, 2010

My neighbors

One of my neighbors in Villa Reconciliacion, Managua, Nicaragua prepares the corn tortillas with the hands. I wondered why she doesnt use any type of mechanical instruments. There are hand tools available that would allow saving some time. It is seven in the morning and the rhythmic tap tap of her hands fill the air. She beats her tortillas at least 20 times before getting the correct shape and size. She sells each tortilla for one cordoba that is the equivalent of maybe 20 cents. It Is a unique work of art for 20 cents that is done over and over sometimes from morning till evening. When I go to buy her tortillas she asks me abruptly: "What do you want?" There is no courtesy in her voice. She could tell for example: "How many tortillas do you want?" or anything a bit more attractive. That is the real cost I have to pay to get her tortillas. She is old and trusted. Dada leaves the key to her when he has to go away for some days. It is obvious that with her silence she knows everything of everybody and of course she doesn't talk with the mouth. There is only the drumming of her hands, sometimes slower sometime faster. She also sells beans for one cordoba a cup. It means that with 4 or 5 cordobas you can get a meal. She uses wood for cooking and that means she cannot prepare tortillas when the fire is off. It is not like a gas stove that you turn on and go. So if the tortillas are finished, that is it. Next time you will be luckier. The daughter has several kids, they are my little friends. Once I brought chocolates for them and we went together for distributing to the other kids of the neighborhood. I could finally see what I was not able to see so far although I knew it. There is extreme

poverty, beyond the tolerance of human beings. But it is not altogether, it is in spots, little islands of scanty constructions made of recycled and rusted tin. My side neighbor has one and they live there; pretty decent people, clean and well behaved. It is such a contrast that I remain sometimes stunned feeling impotent. I resist the temptation to do anything, just survive and wait that I can love them in a natural way without the desire to change anything of their ways and environment. I listen to the tap tap and I try to recognize the nuisances in the speed, I keep the door open although nobody will enter my place. I sing my kiirtan as I know that they listen to it as I listen to them. They always ask for one particular dada that they love and wait for his visit. He is the one who has made possible for Ananda Marga to be in Villa Reconciliacion when, after hurricane Mitch he started rebuilding the houses with the help of AMURT (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team). He also doesn't talk much, he also gives chocolates to the children but it is not a catch to make them friends. He watches television with them and enter their houses like their brother. He is one of them and there is no replacement. Not in Villa Reconciliacion. What I can do? I took few pictures, early in the morning and then I went for a TV interview. I didn't take the photo of the neighbor that make the tortillas. It would be like stealing. I cannot do it. Not until she will be my friend. She likes chocolates as she resented when I gave to the kids and not to her. So I gave to her too and she smiled like a kid. She love me and she is giving me what I need but in her way. "What do you want!?" Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap ....

.... Talking about tortillas I have to decide what to do with my last 5 cordobas in the pocket. Either I go to the internet to send these notes for you or I buy 5 tortillas from my neighbors. Internet can wait, it is breakfast time. I was wrong thinking that she was

preparing alone the tortillas. The two daughters are beating the tortillas and she is cooking them. I ask for 5 tortillas without anticipating the "Que quieres!?" She gives them in my plate I have to carry, no bag service. The daughter unexpectedly asks me to try making one tortilla myself. I accept more than gladly and I start by washing the hands. I watch how they do and I take pictures. With one hand you hold the border of the tortilla rotating on the thin plastic underneath and with the other you beat fast. In five minutes I get my first work of art and it is actually the last of the batch. They insist for having it as a gift, they don't want to sell it. It is in good shape though but it is a courtesy. I promise to make pizza for them next morning. Although it will be in the gas oven I wish to do a good job. There is nothing like sharing food to open the communication. I have been initiated in making tortillas the way they do in Nicaragua. What a wonder! Now I know what to do here. PIZZA! The truly Italian Pizza with a fresh basil leaf from my garden. It is far better than talking. No comparison....

It is Sunday morning, the day of the final of the soccer world cup. We are making pizza for the margi coming for collective meditation. They bought the ingredients and I request to share a part with my neighbors. I am fasting and I plan to eat the pizza in the next morning after breaking the fast. At the time that Spain score in the last minute of

the game the neighborhood shouts of happiness. The pizza is ready and I run to the neighbor inviting them to come and eat a piece with us. They refuse politely telling that they don't like pizza. I invite my little friends and they come. I offer them three pieces in a couple of plates and they take them home. They come back immediately after telling that the elders are eating it but they don't take extra pieces. I remain puzzled and I restrain to investigate if they really have eaten the pizza or not. In the morning I break the fast and I taste the pizza. Truly it didn't come very well. The mozzarella cheese is almost rubber and the dough was burned at the bottom and not cooked in the middle. In the evening one lady comes to my place asking for a wheel chair. Her daughter is in the hospital and she will be out in two days. She broke her heap being run over by a car. Today I will look for the wheel chair.... ... In the office of one small company of natural products I ask how to get a wheel chair for free or at a very cheap price. Go to Radio Ya - is the brief answer - this is how in Nicaragua we solve this type of necessities. I don't think twice and I reach Radio Ya where the director asks some crossfire questions: where is the person that needs the chair? For how long she needs it? Why the mother cannot come personally? Can you go to the hospital and take a picture of her daughter or bring her identification? Ok, I will go to the hospital. I am on the point of leaving when the director offers to have an interview on my visit in Nicaragua. Several people call after the interview and I proceed to get the information in which hospital the patient who need the wheel chair is. At her home the mother changes few important points. First the daughter is not in the hospital but is taking shower. Second she needs the wheel chair on Thursday and not on Tuesday. Lastly she went to hospital 10 days ago but was an outpatient visit and she can produce the certificate. I judge safe to invite them to go directly to Radio Ya and present their case as I would have a lot of trouble to be believed with those changes of facts. End of the boy-scout venture...

... It is early morning and I ask for Juan, my neighbor on the left side who had repaired the cable TV for me and my right neighbor the day before. He went out is the answer from one of the ladies living in his house. My front neighbor, the one of the tortillas come home in a rush. She asks to the same lady why she didn't go to see Juan who got an accident just three blocks away on the big road. She tells she has to look at his baby. I

ask her if the neighbor can look at the baby for her. She politely tells that she can't. I take the bike and go to see what happened in the accident. Juan is already in the ambulance seated. He is in pain. The daughter is there and she tells how he hit with the motorbike the car in front. He flew in the air and landed with the head. There is blood from the ear and he is brought to the hospital. The doctor in the hospital gave more details. He will be translated to a specialized hospital for further treatment or operation. Cranio-encephalic trauma is the suspected diagnosis. The desire to run away from Managua surges in my mind and becomes almost overwhelming. Wilfrido calls me in the evening offering to travel with him by truck to the southern part of Nicaragua close to the border with Costa Rica. I first accept and I am ready to go at 5 am. Then I change my mind. I can't go even for two days. The tortilla of my neighbor I not ready yet. I buy a couple of bananas nearby and I receive a mango for free. The lady smiles and tells me that she can't charge it as she took it fresh from her tree. She didn't pay for it and I accept the gift as a sign of approval for the decision to stay. The meditation is good after a long time. I will be in Villa Reconciliacion till August 8 at least. No take offs. The lesson of Juan is enough for some time...

... Juan is at home. Yesterday was standing by the door of his home with his wife both radiant. He seems to be very fine. Either he has a very hard head or he got a very good miracle. He knew that after going to the hospital I went with the bicycle to visit the nearby town of Masaya. Today I visited the little islands near Grenada. It is a very touristic and beautiful place. This time the photo album is for this unique place on earth. Some says it was created by the volcano Mombasa in one eruption but it is hard to prove. There are two volcanos also in the middle of the huge lake, the biggest in Nicaragua. It will be for the next tourist excursion.

THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010

Matter and Money

Finally I got in my hand the donations from USA. I thought the problems were over. It was just the start of a completely different challenge. On the night I was leaving for

Guatemala robbers entered in my room and took the laptop laying aside my bed sheet. Already I was feverish and for sure I didnt get any better. Now I am trying to get a trusted person to improve the security of the house and of the school. There are no options. The money is safe. I started to sleep with the machete aside my head instead of the computer. Really I wish not to tell much more for now. Money comes and money goes, matter is very relative. Maybe true but as I became a victim I started to know the reality of the whole lot living in most of the areas of Managua. As I went to a bank to change 50 dollars a lady told me that they used to go in a group of ladies to withdraw money from bank but the thieves could guess it and they could target. Now they prefer to go individually at different times so it is more difficult to guess. I was downtown with the backpack ready to travel to Guatemala. The bus was at 3 am. The bus office closed at 8 pm and the security sent me out. They told me to stay at the gas station for security. I went there and one slim person came to seat behind me. "What do you want?" I asked in the style of Felipa "Cant I lie down here?". In a couple of minutes three more slim guys were behind me. I walked away and decided to go back. On the bus the driver told me not to walk home. "Options? Taxi?" "Yes" Confirmed the driver, even for a short distance. So I did. As I stepped out of the taxi Felipa was there with the daughter. They accompanied to their house and gave me the key of my place. "What happened?" Felipa asked me. "The thieves were setting to take my bag out of the bus station" I replied. It was only after that I felt it was time to tell that the computer I had been stolen the night before. Nobody laughed. They rebuked me telling that they had advised me not be close to the thieves. Yes, they were right and that is why I came back. The father of two of the teachers of the school gave me an estimate for making a iron gate of 100 feet long along one side of the perimeter of the school similar to the front gate: material is 300 dollars work is 120 dollars Shall I go ahead before any other thing, meaning invest in the security of the school first before setting computers for computer study? Is it possible to receive contributions?

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2010

Every day a new beginning

With the departure from Managua - Nicaragua without the bicycle I felt completed the

task taken at the beginning when "Biking for Consciousness" started. Never less the effort to support the school in Villa Reconciliacion does not end. A total of 450 dollars has been spent to improve the security of the school but it was not enough money to finish the job. I received some pledges and I wish it will be possible to continue in the effort. Dada Vishnupremananda is reaching August 8 after one month in USA and will continue his service in the school and in the neighborhood for the welfare of the community. The bike remained with Didi Prema who has a natural medicine clinic under her supervision in Sabana Grande, in another part of Managua. To be noted that when I was with fever and no food in my place, one doctor of her clinic appeared at the door telling that she has been instructed to visit me. Nobody knew it that I was that sick. Didi came soon after and went to buy some food. They soon left and the day after I was ok after following the directions given by the doctor. All these little incidents or miracles made my leaving from Managua a bit difficult. I tried two times without success, the third I demanded to be brought to the bus station and seen finally departing. It worked and it happened after one month and one week from the time I arrived in Managua. Exactly the same time it took for the biking tour. Now traveling again has been quite refreshing. After a stop of two days in Guatemala City care of the Ananda Marga unit there and also of Dada Shantatmananda and Didi Ananda Mamata, I went further North entering Mexico. In Guatemala I collected two extra luggage, an 18 ft yurt canvas and an old laptop that I lent some time before. The computer was given to Patty for helping her to complete her studies in Psychology. She graduated one month ago and she wrote a dedication on her thesis for the gift se received. Now that I had no more laptop it was time to get back the old one and give to it a new occupation. The yurt comes from Pennsylvanya and it is looking for a best utilization. I am thinking to a "peace tent" that can be set in a needed place for hosting Kiirtan and Meditation round the clock in order to create a vortex of love. It is a project by itself and it can become the heritage of "Biking for Consciousness". I arrived in Mexico City without enough money to continue. Yet I had desire to proceed towards Monterrey. I asked help to the bus company and after some questions to verify the authenticity of the need they give hope. Finally they arranged a ticket half cost with all the care to make sure I was reaching Monterrey in good shape. Still I didn't have money to spend for food and I was hungry. As I got close to a booth selling sweets a person approached me. "I am Raul Flores, do you remember me?" I recognized the face but I could not locate where I met him before. "Red Cross Cuernavaca". Ooh, everything became bright clear! We were together in the paramedic course. We both didn't make it to the end but we were close as students. He brought me to meet his brother and they bought me all the sweets I had desire to eat. As they went for their bus I sat by a lady and I shared some sweets with her. She was a pious lady. We had a nice conversation about God and I gave her some advices regarding food and diet. She asked me what I normally eat and I mentioned fruits and yogurt. Soon after I was on the bus for Monterrey with my backpack, the yurt, the laptop, some sweets and two

yogurts. I shared one yogurt with one family who had nothing for their little kid. The lady sitting by me was the grandmother. She opened a prayer book in order to avoid seeing the usual movie. As she closed it I stretched my hand without saying a word and I got it for my turn. The movie was not too bad but it was nice to find someone who consciously prefer to pray instead of watching movies. I arrived in Monterrey at 2 am. I had 45 pesos in my pocket and I went to the prepaid taxi booth. How much for Doblado Nte 914? 45 pesos was the answer. God Blessing! Dada Cirananda was there in the Ananda Marga center a bit surprised to see me popping up in the middle of the night. In two days it became clear that Monterrey will be my base till the end of September. But what to do? What will be my mission here? Today I went walking before breakfast. I wanted to meet people. I put a guitar on my shoulder that had two missing strings and walk out singing Baba Nam Kevalam. Sure enough I started to meet people. Finally one lady in her music store gave me the two missing strings and a full change as a gift. In the road a couple of people stopped me asking to play a song for them. I closed my eyes and I sang an old Italian song with all my heart. They gave me few coins. In the market I was given a seat for playing and I got few more coins and some herbs for cooking. But mostly I found a way to relate with the common people that don't know anything about meditation or yoga. An orange "mariachi" as goes with the local tradition of singing love songs in the streets or in the cafe. Is this my mission here? Maybe. In the park of Alameda there is a camper selling cards for the bus. It is a security measure to avoid money transactions on the bus. Everybody get the exact change and both driver and passenger get their benefit. I asked to the teller: What is the best that I can do for helping people in Monterrey? He answered me to go around and lift the spirits. People need inspiration. In the park itself many don't find any better than drug or alcohol. This seems to me a plague for the whole city. So I started playing and I got few listeners that sat quietly close enough. Walking again I passed a bench and they called me "Arab" from behind. I turned and I went to introduce myself as a man of God. A couple of questions came: what happens after death? It came to answer in an enigmatic way - whatever you wish it happens. It was time to go back to my place. There will be collective meditation and I look forward for it. Always Baba Nam Kevalam - Love is all there is and it will never end!

MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2010

Paying attention to what I write

Yesterday I wrote an article on crimsondawn.info on health and today I feel very sick. It is time to be consequential and follow the advices or the experiences mentioned in the article. Among them there is the advice received personally from one homeopathic doctor to "Talk about God". Believe me, it is not easy to do it when you fell like a rat, but I wrote it and now I have to prove that it works ... always, at least for me.

I put the guitar on my shoulder and I go for the street. I need a second pair of keys and I walk to the office of one margi who have them. On the way I enter a botanic shop and I ask for a remedy for stomach gases and digestion problems. The lady tells to get chamomile and anise in order to reduce the inflammation of the stomach. I proceed for the office. When I reach there it is already 30 minutes that I am singing and walking at the same time. The mind gets high very quickly and I continue to sing in the office. In this frame of mind desires get satisfied very quickly. I ask for a screwdriver for cellular phones and here it is exactly of the right head size. I venture for the street again and passing a second hand shop I notice a nice bike. "How much?" I ask still reading the price on the card attached to the bike. 600 pesos is the answer while the card read 640. I walk away and one person with an old bike asks about my welfare. I enquire about his welfare too. He notices the guitar and he invites me to ride on the bus for playing there. Well, why not? He accompanies me to the bus stop and when the bus arrives he makes me a sign to step up. I enter the bus and pass the conductor. As I start playing he demands the bus fare. I thought it was free to ride when you play on the bus. That was what the man of the bicycle told me. I make for going down of the bus and the driver tells me. "Too late, you can't go down without paying. Your passage has been already recorded by the electronic bars." I have no choice and I start playing Baba Nam Kevalam. As I get 5 pesos I ask for the difference to pay the fare and another passenger give me the rest. A third gives an extra of one peso that is net profit. I can ride and play happily up to the end of the bus line that I really don't know where it is heading. All passengers reach their destination and I am the last until the driver tells me to get down. I thought he was going back the same way but he insists that I will have to take another bus. I get down and I venture in an area of Monterrey that is new for me. I ask in a shop where I can get chamomile and anise and they direct me to the open market nearby. I find the fresh chamomile at first and the man gives me the explanation on how to prepare it. But for the anise seems to be harder. As I sing one person starts to pronounce some Sanskrit slokas. He is a lost Hare Krsna devotee and I play and sing with him in pure devotion. He doesn't know really what he is telling and me too I don't know the exact meaning when I sing the devotional songs in Bengali. It is wonderful. In the end I leave for the bus and I share more songs on the way at a flower booth. They really encourage me to go on without hesitation and also have confidence in the people and in the police that are used to help Cubans or other emigrants bouncing at the American border. To mention that I adamantly refuse to tell where I come from or what is my nationality as I wish to keep the devotional flow completely pure and unaffected by worldly consideration. I feel really welcome.

On the bus I pay the fare with the donation received by the Krsna Devotee and I play to my heart content. As I get back to my place I still visit one margi house just nearby. They give me more stomach remedies and in one of them there is anise in the composition. Enough grace for today. I have still to repair the cell phone using the screwdriver and wait for tomorrow for breaking the fast. By the way Dada Visnupremananda has reached Nicaragua school and sent message from there. Everything seems to be fine and soon he will send me images as I could not get them with the broken cell. Baba Nam Kevalam - Love is all there is.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2010

We are coming from God and to God we are going back

There is a Spanish song that tells: "We are coming from God and to God we are going back" - "Venimos de Dios y a Dios no regresemos" . I decided not to tell anymore my nationality. Walking in Monterrey it is normal to be asked where are you from yet I don't want to tell that I am from Italy. It serves no purpose. I just tell something else and most of the time there is an understanding. The mission of today was to fix the cellular phone. Am I attached to it? Yes, because it is broken. If it would work most probably it would have been lost or stolen. I have been sent from one place to another. Apparently no way to get a repair store. Finally I find a young man with a Nokia t-shirt and he gives me a good direction. I am already tired but I can't give up. Mr. Cellular seems to be a promising name for a cellular repair store. In the entrance a glass allows to see a repair studio showing a microscope and some precision tools. I tell the all story, how it got wet in the bike tour, how it got repaired in Nicaragua and then failed again. How it was given back from the same repair store in a worst condition yet. The cell is taken under the microscope and the open heart operation starts. Soon the verdict arrives. It is dead. I take it back and I am ready to give it away for parts. More walking to reach an area where it might be possible to get few pesos in exchange. Nobody wants to buy it. Finally I reach a repair store where a lot of parts are scattered on the counter like on a dump field. A man reaches for talking and looks with a kind of doubtful way. I tell the latest news from the other store. He replies with confidence that he can repair it. I try to object and he insists that I will have it repaired in two days for 280 pesos. "Three hours walking under the sun and a bill of 280 pesos for nothing," I think. In the

evening a call. Your cell is ready, you can come! I have 150 pesos and it is not enough. Need more money and I am too tired to go out and play guitar. I surrender to God and at night 200 extra pesos come on request. Let us see how long the cellular will stick in my hand. "Venimos de Dios y a Dios nos regresemos" Baba Nam Kevalam

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010

Staying with the Flow

I think I have to watch again Star Wars. Something is not right and I got sick being out of the Flow. Losing the synchronicity is very painful and I can't explain exactly what does it mean but it is there. No doctor can cure it although it may present itself with gastric problems or any other ailment. The cell is fixed, a bike is coming very soon, the yurt will be prepared for the Peace Tent Project and the website are ready for welcoming. But the flow shifted and I am not happy within. I didn't go out of my place and I can't tell any big story for today. Only that Arturo the massage therapist I used to visit near the place I stay in Monterrey is no more. He left his body one year ago and one month after his wife also did the same. It was my friend and I met im first time selling incense door to door few years back. He was a gifted hand and he tought his son the same profession. I went in his studio and I got the news. Sometimes I used to go there and play kiirtan. He worked until the end. What remains of him in the studio is a photo hanging on the wall. Difficult to understand how certain people leave this world without a trace. Very light. Well, I go to do my meditation. Can't tell more for now.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010

When pizza is the solution

Well, now the travel is becoming more internal. I can't use a bike yet and I am forced to travel inside. Still I need some kind of support. I cook pizza with a Mexican tortilla and a kind of cheese plus a dignified tomato and olive oil. And I have to wait for eating because there is a guest. Finally I get into it even if I am rushed to finish, invested by an uncomfortable argument at the table. But the spell is broken, in the morning the mind is clear and the digestion is fixed. Really, and now it is time to go deeper and get at the root of it. I try to find and old friend in Italy and I write him after maybe 15 years I don't have contact. Then in the evening I space on the Italian poets finding comfort in Coelho and

Hesse (that are not Italian by the way). Finally a hole in the ice and water come out:

The pain of separation "I feel hurt and blood ooze out I explore my body and I can't find the hounds Then, like in a dream a thought an illusion and the scar appears in the depth of the ocean Where there is no light and everything looks the same I plunge and meet conches and corals And fishes of all colors A beauty without limits And I don't want to come back For breathing the air spoiled by time"

MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010

Finally a bike again! Claudia and Felipe fulfilled the desire. The bike had been waiting four years to be used. It is in perfect condition. The visit to Claudia house came after a brief arrangement for a meditation get together among her friends. It worked out and we had a wonderful afternoon crowned by a walk at the river of the nearby town of Hualahuises near Linares Nuevo Leon in Mexico. A wonderful hospitality warmed up my all and in exactly 24 hours it was possible to complete a very satisfying day out including the spirituality sharing. With Claudia and her sister Gina we cooked together a simple vegetarian lunch and then we waited for the guests to come. After a brief introduction the sharing began.

Felipe revealed a bit of himself telling the story of one of his dogs saved by him when he was still very tiny.

Cinta asked questions regarding life and death leading the discussion towards more philosophical topics. Enriquetta, a wonderful lady whose job is to build "pignatas" for the children enjoyment, was hoping that after death we will come back and enjoy life. We made sure that for her such a desire would be granted. Maria and Kristi had their first experience of meditation. Gina attended the sharing while taken care of her two years old kid, Tony. The spirits went higher by singing devotional songs and Baba Nam Kevalam kiirtan. Claudia pushed the whole group and we entered in a kind of advanced exercise when we enjoyed composing a devotional song with rhymes from all the participants.

Finally a few of us went to the river where the attraction is a hanging bridge that resisted the most recent hurricane. We strolled on it and then we went on the river bed where we still enjoyed the peaceful and serene atmosphere. I could not resist doing meditation and two younger swimmers sat beside me staring in curiosity. At dusk we still visited shortly the nearby house of Maria and finally we went back to Claudia's welcomed by her dogs. In the morning Felipe brought me back to Monterrey but we are sure we will meet again, maybe for the coming Meditation retreat at halfway between Linares and Monterrey in Allende , Nuevo Leon in program September 16 to 19. He was rushing back to his place as he is trying to save a horse of a neighbor.

As I rest after a big day trying to find the right wood for the Peace Tent Project I really appreciate the wonder of finding again those friends I met on the bike tour. Claudia stopped me when I was biking towards Linares and hosted me in her office for the night already two months ago. The bike is coming tomorrow as there was no place on the truck this morning. I am looking forward for a first ride after a long time. I may wish to give the bike a name in order to create a longer bond. Is it attachment? Maybe for a while, it is just a bike overall but it is coming in a very nice and gifted way and I wish to remember it. Maria told us that the Virgin Mary of the suffering has been brought back to Hualahuises after being restored and it was a big happening in the small town. Dolores? A bike named Dolores how it sounds?

More poems

Sleeping is like dreaming without a whisper The sweet permanence of the wind A longing borders with time and cross it

The coral stars dissolve. The sleeping desire is lying down Forgetting even itself.

The lights are half mast and the eyes close the doors and fly away The infinite has found its lover and will never leave it again, forever.

Playing with words, looking for sensations a bird is lost, a nest is empty.

As the intensity of work is rising I don't find any more time to go out besides for the immediate necessities. Yet before sleeping I wish to offer few lines. I wrote few poems one after the other but I offered only the last one. The following was the first and it was written in Italian too:

Suddenly I see myself covered by sweat prisoner of time

and of command

I look for a way out I scratch and flutter in the darkness of forgetting The pain of fear

And I lose a shoe a piece of memory a rat and a cockroach the shiver of impotence

Stop dreaming! I wake up The courage to live the time of pleasure and to donate it to the Lord with a smile.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2010

Dolores first long distance ride

As I wake up full of energy and with a very good feeling inside I recollect all the incidents of yesterday since morning when I took off on the bike (named Dolores) for a whole day journey.

The Destination: I wanted to reach one of the lands of Ananda Marga situated in the desert area north of Monterrey. I went there already two times and there is no water, just a piece of desert with some beautiful flowers and a big dream - a children city.

The Way: The bike is not in riding condition for a long distance trip. The saddle is so low that the knees bend way too much. I look for a cycling repair shop and I ask to one man. He tells that there is one nearby and he proposes to accompany me there. Wonderful! We walk and we cross the road constructions that are near the river S. Catarina, flooded by the hurricane. The repair shop doesnt have the piece to extend the saddle height and send us to a hardware store. Well, my friend still doesnt want to give up and as we walk away he proposes to go to his house where he can fix the problem. As we reach his home Job offers me a glass of water and he sets around the bike for changing the saddle. Actually we really need a longer iron and we are soon on his car looking for a hardware store. We go from one to another until we don't find the right piece. He gets it and with some work at home he fixes the bike. He offers me to eat lunch but it is getting late and I have a long journey. Mentally I honor the earnestness of Job who took the chance to help and pursued it until he could not fulfill it. That is service!

The first stop: It is a long time that I don't ride long distance and there is opposing wind. I make a stop in a town where in the central square I rest and do meditation. Then I resist the temptation to get an ice-cream and I look for fruits. On the side road a man call me inside. It is a biking shop. I ask to set a bottle rack on the bike and he works for it but the screws don't work and he prefers to give up. I go for the fruits and I come back to the store considering that the job is not done and I need a bottle rack for riding in a desert area. This time I ask to check the gears and he work on it. Finally when I have to pay I ask to buy the bottle rack anyway. He set it with two plastic strips and I feel that the job is now completed.

The test: at one gas station I get a full inquiring interview. Where I am from, what I am doing there, where I am going. It is a real interrogation and as a drink from my bottle in a squatting position that is unusual I am further inquired. At a certain moment the verbal exchange becomes of religious nature. "Which is my destination?" "God" I reply. "And what about us sinners, do you think you will get first?" "There is no competition on the way to God" He is satisfied by the answer and I am free to go to the bathroom. But before that he adds "Not a single blade of grass can move if it is not by His will". This is exactly what Baba said! I think. Still I make a joke telling that there is a lot of opposing wind today and the grass moves a lot. He points me to the bathroom and when I come back the man is no more there. During the conversation he made me evaluate the timing to reach the location and it becomes clear that to go further will compromise the participation to the collective meditation fixed by 7 pm in the Ananda Marga center in Monterrey. What is more important, to reach the destination I fixed for the day or the

collective meditation? I decide to turn around.

The trial: still my mind is not really committed to reach in time. I am fully tired and as soon as I get on the highway a pedal get loose and it falls with the whole arm. Immediately it becomes clear that to reach on time I have to get some kind of ride. I wave the pedal to stop a car and get a ride. No way! It seems a course. I ride very slow with the pedal falling off. It is an ordeal but my mind gets fully concentrated on the job to keep the pedal from falling. I try again to stop a car and even the police don't stop. I could not believe it! Maybe I became invisible by wearing my full orange uniform. Finally I surrender mentally to Baba and soon I see a man walking on the side of the highway. When he is almost at my height he takes a small path that leads to the service road. I follow suit. There is a bystander waiting for the bus. I get on the bus with the bicycle and get in a pleasant conversation with a young man who as experience riding long distance. I reach the meditation hall a bit late and I make an internal promise not to mention either the reason of the delay or the locations I went. I want to keep my invisibility as I am late and I feel guilty. We are preparing a big retreat in Monterrey and I wish not to distract the attention from the organization details. My personal biking performances have to remain hidden as far as I can.

The lesson: what I have learned? To value the collective endeavor more then the personal achievement. And not to give excuses for our mistakes. And also that my personal relationship with the bike is not over! More adventures to come, for me and Dolores. But still one question hunts me when I do meditation. Was that man Baba itself? My answer is yes and I feel I met at least three times Baba yesterday. My Baba

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

The Perfect Watch

Finally I received a watch. It was long time I had none. Since I lost the cheap one I had before. It was broken and I had it since one year when I exchanged it for a good one. This watch came from Roos that is a dear friend in USA. She sent two watches, one new and this one. I gave the new one to the Dada here in Monterrey that was also without watch and I kept the used one. I wore it with pride and I started to feel the pleasure to possess again the sense of time. It was a short time pleasure. In the morning the watch was exactly one hour late. I set it back on track and everything was back to normal. Next

day I casually noticed that the watch was again exactly one hour late. So strange, it looks like it loses one hour all at once. For three days it behaved like a normal watch than again this morning something happened. I woke up 4:30 in the morning and I was ready by Five o'clock morning meditation. Being in the collective environment of an Ananda Marga Seminar time is a sensitive issue as all the program supposed to be starting on time or they will jam one into the other. So strange! Just 3 people were on time and I started the 5 am program called Painca Janya. Again when the program was over at 5:30 I thought to have an extension of it and I started again for one hour. This time more people where there and good energy was present. Immediately after the yoga class brought me to go in another room and finally I was back for another meditation program that normally starts at 7:30 . It went fine and finally at breakfast one didi (sister that teaches meditation) approached me in a friendly manner and asked me for what reason I started half an hour early and I did twice the same program. It took me some time to figure out that my watch had played a trick. This time he decided to be half an hour fast all of a sudden. This is a really magic watch. It was rescued by Roos at a garage sale for one dollar and I believe it has a soul. The brand is a common one but I will not tell as I wish not to advertise. I promised that I will keep it. I will find the way to understand his ways and make sure it will behave properly as a watch supposed to do. Otherwise I will bring it to a watch psychologist have some analysis done on him. Never had a watch that can go slow and fast as well at its own sweet will. On the path of spirituality we suppose to overcome the bondage of time, place and person. I thought not to have a watch was the best way to overcome the bondage of time, but this one is even better. What a wonderful gift! Thanks Roos, sincerely many thanks and hope to see you soon in USA but when I really don't know, how can I tell?

Sharpy was on strike in the last two days. Only the second lancet was running but there was no sign of advancement in the other two lancets. This time looked carefully and I found that the knob was not perfectly in ... now Sharpy is behaving properly since 6 hours. Will see how she will pass the night. By the way I arrived in San Antonio Texas and I left Dolores (the bike) in Monterrey together with the Peace Tent. Who is with me is only my faithful computer that so far has no scope to get a special name. He just work! I believe that to play with the personality of physical objects helps us to raise our consciousness and realize the fundamental unity among the whole creation. Everything is a living entity although it might not move or react. We are just not able to notice the inner changes and the whole purpose in it. Have you noticed that empty or abandoned houses are more likely to deteriorate faster than the inhabited ones? Is it just for chance? I believe that even houses feel their duty and behave accordingly. For computers I can swear it, I had plenty experiences about their sentimental volubility. For cars there have been even Disney movies. Once I had a car that I used to consider as an old lady with the due respect and care. She never left me on the road. Just because

she was a bit beaten up by the many dears I hit on the road and the lights were not working properly I decided to dismiss her. Yes, there was no way to get it registered and insured in Pennsylvania but when I sold it to a junkyard I think I did a very big mistake and I paid for it as the next car has been a real hustle. Now that I don't have a driving license it seems that I am off from the car engagement. I wish not to get another conventional bike. Something more creative is cooking in my mind ..

Uhren Sep 21, 2010 12:56 AM Every activity needs to be time oriented for people to achieve the goal they want. That is the important of time and watches in every aspect of our lives. Ac. Vimaleshananda Avt. Sep 21, 2010 03:52 PM In the spiritual world I would say yes, 100 % but in the spiritual sphere that sometimes touches my mind and attract me more than anything else time become a fluid entity, it does not obey anymore to the physical laws. Yet I am very happy that now the watch works properly as well as the computer that I am using for writing this comment. Only I don't want to cry or loose balance when for any good reason the material world gets into dust or thin air. My goal is not in the material world, true happiness has nothing to do with time, space and person; it is beyond the relative factors.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Tolerance
Writing about tolerance. Why? To be able to tolerate more! Why? Why not to react and vent our anger or frustration? What is the purpose of waiting a bit more, just a bit more ... Memories float in my mind about incidents and people who showed a special kind of tolerance that is in the form of enduring pain. In training center I was massaging regularly Dadaji who had continuous neck pain. I had pain in the thumbs as he requested "hard" pressure.

So I decided to make a test. I asked mentally to the "One who knows all" to let me experience the same pain. It started and I could endure it just for 5 minutes. I decided it was better to continue doing massage and let him do the rest. Once a reporter asked to Rev. Desmond Tutu about the best quality of leadership. He thought a while and then he answered sacrifice the capacity to endure pain and he gave the example of Nelson Mandela who could endure not to hate his enemies during the long years of prison. It was long time that I didn't experience constant pain. No stop, day and night and particularly annoying when you wake up for the new day. Why this is happening again? Is it going to be my life for now on? Maybe yes, and I will have to continue fighting from killing it or I will die. Pain is such a good trainer. If we can just avoid to give it away or find a culprit for it. Once before giving a physical punishment my Beloved Baba asked to one worker if he wanted to receive the caning on one side or on both sides. The worker was puzzled and Baba explained that it is better on both sides so it become half on one spot. It is called pain management. Today I am enduring one day more the pain not to have the guitar to play. Little pain you may think and it is true but when it is on the top of other frustrations it is just ... the salt of life. The smile with grinning teeth and the determination to keep going no matter what, standing in one place and facing one direction. I remember again my trainer telling me personally DON"T JUMP and he was meaning not only physically but above all mentally. Don't shut off when you are confronted by two different opposing ideas or opinions. Don't jump from the pan into the fire as it is commonly told at least among Italian folks. Don't close the door of dialogue taking short cut decisions that you may regret. In one more word DON'T QUIT Tolerance is not just an end in itself. It will come the time when proper measures will be available and solutions will end the problem. Actions are possible but the timing is not always in our hands. Sometimes patience for justice is needed. In the evolution of human consciousness we are just grain of sand in the desert. Let the wind make the changes, not our little will. And I relax giving more time for my meditation and letting worries forget what they were worrying about.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2010

Writing on motivation you get motivated!

Is it so? Yes, I decided to investigate around motivation and I am starting from the wording: motivation comes from motive. Motive means both a purpose and a theme like for an ornamental motive. Is it different from inspiration? Yes and no. Inspiration supposed to come from inside and motivation supposed to be something external. In reality I found them used both without distinction as motivation is more and more recognized as an internal affair. Yet you use the term motivational speaker and not inspirational speaker. And this article wishes to be an inspirational writing, maybe better if it can even be an inspired writing. It will be inspired for me and inspirational for you. So, we have already solved the problem! To motivate people you need to be inspired and this is completely an internal matter. Who am I looking when I write something inspiring? Do I look to you as a target? Do I look for an audience or a market? No. I look to my true self in whatever way I can find it or get in touch with.

I saw a video of Steve Jobs giving an inspirational talk to college students and starting with the following personal truth: "I was a drop out from college after six months ..." My take is that it seems to be very inspiring and motivational when we can tell the truth about ourselves no matter who is listening, without any second purpose. Dreams that come true When I was four years old I always wanted to go to the train station to see the trains. Age five I was asked what I wanted to be when I would become adult. "The train station head master" was my answer with its characteristic red hat and blue suit. Well, as you may know, I ended up as a monk in full orange suit top to bottom. Did I miss my dream? Maybe spirituality changes the dreams or with another word, changes our destiny. At the same age I had a recurrent dream where I was in San Francisco on a trolley red bus and I was entering from the window instead of from the door. It was a very happy dream that I used to have every night. Few years back I went actually to San Francisco by bike in a cold and windy day looking for my trolley bus and I could not find it. Maybe I didn't look well enough but more rationally I would conclude that things change with time and dream fulfilling does not really provide a purpose for my life.

Then, what motivate me to run like crazy without stopping crossing Himalayan obstacles and forgetting anything else? LOVE and to be more specific, the embodiment of what I believe is love. If I believe that love is my girlfriend ... I will run in that direction. If I believe that love is my Guru ... I will run to meet Him. If I believe that love is my duty ... I will not compromise with anything else until I can fulfill it. If I believe that love is my enemy ... I will love him until it becomes my friend. What I identify as embodiment of love makes anything else fade and disappear. Did I write something "true" or it is just my own illusion? Am I the only guy on this planet to believe what I wrote or it makes sense also for others? Who cares! Everything else fades away and disappear. So for motivation the most important factor is to identify what is your love, what is worth to die for, and then ... RUN FOR IT! Now as a monk I choose God as my only love. And I run for it! In the inner and in the external world. In the inner world I fight to clear my mind from any second thought. In the external world I fight to manifest and express that happiness that I find inside. "When you are happy, the whole world is happy". This is so true for me at least as I don't keep division between my inner world and what I manifest outside. If I am sad, I am gloomy outside. Anybody can tell and read my mind. So I learned that my motivation is no more dependent on how I feel. It should not change with the mood or with the ups and downs that we are bound to experience. With what I achieve or nor achieve and, of course, with money or without money. Singing Baba Nam Kevalam on a city bus in Ottawa I want to reach the place where I will be getting back my passport with the Indian Visa. I feel really inspired. Seems to be true! "Writing on motivation I get motivated!" Getting into the flow

My investigation continues. On the bus I interview a young student sitting beside me I ask him what motivate him most. Here is the answer: "When I am late I run like crazy. I don't like procrastination. When I am late I work very

hard. The pressure helps me to work harder. I think that it is bad because there are other motivations to do good work. Creating your own ethics, making your own values. To follow those values supposed to be the real motivation. The motivation to do good or well. It get ambiguous as it depends on the definition of what good or well is ..." Then I asked him where to go in Montreal for a few hours I had to wait between buses. He indicated a park but after walking quite a bit it revealed to be too far to reach. So I stopped in Mc Gill University looking for one specific Sanskrit scholar that I knew since I was in Philadelphia. I went in several departments and it was easy to conclude that he was not working in that University. Finally I decided to phone the person and a gentle African boy from Kenya allowed me to make contact through his cell. He accompany me to his house and he learned meditation while I was able to see my friend in the little spare time I got before proceeding by bus towards New York. As I got on the bus more reflections came up. What happens if you lose your "love"? What happens if your "love" is in danger? These, I considered, are the types of dynamics that keep the "lover" highly motivated. He will do all that he or she can in order not to get separated from his "love". Consider as an example when "love" is money. What things people do when their money is in danger? And if "love is an ideal" what people do in order to uphold their ideals. And if "love" is a person, what people do in order to protect your kin. And if "love" is life, what people do when their life is in danger.

And what happens if your "love" is death? Seems absurd but in certain places like Mexico or India death is honored and regarded like God. I don't have an answer to this question right now. I think I got to a crux point for finding something important related to spirituality in its essence although I can't get it right now.

What is death? What represents? In my case I love to be in trouble, to be in danger. Consciously or unconsciously I am running after death. Why? Because my Lover is going to save me! This is what motivates me most. Here the parts are getting reversed. For making the Lord happy I get in trouble and then He is bound to run like crazy in order to save me. So far He did it! I think it makes sense although not everybody may choose this type of relationship with their "love".

But, what am I really tapping into? Into the survival instinct, using that energy for overcoming any obstacle. Do or die, no middle way. Either you make it or you break it. This is the ultimate motivator. Once the mind is set on such path, action can't fail, it is

bound to succeed. "Either we won as a team, or we die as individuals" are the words pronounced by Al Pacino in his motivational speech to his football team. And I found myself running from place to place, from town to town in order to meet my love. I believe this is Tantra, this is life, and this is everything.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2010

Life Space in Philadelphia

Coming to Philadelphia after long time I use the time on the bus to create an idea. Better, a manifestation of an idea. I remember having the desire to manage a bookstore in order to create a physical space for Ananda Marga where margi could have collective meditation at least once a week and at the same time enough finance to rent a small space to live. Actually such model is not working for an acarya that moves now and then or rather travels a lot. This time I want to start from the creation of an idea able to generate utilization, a service for society able to stand with or without the support of Ananda Marga community. There are maybe five people in Philadelphia that do meditation with Ananda Marga. There is no use to drain their finances in order to establish a business or rent a space. We have to find something that directly contributes to the welfare of the community at large. Now, the idea is already there. I have already expressed it in the last writing. It is motivation. So I start by creating a "mental space" , a place where the mind can express creativity , intuition and higher qualities and pursuits that we all have hidden inside us. I start with the name - "Life Space in Philadelphia" and I attach to it a purpose - "Motivation Research Center".

Then I start to imagine which activities can be done in such a center and the first I come with is "Motivational Training". What is motivational training, what is the goal of it? CREATING PURPOSE IN LIFE. It is a form of leadership training where we focus first on our self. Why is needed?

Because it counteracts that depression that inset particularly in youths when they cannot connect what they are doing in society with a worthy purpose of making the effort to live. Does "Life Space in Philadelphia" have a physical space? Maybe not necessarily. It is a collective life force that first should be created. Then this collective force can be directed through purposeful activities like: cause driven fund raising motivational events motivational courses alternative spring breaks for colleges Let us analyze the paradigm shift that we are actually generating. From the old paradigm of money security and money accumulation as purpose for directing the vital energy we all have towards its expression in society to a new paradigm where the motivation is centered on the DIRECT UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES generating more fun, more challenges and overall more and more happiness.

And, as we are researching on motivation we are bound to produce, to generate, to propagate a huge wave of motivation. A huge wave of HAPPINESS. How to materialize this idea, how to dress it in such a way that it can conquer and establish its place in the economic society? Maybe a cooperative of young people able to generate enough funds for their studies. Many young people are willing to do any job in order to have enough money to pay for the consistent expenses of student life. Sometimes they are so overwhelmed by such responsibility that they lose the main purpose of studying and passing exams. Life Space in Philadelphia can not only offer purpose to their lives but also generate jobs. A new type of work force driven by higher ideals.

It took me one hour to pour down this material from my mind. To create a purpose I can rush for in my brief visit of one day in Philadelphia. Now I look forward to reach the bus station where a margi is waiting. See what happens!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2010

Washington DC
One page of the diary should I tear it apart? Just because it does not look nice should I erase its memory? I look at the sky I bike around the town I color my mind with the beauty and I feel content, I changed the world Bad news I got I step out from them They are outside me I don't open the door Protecting my mind I leap forward a new horizon a new dream of wellness Rolling over the stream of life I pick up flowers and let the tenderness win over the hard reality Time will tell who is the best actor the clown or the king the beauty or the beast.

Philadelphia was a very nice page of diary and it is already turned, so quickly indeed. Now DC is all another story. Coming to the edge of the cliff I don't know how to fly. Really, the ticket for India does not appear and I sit in contemplation waiting for a sign. A bike again appears and I stroll around the neighborhood. What can I tell, how can I tell, this is the time to test if motivation really works and keeping balance the mind I rest

the body from the uninterrupted hopping since Ottawa to here. From Washington there is a bike trail up to Pittsburgh that I dreamed to when I saw it on the map. A biking expert is coming tomorrow in the place where I stay. Time for more poetry, a cup of tea, a nice kiirtan and sleep.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2010

Coming the end of the road I had to fly

Of all parts of a house I consider the bathroom the most sacred. Of course it is also the most secret but I mean sacred in the sense that I feel freer. I don't think it is only for me. We sing under the shower, we feel that in the bathroom nobody see us so we can be our true self. We are naked sometimes and this again brings us in contact with a reality that is often covered by clothing and make-ups that are both physical and mental. So ... I will tell you what happened this morning in the bathroom that gave me a lot of inspiration.

Hopping from one place to another I lost almost all my orange cloths. I remained with only one set and I had to borrow from my host in Washington DC. Now that I am going ahead to another place I had to wash his cloths and use mine. I handed up in the bathroom without a towel and no cloths to dry when I was out of the shower. In such a case what to do? Use the towel of somebody else? Maybe but it is not the best for the sake of somebody else and also for your own. I looked around the bathroom in search of a solution and it was there. Paper towels! Why not! I used a strip and with my delighted surprise I could use again by squeezing them over and over. I got so happy! I didn't break social rules. I didn't break my own rules of conduct. I proved to myself that when there is the will there a way. In the small or in the big things. Bathroom remains my preferred place not only in a house, the place where I go to take decisions.

One time I was in an airport and at the time of flying I went to the counter. They found that my passport was expired. They told me that i could not fly. There was no point to argue. I took my luggage and I went to the public bathroom. I took my time, set the mind at ease and finally one idea came. Let us wait a bit and maybe the same person will go away and I will be able to try again. I went out of the bathroom and when I

approached again the counter there was not the same person any more. This time they overlooked the expiration date on the passport and I was able to fly. Of course I renewed the passport when I reached destination but I made it without breaking any rule or forcing any situation.

Rules are rules but the application always changes from time, place and person. And, of course , we can always change the rules but it takes a bit of time too. Our mind should not be disturbed by the contrasting interpretations of rules, scriptures, facts and manmade realities. Halloween is not a reality, this is obvious. But also Christmas, Passover and any tradition are not realities. Are traditions. In old times masses where given in Latin language. Then local languages became accepted. Religions change, adapt in order to survive. Human beings also change, adapt in order to survive. Eventually change and discard their body when it does not work anymore. In this perspective to fight and hold on matter and properties is so petty.

Once I borrowed a watch from one of my fellow monks. Finally I got hold of mine and instead of returning his watch I returned mine mocking like it was the same watch. He got a fit. Finally I returned his watch with excuses because he could not get it. His mind was not ready to surrender to a change made as a joke. It is tough to be monk because nature itself plays this type of tricks in the physical and in the mental sphere.

Suppose you sleep in one place where there was a person thinking something and you wake up with some thought that are not yours. You have exchanged your thoughts with another person. You have traded a piece of mind. My experience is that it is much more dramatic as a change then to change your house or the property of your personal belongings. You are partially another person and your life may change according to the changed thoughts you have. Now, think about what happen when you argue with somebody. I believe that arguing is actually a very sane behavior in order to balance our mind and it should be regarded as socially acceptable even if it done at loud voice with theatrical movements. Of course I am Italian and I have witnessed unbelievable dramas but there was no blood, no painful consequences, court cases and all these type of stuff that really harms society making walls over walls between humans.

One time one couple told me that they were fighting physically some times. I inquired about who was winning and they told that they were even. NO PROBLEM! But not in

front of the children. Have a nice match in the forest and come back relaxed and satisfied. Recently I was thought that very lesson from another monk that cornered me in the act of escaping from arguing directly instead of involving a third party. And I had to argue in front of the third party and finally give up my ego and accept his point. I really don't like court cases and layers and all that stuff that is put in the middle of sane human relationships. No matter who wins society loses. It becomes addictive. For anything people go to court, for a parking ticket, for a quarrel in their bedroom. My solution is always the same ... Take your time, go to the bathroom, wait that the person in the charge change the mind and come back. Forget and forgive right away. Enjoy the drama, don't become a victim.

So ... I got my ticket to India and Biking for Consciousness may proceed across the ocean. Thanks for your support. We have still a long ride to do. Fast the seat belts or hold to the saddle. We are going to hop more together.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010

India is changing very fast

Arriving to the airport in New Delhi offers the first surprise. It is no more the same airport. It is a brand new airport built aside the old one facility. Still I walked my way to get a cheap minibus towards center and buses are now mostly air condition and comfortable. No more use to get the usual three wheelers. I ventured to the train station to get to Varanasi. After getting a normal ticket without reservation I was cutting the

queue in order to get in the general compartment. I didn't cut the line on purpose but I was first reprimanded and then advised to get in the air condition compartment and ask permission to the train ticket controller for receiving the permission to stay there. And so I approached TT (Train Ticket Controller) who consented without asking for any compensation. A police officer came trying to remove me from the place I took and again the TT made sign to seat there. It was a special grace as general compartment is still so crowded that it might be not possible to survive without special training.

I arrived in Varanasi and I had to take an auto rickshaw that was expensive, more then I wanted to pay due to the usual extremely restricted financial resources. The driver let me use his cellular for calling and get the exact directions. Finally he instructed me to go in another place where I could get a shared auto rickshaw with a considerable less expenditure. Although it was a shared auto it happened that he brought me at the entrance of the Brothers Training Center of Ananda Marga in Cittaipur. Entering there I was overwhelmed by the brightness of the faces of the young trainees, one is 16 years old. Shining spiritual charge they work very hard waking up at 3.45 am and going to bed around 11 pm. In this season they are harvesting rice under the sun and they are selfsufficient in food. One of them cooked for me for three days and it was rice mix with vegetable in the morning with one apple, vegetables from the garden in the day and chapati with little vegetables in the evening. I restricted myself from taking any sweet and milk and my health improved dramatically. From Varanasi to Ananda Nagar in West Bengal where I arrived after a lengthy trip due to train delay. Spending 6 hours on the platform in Varanasi was a test of patience. I did some drawing with charcoal that had taken from one kind margi in Washington DC. Yes,

my luggage was and is still reduced beyond limits. This allowed me to get a ride of jeep from Ananda Nagar to Ranchi in no more than two minutes. Ananda Nagar is a development project of Ananda Marga where coming end of December there will a huge congregation of people for attending a kind of spiritual festival that we call DMS (Dharma Maha Sammelan). I wish everybody to experience such an event where up to 30.000 people sing and meditate together for three days. Everything else is what we call "adjustment" including food, utilities, dust and Indian language. A well is in construction for giving water that is always a scarce resource in that area. We are in the middle of one of the poorest areas of the planet where I witnessed ladies collecting the excrement of the cows in a basket. They stay behind the cows that move along the road or in the nearby pasture and react quite vocally if with your car you step on one of the "cakes". It is their survival and fuel for the kitchen.

Biking? I have still to do it . I just posed on a classical Indian bicycle that is characteristic for being without any wire. Generally they don't have gears but they are for long lasting ownership. There are some logistic obstacles for riding long distance and so far I don't feel comfortable to do a long distance trip or tour. I think it is better in group with some preparation. Is anybody interested to visit India soon? I wish to come here with a group and to do something concrete for Ananda Nagar. It is a paradise on earth if you have spiritual inclination. Long meditation is the best way to enjoy there and I did it waking up in the night due to jet leg and meditating on the floor in the room I was staying for hours before getting up as usual for the five a.m. meditation with the other people there. Now from Ranchi I am going back there in Ananda Nagar for the last spiritual shot

before coming back to New York. I would stay longer but I can't escape from my duty that is in North and Central America and not in this incredible India. This morning I wake up laughing after the usual day of fasting without water. I don't remember the dream but it should have been a very funny one. Please don't wait any longer to come to India, it is changing very fast, fortunately or unfortunately, beyond our control. And if you don't hear from me anymore for any reason you will know where to find me ... in Ananda Nagar (City of Bliss).

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2010

Neo-Humanism
Still in India? Somehow yes. Circumstances forced to prolong my stay up to the end of the month. There has been a request to present "Neo-Humanism" as a topic for one conference. So I started to prepare it and what I am going to write is part of it. Neo-Humanism is a new philosophy given by Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar in order to bring humanity towards spirituality. It can be explained briefly as love not only for human beings but also for animals, plants and even for the so called inanimate world. Easy to say, difficult to put in practice. The implications of this philosophy once it is brought in the social outlook implies several habits that are: - Vegetarianism in the sense that you don't take the life of your loved animals when you can live eating the fruits of the land. - Ecology in the sense that the love you have for the inanimate world bring you to a

conduct where you want the welfare of the planet in its physical aspects - Fraternity in the sense that you are not allowed to hate anyone or anything - Holistic life in the sense that you experience the interconnection with all beings The concept is simple; the application of neo-humanist philosophy is far reaching, first of all in education and in the school where you wish to mold a new generation really loving for all and everything. Ananda Marga schools all over the world are based on the neo-humanistic philosophy. So said it would seem that the topic is over! A bit of historical research gave me a completely new way to see neo-humanism and I got really excited. Being in India it is actually an advantage in this regard because we are talking about Indian history in particular spanning from around year 1000 to 1500 A.C. What happens is that some saints where deeply loving God in such a way that they were no more able to distinguish the difference between humans, animals, plants and inanimate world. In the Christian tradition we find Saint Francis of Assisi, in the Vaisnava tradition in India we find Caetanya Mahaprabhu and many others that came before him. To tell you frankly those saints cannot be personal property of any religion, they went beyond and they were normally persecuted by the priests or rulers of their time. Caetanya was fighting against a Mogul emperor. Ramanujacharya was persecuted by a Chola king that was Shaevita or followers of Shiva. Saint Francis had mainly to fight against the conventions of the Italian bourgeoisie and a bit against the Pope too. So this philosophy of neo-humanism although is based on an all-encompassing love implies the capacity to endure struggle and fight mentally and physically against those forces that don't accept such expansion of human love. It is a huge step further from the humanism that was dominating in the New Renaissance period in Europe and in other parts of the world. In that period the center of the world was the human being in its refined expressions of arts and science. Religion was inimical and humanism took a relatively atheist outlook. But for Neo-humanism we have the exaltation of the spiritual cult bringing a deeper understanding of religiosity considered generally as love for God. Neo-humanism can't be atheist. It is the realization of God in everything and within us. It is really the core philosophy of Ananda Marga. If I had to teach neo-humanism to a child I would start from watering the plants. This simple act is a landmark for the minimum care plants require. Once I was requested to bath a dog with proper shampoo and it was quite an experience too. One time I cleaned with a sponge a drunkard who was lying in a street of a city in South America. Recently I saw one of my fellow monks giving attention at the train station to a lady who was covered by bubbles and blisters to a point that people including myself had difficult to look at. These I believe are example of that love that comes from a neo-humanistic

outlook. Telling the truth I am just on the path. The expansion of love is a transforming agent; it requires some courage and determination. One day it will become more natural, for me and for all.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Neo Humanist Education

Slowly some information are licking out. The conference where I have to present the Neo-Humanist philosophy is not exactly a conference. It is more likely a public meeting with several known personalities of the political and movie world as honorable guests. The topic is confirmed, particularly directed for the applied side. What is called NeoHumanist Education. It seems also that I can't escape and I decided to write a 10 minutes discourse, drawing from the one delivered by Swami Vivekananda when he came to Chicago on September 11 - 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions. He started by saying: "Sisters and Brothers of America, It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects." Namaskar. I greet you as I learned to greet anybody in this world. I greet you as my brothers and sisters." I salute the divinity that is within you, with all the strength of my mind and the warmth of my heart". Namaskar. First of all I have to say that I love India. I love India as well as I love USA. I love India as well as I love Italy, the country where I was born. My love, I believe, has expanded beyond the periphery of frontiers. Unnatural divisions that cannot contain anymore the overwhelming desire for human beings, all over the world, to be one entire universal family. This human sentiment, where you can't see the difference between nation and nation, between one color or another, between one sex or another, between one expression or another in this beautiful creation is called: "Neo-Humanism" It was defined by Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, the Founder of Ananda Marga, with the

following words: "All molecules, atoms, electrons, protons, positrons and neutrons are the veritable expressions of the same Supreme Consciousness. Those who remember this reality, who keep this realization ever alive in their hearts, are said to have attained perfection in life. They are the real devotees. When this devotional process does not remain confined to a mere practice, but instead is elevated to a devotional sentiment, a devotional mission, to the realm of devotional ideation -when the underlying spirit of humanism is extended to everything, animate and inanimate, in this universe - I have designated this as "Neohumanism". This Neohumanism will elevate humanism to universalism, the process of love for all created beings of this universe. " Now the question arises - where is possible to learn such love? Where is possible to imbibe people with such a universal sentiment of love? Where to start with such a fundamental task? The answer is - at school! All Ananda Marga schools are engaged in forming people according to the ideals of Neohumanism, starting from an early age - kindergarten and primary schools. The way that we teach such everlasting ideals we can call it - Neo Humanist Education. It is a well-balanced combination of eastern and western approach to life. God loving and pragmatic. God loving in the tradition of Gurukula and all the saints that have walked and are still walking on this blessed land of India Pragmatic that means rationale and utility bound in the tradition of the humanist philosophers of the west including John Dewey that is still a landmark for all the curricula in the system of education of the United States. Learning by experience. Learning while doing. In the Eastern way we have - learning by example - by modeling - by copying - by absorption - by meditating on the Supreme Truth It is also called subjective approach. In the Western way we have - learning by experience - by endeavor -by challenge - by trial and error It is also called objective adjustment. Ananda Marga reflects such a complete philosophy of life: subjective approach and objective adjustment - In its motto: Self-realization and Service to humanity We are all engaged in this process of creating a better human society. More loving, more

universal in principles and practice. More fit for a new generation that has already out past many of the systems, both political and social, we are still clinging upon. Thanks you all - Thanks to our progenitors and thanks to that Creator that is the Father of all. Namaskar

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2010

Dholak

Dada Pryadevananda is playing dholak quite well. Dholak is a traditional Indian musical instrument that looks plain and simple. It is a drum with two sides, one with a smaller circumference and one with a bigger one. But when it comes the time of playing it it is a different story. It is not easy at all to play it in a nice way. It cannot be beaten like an African drum. It has different sounds according to the place you hit and the way you use the hand and the fingers. Those who know how to play dholak can give lots of colors to the music. In Kiirtan, spiritual chanting and playing, it is not the melody that leads, it is the chhanda - the rhythm you create in order to uplift the mind.

After one day journey in general compartment on the train from Bokaro Steel City to

New Delhi your wits can't be so high. Half an hour before reaching the New Delhi station three young ladies came up and started to sing folk songs accompanied by the sound of the dholak. They were singing and playing in such a way that the whole train got awakened with a new life. Of course they were collecting money and if you were not giving it they were going to give you trouble by taking your things. But that was also part of the drama that erased completely the tiredness of one day travel. That motivated me to learn how to play dholak.

Dholak is not a costly instrument compared to a guitar for example. In my constant draught of money I cannot afford one at present but I wish to bring one back in USA. In India dholak is more common than tabla and it has the advantage that it can be carried around and played even while walking. Somehow I got captivated by the image of those Indian Saints who walked the streets of India doing Kiirtan in order to resist the dominance of the Moguls and other foreign forces. They could keep alive India in its core value of spirituality while in order places including China, Russia and the all Americas the local people and traditional values have been wiped out.

In my train experiences I wish to mention about a very particular type of people that you may come across. They are eunuchs and they have a very distinct behavior that I got explained after inquiring for what reason they were beating with the hands the people that were not giving them some money. This is the order of their Guru and they will touch neither Sannyasiis nor ladies. They dress like ladies and they don't beat hard but it is more the shame that create that makes people prone to give them some money in order to remove the nuisance. I wish to restrain from judgment. It is for me part of the colors of this beautiful India that never cease to surprise and amuse.

Whenever I can, I eat with the hands and I refuse to use a spoon even if they offer it to me. I know that my skin color will not change but still until I am in India I wish to be Indian as much as I can. It creates such a different relationship with the people you are in contact with. You learn and understand what you would not other way. You understand for example how Indian food is very cheap compared to western diet, even a vegetarian diet. The result is that my stomach problem has come to an end. Dada

Brahmabodhyananda gave me two exercises for my back. Since I started practicing regularly my chronic back problems have come under control. And of course my meditation is so much better now. I can sit for long time and use the time in a way that is proper for spiritual pursuits.

Meditation like for the dolak requires dedication in order to succeed. They gave me a span of six months to learn the first five basic finger beats of the dolak. I am practicing regularly every morning and also due to that discipline my meditation is improving. What else? Well, two students request me to bless them when I was in the central park lawn in New Delhi called Rajiiv Chock. I did as they asked me, I don't know what will be the result but I placed my hand on their head while they took a picture of the special event. Monks in India are regarded like Gods and it is almost overwhelming. I saw a sannyasin received with a shower of flower petals by a small group of her devotees. As I was walking a white cladded gentlemen asked me financial advices regarding the situation of his family. I told a bit of my story and after that he started to give me some advices. I think that was something rational.

Really east and west have to balance and borrow from each other in order to create an harmonious human society. Next time I come to India I wish to be with a group from America. It will be another drop in the ocean of love we are sharing in this beautiful world.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Cold Shower
Why people sing under the shower? The scientific answer came this morning when I was in the bathroom taking courage for managing the cold water from the bucket. I started singing before touching the water and when the water was splashed on the body I could not feel it because I was hearing what I was singing. It means that normally we engage one sensory organ at a time and if one sensory organ is fully occupied the other get less

sensitive. The whole vital energy is directed in controlling the selected sensory organ and the others remain in the background. Sounds complicated but actually this is the core of pranayama or control of the vital energy, one of the key practices of yoga. Yesterday I received a mental cold shower. The whole balloon of the public conference with the participation of political personalities and movie stars seems to have burst in the air. What liberation! But for the mind it created a sense of vacuum with the question - what to do now? So I started singing and one old idea came again in perspective. The musical instrument bank. Already there was a bent on this side due to the dholak infatuation. Adding to it it came from Dallas the confirmation that I can buy a tabla skin for repairing the big drum. It is just 10 dollars in India and the value of a tabla is many times more. Besides that I feel pain when I see a broken or uncared musical instrument. It is part of my personal neo-humanist sentimental expression. A musical instrument bank is a serious idea that has been implemented in several places in order to give the opportunity to play particularly to children that are living in poor or neglected areas. When I was in Monterrey I wrote a flier in Spanish and now it is time to translate it into English and make a website. Since my first rescue of a musical instrument that was a metal flute That I got in California and donated to Casa Ananda a project for street children in Mexico City - I dreamed several times of making something more than an individual exploit. I hope now it will come into fruition. Cold showers, either physical or mental are a secret of success. In Ananda Marga the mental process connected to these types of events is philosophically called "clash and cohesion". It is fundamental for spiritual practices and social development. It happens all the time but in Ananda Marga it is heightened and seems to be the norm instead of the exception. Challenges, emergencies and any type of calamity come in this perspective as an opportunity for clash and cohesion. If we can deeply understand the nature of this process we can really enjoy life all the time. Ananda Marga loosely translated as Path of Bliss forces us to change, that is also a form of clash and remolds our habits for a better coexistence that is the cohesion part. Yesterday I tried to find an electrical hub for bicycle. I went to the address and after a lot of unfruitful searching some neighbors started to get involved. They called the number I had and finally they could get hold of the person of the company. He answered telling that he was in China and he would have sent a person there. Finally the person appeared from the gate of an anonymous apartment and he told that he was not dealing with electrical bicycles. Only with batteries. Clash ... and I went back still asking around where I can find an electrical hub for bicycles. I searched the internet and it seems that I will be in a better position when I come back to USA where there are several products and suppliers on the market.

The cohesion phase sometimes does not kick in immediately. The capacity to hold on and endure the clash normally gives better results than to try to find a shortcut in order to remove the clash from the mind. We just loose an opportunity for growth. Growth in all the spheres is the net result of the clash - cohesion process.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2010

Bansuri

Bamboo flute in India is also called "bansuri". It is a traditional instrument and it has a flovor of its own. One of the specialties is that it elevates the mind both of the listener and of the performer. It is a highly spiritual instrument and at the same time the most simple and portable one.

The Musical Bank has now 10 bansuri, all pitched on the same note that I purchased at whole sale price. It is a start for the Musical Bank waiting for more instruments to come. It has been a full day in which I visited several music instruments shops talking with several owners. Two of them have agreed to support the project.

In the place of Ananda Marga where I stay the presence of the 10 bansuri have already

created a sensation. Everybody is trying to learn playing. It is not easy at the beginning but I am encouraging them as the more people learn, the better it is for them and for the project too.

It was a long time since I didn't have chance to play bansuri. Since my cherished instrument was lost in the mountains near Tepoxtlan in Mexico in very strange circumstances. It was like the mountain had taken it as an offer to the Gods and I had to surrender it. It was an old bansuri that I rescued by putting glue on a big crack. That is how I developed love for it.

Bansuri is a personal instrument, I don't know how it will work with children playing all together but I want to give it a try. In Mexico there are peripheral areas of the big cities where children have no food and there are organizations who have started kitchens for feeding them. I think it would be great to go there with my bicycle Dolores and a bunch of bamboo flutes to make some sounds together. It can become a unique project and I will try to hold on it until I will be back in Mexico after leaving India.

The same project can be also done with people who are bound to wheelchair and in Monterrey ANVRIDN is ready giving full support to the Musical Bank. The project can also travel to Guatemala and Nicaragua where there are Ananda Marga schools which children will be overjoyed to have musical education at school. These two schools particularly are located in very poor areas. I can see a bright future for the Musical Bank in the entire Centro America. But I am still in India and I expect more things to happen here soon ...

The photo was taken with the help of Tarun and his friends at a tomb site near South Ex in New Delhi where students relax and play cricket. Thanks for the reminder Tarun!

riguto Apr 1, 2011 10:09 PM Hello Orange Biker, I do live in Austria and wants to help to make Ananda Marga better known for others and at the same time for me too. Please let me know how the best to proceed in this case. I am born in Argentina and live in Vienna. I almost forgot, I also play the Bansuri. Blessings Gustavo Ac. Vimaleshananda Avt. Apr 3, 2011 01:01 PM Hello Gustavo, great pleasure to see your post. If you wish to get in direct contact with Ananda Marga you will find email or phones on anandamarga.org Let me know who you get in touch!

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2010

Withdrawal
In spiritual practices the capacity to withdraw our senses from external objects is very important. This is a pre-condition for meditation. Part of yoga science is related to the regulation and control of sensory and motor organs. It is no mystery that when you are able to introvert the mind, you are also able to work better in the external world. Here in India I have more time for practicing yoga and playing musical instruments that help to introvert the mind. Naturally I am now satisfied to stay in one room and I lost the desire to roam around or visit places. So it is in this room that I met Yasser in his last day of visit in India. He is a photographer from Egypt where he is using his profession for social work. I saw his pictures on internet at yasser-alwan.com and I got a bit more curious so we started a conversation on the subject. He normally goes in neighborhoods where people live in an humble way and picture their natural expressions. He doesnt take pictures of people if he don't have chance to know them, to establish a relationship that goes deeper than the skin. When he photographs somebody, he is no more an object; he has become part of his family. Nice expression of a neo-humanist feeling.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

Black cobra
I was dozing off on the train from Delhi to Varanasi when I heard the sound of a noisy flute. I saw a turban and under it a man blowing on a pipe gourd. As he came closer I noticed two other similar men with a small open basket in one hand begging for money. On the top of the canister to my surprise there was a black cobra far from sleeping. Passengers were quick to give money when approached by the man with the cobra. They passed the compartment quite quickly leaving everybody wide awake murmuring about them. The time came that in Varanasi I was requested to give a public presentation as announced before. It came also the surprise that I had to wear a civil suit. In the morning a man entered in the room where I was sleeping and started staring for a good five minutes. Finally he left and soon after I was introduced to him. He had the civil suit that I had to wear, a woolen nice coat and pants. I was rushed to the airport where after two hours waiting in the sun I could not make it anymore. I put first my turban and then

my full orange dress. Five minutes later a cellular call came from the person I had to meet to reaching the public gathering. "Are you in saffron dress?" was his quick question. As soon as I answered yes I had no time to explain further. It was over. No more public gathering. I came back with the same person and that was it. No second chance. Today I put again the civil dress and I am hanging around the town as self- punishment. I believe I did a mistake as I didn't make it through. Not enough neo-humanist feeling and the ego of an orange uniform that I feel so good when I can wear it. In the airport two monks, one Buddhist and the other of some other group where in full saffron escorting their overseas guests. I am looking for a cap and a way to hide my shame.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2010

Dear Guests!
"A lot of towels are washed unnecessarily every day in all the Hotel and Resorts around the world, and how much washing powder burdens our water supplies. Please help us to reduce this wastage and conserve our precious environment by reusing towels when possible. - Towels on the floor or in the bath tub mean: <<Please change them>> - Towels on the holder mean: <<I will use them once again>> A man is shouting in the lobby of a five stars hotel. "I want a single bedroom!" The Hotel receptionist replies politely that the airline is not providing such allowance. He will have to adjust with another passenger. We are around forty sharing the same destiny. A delay of 12 hours on an international flight. At the time of the announcement the general humor is gloomy. Passengers have got all kinds of final destinations and are not happy to say the least, to be thrown in an unknown future, losing connections, appointments, and other fixed engagement. "I suppose to receive an assignment tomorrow at the University" one student tells me. The luxury of the accommodation we receive seems not to pay off the discomfort of the sudden change and one person decides to test the boundaries. He uses the internet WiFi without paying. We are already on the bus when the hotel attendants try to make him pay his due. He refused adamantly telling that the room includes the Wi-Fi use. They pressurize him and he read the rule: "In case of flight delay you are allowed to use telephone and fax". The excuse is very slim but the Hotel people decide not to pursue any further causing a further delay on the bus departure. After the bus starts the same man that wanted a single room attacks verbally the internet surfer telling that it was improper what he did and he would not have done it in his own country. The surfer shut

him off by telling: "We had already an issue between us - please no talk!" As we arrive to the first destination it becomes evident that all further connections have been rescheduled. At the passport check we receive another Hotel slip with a day transit visa. I ask one young person to share the room and we get to know our names. "I am Manash" "I am Dada". In the morning I notice the sign in the bathroom. It is a sign of consciousness for something beyond individual comfort. Proper utilization of resources. "This is PROUT!" I think and I hurry to the lobby for breaking my fast. I ask for lemon and salt to the reception. They usher me in the restaurant where there is a huge buffet including some sliced lemon. My happiness is at top. I can't believe how with all these delays everything I was in need has been provided. Nice showers when I was in need, nice place to rest and meditate. And now the best way to break the fasting that sometimes is so difficult and inconvenient when you are traveling. I ask Manash to use his laptop and write down the blog for today. He takes note of my blog promising to visit it. In the lobby everybody looks much more relaxed. There is no internet here. Is this a secret for happiness? Manash Dec 4, 2010 03:45 PM Hello Vimaleshananda! I've just checked your blog after finally settling down after the many lengthy delays on my return trip from Delhi to Los Angeles. Imagine my pleasant surprise to find my name mentioned here in the recount of your journey. It was a real pleasure to meet you, and i appreciate your introduction into the way of Ananda Marga. Though I'm unsure of whether or not I will pursue involvement with your organization, I'm positive that I will practice meditation in my everyday life as a way to get in touch with my spirituality. Keep running towards that goal! love, Manash

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010

Folktales
Passing from the warm India to the cold USA has been this time quite traumatic. Body could not make it and I had to surrender to be sick and be patient too. Few medicines started to come and I took them but they didn't work very much. I was on the point to go to hospital for making some exams when I remembered of a remedy for parasites that I used to take called Wormwood Black Walnut. I started to take it and even if I don't have

parasites, I believe that the remedy is working well. So now I am getting better. Yet the cure is not complete and for the mental part I am taking another remedy: reading folktales! Ooh, it is just amazing therapy. I let my mind travel as I would be in those legendary or imaginary places where magic works and people can also fly without an airplane. It is so relieving! In one folktale from Ethiopia a woman has to get three whiskers from a lion. The man who tells the story is able to talk and command the hyenas like they were his pets. And he call the hyenas by name as he recognizes them. Mekete is also from Ethiopia and he is a volunteer in the office of AMURT where I am in Washington DC. He prepared Italian pasta for both of us and it was not only good. It was the right remedy. So today that I am expecting some people to come for meditation I will prepare Italian pasta with tomato and black olives. Really the difference between India and USA is that in India you are never alone. Always you eat with somebody and you share your place and your things. Here I found folktales the best way to be in company and communion with the world. The wise woman's stone A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the wise woman's bag, admired it, and asked the wise woman to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life. But a few days later he came back searching for the wise woman. When he found her, he returned the stone and said, "I have been thinking. I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back to you, in the hope that you can give me something much more precious. If you can, give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone".

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2010

The Lion's Whiskers - an Ethiopian Folktale

Bizunesh, a woman of the Ethiopian highlands, married Gudina, a man of the lowlands. Gudina's first wife had died of a fever, and he had an eight-year old son whose name was Segab. When Bizunesh went to the house of Gudina, she quickly saw that Segab was a very sad boy because he missed his mother so much.

In only a short time Bizunesh grew to love Segab as if he were her own son, and she tried to be a good mother. She mended all of Segab's clothes and bought him new shoes. She asked him what foods he liked best, and she always saved the choicest pieces of meat from the wat for Segab. But Segab did not thank her. He would not even look at her or talk to her.

Bizunesh and Segab were often alone together because Gudina was a merchant who traveled with mule caravans to distant places. Bizunesh worried that Segab would be lonely and tried especially hard to please him when his father was away. "I have always wanted a son," Bizunesh told Segab. "Now God has given me one. I love you very much." Often she tried to kiss him. But always Segab would turn away from her, and once he shouted, "You are not my mother. I do not love you."

One day Segab ran away from the house and hid in the town market until his father came and found him. When Segab returned home, Bizunesh tried to take him in her arms, but he pulled away from her. He would not touch the bowl of delicious soup she had saved for him. Bizunesh cried all that night.

In the morning Bizunesh went to the hut of a famous wise man. She told the wise man about her new stepson who refused to love her, no matter how hard she tried to please him.

"You must make me a magic love powder," Bizunesh told the old man. "I will put it in Segab's food, and then he will love me."

The wise man was silent for several minutes. "I can do what you ask," he said at last. "But to make such a powder, I must have three whiskers from the ferocious lion who lives in the black-rock desert across the river. Bring the whiskers to me, and I will make the powder for you."

Bizunesh could hardly believe her ears. "How can I get the lion's whiskers?" she asked. "He will surely kill me." "I cannot tell you how to get the whiskers," the wise man said to Bizunesh. "That is for you to decide. But I must have them before I can make the love powder." Bizunesh walked sadly from the wise man's hut. She did not sleep a wink that night, but in the morning her mind was made up. Nothing was as important to her as winning Segab's love. She had to try to get three whiskers from the lion even if he ate her. Only then would the wise man make the magic love powder for her.

That very day Bizunesh carried a large piece of raw meat to the black-rock desert. At last she saw the lion standing on a large rock, watching her from a great distance. When the lion jumped from the rock and loped toward her, Bizunesh was terrified. She threw the meat on the ground and ran. Only when she reached the river did she stop and look back. She saw the lion standing over the meat she had dropped. She heard him roar before he began to eat.

Two days later Bizunesh went again to the black-rock desert with a big piece of meat. She saw the lion watching her from the same rock. This time she walked closer to him before the lion jumped down and started toward her. Bizunesh stood still for a moment and watched the lion approach. Then her fear overcame her, and she threw the meat down and ran. When she looked back, she saw the lion eating.

On the following day Bizunesh walked even closer to the lion. This time she placed the meat on the ground and walked slowly away. Before she had gone far she stopped and watched as the lion came and ate the meat.

Day after day Bizunesh came closer. Finally, she left the meat only a hundred feet from the lion. The great beast growled, but Bizunesh did not think it sounded like an angry growl. She moved only a few steps away before she stopped and watched the lion eat.

The next day Bizunesh left the meat fifty feet from the lion and stayed while he came and ate.

Then a few days later Bizunesh walked right up to the lion and handed him the meat. Her heart pounded with fear, but her love for Segab was so great that she did not run. She watched the lion's great jaws fly open! Crash shut! She heard the sound of his teeth tearig through the meat. After a moment she reached out with a very sharp knife and cut three whiskers from the lion's muzzle. The lion was so busy eating that he didn't not even notice.

Bizunesh ran all the way to the wise man's hut. She was out of breath, but she was still able to shout, "I have the lion's whiskers!" She waved them in front of the old wise man. "Now make me the love powder, and Segab will surely love me."

The wise man took the lion's whiskers. he looked at them and then handed back to Bizunesh. "You do not need a love powder," he told her, "You have learned how to approach the lion - slowly. Do the same with Segab, and he will learn to love you." --------Personally I heard a similar story from a story teller in Pennsylvania who was performing near Montrose,PA. Bizunesh role was this time with a wife who had his husband coming back from Vietnam in a completely jaded form. And she had to kindle again the flame of life and love in his heart. And she did the same, little by little. There is no magic in this world more than pure love.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

Service in the shadow

Clark is heading for Nicaragua for his winter holidays. The long waited two weeks of break will be spent at the school facilities in a remote town near the border with Honduras where Clark goes every year to help together with other friends. This service is not done in name of an organization. Neither it is waved on the newspaper. It is just a matter of friendship and commitment. A relationship started and kept going year after year. In The Global Coordination Office of AMURT and AMURTEL there is always work. The Gift Catalog collects funds for the projects supported by AMURT and AMURTEL allover the world. Vicky is volunteering with her heart and brain well together. She checks from the office and from home any related paper work need to be done. It is the necessary behind the screen work that keeps service alive in the frontline. I collected some children toys from a house of a friend promising to bring them to Central America and share with the children. Once done I started biting my fingernails. Really I can't carry even a drop more of my cloths and I get back pain. What to do now? If I bring it back my friend will feel hurt. If I give to Good Will I will break my promise. I kept those toys in sight asking Vicky for advice. She told me to keep them there so eventually they will find a new owner. Clark was packing in the morning and I asked him advice too. "I can bring them to Nicaragua." Sure! The most obvious miracle of the day was completed. I don't want to go to the doctor. It is like raising a white flag. Clark gave me few natural remedies and I struggle to take them. But he also told me like a real doctor "no icecream" and that is simply not possible. I am bound to remain sick either physically or mentally for the rest of my life. So I turned to my old trusted remedy: ping pong! Even after selling the table tennis table and cashed 300 dollars that will be most probably for the ticket to Guatemala, I can't remove the need and craving for a good ping pong workout with some Chinese player. Riding the bicycle on the Millennium Trail I reach the Thomas Farm Community Center. At the front desk I fight to get the resident rate and not the visitor one. It is just two dollars difference in money but it is the difference between "Welcome" and "Stranger" in my own self. They grant me the resident pass and Simm who was playing basketball come out. He can play ping pong with me. "Where are you from?" I ask as a form of introduction - "From China" Of course, no miracle happens half way. Prince joins the ping pong table. He is from Guyana. He plays good. He was a champion in his college days. Now he do life skills coaching for living. At eighteen during a trip in

China with the volleyball team he "ducked" and remained in China for two years. He complains about the young people that don't want to give the time to learn the "fundamentals" in basketball. I watch him on the court while recovering from the sores of the ping pong workout. He moves the feet like a dancer and the ball like a juggler. As a fight starts between two players he immediately put his body and hands in the middle and avoids the worst. As he comes out I ask his age - 55. Is he doing service? Yes, like an angel. And I continue blogging in the name of "Biking for Consciousness" at dadavima.blogspot.com - 24 friends who receive the updates. I love to do it! I just love it.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2011

The story of the hand

After a long time it didn't happen, this morning a story came to mind after meditation. ---There was a hand that was living at the bottom of the ocean. It had five fingers like any hand but it was dark in the deep of the sea. The fingers could not see each other. They could only feel the unity with the hand and the nurturing flow of the blood within it. One day a big earthquake shook the bottom of the sea. The hand was freed from the corals where it was living and came afloat with the palm in the water and the fingers sticking out in the sun. After some time, coming out of the blindness, the fingers started to recognize each other and introduce themselves. "I am the thumb, I am fat and strong, I am pleased to meet you my friends." "I am the index, I point always right, my pleasure to see you guys." "I am the middle finger. I am the longest among us. It is nice to enjoy the sun together." "I am the ring finger, the ring bearer, nice to meet you brothers." "I am the little one; they call me pinky and don't know why." And he ducked under the water as he was feeling shy among his mighty brothers. Day one, day two, day three the fingers grow in their distinctions. Lot of tourists started to come to the thumb island attracted by the sandy beaches and beautiful harbors.

Industrious people started to grow factories and towers in the index land. The middle finger went for trade and commerce due to his balanced location. Mines and other riches were found in the ring land. And the little one became a farmer's land with a certain inclination to be flooded from time to time. The fingers became so busy that they gradually forgot to greet each other. They could not talk any more as brothers. Although nurtured by the same blood they thought to be independent and free of any obligation to each other. They started to have separate flags, separate languages and separate governments. One day the fishes and the corals of the blue ocean decided to have a meeting. Living in the bottom of the sea they never lost the consciousness of their profound unity. They felt pity for the hand. The palm still under the water was crying so much for the pitiful destiny of its own fingers. They decided to bring back the hand to live within the corals. The octopus was chosen to execute the decision and with a careful maneuver he embraced the palm with one of his arms and pulled the hand down, very slowly. The waters started to rise gradually and the people living on the fingers had the time to evacuate them. The fingers started to shout help, help thinking that this was the end of the world. Actually it was the end of their ego. Once under the water they felt again the same blood streaming in their core. The octopus set the hand within the arms of a beautiful red coral. The fishes were all watching and nature recovered its balance. And what happened to the humans? Well, they went on other lands and started to appreciate more the gifts they have received, including writing stories and smiling each other with warmth.

P Feb 1, 2011 08:21 AM Greetings! How are you? Where are you in your journey? Hope you are well. I just remembered to look at your blog...that is sad, but I am glad that I did. Thank you for your comment way back in May of 2010. Do you remember me? It is Patty in Vandalia. Did you finish my book? What did you think?

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2011

From Guatemala with love

Since I arrived in Guatemala a strange mania started to develop: plants. Any kind of plant, from flower plants to ornamental and eatable plants. To tell it short I decided to have 500 plants in my place. I went to the neighbors and I started to collect. The first was a rose and they told me to stick it into the ground. So I did it and still I can't believe how it can survive but I am watering it every evening. I planted outside the gate and soon I realized that I had to protect the little plants from the cars. I found few cement blocks on the roof and the improvised fence started to be in place.

My neighbors have a collection of fantastic plants and they have planted also in the burrow where it is said many snakes are there. One of the plants I got is called Tucan from the beautiful and colorful bird. I never saw such a flower before. Then there is a plant that has flowers upside down like little bells. And more and more varieties, hundreds. There is a flower called Vax flower. It is so tiny and it looks like plastic. Eva is my guide in this incredible green tour. She placed this flower among some real plastic leaves and I could not tell what was plastic and what was alive. It is apparently so strange to see dwellings that are surrounded by tin sheets and inside they hide treasures worth of the best botanical gardens. We collect the dirt for planting from a vacancy plot between two houses after asking permission to the passing by owner who is building a house for her daughter. She lives by a eucalyptus tree. Numbers on the houses are just for formality. I ring the bell to purchase few handmade corn tortillas. A lady in a colorful Mayan dress passes me the small packet through the gate of her house. It is two Quetzales that is equivalent of a quarter for 10 small tortillas.

Standing by the corner of a busy junction I wait the bus. Two persons come there making sure that I am not lost. They use to say "Primero Dios" that in English is First God. This is the natural expression like Good Morning or Good Evening. The same form of greeting I hear downtown as well when I try to make my cellular work. I don't regret the delay for having internet on my computer. Ten days in which I had the time to walk around the neighborhood and familiarize with the place. Everybody ask me how long I will be here and my answer is five months. It is said that the Mayan civilization got its decadence because they could not invent the wheel. This time a bicycle seems not to be in view.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011

"Good Hope" School

I was walking in the neighborhood with a banner in my hand looking for pegs to hang it at the Ananda Marga center in Colinas de Minerva - Guatemala. I stopped at the place of a family that received from us a donation of a table and few more little things. I was so surprised when I saw that with the table and few school materials they had improvised a school. When they saw the banner they decided that it was the right size for covering a hole in their play school. I explained that actually I had in mind to put it in my place but they concluded that we could have it in their place and still receive call on the telephone in my place. I could teach English and music as it had been previously planned and come back with the other dada that is the best musician.

So we did and we came back with a name. We called it "School of Hope" and everybody agreed that it was a good name. The father of the family also participated to the first class. There were five of his daughters and one more from the nearby neighbor. They all go to school to the nearby elementary but today the teacher didn't come so we had the perfect time to have our own neo-humanist school. I had brought a small plant for them in a cup with water and they all were very conscious of the necessity to have the roots growing before planting it in the ground. I asked them the name of the plant and one of the students went in the house coming back with the correct name. Everybody was jumping and smiling. The school was a big event and when we started to play the flute all together it became even more exciting. The father decided to call for his own harmonica and displayed a very good talent in local "ranch" songs.

Coming back to the center we contemplated the wall sign dada did in the kitchen where we had to cover the mark left by a kitchen cabinet we removed. It reads "Society is one and indivisible" in Spanish of course. On the banner it is written "Neo-humanist center for the support to the community - cloths, food, education, medical care, yoga and meditation". The children asked me where I will get the funds to buy the food and clothing. I replied that we will collect them. It is more than a school - it is a dream coming true.

At the third English class at the "Good Hope" school the children requested me to move it to the Ananda Marga center. I follow their wishes. It seems that everything happens in a flow. This morning the social promoter of the Municipality stopped to give an invitation for a public meeting of the mayor in the Basketball ground of Colinas de Minerva, our neighborhood. I invited him to visit my place and immediately he fixed an appointment with the community development of the municipality. It seems that the idea of an English and music school is taking foot.

My back has been restored to proper functioning by Bettio, a non-seeing massage therapist. He send me one patient for a spiritual consultation. Don Boni arrived accompanied by an attendant. At 92 years old he was not able to listen properly. So we shared some love together and he told me that Bettio is clairvoyant, he see with other eyes. Don Boni sang a couple of songs on my request and finally he gave me a donation for food.

Rama has been in Ananda Marga since he was 6 years old. He was one of the kids that were taken care by Dada Krpananda as orphans in the history of ananda Marga in Guatemala. Now he is 42 years old and he is grateful to Ananda Marga. he will come every Thursday to teach chess to the kids as he does in other schools. English, music and chess is quite a combination indeed.

Tomorrow I am waiting for a person who wants to learn meditation. He is a volunteer in a center dedicated to the people affected by AIDS. I wish to help and I consider that if the staff learns meditation it will be very beneficial. Well, it is time for my meditation ... I was almost forgetting!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Light like a feather

Prashanta is a margi that lives in the Ananda Marga center in Guatemala City. He works in a shoe factory and on weekends he goes to his town of Solola' near the Atlitlan Lake. He is of Mayan origin as most of the people of his town. I tried to take a picture of him but he quickly hided as he believe that I may steal his soul. This is common among native people and I respect it. This morning he showed me a little plant with green leaves. He told me that this is the dollar plant. It attracts good luck. I got the duty to plant it in the little greenery we are setting up. He showed me another plant that has also green leaves with white spots. He explained me that this is a shade plant that grows very well in the banks where there is a lot of money and it get depressed in the poor houses. Actually our place is materially very poor but maybe he has greater thoughts in mind. At 7 am he leaves the center and he come back at 7. He is never surprised about the changes I am doing at the center. He is completely detached from matter. In the evening he prepares a soup with noodles that I cherish and it is more or less always the same. He lives like a bird, a real feather of human being. He is so light in all his expressions including walking and sleeping. At the same time so wise and full of care. He knows the history of Ananda Marga in Guatemala since the beginning, more then 30 years ago. But he never tells a word until it is necessary to ward off some danger. He never asks or demand for anything. Now that I wish to have more plants he

is happy as he loves plants. He has lots of plants in Solola' and now he is gradually bring some of the offspring here to grow in our place. His mother is very old and it may leave this earth any time. He asked me to keep the telephone upstairs so he can answer in case of need.

This is the only request I received from him so far besides making sure that I close the lock when I go out and I clean the bathroom nicely when I use it and also that I don't leave any light on because he is paying the bills for the center. He is teaching frugality by example and to be sincere I cannot make it to the mark. Sometimes I use the electric pot to make tea that he thinks it uses too much electricity. But it allowed me to use the rice cooker. In any case it is broken now so there is no question about it. In the center there is no warm or hot water and in the morning sometimes it is hard to take bath. Prashanta recommends cold water and if he can make it why should not I? In the kitchen there are some big cockroaches and he kills them but he never think to eliminate them. I appreciate it because when you put poison in the kitchen inevitably it finishes in the food you eat.

This morning I thought that this is a place for a project but it is not good for leaving. Maybe it is true for me but until Prashanta is here I have to follow his example and adjust. I don't lose anything, just a bit of comfort.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2011

Street Children organizes themselves

The visit to the MOJOCA project gave me a boost of optimism. It is a movement of the street children created by Gerard who I met just briefly in their house in the center of Guatemala City. He offered me his hand and I greeted him by softly touching what I felt is a saintly person. I gave also Namaskar in the usual Ananda Marga way and he replied too. But how he could I can't understand - he is blind!

He dedicated his life for this project and now the first children he took care are the administrators of MOJOCA. They are adult and they are having families and kids. In the offices there is an air of informality. In the different little industries that are located at the ground level the kids are free to roam around and of course participate to the activities. There is a bakery and a cloth sewing unit where bags of rather very good quality are produced with traditional Guatemala clothing. Very little to teach, lot to learn even if I am requested to give to lectures, one for the kids and one for the employees of MOJOCA. Pending is the approval from their committee that entirely composed by former street children. I came back refreshed to my little project in Colinas de Minerva where I am begging to start some activity. Today I received the donation of a small refrigerator as was the desire for producing yogurt and I found a good granola that I can sell from the house. More things are in the process of manifesting themselves. Running on the local transportation I breathe the air of struggle of a population living in continuous danger. Till today drivers are killed as it was happening three years ago when I started to put attention to Guatemala. I found the best is continuing playing flute and sing Baba Nam Kevalam whenever possible. A more rational approach is for the moment beyond my comprehension. And as I wait in the Casa de Cervantes behind the government palace, I just meditate and play. When I have chance I go to meditate in the burrows in front of the Ananda Marga house in Colinas. Or I ask little things to the neighbors like today I asked some alcohol to clean the CD driver of the laptop.

My mind is gradually changing and accepting the necessity not to throw anything. Nothing is actually trash according to Neo-Humanism, just is waiting for the proper utilization. Today was the time of some roasted grains that I received as donation for preparing coffee. I went to one of my special neighbors and asked to grind them. First they directed me to Donna Matilde, who has a hand grinder but she was not at home. So we went back and it was brought a stone with the grinder stone, as it has been done for ages and ages. And I learned how to grind

by hand on the stone on the floor. I came back to my place and I prepared the most delicious grain coffee I ever drank - this was my breakfast today.

Now my flute is waiting, he is calling me from the top of the table just by the photo of my master. His photo looks different today; I can't explain rationally how a photo can become more or less attractive in different times. I just wish to cry.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011

Little happiness comes a long way

Miguel is from San Marcos in Guatemala. He came to the capital for working one month in a land near our place in Colinas de Minerva. He saw the sign telling that with help the community with food and cloths. He was a bit shy to tell his story and ask for some cloths for his children. He has three kids of 1 and half, four and six years old. He get just enough to feed them and he wishes to get also some construction materials for making a bit better the place where he lives. It was the first time we could serve according to what written in our sign and I was very happy for it. Miguel took few cloths and I gave him an extra of a fresh peanut butter crme just made with the help of Donna Maria who has an hand mill. In the evening Salvador called and told me that he has cloths he can donate. I was surprised how fast whatever we give come back with interest. This morning he brought two big bundles of cloths and I gave him the rest of the peanut butter and some granola made on the spot. Then I went to pay for the water with the directions received by Prashanta, the angel of the place. I got a couple of dada!! on the way from people who are good friends and the lady that was accompanying was happy to notice that people know me in the neighborhood. On the way back I got a couple of plastic vases for flowers to continue the

beautification of the place. Now it is really nice when you enter the porch and it will be better. Dr. Vijay got a donation of 30 sheetrock panes and we can see the dream coming true for the needed under roof upstairs. He is trying to get them from the store to our place with the help of other margi and everybody is getting excited. I ask permission to go to internet waiting for the delivery to be finalized. Today the yogurt came well and with granola and peanut butter we start having few products if not for sale at least for the enjoyments of neighbors and margi. Little happiness comes a long way and I look forward for the next developments.

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011

Relax - all is well!!

Vireshvara kept me on hold for two weeks with my computer that didn't work. He brought it back exactly in the same condition but with an addition. A movie called Three Idiots made in India. The computer overheats and it shut the screen down. Prashanta gave me a metal sheet that I put in the refrigerator and I place under the computer. In this way I can use the computer for some time. As I write it may shut down or continue and in this unpredictability I feel to hurry unconsciously.

In the movie there is the main guy who teaches to think and tell "All is well" whenever there is a situation that cause anxiety or fear. It remembers me the "All is love" of Baba Nam Kevalam. I believe it works the same way. The donation of 10 sheetrock sheets is now at home with the help of Tonio and his pick-up truck. I gave him the movie on a DVD and I am sure he didn't look at it but the wave is already there and what looks impossible is materializing very quickly.

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2011

Facing obstacles

When I arrived in Coban - Guatemala it was the worst moment for a visit. Carlos was on the phone trying to get news about the indigenous people and members of his organization being forcibly evacuated by the police. My visit had only a spiritual significance has the whole organization practice the Mayan spirituality. In spite of the critical moments the core group was at my disposal for talking about spirituality and social service. But in the morning I felt it was enough trouble for them and I prefer to live for Totonicapan where I was waited in three days. The beautiful mountains of Guatemala where a big rejoice until I reached a midway town and I found that I didnt have enough money to proceed. I sat in the central square where several children were roaming around with the job of cleaning shoes. Little kids with dirty hands quite surprised to see surely for the first time a strange orange bearded person passing by. As I sat in meditation a first stone hit my body. I decided it was not a big deal and I continued. A second object hit my face and this time hit was painful. I opened my eyes and I saw a mango stone lying nearby together with few kids paying no attention. Behind few adults were watching but they didnt do any movement. I thought quickly of the options and I decided that it was better off to continue meditating. A good hour passed with little further disturbance. When I opened my eyes everything was quiet and I decided to play the flute. Almost immediately more people started to gather and there were at least 50 people around when I stopped playing waiting for something to happen.

Questions started to come and it was the beginning of an improvised lecture about meditation. In the end one of the persons that was more interested gave me a little money and the remaining kids played my flute. I was ready to approach the minibus to continue the trip. The kids continued to roam around in happy mood and finally I was on the way top Totonicapan where I reached in the evening welcomed by the organizers of the visit,

I gave the example of this experience in front of the students of the Experimental school in San Marcos explaining the need to have a firm determination in order to achieve a goal. Today as I end the visit to San Marcos I count three schools visited with total of 500 students that learned to meditate with Baba Nam Kevalam at an early age, the most conducive for spiritual growth. Juan and his family is accompanying with his van to the next stop in Quetzaltenango colloquially called Xela. His daughter was crying at the farewell and I was still fasting in order to keep the commitment and the example to finish with the last spiritual activity in the Heliosophic School. We sang and dance in joy Baba Nam Kevalam at the end of a talk on complete surrender. I had no voice when I had to talk but at the time of singing the voice came back strong as usual. And I walked back with Jose to his house forgetting about any tiredness finally breaking the long fast by the hand of Alice, his wife who prepared fantastic vegetarian food during a stay prolonged up to ten days.

Sharing spirituality is the best pleasure I can imagine and it is amazing to find how many people have spiritual experiences and need to find look minded people in order to share what is considered sometimes odd or even wrong. I met people who are so simple and simple living that their mind is completely pure and they can see or listen to the spiritual world with no effort. In front of them it is rather impossible to lie as they can see what normal people cant. I visited their homes where they work hard knitting marvelous cloths that are the typical Mayan dresses. I saw the pain in their eyes as they cook on wood stoves with the smoke that gives them headache and I shared their problem with the students of one school asking for solution. So much work for a better

world where everybody can live with equal opportunities and spiritual freedom. I write to pour down the thoughts still in my mind as I know I cant do anything by myself, yet I need to communicate and share and feel the love that is greater than any other thing. Baba Nam Kevalam

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011

Health issue in Guatemala for women of Mayan origin

I was waiting for it and finally I saw it! It is a gas oven where it is possible to cook the traditional tortillas without having the smoke of the wooden stoves. This apparently insignificant discover is for me a big revelation. Changing habits is more difficult than one can expect. In Guatemala tortillas are prepared by Mayan women by hand on a wood stove. In Quetzaltenango I saw for the first time Traditional dressed women of Mayan origin preparing tortillas with the help of a hand press like they do in Mexico and using a gas oven that costs around 200 dollars. After seeing all the ladies in Totonicapan with the eye affected by the smoke and headache all the time I really think that the solution is there but it will need a big effort for propagating it and solve a real health problem for so many women of indigenous origin. It is a round cylinder of 4 ft. diameter and an iron plate on the top that seals the cavity with a burner of 5 rays centrally alimented by the gas.

Tortillas are the common staple item in all Central America and in Guatemala you can find a tortilla place almost at every corner street. Ladies prepare not only tortillas but also delicious tamales that are made of steamed corn. Cipilin tamales are vegetarian made with butter and green leaves traditionally utilized in this preparation. It is so nice to live more closely to the people of a place even by eating their traditional food and sharing their smiles and happiness. I found easier in the countryside then in the capital where the fight for survival take a big toll on human relationships.

Today I concluded a conference of two sessions for the employ of the water department of the municipality. It is the first time that I get the opportunity to serve people that are employed in the Public sector besides the teachers of the school and I found their level

of morality and spirituality amazingly high. They have a lot of dedication for the people of their town and love for God. We ended singing Baba Nam Kevalam and meditating together under their request after discussing the Seven Secrets of Success that busted their morale and gave a good base for doing better their service jobs.

anton Apr 5, 2011 08:11 PM So sophisticated. A deep thought present here for health. Like the way the possibilities go on. Ac. Vimaleshananda Avt. Apr 6, 2011 07:49 AM Health, quality of life and spirituality seems to proceed hand in hand. In the conference to the Municipality of Quetzaltenango we stressed the importance to provide quality services to the community based on a code of morality and on spirituality. It was amazing when at the end all 40 participants representing most of the departments all sang Baba Nam Kevalam and shared the following meditation. I shared with them the thought that Quetzaltenango could be the capital of Central America. To my amazement this is a fact as it has been declared capital of Central America and its celebration will be on September 15 that is also anniversary of the independence in Guatemala. I could not believe it! Thoughts seems to be so pervasive, so unbounded that materialize even before you think about it!

THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011

Doctors
Salvador has been the person who organized the whole tour in the departments of Guatemala. The last day of the tour I was supposed to attend a health day with a group of Cuban physicians in a remote place. 500 patients are expected to show up. I could not make it and I stopped in a small town letting the doctor go ahead for the major task. In the square of Cuilco few people started to gather around asking what I was doing in their town. They were really afraid I was Bin Laden and they started to film while interviewing. I was almost fainting out of extreme fatigue. One lady offered me a warm hot meal and I gradually revived. Another man gave me some peanuts after some questions to reveal my identity. It was market day and

by me a vendor was attracting people with a live snake of remarkable size. I played the flute and he also came to see what I was doing there. Finally a man from the municipality came and after inquiring how long I was going to be in their place sent everybody to their place and I was free to go.

When I arrived in Guatemala City Salvador was very sick. I wished to accompany him to the doctor and so it happened. But Salvador after his visit put me also in front of the doctor and the doctor found me quite ill. He prescribed me a list of remedies and since then I am feeling very sick. Doctors are very powerful, I cant understand why but whatever they say seems to be a final judgment. I am struggling to get the prescribed medicines not daring to go against his advices. One is a remedy against parasites, and some others for B12 and folic acid deficiency. How he can tell it is a mystery but all the people that Salvador knows have some special powers. He knows this doctor since 20 years and I trust him. Hope to get better soon!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011

Keeping an eye on the funny side of life

Pee - Pee - Pee - Pee - Pee ... what is this sound? As I hang my wet cloths I look around for the source of this unusual early morning. And it is there! A biped scuttling around scared by the bigger human biped dressed in orange. A telephone call arrives with the notice of giving a Neo Humanism class for the coming Ananda Marga Guatemala retreat. It is not a new topic but the presence of an animal makes the preparation very lively. At the gate a small kid claims his lost little chicken. The time to fetch the keys of the lock and the kid is no more. Maybe this is his new house for the time being, but the biped needs food.

I found an old tortilla, the biped cant get it through the hardened skin. I soft one in a water bowl and this time the biped cherish it. He get very friendly. He does not eat much and I have plenty old tortillas. Visiting the tortilla house I ask what to do with old tortillas. I expect a special recipe. Give to the animals, chickens, we have several, you can give to us. Disappointed in my expectations I ask permission to leave and demand some time for a final decision regarding the destination of my old tortillas after consulting with the biped. I look at him in one eye and I start cutting and roasting the tortillas for a crunchy seasoned snack preparation. As the tortillas are close to get the proper crispness, the gas bottle gives its last breath. Cooking is over at my place! I carry the triangular shape cut tortillas to the tortilla house. The tortilla lady looks at me with a puzzled expression. She cook only with wood fire and she accept the tortillas for her chicken after probing that I dont request anything in return. The tortillas are gone and also the recipe. I return down looking to my place. As I look at the biped the thought not to give up rises in the mind. I quickly prepare the mix of spices and oil in a small jar and dash again towards the tortilla house. The lady is preparing tortillas on the newly made wooden stove. She had the place changed with a new clay plate on the top that gives away far less smoke then before. I offer her as a gift a small pan and the oil vase on the top and she smiles like I never saw it before. Going back to my place this time I feel much lighter and happier. It is breakfast time and though I dont have gas to prepare a hot meal I trust that there is a solution besides asking the neighbor to cook on his stove. Suddenly a thought rushes in my mind. I will improvise a rocket stove with wood fire like I saw on YouTube the night before. I look in the store room and I find the perfect setting. It is a cement block with three holes normally used for the water pipes derivation.

It will work! I collect a piece of wood and some dry banana leaves, few old paper cuttings and a candle. Working besides the gate the neighbor can smell the smoke and see what I am cooking up. Readily comments - Dada Barbecue. I struggle to get the fire going but in the end the improvised rocket stove works fantastic! I relish the hot breakfast with the last wish of welfare for my biped that is ready to get back to its original kids owner. It is time to go to the retreat. Waiting for the bus I dont miss the chance to ask for a commercial price for the specific cement block - 5 dollars. My mind is still rushing to find solutions for the rural life in Guatemala. An Ecofilter markets for 35 dollars but I can stick just the bare filter on a bucket for 25 dollars and even build a custom one to be placed on other water containers And I laugh with myself thinking at the funny way we can find solutions for almost everything.

TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2011

God is within ... but ... love is everywhere

As I move around in Guatemala the same eternal truth is appearing once again to my mind: God is within, if you want to reach God you have to put all your energy in that very direction. But for what reason I cant be sincere to that extend that I can concentrate my mind only towards spiritual realization? The answer is that part of me is still looking for name and fame. It is so thin the difference between selfless service and self-motivated work. We are so used to get applause for what we do that it becomes the energy we are looking for. And we lose the real goal. In Guatemala there is a special grace that helps me. I cant do anything! And if I try to do something I meet people who are doing it better hundred times. I wanted to do a water filter and I found Ecofilter who is doing it very well. I wanted to do an ecological stove and I found Ecocomal that is doing it very well. I wanted to do reforestation and several organizations are doing it the best they can. I have to accept that the external work is done by somebody else. I can really concentrate on meditation and spiritual practices. Even if nobody seems to understand that this is secret behind everything. As I always heard - Know One, know all - ... but ... few hours later Prashanta returns from work and bring a machine for pealing oranges to donate to the Ananda Marga school. He got it for 3 dollars because it misses a clamp. He is sure to fix it and give for the school kids. I hardly understand how it works but school kids will figure it out. I ask Prashanta what is the Spanish name for baking soda and he cant answer right away. Finally we get it! It is bicarbonato. A big ahh! and Prashanta starts with one of his incredible memories. He was in a big traditional fiesta in one little pueblo in Guatemala. On the Immaculate Conception day they celebrate a kind of outrageous night where men dress as women and women dresses as men. He had eaten too much and his belly was busting out of gas. He asked his mother for a remedy and his mother promptly went to fetch some baking soda. He drank it and immediately he got relief.

In the meantime Fernando Mazariegos that is the inventor of the clay based water filtration made in Guatemala replied the email I sent. I asked him if I can use mais flower to mix with clay and he replied with a big NO. I asked if I can use a bread owen and he replied NO. I asked if I can use only clay and he replied NO. He has the experience of many years perfecting his invention that has helped millions of people around the world to have good potable water freeing them from water borne diseases. And I am still thinking to add baking soda and precook in a bread oven before the final toast in a regular kiln. What is wrong with my meditation?

Still I am not hungry. I come back in the kitchen just to listen to one more story. Pranshanta tells that when a person is sick they go to fetch one or more fresh eggs. If you pass the egg on the body on the sick parts, the egg will turn black and if there is some bad energy it will turn red. After this story he told me also about vampires and the special properties of their feces.

No wonder I cant get hungry. There was one person on the bus who was collecting money by telling some inspiring stories. In order to get people high he was telling that all people that are courageous should raise their hands. And they were actually doing it. Till one time two robbers came on the bus with arms and demanded from all people their belongings. Everybody got afraid and nobody raised the arms. Since then this man never came again on the bus. Prashanta is very sharp but really I cant get hungry again.

By the way the pictures are from the Ananda Marga Guatemala retreat where we enjoyed doing meditation and have a good convivial time with several kids and families. Thanks to Corina for her generosity of giving us her place to use.

SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011

A difficult question
It was in program a seminar on the seven secrets of success given by Shiva 7.000 years ago. I like this subject because it has always some creative turn and it is never the same. This time it was special in the sense that the seminar didnt happen at all. I was at the place in proper time but the organizers were engaged in other activities that overlapped at the last minute. I didnt mind as the seminar is not mine, it was theirs. I was there to help them and to point them in the proper direction. We agreed would be best to set the seminar in another place at another time when they can take off from work and dedicate only on the subject of the seminar. Secrets of success are such a wealth of everything. I found on internet that the same secrets given by Shiva has been elaborated and given by consulting organizations for human development. I have still to read the book of Deepak Chopra on the same subject and he is not the only renewed author who takes the task to give guidance for achieving success. I restrain myself from giving my own version. At the same time as I was waiting

for the event to be concluded in one way or the other it happened that I was faced by a poignant question that apparently has nothing to do with the secrets of success. Why people betray their partners for life? The question was offered with due respect considering that as a monk I may not be knowledgeable or experienced in the subject. Anyhow I felt to give an answer. I told that it is so because people tend to forget their promises. Mainly due to distractions, not for really bad intention. They forget the word given and when they remind it is too late. Already they have given another word to somebody else.

It is difficult for a person who gets betrayed to believe again. It is a huge scar that may need a very long time to heal. Family betrayal is a social illness that assumes big proportions in countries where distractions are prominent. Personally, I dont watch telev ision. I limit movies to a few in a year. It is a sacrifice but I think it pays off in the long run. To fight distractions is a huge task in any environment. Even if you are alone they mind wander very easily. When I am at odd with it I take refuge in listening Baba Nam Kevalam. It is such a balm and it never fail.

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011

How lucky we are to make mistakes

Have you ever done a mistake that brings a good outturn? There are some famous mistakes that have turned in golden mines. One of them is Post-it who seems to be the result of a mistake of production for glue that didnt stick properly. Here in Guatemala my special guest that is originally from Russia was trying to produce a sweet made out of soya beans. It resulted that he brewed the soya beans a bit over the brown limit. He mixed some sesame seeds that were too bitter for normal consumption and the whole result has been a fantastic cereal coffee that smells like real one. Now he is in the marketing phase. We are looking for tea-bags for packing the discovery. I am sure that with some extra mistakes we will find the right solution. I received the donation of few old paint cans. One of them was broken at the bottom and started to spill the paint. I decided to get rid of it and I put it in a plastic bag ready for disposal. But then I thought to give her a last chance and even it was looking so bad I took a brush and I started painting the frame around the windows. The result has been wonderful. Sure I am not going to throw even a drop of it. The lesson that I am getting is that nothing should be thrown away, particularly if instead of material stuff we consider living entities - human beings ultimately. Sometimes they are crazy by all means and I

like to consider them just a bit different. It is an attitude that normally ripens good results. Normally people are afraid of crazy people because they tend to drive you nuts. Yes, it might be true if you resist from being caught in their games. But when you realize that nothing really speaking is happening besides to see the reality with different lens, you are making room for a more enjoyable and satisfying experience of life. The magic of life starts when you lose the control on it, when you cant understand what is going on. My guest when he sings seems to whale and I thought I will never be able to sing with him. Then I found that it is very enjoyable to whale like he does, it liberates a lot of repressed emotions. Now I also whale and I am sure my neighbors will start soon. Maybe we will record a CD that will become very successful. How lucky we are to be as strange and odd as we are. It makes me feel more hope when I think that there are no mistakes in this world!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2011

Body-Mind Jazz
Sometimes things happen, and they really happen in a way that you dont expect. Coming in touch with a couple of liberated souls I surrendered my self-consciousness and I broke free. It happened so it is done. The way it happened it does not really matter. Maybe I was just tired after a long fasting and travel. The result of it I called Body-Mind Jazz that means body-mind improvisation. It is a new technique for liberating repressed anger and other frustrated emotions, first using the body and then within the mind. It is really simple as all the magic and as I write the same magic is also happening right now! I don't have to think as a flow is coming out of the pen and I am simply writing what is coming to mind. No selfconsciousness. No desire to impress or to sell anything. No product, no marketing, no money and no bank. FREE!

What do you do with the body as the first component of the body-mind symphony? You move the body. Better you do it in the darkness so your self-consciousness is less. I did while others were sleeping and although in the end my body was making sounds, the pleasure was so intense of liberating it from all the tensions that I didnt mind of the external world.

So, first you start with very slow movements, tai-chi style if you know or like it. When you find a movement that unconsciously you like, you start repeating it over and over at increasing speeds. You may get into frenzy and if it happens welcome it. If the voice starts to be liberated, welcome it. If anything of your sensory and motor organs gets active welcome it. You are liberating suppressed energies through the gates of your body and you may soon realize how much energy was stuck creating illness and frustration.

Then pause, sit and if you know how to meditate, it is the right place to be. Be there, do your lessons if you have any and when you are done, once again, the magic begins. This time your focus has to be not on yourself. My personal recommendation is to focus on your Beloved, your master, your spiritual guide, the object of your love. This is happening within the secret chamber of your mind where only you and your Beloved are present, nobody else.

As with the body you start slowly expressing internally whatever you feel inclined to do. The mind will gradually like a specific action where you feel unconsciously driven to repeat over and over. And you go on increasing the speed, the intensity, the pleasure, the depth involving all your inner senses. No harm, no fear, no shame. Soon you will realize that you are touching the very essence of your human existence. I wish not to spend more words, it is an experience. You will have to try and know by yourself. Onm Shanti, Onm Shanti, Onm Shanti.

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2011

A reason for everything

Arriving in Monterrey bus station I walk towards the exit under the load of my luggage. As I walk in the hallway a person greets me with "Namaste'". I don't pay too much attention to it but when the next morning after strolling on the bike on the platform a lady come out of the way to greet me again with Namaste', I can't just deny that somebody is recognizing something for some reason. So I proceed quite elated in an area that has become notorious for crime. At the gas station they pump me air in the tires and then they ask me what the name of my head cover is. "A turban", I reply, and they ask me further if my dress is very costly and were you can get one. What is going on? Is there a reason for such a nice welcome in a city battered by crime? As I ask to one of the members of Ananda Marga in Monterrey some special reason come to light: every morning there is a program on the national television where you are invited to do simple yoga exercises. The yogi on the stage always give Namaste' before starting the short yoga class. I consider that this is pretty good reason for what is happening and I wonder what more can be done to make yoga and meditation more and more popular.

In the evening I board the bus for Dallas and I can't avoid watching the movies. Some are really horrible and I train my mind to avoid the catch by playing the flute and reading a very special book: "How to stop worrying and start living" by Dale Carnegie. I

believe it was written in 1948 and at that date was copyrighted. as get into the reading I am amazed to notice how practical and invaluable advices are given. I am not a worry person, yet there is a lot to learn in it, starting with the first advice that is the same given by Shiva 7.000 years back: "Live in the present". Well, I like to write in present tense. That much I can do it. And I really enjoy the reading. Yet after two trash movies one get also in the foreground. It is "Evictus" in which it is told the story of Nelson Mandela after he got realized by the prison and become the president of South Africa. What a wonderful and inspiring story. I arrive in Dallas way up in the spirit and I receive unexpected help for whatever I need, from placing a telephone call to reaching at destination. Even if I cannot enter the place of Ananda Marga I relish to sit outside and mastering the rules given in the book of Dale Carnegie. Two hours later a margi from Dallas come apologizing for having me wait outside in spite of all their best efforts. Another margi is crying at the phone feeling the shame of the situation: arriving from long distance and waiting hours outside as they can't produce a key that works. My mind is so much on another planet. I thank them for the opportunity I had to continue reading my book without being caught in any other activity. It takes me a couple hours to convince them that I am really honest, I am really so happy to have been given the chance to be in a quiet place reading my book. And in the book I read: "Keep busy. The worried person must lose himself in action, lest he wither in despair". I wonder if when I write poems I made the best of the same advice of keeping always busy. Writing help me a lot to maintain mental satisfaction. And now that I decided to travel with a guitar I am really more and more happy:

Song for a heart Today I discovered that I have a heart and I want to sing a song to my heart. I want to feel it, happy and smiling, because it does not miss anything, just anything. My heart is big and small, at the same time. It breaths and beats because it is alive and its song is alive and vibrant. Heart my heart, you are more than any soul, and you run, run, run without an end. I don't know how you do it, I don't know where you are going, mysterious heart, you have lost all pains and sorrows. You have lost even the last desire, to be able to be alone, and to think by your own. Heart of mine, you have hundred and one lord, and you wait that they go to sleep. For closing the eyes, for dreaming, for seeing far away. THE SEA

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2012

A Few Missing Stories

As I proofread the book I notice that there are few missing stories. I will not give the exact location and circumstances as I am not even remember completely. They have taught me big lessons and for this reason I cant forget them. I was pushing on the pedals after a long day in the sun. The road was climbing in a nice hilly area and my bike has been always best for downhill, not for climbing. It was countryside and few houses were on the sides of the road. A woman waved me from the side and made sign to stop. I am so exhausted that it takes two seconds to stop. Suddenly I realize that I was on the point of fainting. The woman helped me to sit outside on a chair and brought immediately water and some food. I didnt talk, few more people got closer. They were curious but also worried. As I started to revive they indicated me to stop at the Municipality and ask there hospitality with the local police. So I did and on the way I thought at what happened. I had to conclude that the woman recognized or felt how in danger I was and automatically her motherly instinct got in action. I wonder if all mothers can feel if a person is hungry or in danger and act without delay. When I was in the central square of a town I approached a fruit stall and I started eating the peals of the mangos as I was so hungry. The woman was preparing cups of fresh fruits and she immediately offered me a fresh fruit to eat. No need to talk. This experience made me aware that money is really very relative. What matters is the sincerity of the heart. And words most of the time are just optional. As every day and every night was rolling with this little miracles coming at the needed time I was almost expecting them. Arriving in one city at dusk I wondered where was going to be the accommodation for so far not a single night has been without accommodation. So I asked a police that was patrolling and he told me to wait there. It was raining and I was tired. He crossed the street and he set me on the bench of a seller hut that was empty during the night. Enough roof and enough peace. In the morning at dawn I was rolling again. No need to thanks or complain. The speed was increasing da by day. In one city I arrived and one man asked me what I was doing. I asked him hospitality and he started to tour all his neighbors asking them to have me for one night. The doors were shut and no answer came. I was thinking why he didnt want to bring me at his place although he was so active in finding a good shelter for the night. Finally one of his friends accepted to give me a room in his hotel. In the morning the man who was so helpful came and he brought me to his place. It was a church and he was the person in charge. He offered me a good breakfast and set me once again on the road.

In one occasion I begged for the money for getting a bus ride. I didnt have money at all and I got enough to catch the bus together with the bicycle that was paying extra. At one border I didnt have the fee to enter. I tried to

convince the border police but there were adamant. Finally it dawned in my mind that the solution was somewhere else. I begged for coins to the people that were in the adjacent queue and in no time I got what needed to proceed. A Dada friend of mine once showed me a cartoon where the person struggled very hard to open the door on the wrong side. Finally when he gave up the door opened by itself. It was hot that day. I was biking and resting under each bridge on the highway. I was fasting and the more I was getting exhausted, the more my determination to complete the fasting was growing. It was pure madness and under a bridge a put the bicycle down and waited for some solution to come. Of course nothing happened. No car stopped to ask How are you? What are you doing here? For at least two hours my ego could not give up. Finally I prayed to God to give me the solution and I promised that I would not have blogged the story. The solution came immediately and I kept the promise not to blog it. But the experience crushed the ego of thinking that I was doing something big or great. I realized that Biking for Consciousness was just a way to realize something about myself. It could have been done even without leaving Columbus by continuing to teach meditation at the Phoenix Bookstore. And now it is time to feed my cats and dogs in Ananda Kanan. Namaskar!