Waking UP

ARISE Oh Wanderer!

These last days are coming closer to the back trip to Delhi . Of all places the one place to avoid like a plauge (it is very hot there); but I'll only be there for a night and then heading out for the late night flight .

It has been very good for me here , and now I am ready to see what unfolds in the next part of the journey .I feel this place has encouraged me to look deeper . If not deeper than just to see as it is is, already. A complete and open seeing in my everyday place with every order of thing here . It has secretly been revealing in some formidable way for which I cannot tell you .
Bhagsu Shrine

Because I am in this place where you can only see through the lens of a camera , with these pics I take . Certainly experiencing a place like this is something which reminds me of being in Arunachala .But it of course is not the external appearance but the Isness which is the power of yourself which is seeing Itself as Itself .This is being revealed , but I tell you nothing is really happening!

The bird and the tree spirit.(Look carefully for the face in the Bark)

When asked about being with U.G. I often comment without hesitation that "something has been removed , but what it is , I have no Idea " . That is still with me even though I have surrounded my self with this culture rich in gods , meditation , and spiritual yearning . At first I came to see beautiful and a somewhat distorted relationship with a girl and a friend and that now has disappeared into a space where I am looking at everything with a smile . Plunging into the Self is seeing you as you are and seeing this can be absorbing as you see that all around you is included in the source .

Images and movement.

All the images and movement appearing in the mind arise and disappear , what remains is the stainless and pure awareness .Now decribing it becomes a point in the past but allowing it is living proof of its aliveness in everything .Allowing means including all the points in the moving appearance as Awareness .Awareness means allowing yourself to rest in that place of no images or quietness .The movement is no longer separate from Awareness . The bridge is seen but no one is crossing over .

Morning Tulsi Tea.

I have noticed that Russell has struck me from his links and so no one has been coming here to see the latest ( Oh what a mean man he is ) .It was through his page that I had some visitors . I must say I was slack on this page before I ever started to get involved again ......So I am writing to no one . While he is busy being happy with a fat Swami ,I am being busy enjoying my balcony scene over Dalasani village . Oh well .......as I listen to Loreena Mckennit another image amongst others I will enjoy just sitting here and enjoy the blessings of this place .


The Blessings of THIS Place .Is equal in all things !

Up To Dharamkot

On the way up .


I wandered up to Dharamkot and discovered the little forresty places up there . On the way up I stopped at the Himalayan cafe and waited for Kevin to roll up . We went on to see someone down the track , by the cows and goats, down and down the steps and into a little lofty place where we visited Kevs friend.We could'nt have our coffee there because there was a power cut and we could'nt use the electric coil to boil the water. So we made our way to the Pizziera and while following up behind I could see that Kevin was walking straight towards a snow leopard . This cat just walked out of the greenery , very cool, looking around and proceeded across the path . So I was screaming at Kevin but he could'nt see it ahead , so he started to walk closer . By that time "Snowy" as i'll call him disappeard into the scurb . And I missed a photo opportunity ! So I will leave you with the pics I took of that walk .



Snowy appeared on the second bend

After Pizza we continued through the forresty groves.

A serene place to sit .

On the way down.

Bagsu.

Footcare and Hill Climbing

SOAKING FEET

Yesterday I woke up and had to fix my feet up . They are cracked from all this mountain climbing . So I undertook footcare Himalayan style.

Himalayan Foot Care

Eventually made my way back to the market area and took some street shots of the locals and had a coffee on Temple road where I saw to my travel business . Tickets are booked as it is holiday time and the Indians are flocking to the mountains for the next couple of months . So will have to get emergency ticket .

Street Shot

Tibetan Women selling Momo's


Fried Momo's

Tibetan Women knitting and selling blankets .

On the way into the main market area.

What you can buy .

The lane behind my place had the kids playing .

Mcleod

Pet Phython

I'm in mcleod ganj at the moment . many things have been happening here.mainly walking up and down . Up in the mountains that is the case , so everyday always involves a steep climb where I meet the local farming animals .

Local animal farm

and I have been lying in my room looking out at the kites and crows clashing and high flying .

Looking out my room

also hanging out in Bagsu a little, just up the road from where I live .

Not to forget the chai at the chai shop .

Last night I went to the toilet and look what I found . I call him Frankie my pet Scorpion , extremely dangerous when as small as this . I did not kill him but left him there and came back later to find him elsewhere .....he has gone now .

Frankie!

I have a few monk friends here who speak to me in some Hindi and practice their English. And I am teaching English to a Ladakhi boy which can be challenging at times , but fun .Below is Jimmy the guard dog , always following me to play.

Jimmy!

I've only managed to get one pic on the local street scene on Jogiwara road , I took this one as I was having breakfast , the old man is chanting away while the younger son is checking up on something .

Cheers !

Sunyata

Sunyata ji .

A few days ago I was sitting in an English looking pub with Russell and the name Sunyata poped up .We had a small chat about how he met Rabindranath Tagore working as a gardener which I was not sure of as I read much about Sunyata and could'nt remember that . While Russell wandered in to get another pint I found myself immeadiately feeling a profound sense of love for Sunyata which started to stir some deep bhava of bhakti, the clouds were looking down on me and I felt them ready to burst through my eyes brimming with tears !

I came to know about Sunyata probably through reading a Mountain Path magazine . A " natural born mystic " as stated by Ramana Maharshi; he lived most of his life in India and was good friends with prominent members of Indian society such as Jawaharlal Nerhu and Rabindranath Tagore and Lama Govinda. In Lucknow I read about his experience as a child playing soccer (there is an account of his experience while playing soccer as a young boy , all of a sudden he found his body running with the ball as if he was out of his body as an expanse clear space ) and of his meeting with Ramana Maharshi . The more I read about him the more I came to love the Sunyata who came to India and lived quietly and simply .

Negi ji

On one trip to Lucknow I had the good luck to travel with a good friend to Delhi and got chauffer driven to Chandigargh where I met Negiji a guru in a lineage which traces itself from Kabir . This particular line of Gurus alternated between Hindu and Muslim backgrounds . I met Negiji while he was in Samadhi , that is to say on entering the driveway a perceptible prescence which overwhelmed me powerfully could not be ignored! I went to sleep in the room next to his and enjoyed this sleep very much , and we met for breakfast the next morning . I received prasad after this Samadhi , some Indian sweets with a gentle smile . I got to talk with him over the next few days , this was a difficult time for me as I was forced to look at how people could look after me as my credit card got swallowed by the ATM and I was busy being a karmi in survival mode while I was being fed sheltered and loved . He invited me to his ashram in Horshiapur and I stayed there with a Danish friend , a fun guy who loves his

Bharadwaj ji

music . He told me about the people in Horshiapur called the "City of Saints" as most of them age in grace and seem to exude an air of charm, delight and wisdom. It was here I had the great fortune of meeting Bharadwaj ji who was a close and intimate friend to Sunyata I brought a book of Papaji which he excitedly exclaimed in joy as I presented it to him . When we met it was like we were somewhere in a silent place where we were friends. Even though we were ages apart we were so dear in heart! Bharadwaj ji recalls his friend and tells "Sunyata was staying in my house during every winter. One fine day in spring he prepared himself to go back to his Himalayan retreat in Almora.I asked him: "Sunyata! Please give me a last teaching before you go back to the mountains." Then Sunyata looked at me with immense intensity and said with great force:"You are THAT!You are the ultimate Reality!"In this moment I lost all body-consciousness.I realized unchangeable Reality - being one with THAT several days later I found someone rubbing some arms.While rubbing I realized that I was the rubber and that these arms belonged to me.Then I discovered that somehow I actually had a body."
A few days later Bharadwarji came to talk with us. Gunnar showed me a stack of type written letters from Sunyata . Here they lay in my hands , the very words dearly written by Sunyata and I had the good fortune to be holding all of them in one go !! I started to read some and got lost in 'innerstanding' as he would say . Years later in Tiru I found another book about Sunyata in the Ramana Ashram library and brought it home and read it aloud to Russell who listened carefully , and so.................I must have said something about Rabindranath Tagore meeting the mystic gardner!

The Comet

Last night I ventured out and saw the Comet Mcnaught. It was about 9 pm and the colours of the sky changing from deep orange into yellow and fading into the blueness had my searching eyes . I managed to locate it and saw a long streak of a tail tearing down to the horizon . I started to take shots with the camera and managed to get one good shot , So here it is . I will look tonight and see if I can get another round as the others I took were because of my unsteady hand with such a far away object , they say it comes from an Oort cloud which dates to the formation of the solar system , the comets journey has been estimated at million years . It can be seen much clearer with the binoculars and is really obvious with its tail spraying behind it with the naked eye alone . Finding it is the trick , I heard you have to look left and up a little from the sunset .

Consciousness - an animation of Spirit --www.advaita.org

All of the Above

The sea this morning .

This morning I walked outside and saw a kestrel hovering over the dune , the sea is calm and a lone trawler drifts near the shore , a light sparkling like a luminous beacon . Within my heart is an open space which reflects the world and I feel like I am kissing this open mirror which is reflecting everything . It is moments like this where I can see the easyness of this direct reflection of Self , and that the mind can be like a restless ocean waving up and down with the images of people and events that have taken place recently .

A true friend.

These impressions can stir up the thoughts that are gross in that they depict the stories of 'you' and 'other' . I wander, how it is happening , and the mirror has no say in it . The pure reflection just is and the mind in its nature is waving in images and pictures which I can grab hold of or just let pass .People say "Oh let it go ! it's just the past " and yet I cannot ignore it . I can also choose not to place too much attention on these images which invest in holding .

Honesty.

Honesty is one of the qualities that I like to have with others and I have been finding lately that certain people (certainly most people that I have befriended) have not been clear with this , I find that I can not help but read their faces and their actions . Like a mirror can reflect ,it can also reveal the lines in the image of the other.Once I sat in a peaceful park a few years ago and an old man came up to me and looked into my eyes , he smiled and I smiled back , not wanting anything . Then he suddenly grabed me and started to pull me up . I had to push him away because I could not see what he was seeing . Obviously he wanted to possess what was'nt in his warped mind , the space of quietness.If you see from an innocent space you cannot imagine what others are saying or thinking , but as someone said to me lately maybe I am abit 'naieve'. This pure screen of mirrorness is not involved at all and yet there is like a need for me to be aware of situations like this . It is similar to seeing a truck tearing down the road towards a little puppy which I can reach out and remove . If I ignore the puppy it will be pulverised , yet I can reach out and pick it up and take it back to the mother under the tree .

Seeing Mirrorlike

One of the early teachings I received was from a Tantric master who was teaching about honesty , and I have been reminded of that way when I see this situation . The mind is dishonest because it is perverted in its way and emotionalism can rule in place of honesty .Also the mind is not the enemy because we cannot kill the mind with the mind . It can be used as a tool , but it can also wander like an aimless dreamer and it can shift and move like a good manipulator . With this is the dishonesty and it manifests in different shapes and forms .Being polite but not saying really what's going on is a way that it plays it's game . It is then that the classic analogy about the mind in the masters household comes up , and that is why meditators have been meditating ;in order to replace that disorder and show the mind that the master is present also . Like a teacher entering

Sri Yantra

a classroom full of rowdy students the prescence of the master or teacher makes them sit still . I see how this mind can play like this when some days it is turbulantly wandering aimlessly . Wandering aimlessly is not the problem but letting it get to you is . Once again I wandered into the Sauna and observed a ghost appearing before my eyes and this ghost tried to convince me of its reality .Seeing clearly that there is no body to control all of this, definitely destroys the idea that you are the choppy mind and it's contents , yet the habit to grab hold of thoughts can still be there in its habit form . A ghostly habit form which makes up the feeling of your individuality , if you keep looking at the ghost the ghostliness is seen .Could you be a ghost?? I have observed this a thousand times in a thousand ways and some times a spark of 'aha!' comes and other times it's so quiet, it's a feather floating. This is seeing the same spark floating up in a thousandth way .As the Zen saying goes , " This , This aThousand times This!!!".

The crystal is you, who is looking.

"Just as a transparent crystal takes on the lines of it's Background, but is in no way changed thereby,and just as the unchanging moon on being reflected on undulating (wavelike)surfaces appears agitated, so is it with You, the all prevading."

Hastamalaka Stotra

Which leads me to the topic of the mirror like space which is one of my portals. The closest depiction of this is a picture a friend in Tiruvannamalai showed me painted by M C Escher , I was very pleased to be shown this picture .It demonstrates this portal closely , but you must see from behind Escher's eyes to become Escher .Someone told me once "But what about the space between the crystal and the eyes of the holder? " some people over analyse! I can see from a mirror like space , the body in this space , including space itself and others are included.This sensation is very similar to gazing into a mirror and finding that you are no longer the observer or the observed but rather an undefined prescence.There is a joy when seeing this infinite clear openess. Because it ( and clearly it is not an object; because it is who you are) includes ALL OF THE ABOVE !

Journeys into the Unknown

I would like to show you the books that I am currently reading. The first book Heart of the World is a gripping page turner for me; I was wandering around the library and thought it looks adventurous enough so I took it. Upon reading it I just couldn’t put it down, I had to read what was going to happen next. The fact that it is a real account of exploration and that it involves the most inaccessible place on earth together with my boyhood infatuation of Tibet; couldn’t help but keep on reading. The Tsangpo gorge hides a waterfall in the worlds most deepest canyon .Tibetans call sacred places Beyul and they associate these places as having meaning more so to the yogi who will experience sattvic or pure states of meditation in such wild places. The particular Beyul in this book is Pemako located in a remote Himalayan valley. The plants there are said to give powers for one to heal and to gain siddhis (ability to have extra sensory magic), being a holy place it also involves kora which is walking clockwise around such a place. The same as pradakshina, kora can involve walking for days or weeks around a mountain such as Kailash. It also gives historical accounts of the first explorers there and how they encountered indigenous people who at first didn’t like white explorers coming to their quiet jungle villages. Usually those people experienced poisonous arrows and death. The groups of explorers we are following through Pemako are walking through Forrest thick in leeches and snakes and swamps and huge fallen trees which take a grunt or two to slide over. Sometimes they almost die falling into the coldest rivers but manage through it all to shiver into the camp and snuggle into a sleeping bag without a word. A humorous Tulku monk is walking with them too or should I say they are walking with him. He seems to be very equanimous in the difficult journey and helps them indirectly, he is looking for healing plants. Heart of the World is still to be finished as I’m on page 283 and another 150 or so to go.

I first read Spirit walker couple of months ago and had to read the sequel to this fascinating story (Medicinemaker). About a man who discovers he can travel in his dreaming state into the future; he also encounters the spirits on the other side a tall black shadow. Similar to the ancient cave paintings drawn by man long time ago. Shows that they were also experiencing such encounters with spirits in their dreaming. Actually this is not exactly dreaming, because he was paralyzed in his sleep so that he was alert when this shift happens in sleep. It is somewhat of a half way state, as he becomes the eyes of a man walking through the jungles and this is the start of a relationship he has with this man who is on a journey through unknown lands. The lands are the American mainland 3000 years into the future, so this second book is a continuation from Spirit walker and it shows how the Shaman works. I like it and find it also keeps one engaged in the continuing storyline. It also informs about visionary states in dreaming and about signs that you may already be having yourself before entering into such states. It is said that indigenous tribes used to stay awake in order to invoke such visionary experiences before sleeping. A nice read if you are interested in the magic of healing and the unknown .