Saturday, December 26, 2009

Bio Sand Water Filters ARE Improving the Lives of 400 Families




A few weeks ago, I tagged along with Shri Nityananda Education Trust Field Manager, Pervaz Kazi, as he interviewed twenty families within Nimboli village who had received SNET Bio Sand Water-filters nearly a year ago. The overall response was extreme satisfaction with how the water filter not only improved the families’ health, but also improved the taste of their daily drinking water. See how happy these women are with their "best friend."





Prior to receiving the SNET water filter, they walked to the end of their street where there is a government installed well. Unfortunately, the engineers located it directly in the path of water drainage system. Hence, the water is most often dirty. Secondarily, the well water is hot because Nimboli is situated amidst geo thermal activity. Over and over, we heard the recipients of the SNET water filter say they “liked how the water was clean and cool.” Many of them commented that they now bring their own filtered water with them to work, to school, and on any outings away from the home. They don’t believe they can get such cool clean water anywhere else, except to pay for bottled water.

The major sentiment of the women interviewed was relief in seeing their families healthy. Many families reported an almost total disappearance of illnesses caused by water born organisms, such as diarrhea, cholera, skin infections. Common colds and flu had lessened, as well.





What was surprising was to learn how often the recipients cleaned their filter. Some followed their instructions and cleaned them monthly. But some householders could taste the difference in the water after being cleaned and so cleaned the filter more often. The majority cleaned about every week or every other week, but one lady literally cleaned hers daily because she could taste the difference. Others cleaned theirs every few days.

Almost all of the filters were situated in a prominent place in the family’s home, be it in the kitchen, or on the back porch. Most people were very emphatic about the rewards of the water filer and expressed their deep appreciation for the improvement in the quality of their lives.


Of the twenty families we visited, only one person believed the filter to be malfunctioning even thought she cleaned it. Another man said his fell over ten days prior, but the amount of plant growth that had grown up onto it showed that it was probably not being used for over a month. He said he was not strong enough to put the filter up right and would need SNET’s help to get it functioning again. Both of these families were reported to the installer for maintenance.




Every week I meet people on the streets of surrounding areas who yet don’t have their own SNET water filter. I feel sad to tell them that we don’t quite have enough money yet to deliver water filters to their village. They hear of neighbors who do have one, and wish to receive the life changing benefits for their own family. I wish we could provide all the families here in the Tansa Valley with their own water filter.


Some of the other villages rely on river water for their household supply. This is contaminated by human and animal excrement up stream and is extremely dangerous to their health. Now some of those families have the benefit of cleaning the water with SNET water filter.



Read more about SNET projects in rural India. http://www.tmaseva.com/

Your donations go directly to providing new water filters to village families in need of clean water. $25 covers the cost of building and installing a life time water filter.
Jeanetta Monosoff Haley

Friday, December 25, 2009

Santa-Ananda Finds Nimboli

Santa-Ananda found his way to Nimboli today. Most people in attendance at the annual Christmas party had no idea how lucky we were to have this red suited jolly man actually find Fire Mountain Retreat's address in rural India. As you can see in the photo, Santananda and Mrs. Claus were having a good time singing us a few Western style Christmas carols. (Mrs. Claus let us all know she prefers Mrs to Ms. since she is an old fashion type of girl!) The local English and Marathi teacher, Gita Lotanker, even joined in the singing, since she had learned Christmas songs as a child attending convent schools. Most of the children were not impressed by the Claus' singing but the adults in the audience were amused and entertained by their antics.










Sunil Anaokar is holding son of Ananda, our neighbor and Fire Mountain staff employee, while two other happy flower children look on.


Kazi brought us the flower face masks and hats from Thane. They were too cute!!!






Not turkey, cranberry sauce, sage nor rosemeary were anywhere to be found within hours of Nimboli. So, Christmas dinner was a Fusion Style dinner, as they say in the food industry, a blend of two cultures. A delicious Chicken Curry was made by Sunil. Jeanetta believes no Christmas dinner is complete without mashed potatoes and turkey stuffing even if there was no turkey. She had to improvise with the recipe substituting local Curry leaves for sage. She has become quite fond of Curry leaves since her move to India and believes curry leaves was an improvement on the original recipe. Probably no one in the crowd knew what stuffing was, but she was not worried. She hoped that there might be leftovers, since stuffing is a family favorite for her. Kazi said he went back for seconds after figuring out he liked it. Vanita made her wonderful cabbage, carrot, coconut vegetable dish.

Kazi after discovering he likes stuffing!

Unexpectedly, many more people came then anticipated, but there was more than enough food for everyone. Jeanetta has no experience in cooking dal for 35 people and had cooked enough for probably double that number. Food never goes to waste as the staff were happy to take home leftovers. Sunil expertly handled the dispersion of food and candy to the 30 children who descended upon the party from neighboring houses.

Cooking vegetarian cookies and cakes without eggs is always a challenge since most recipes require eggs. But when Jeanetta and Dewa attended the Ayurvedic clinic at Shivpuri last summer, she learned some recipes for both. Fortuantely, some of the classic favorites such as Russian Tea cakes and Shortbread have no eggs and the basic recipe can easily be adapted to local ingredients, such as cow's ghee. Her mother, Muriel Manning, used to tell her that when you use good ingredients, you will make good food. And making cookies and cakes with cow's ghee is a winner.
Gita said her favorite was butterscotch cake. Now, Jeanetta is a card carrying chocolate lover. She does not even know how to spell butterscotch let alone know how to make the butterscotch flavor. But fortunately the internet occasionally works in Nimboli, and she could download a few recipes. The cake turned out to be a Butterscotch Pudding cake which is a much better error than a dried out cardboard type of cake. You bakers out there must know what this means. The speed of which the cake disappeared from the table tells us that it was a success.
Presents were stacked on the dinner table after dinner for the children to see. All of the staff's children were told to pick one. Fortunately, when one little girl received a toy truck she found an equally bewildered and disappointed boy holding a see through sack containing a pink plastic tea set. The exchange happened before any explanation crossed an adult's lips.

The adults were made to engage in a pink elephant kind of exchange. Everyone picked a number. As the numbers were read out, the person with the number could pick a new unwrapped present, or "steal" one from someone who had already opened a present. The person losing their present then had permission to "steal" someone else's present or pick a new one. There were lots of screams and laughter, especially as one young women was "not going to allow anyone to steal her present" and she didn't. What fun!!! What laughter!!!

Even Mrs. Claus was happy to be holding her present after it was "stolen" from her three times.
Santa and Mrs. Claus slipped away into the dark of night when no one was looking. We hope they come back again next year.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

WEST APPRECIATES EAST

WEST APPRECIATES EAST IN NIMBOLI or GOD IN OVERLOOKED PLACES
Hey, I was raised western. In western culture, we are educated into our heads (Shiva – mental functions) and out of our bodies (Shakti – earth based, solid, time, embodied beings ). Not totally of course, but it has taken, for me, and i am assuming most westerners, a total immersion in a land and spirit based culture to appreciate the power, the immediacy, and the beauty of God-Dess worshiping in and as earth.
In India there is a daily presentation of people living in God-Dess (GD), praying to GD, supplicating benefits from GD, by means of bringing offerings of food, fruits, flowers, incense, milk, honey, and all manner of positive and delicious things to honor and invite GD’s favour and to give appreciation and recognition of GD’s value. Get this: in the west, we have become so abstracted and distanced from the flesh and blood and bones of God, that when viewing the sacred rites of Earthy GD worship, we can have thoughts of disdain with labelling like tribal or primitive, or unenlightened. But after immersion in and receiving the benefits of earthy density physical GD relating, it becomes clear that westerners (me) are missing out on a whole large spectrum of GD. For example ----
I sat in the Shiva Temple this morning, just there in the corner to the left after descending the few damp marble stairs that lead through the narrow opening to the small domed vault with the Shiva Lingam popping up out of the floor, all decked out with flowers and the customary copper drip pot of water anointing the lingam a drop at a time, a cobra head arched over the pot guarding and blessing the water. Blip blop blnk the drops hit and slide down this sacred projection of Shiva arising out of the ground after bravely, courageously diving into the depths of density to bring his seeds of knowledge and all-possibility to Shakti who, holding the power of manifestation and embodiment, not possessed by Shiva, delights in fleshing all possibilities into form. Shakti also enfleshes Shiva, who then arises as this physically birthed wisdom being (the lingam) now able on the earth level to kick ass take names and spread benefit to all. The lingam is wet and has the energetic coating of thousands and thousands of finger and forehead touches from devotees drawing the power and beneficence of their Lord Father- True Self. Each lingam has the authority of having been touched by countless thousands of people devoted to God in this form expressed by their foreheads touching the stone, their fingers pressed against the sides, some delicately just touching the top of the lingam, others bring flower garlands, they pour milk generously over the curved top, add honey for sweetness, it is kissed by babies help over the projection, etc etc. The old lady tending the Temple sweetly hands me a mat to sit on after i gesture in question, ok to sit here? I sit and open this consciousness and am delighted to be filled with a strong, pervasive, very full masculine power, relaxed like a lion is, knowing it’s strength is the greatest in the jungle. It’s a surprise, as it required no thought or invocation, just an opening to the presence held in the rock and water and flowers and incense of the place. Shiva as spirited matter - - how peaceful his power - - how secure if feel in his blessing
The feeling is so beneficial, that even though my mind wants to be fed with movement, any distraction, and a new set of stimuli to chew on , i remain seated, not wanting to leave this state of embodied powerful love. I shall remember and keep this presence alive in me and bless all i meet with this calmness born of all pervading power and wisdom.
I watch from the vantage point of non-attachment at the successive groups of people who enter to be with their God. I was told by a past teacher that god shows up however we imagine him to be. Give GD an image or a location and without delay she=he is there, because she=he is in here to start with.
Living in India puts me into direct contact with God-in-Flesh – everywhere the statues and temples and posters and clothing shows not only superficially, but contains to the core the presence and essence of GD.
Given an either-or choice of God in abstract rational enlightened thought and design vs God in form as statue and flowers and carving and body speaking mantra and fire ceremonies, and Brahmins chanting in concert, i would be put into a tilt position of stumbling to make a decision. Fortunately, it seems, i have “and” instead of just “or” available, and can have/be both. I will this afternoon enjoy placing a number of rocks on top of each other and calling it god and receiving the blessing of rock god, i shall place a mango before me and name it divine mother and eat this wondrous gift which feeds my body and soul. I shall have both east and west and the gratitude that is due such gifting. All shall be my GD

NEED FOR SEED

NEED FOR SEED
Hey Folks in the States who can so easily procure whatever you desire, please give us hand, or, uh, rather some seeds to grow with.
The situation in this part of india and perhaps most of India is that the local farmers have been led down a dysfunctional path which some of you may be aware of - - which is that the large seed and fertilizer companies and the banks have sold and loaned the farmers into insolvency and failure so that 46 farmers a day are committing suicide. Please read this article for further information about this travesty. And, what we notice here locally, is that there is now a very narrow range of food types available for purchase at the markets.
We would like to grow our own organic food for consumption at FM and also be able to help the indigenous peoples here return to true heritage seeds. When I recently asked a local what we could do for them, he said, get us good seeds. The practice has been, I am told for the large seeds companies sell the farmers on buying their hybrid “high yield” seeds, promising them riches, only find later after borrowing money from the bank, that they must buy the companies fertilizer and pesticides to make the plants produce, and the seeds of many of these hybrids and GMO plants are sterile and will not produce plants for the next wave of plantings, so the farmers must buy more. A bad year for crops can result in the farmer not being able to keep up with the bank payments and as a result he loses his land and his ability to feed his family and his respect, leading to many regrettable suicides.
Well, while we are not ready to reform the agricultural systems of India, we would like to supply ourselves¸ our workers, and the locals as it becomes possible, with healthy organic food and some simple practices which will provide more and better nourishment for us/them

GODDESS JUMPS OUT OF THE GROUND

GODDESS JUMPS OUT OF THE GROUND, WET GREEN AND VIRILE

The rains have come and the Goddess has jumped out of the ground with leaves and bushes and grass everywhere - - from dry and dusty to wet and unabashedly naked green everywhere. Suddenly the river is full again and there are rice paddies full of water promising the coming harvest of the staple of Asia. The night time, previously so quiet, is now a surround sound of chirping and throaty frog calls of various patterns and styles. Holes in the ground have appeared everywhere and we are told that the dormant frogs and crabs are coming out at night to feed and be captured by the local people who wander through the landscape, flashlights in hand, eager to catch a bunch. I could never get over a mental aversion to eating frog legs. Have you tried them? Like them? Rhoidas, our handyman and gardener says they are yummy, and crabs are the best. He and his friend bagged 200 crabs a couple of nights ago, so obviously they are here in numbers even though they are never seen during the dry periods. It continues to be rather shocking to look out and see the very intense green blanket of vegetation everywhere there was only dry grass stubble a few weeks ago.
TWO MONTHS LATER: The monsoon is essentially over now and the wetness of the ground is being baked out of the soil producing an exceedingly humid climate. The river is still high, but receding each day. Everywhere you look it is still green and lush, but the greenness is a little tattered around the edges and it is clear, the dry period will return within a month. Monsoon was so welcome. The green jungle growth and rice fields have been so enjoyable. Mount Mondagni has been swathed in a beautiful green sari of earth colors and most often she is cloaked with some misty clouds creating some mystery and intrigue. We counted 11 waterfalls coming off her flank in our view just the other day during a monsoon rain. A great variety of new natural wild edibles and non edibles have sprung up and we have learned a good deal about the vegetation here. Now we will attempt to keep our gardens alive and productive during the dry period using drip irrigation from our well and shade cloth to temper the sun overabundant gifts. Tune in later for more updates on acclimating to India.

AKKALKOT ADVENTURES




















When we visited Akkalkot 4 weeks ago on our 4 day yagna to spiritual power spots, we knew this place was special, and now that we have been here for awhile it is very clear why. Please read on. Well Is it the amazingly effective ayurvedic cleansing and rejuvenation therapy that we are experiencing? – Or is it the daily rice-herb, herb- oil, or herbal wrap massage? Certainly a part of it is the lovely “doing seva for God” people who work here.













But undoubtedly the most powerful aspect of our fortuitous visit to Shivpuri just outside of Akkalkot is the power of Swami Samartha (people say he was Nityananda’s Guru,

















the presence of Lord Parashuram (he spent his younger years living in and on and near Mount Mandagni),














and Shree Gajanan Maharaj who was instructed by Lord Parashuram to restore the Vedas and bring Angnihotra (healing the planet by offering oblations to the fire) to the world. These players have all passed beyond body form, and are very present here, especially at the Samadhi mandir and statue sites on the premises.

There are a lot of colourful stories on the internet about Lord Parashuram - - how he lived on Mount Mandagni, so close to our Fire Mountain retreat center, and how he escorted Goddess Vajeshwari to the location which is now the town of Vajeshwari. Then a bunch more stories of his travelling around india and being involved in many historical God happenings. His statues and pictures portray him as kind of the Arnold Schwarzenager of the God world ( oh I’ll add a picture so you can see). We are excited to visit the temple to Parashuram on the other side of Mandagni when we return to Nimboli and dig deeper into our connections with him around Nimboli. The presence and power of those mentioned so far is very palpable here, and we are enjoying being roasted in the Fire.

At Shivpuri , the ashram built by Shree Gajanan, “offering mantra and ghee-rice and other things to the fire” happens every day at Sunrise and Sunset. It is a simple and powerful ceremony, basically affirming a total surrender to God. This ashram is devoted to sending out agnihotra kits to people around the world and carrying on the work of Shree Gajanan and his Predecesors.

Wonderful soul Mohini (which means attracting) is demonstrating the Agnihotra technique to Jeanetta.





As a part of the Ashram there are multiple Samadhi mandir sites, temples, yagna sites, and the ayurvedic health clinic where we are effectively getting rejuvenated.
The kitchen staff is headed by these two gorgeous women who live in the ashram with their husbands.









So, we are half way through our 16 day Kaya Kalpa treatment program, kaya kalpa takes one beyond panachkarma cleansing and into rejuvenation, and we are very happy with the results. If we don’t actually look like “19 again” when we leave, we will probably feel like it. We experience new herbal magic every day, and the staff treats us exceedingly well. We would like to send someone here from Ganeshpuri to learn massage and the basics of ayurdevic treatment for our benefit and the benefit of visitors like you. This place is definitely not 5 star on the physical level but its up there on the spiritual level for sure. And having warm cows milk with magic herbs swathed across your forehead for an hour puts one into a whole new relationship with cows. They have their own cows here, and use the cow dung and ghee in the yagna ceremonies. It’s all very pure and non-western.
We like the results and plan to return yearly for a Kaya Kalpa Tune-up.




















There’s a lot more to tell about the key players in the Asharama here, so blog-by for the next instalment. Will they achieve miraculous rejuvenation and health? 8 days left of magic will tell the tale. Your India adventurers Jeanetta (formerly Jeanette) and Dewa (formerly Dahvee) - - Names are changed not to protect the innocent, but to make correct pronunciation possible for Indian tongues.

Dewa spent his birthday here at Shivpuri and the staff presented him with a birthday cake and a special lunch. They even decorated the table with curly ques of chalk.


Our evening dinner server was a entertaining singer/dancer and taught us the Shiva-Parvati moves.







NIMBOLI - START OF MONSOON TIME

The brick makers have stopped production due to the monsoon, and the air is very clear, and it is very quiet here. The grounds at FM are green and lush especially compared to the dry rice paddy fields all around us. The locals have built up the dikes which keep the paddy fields intact to hold the water. There has been such a pregnant waiting here for monsoon time - - the trees, the grass, the flowers, the animals, the people - - everything was on the edge of almost monsoon. We are blessed at FM having so much water available - - so much greenery surrounding us. We are witnessing a lot of activity of planting the rice fields and vegetable fields now that the rains have arrived.
The monsoon season was already underway in Thailand, and we were blessed by frequent rains and cooler temperatures. We bought boots. Jenatta found some very pretty deep-sky blue ones and i had to settled for puke green - - size thirteen feet are not considered to be amenable to fashion , but hey, dry mudless feet in monsoon time really counts i’m told and there are also all the critters which come out during water time. Speaking of critters, a crab just showed up in the pond at FM and i’m told that many appear out of the ground during the rains. A tasty boon to crab meat lovers and a good reason to buy boots ahead of time.
Prior to monsoon, the cows roamed freely in the surrounding land helping to clear the fields of all rice stubble and weeds. They mowed the ground quite clean, and our green little plot was very inviting to them. Every day it was a contest to see if we could keep the cows from eating the shrubs and papaya , and coco trees and flowers. We lost of few of our shrubs and trees, mostly banana trees.
The curtains and the plastic skirt over the vertical support members have been removed from the dome and put in storage. We will soon plant more vegetables for clean organic food.
Here are a few of our new project ideas:
Dome: install a metal sloped roof beginning at the bottom of the dome and projecting out over the circular walkway to provide shade, weatherproofing to the dome and walkway, and add some more privacy, since when meditating in the dome you feel a bit like “served up on a platter for all to see” - - not that our attention is susceptible to distraction (ha ha), but a degree of some openness and privacy would be more comfortable. Vines like Bougainvillea could climb up the support to create even more beauty and privacy.
Inside Meditation Room: we have made an indoor meditation room downstairs for those times when meditating in the dome is not feasible. This room is air conditioned and is a cool place to converse with people about HL and to meditate. We have recordings of Mark’s talks and meditations available to play on a sound system. This room is painted in high quality paints as a backdrop for our photos of our beloved Gurus, Babas, and Goddesses. The God wall is a rich, silky, true gold with a beautiful luster on which is hung the Guru Lineage Photos and friends of Lineage. Opposite this wall is the Goddess wall, painted in a gorgeous raspberry magenta, and which has a big White Tara Thanka and will have pictures of adra kali, Durga, Quan Yin, Shakti, Bhirwandi, and others. The inbetween wall, of deep royal blue hue, will show our photos of Shiva­-Shakti Union, Krishna –Radha, and other exemplary complementary couples. We have purchased some nice materials to use for pillows and padding. This room already has quite a Presence.
The Front Porch: The front porch and the garden area under the trees is the natural area for relaxing out of doors and social meetings with visitors. The porch is exposed every morning to direct sunlight and winds up being hot and uncomfortable. We envision an awning system which will keep the sun and rain off of the porch. Also, some long narrow tables skirting the edge of the porch allowing one to sit for tea or meals and be focused on the beauty of the landscape and the mountain.
The roof: we have sealed the parapets of the building with a flexible UV resistant roofing paint to prevent the leaks that have occurred there.
Employment for locals: we got some possible great ideas for local handicrafts in Thailand, and will explore this further and let you know more about this as it develops.
The atmosphere at Nimboli is very clear and clean and powerful, and we are looking forward to the plantings we can do, during monsoon and the further establishment of retreat type scheduling and implementing some of the creative ideas we got in T-land - - more on that later.

BREAKFAST IN NIMBOLI

Breakfast in Nimboli

It is mid morning, a little past time for nastah (breakfast) - - Vanita, our female distaff worker is not here today, so Jeanetta has prepared some wonderful mung pancakes served with a delightful chutney, banana slices, ghee, and the ever present chai. We insist that Rhoidas and Ananda ( our grounds maintenance men) come and eat with us. At first they would not eat with us, due to the segregated caste system, but now they are relaxed and we honor and love each other. Today we honoured our Indi-American family with raised clacking-together-spoons raised on high and exclaimations of joy and happiness and gratitude and Happy Diwali. These Adavasi people are precious and important friends of ours who connect us to the cultures and the earth-nature elements here. We are living in/on their “turf.” We need and enjoy their friendship and contributions to our lives.
As we sit to enjoy breakfast, Mohan, the milkman arrives, and after a short period of entreaty, he accepts our invitation to sit and break-fast with us. As i wrote earlier, he is tall, thin, very dark with most often a big pearly white smile and a peaceful cow-milk-moon radiance which generously blesses all. We talk about his life and how he gets up at three o’clock to milk the cows and only gets two hours of sleep at night because he stays awake to burn the dope (cow dung incense) to keep the mosquitos from biting the cows. The cows are part of his family with names of the devis, like Saraswati, Laxmi, Durga, etc.. We laugh and joke and enjoy images of him calling the “girls” by name and gesture with milking motions. The men begin to talk tomorrow about the annual bull fight at the next village over - -about the pageantry of decorating the bulls and the festive celebration of bullhood. At first i recoil from this suggestion, but now think it will be a good yoga for me to go and practice non attachment and learn more about the locals here. The milkman invites us to his home. When he comes tomorrow morning, we will go to his home a see his wife-children-cow family and participate in the annual devotional cow arati blessing. Before this we will go to Ananda’s home and participate is his annual cow arati devotional ceremony. Ananda’s two cows live inside his house with the family. They are beautiful beings and i am looking forward to breaking through all my previous conditioning about cows being unclean or lesser.
It is easy to find simple things to laugh about here with them- - they are not educated into pretentious distinction, and are quick to laugh or anger or ?? We learned so much about their earth wisdom as they guided us up Mondagni Mountain, teaching us about climbing difficult terrain, about the vegetation, edible and not, about the animals, and about natural immersion in the elements. Another example: yesterday i brought my new cockatiel birds into an empty room, removed the roof of the cage and released the birds to fly for exercise. Ananda wanted to see them. As we entered the empty room, our voices echoing in the big emptiness, i cautioned him that they might bite as the female had done to me a few days ago. Ananda earnestly looked at me as a wise man would to a novice and softly, emphatically voiced, no Dewa, no Dewa, after which he approached the birds, which i had coaxed onto a stick to avoid being bitten, with relaxed seamless oneness, magnetically presenting his outstretched slowly, gently approaching hand to the pair. The male, Krishna, stepped onto his hand and as a little separation occurred between them, they began to chirp-squak to each other as they do when separation happens, and shortly the female, Rhada, flew to join her mate. I, the recently bitten one, stood dumbfounded but delighted by Ananda’s natural ease with “my” pet birds. Ananda recounted how he gets the birds in the mountains to land on his hands and walk up to his shoulders. He gently moved his face to caress them with his cheeks and lips. I, the student in this “pointing out” darshan of Ananda the bird-nature Guru, proceeded to replicate this experience with a good deal of success. Indeed, the Guru is the way to achieve that which seemed impossible.
The breakfast has gone well, we laugh about “enough of this enjoyment, let’s get to work! Cam kara, cam kara). Nastah is over and we all go back to our pursuits with the joy of human love and compassion filling our beings. The day is beautiful, sunny, not yet too hot. Bliss in Nimboli – bliss in the Guru - - bliss, bliss, bliss.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

WE CLIMBED TO THE TOP OF MOUNT MONDAGNI




WE CLIMBED TO THE TOP OF MOUNT MONDAGNI

We climbed to the top of Mount Mondagni. These words inadequately describe the power and beauty of this experience, but please allow me to embellish a bit. We started at around 8 AM and walked through two villages on the way to the mountain. The local villagers live in brick and mud and stick houses with yards frequented by chickens, cows, water buffalo, and bicycles, sometimes a motorcycle, and occasionally a satellite television. Cows are so venerated that they sometimes live inside with the family. They get electricity by hoisting little wires with hooked ends up onto the high voltage overhead lines at night with bamboo poles. They wait till night to avoid being caught by the electric company. They are curious about us and ask our guides about us - - we wave and say namaskar or hello, or how are you (tu me kah sai ahay), and they most often immediately change from wary suspicion to big ear to ear smiles.





Jeanetta and i both had back packs with way too much stuff for such a climb (which our guides carried for us), however some of it came in very useful, especially the flashlight after dark, as we wadded through the rice paddies and jungle outgrowth in the dark to get back to Fire Mountain Retreat Center. The trip, presented as a 4 hour excursion by our guides, actually took 11 hours. They could have done 2 – 3 trips probably in this amount of time, but with western slow poke softies and their desire to show us all the high points it took double the time. Our guides and playmates were four young local men, three of which work for us - - Rhoidas, who is brainy, lithe, sings and chatters like a tropical bird, and who is nearly fluent in English and Ananda, who is the salt of the earth and who works tirelessly to serve his family and anyone in sight with strength and pure fiery heart and independence of spirit that keeps him pure of stain. Ananda virtually at times pulled us up the mountain in difficult places with the same determination and vocal calling as he uses when he relentlessly urges the oxen onward during the ploughing of his rice fields - - come, come Jeanetta, -- come, come, Dewa! Up over rocks and shale and slippery grass and mud from the rains, they, young men that they are, scampered up the mountain side, greatly delayed by our western lack of experience and conditioning, but having great patience, - - they sang and laughed and joked and carried on a lively animated chatter like jungle birds and animals.





We walked through thick jungle forest and encountered native peoples cutting wood with large self made saws, women gathering jungle plants, large bundles of firewood, and sacks of the ubiquitous land crabs that scurry around as you walk. We saw no large animals, only a monkey and the birds, but listened to the story of the tiger that came down to eat a villager’s goat last week. We were told that if there is only one person in the jungle the tiger may come close, too close, but with two or three people making noise, the tiger stays away. A quick mental tally showed we were safe.



At the start of the climb they took us to a small earthen, tribal temple at the base of the mountain. Kalpa Devi Temple has an earthen floor slightly elevated from the surrounding stream bank, with earth and rock architecture and thatched roof. At the focus is a Shiva Lingam and a vertical wood slab with pointed apex inscribed with white and red painted symbols and language which, since we can’t fully read yet, we assumed was Marathi language. We paid our respects to the Goddess of the Mountain and received her darshan before the assent. She in so many ways epitomizes the Consciousness of the local people in her earthy groundedness and obvious earth-magic capacities/siddhis. With her presence and support we began the climb with confidence and happiness.



Although the men originally told us it would take 1 ½ hours to gain the summit, guess what - - 5 hours to reach the third and highest apex. Many stories could be told of the climb and how we were mothered and fathered along the way by these men of 19 to 27 years (they are called boys here - - i wonder how old you have to be to be called a man?). Boys or not, they were so patient and loving in their understanding and assistance of the “uncle and auntie” (the terms they use when you are old, but not yet ancient in their eyes) “foreigners” they accepted responsibility for.



Listening to the rapid beating of my heart, i prayed for the strength to complete the climb - - i implored and happily accepted the assistance of Shakti and Shiva to fashion the strength necessary to make the climb. The natural forces so available here responded with a grace and power harmonious with the eco-system we were immersed in. At a particularly comfortable meadow with small stream issuing from a spring, we stopped and sat by the stream spreading out a variety of foods we brought for jewaila (lunch or dinner). We had grabbed fruit and nuts and granola, and they brought rice chapattis, wheat chapattis, an egg curry, cucumber, and a potato vegetable combo. Whoever has taken an arduous hike knows how delicious a simple meal by bubbling brook can be. My tired feet placed in the little stream signed with relief as the grounding forces of Nature/water drew the vexation out. I took a short little nap as they made a little covered bed for me and awoke with cries of chelo, chelo (let’s go, let’s go). On the way we were tutored in which plants were edible, which ones tasted terrible, and which were owshudt (ayurvedic medicine).



I can only hint at how beautiful this mountain is at the end of Monsoon with the jungle plants in mature development and the joyful song of plants, after months of arid suffering, having abundant water to jump out of dormancy into full bloom. But of particular amazement is the energy-spirit presence of the Divine structure of this mountain. Oh of course, everywhere in India, the spirit has saturated every rock and nook and cranny, but this mountain is none the less special above other locals in that it grounds the pillar of the Siddha Lineage, - - and for me especially the presence of Lord Parashuram, whose very heart, and love of beauty and the Divinity of the Earth Voyage, pervades Mt. Mondagni. Gaining the summit i chanted a Parashuram mantra and keep Guru Mark with/in/as me and am blessed beyond description by the transit of this brief period. My eyes water with happiness and gratitude for this darshan, and i awoke with this morning with happily exercised legs and a song in my heart bigger than the sky.



At the top we could see everywhere around - - all the villages we had heard of and visited - - the lakes and streams, the other mountains, the lush green valleys with rice paddies and wooded hillsides - - the Fire Mountain dome in the very far distance - - steamy vapour fogs rising from the wet earth - - the inner symphony of India, land of complexity and diversity of spirit drenching the earth and stretching far beyond vision into the past with determined bloom yet to come. My energy structure thrills as i write this about India’s future gifts to come - - i bow with respect and love to a land which i must have called home many times before.



Coming down a mountain side is always worse than the climb in terms of stress and bodily danger. We carefully picked step after step in many places along tiny ravines carved by tumbling monsoon water - - wet and muddy and providing just enough grip to control descent, assisted also by our young companions graciously helping, from their point of view, the elder westerners who undoubtedly seem so lacking in jungle-smarts. Back at Fire Mountain, they are our workers - - here on the mountain, they are our Gurus. Our very lives have been in their loving hands.



Speaking of that, on the way down, we were taken unbeknownst to us at the time, to the cave in which the local hero woman called Mataji sat for 45 days and still frequents this cave of great horizontal run and low head height. To get there we had to negotiate two huge wet, slippery, slimy nearly vertical black obsidian like rocks surfaces with scant purchase to support our weight. We with big shoes, little skill, and considerable deserved terror, and they with bare feet or flip flops, little feet, and cat like comfort managed to get safely across. i vowed i would never do that again, only to find out after the cave visit that we had to return the same way. They did hold our feet as we went across, but my judgement is that they were probably no match for our body weights.



We arrived at the cave and deep into the interior we peered failing the attempt to find an end. The cave, obviously man made running deep into the mountain with little head room and apparently having some larger spaces in the distance will remain a mystery at least at this time. Wading through the nearly knee deep water for a short distance, as the ceiling lowered we quickly lost desire to explore the depths of the cave on this trip - - maybe later, maybe. I pondered what a 45 day meditation would be like in a cave like this. Hmmmm. Attention turned to a low outcropping on the left completed by rock and cement construction upon which is a murti of Bhagwan Nityananda, incense and other articles of Spirit communion. Jeanetta lit the incense, we took darshan as we left. As we exited the cave which must have been a mine of some sort, the men scampered up a ledge over the opening to have their pictures taken. They cajoled us to climb up also - - we demurred, as we had had enough of climbing along smooth, slippery, wet rocks tempting the wheel of time which we have traversed much more than them.



Once we had cleared the return trip over the wet obsidian slide to death patch, i vowed again with greater fervour to never make this journey again. Hmmm. I would like to explore the cave more fully. Perhaps there is an easier access. Hmmm.



After the cave and a last look from the top plateaus, we began the descent which was at times again very steep and uneven. We were given carved poles with pointed ends to project ahead of us to brace against gravity, and many helping hands in tricky places. “Our” Ananda, diminutive in size, was amazingly rock solid on the slopes and carried the weight of my slips and wobbles with aplomb. At times if felt overly grandfathered and mostly felt grateful and full of admiration for such ability on his part. If i was Bilbo, i would certainly choose Ananda to help me deliver the ring.



Occasionally we stopped our descent of the mountain to view the beautiful expanses of lush green countryside. This same terrain is dry and arid much of the year, so it was double delight to see it at the end of monsoon. In another month or two they say it will be dry and brown again, and later they will burn the mountain day after day to clear it of vegetation which used to bother me as i thought it must damage it greatly. However, one would never guess that the whole mountain had been burned six months ago. My legs were so tired at this point that i would hazily wonder if on the next step they would crumble beneath me - - my feet ached, my toes hurt from being jammed against the tip of my shoes as we descended the slopes. I dreamed of home and hearth and slumber and finally we reached the jungle floor, after which it took a long time to reach the clearings near Nimboli. Jeanetta, to our surprise and delight, produced some chocolate bars as we sat for a rest along a beautiful little stream in the rice paddies (dark chocolate sent from the California Sangha). We devoured the chocolate with gusto and made kwips about chocolate and desire and desirelessness and licked the plastic wrappers till the last speck of melted chocolate was gone. Jeanetta admonished the “boys” for throwing the wrappers on the ground - - they had little understanding of why they should pick them up again and at least one refused at first to do so, but succumbed to Jeanetta’s insistent demand that they should not pollute the environment. I am quite sure they did not understand, and probably had thoughts of crazy westerners carrying home useless candy wrappers. India has a long way to go to achieve eco friendly plastic/trash behaviours.



Passing the tall landmark coconut trees near FM, i had such gratitude for this haven and the safe return from an epoch physical, energetic, mental, spiritual journey, and all the intelligence that shepherded us throughout. We collapsed on the porch at FM and drank water, orange juice, and ate water melon and groaned a lot and recounted details of the trip. Collapsing into bed i am awake again full of happiness and love for the Siddha Lineage that has brought us here and nurtured us with every breath. Sadguru Maharaj Ki Jay!! We have visited and been blessed by the fountainhead of the Lineage Spirit which we have enjoyed since we arrived at FM.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Speaking Marathi.....
We are beginning to break through the language barrier a little each day here in Maharashtra as we finish our fifth week of Marathi classes. Three times a week we meet for two hours with Gita, a Elementary Teacher who was trained in English-speaking Convent schools for her entire education. Marathi is not her first language, but she had to learn it when she married Pravin 22 yrs ago. She says it took her 12 years to master the language, but since it is not her first language she has an idea of what it takes to learn it as an adult. She primarily teaches English to children, so she is interested in languages and how best to teach languages.



We are her first Westerners, and maybe adults as well, so she is having to adjust to our desires and needs. Dewa (Dahvee) does not want to sit on the floor as it hurts his knees. I like sitting on the floor for it made of tile and offers some refreshing coolness in the heat of the day. She is most comfortable sitting on the floor as are most Indian people we have met. Chairs are uncommon. This has impacted our instruction in that Dewa is higher than the teacher. Also he is an older male, and women have to reduce their contact with men, although they would tell you this is not so. It is just in the culture. So we have had to take this into consideration when participating in the instruction. Dewa can be left out if we don’t make a point to include him. Things one takes for granted can become a challenge to overcome.



We started with learning to hear, pronounce, write, and read the 12 vowels. With each letter, she assigns about five words to memorize. Now we have begun to learn the 24 consonants. Last weekend went to the beach for two nights. Along the way we were able to read the mileage signs and the name of our destination. Made us feel we are learning something. On the way home, we played a game with our two drivers. We spoke the Marathi words we knew, hoping that we could pronounce them correctly and they would recognize them. Their challenge was to interpret it correctly into English. The four of us got the pleasure of practicing our language skills with each other. I think we probably pronounced 80% of the words correctly.



Yesterday a woman came up to me saying “Aunti, Aunti.” I turned around to meet a woman I had seen the night before in the Nityananda Temple. I asked her for her name in my limited Marathi, but I must have gotten it right, for she told me her name. It always feels exhilarating when somebody speaks back to you. They light up to realize that you just spoke to them in Marathi. Of course, then they go on to speak so rapidly you don’t stand a chance to answer. This is when I have to pull out the standard phrase, “Me Marathi bolto nay,” which means I don’t speak Marathi. This too usually gets a laugh out of everyone. One person told us it will take us 4 years to learn Marathi. Neither Dewa nor I ever became fluent in Spanish and only speak like children, but it has always opened doors for us that we can do that much. Maybe in the next six months we will be able to have some little conversations with our neighbours.
India is a land of many languages and so it is very common that everyone speaks two to four languages. Here in Maharashtra, Marathi, Hindi and English are most common. A lot of the Indian people we meet are from a different state, and that means their first language is from their home state, and Hindi, Marathi and English are added on later. Actually, I feel a lot of admiration for these people who can speak four languages and it inspires me to make the effort to learn Marathi as well.
We learned the other day that Marathi is a derivative of Sanskrit. Here is what Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia had to say:
Marathi (मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of south western India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide.[2] Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India[6] and the 15th most spoken language in the world.[3] Marathi is the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about AD 1000.[7]
Marathi is estimated to be more than 1300 years old, evolving from Sanskrit through Prakrit and Apabhramsha. Its grammar and syntax derive from Pali[citation needed] and Prakrit. In ancient times, Marathi was called Maharashtri, Marhatti, Mahratti etc.

Marathi
मराठी Marāṭhī
Marathi written in Devanāgarī and Modi

Pronunciation
[məˈɾaʈʰi]
Spoken in
India , Israel and Mauritius[1]
Marathi speaking population is found in United States, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Netherlands, Canada, UAE, South Africa, Israel, Pakistan Singapore, Germany, UK, Australia & New Zealand
Region
Maharashtra, Goa, parts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Sindh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
Total speakers
Total 90 million speakers[2]70 million native, 20 million second language
Ranking
15[3] (native)15[2] (combined)
Language family
Indo-European
· Indo-Iranian
o Indo-Aryan
§ Southern Indo-Aryan
§ Marathi
Writing system
Devanagari script, Modi script (traditional)
Official status
Official language in
India (State of Maharashtra, Union territories of Daman-Diu)[4] and Dadra Nagar Haveli[5]
Regulated by
Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad & various other institutions
Language codes

Marathi is spoken in India, Mauritius and Israel. Marathi is also spoken by emigrant Maharashtrians worldwide, especially in the U.S. and Europe.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009





FIRE MOUNTAIN ANIMAL REFUGE

Many of you Fire Mountain Fans already know a feline being has been added to our sanctuary at Fire Mountain - - the name, Kalidas, a fitting handle for this sleek, agile, sensitive, playful, deep jet black handsome cat creature. Kalidas is both affectionate and independent. He plays happily and stalks the kitchen for rodents like a pro. He is appropriately intense and severe and will also climb into you lap and up your chest and rub the side of his head against your chin mixing his energies with yours in an unusual and endearing way.
Now we have a new canine entry into the family by the name of Bhiwandi, after the Goddess Bhiwandi, who we went to visit on our recent trip to Tuljapur. Bhiwandi is cute as can be. We picked her out of the litter because she seems to reside in deep peace and emptiness. We are hoping to learn from her. White with light coffee patches of color, a shortee tail, and a little tank body, she is a survivor just by her looks and attitude alone. Fearlessly innocent, she launches into experiences without a thought of safety or consequences and is determined to chew the world to bits. Protect your telephone and computer cables ladies and gentlemen - - they are fair game and will quickly succumb to Bhiwandi’s merciless attacks. Toes and fingers are in danger as well, and watch your step as unwanted gifts lay about for the unwary. She’s cute and can get away with anything because of it. Bhiwandi and Kalidas are working out a friendship at this time and have graduated from hesitant approaches and timid swipes at each other to some actual playful animal run, jump, attack, retreat, tease tactics and the promise is one of a good friendship to come. Kalidas, a very capable warrior could make quick work of Bhiwandi if he so chose and we are delighted with his kindly restraint. More to come on these encounters. The frogs and snakes and crabs seen in abundance at the start of Monsoon have receded and have taken their places in the background. The crows, birds, egrets, and big white cranes are still around in force.

However,there are rumours of further additions to the Fire Mountain Zoo population, so stay tuned for recent developments in this area.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Fire Mountain Retreat Center...A Sacred Destination

Mark Griffin, founder of Fire Mountain Retreat Center, tells us why the center is a sacred destination.
This place where we are sitting is Siddha Loka; this is the abode of the Guru here on earth. It is ruled by the collective spiritual power that we call the Guru Lineage. The recitation of the Guru Gita in this place is profound beyond belief.

This has been a center of spir
itual activity for 500 centuries, even during the previous age. In fact, it went through a heyday in this earlier age. When Bhagavan Nityananda came her in 1937, he reactivated it and brought it to its highest operation. I think it's higher now than it has ever been. This is one of the centers of the world. One of the strongest operating guru lineages on the planet is based here. That's why we care about this place. That's why we come here. That's why we built Fire Mountain Retreat Center here.
....Mark Griffin

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Celebrating Guru Pournima in Ganeshpuri


The time of celebrating Guru Pournima is approaching in the village of Ganeshpuri. The temple of Bhagwan Nityananda was being decked out with flowers yesterday as we stopped by for a meditation at his Samadhi Mandir. The outside has been made into a large covered patio with bamboo and plastic. They are expecting around 700,000 devotees to arrive on July 7th. 24 hour chanting starts today and continues until that date. Already we have seen some new faces of beautiful visiting saints. There have been so many people all over India, and beyond that have been touched by Nityananda. We have the constant pleasure of meeting them. Buildings are getting new coats of paint, such as the Shiva Temple, which seems additonally charged with a blessing. I have been told it will be a special time for us.

My Iindian friend, Geeta, asked us to come and meet her parents when they come for Guru Pournima. They used to live next door to Nityananda and cooked porridge and lemon pickle for him, which he supposedly loved. Her parents also took care of one of Nityananda's major devotees, and then inherited his house when he passed on. This house is next door to Nityananda's ashram and Shaligram's Samadi Mandir. Geeta and her husband and son live there now.

This photo was taken of our Puja Altar from one of our Thursday Guru Pujas held in the dome during pre-monsoon weather. It rather looks like a collage and I am using as my computer desktop. We can no longer meditate in the dome do to the rains. We have removed the dome curtains so that they will not be spoiled during the heavy rains. But where are these heavy rains? Tomorrow is July 1st , and still only mild rains have come.

We have been busy creating a special meditation room to be used daily by all those living and visiting us at Fire Mountain. The air conditioner can keep us cool in the hot humid weather. Inspired by our time in Thailand, we have painted the walls gorgeous shades of gold, deep blue and magenta. We bought thick fabrics of rich texture and color to match the walls. A lending library and bookstore will be housed in the bookshelf and recordings of Mark Griffin's (http://www.hardlight.org/) meditation instruction will be available to listen to during certain hours. We wanted to create a handsome indoor space for meditation when the dome is unusable, as it is during the monsoon season.

Sunday, June 28, 2009




























EVERYTHING HAS BEEN DOWNHILL SINCE.....
Everything has been downhill since we left Doi Suthep Monastery in both senses. It’s on a high hill and can easily be seen from below in Chaing Mai at night because of the brilliant lights reflecting off of the gigantic gold-plated stupa, (center of the mandala-designed inner courtyards and home of the Buddha bone relic). Our 7 day Vapassana meditation retreat at Doi Suthep changed our consciousnesses in some wonderful ways, and we just plain had a fabulous stay there. 700 years of Buddhist Monks chanting every morning and evening and the Buddha bone relic has created a spiritual heaven here. We come away with regret at leaving and very happy to have had the experience.
What was it? The glorious rich golden light from the stupa at night and the first morning light for chanting in the vaulted sanctuary – the presence of so much condensed Spirit Presence over so many years? The humble, “detached from the world” natures of the monks – the golden Buddha statues everywhere - - the chance to meditate for hours without interruption or impending responsibility? - - the simple Vapassana technique of watching the belly move in and out while noting rising, falling with the breath, hence learning a whole lot about quieting the mind and staying out of the way of ONE.
It isn’t like the monastery didn’t have psychic thickness of all kinds of beings, attracted and remaining there for centuries on end - - it did. It wasn’t that there weren’t hundreds to thousands of gawking tourist every day pouring through this Holy place with probably very little consciousness of where they were - - ringing the bells as much as possible, hanging on the bells for pictures, cuddling up to the dragon statues like they were best friends (I did this too, but perhaps they are) - - and the throngs of devout Buddhist lay peoples who bowed and proffered candles and flowers and prayers with profusion. The daytime circus of visiting people was handled superbly by the monastery and by the evening and morning chants the psychic air was cleared and pure again. We received blessings from the monks many of which really were strong and true. It’s nice to buy a gift and have the seller bless and chant over it for several minutes with pure heart and beautiful being - -we went back several times to one beautiful love and kindness being.
I very truthfully love the place and will always remember it. I have a much better understanding of Buddhism and have a lot more questions at the same time. Jennata had the huevos to ask our Vapassana monk teacher if he knew about and gave shaktipat - - he stuttered a bit and said something about having to practice for years and years, and we felt so lucky.
The practice he gave us of watching our belly rise and fall and repeating “rising, falling” with the cyclic breath, and repeatedly going back to this with each monkey mind deviation from the routine was very helpful mind training, and the walking practice with four part, “lift heel, lift foot, transverse forward, lower foot” all done in very slow motion and with utmost consciousness, really showed me how much “monkey” is still running loose in this mind - - very embarrassing and helpful - - this one, at times looking a bit like a drunken sailor, is now a great fan of walking mindful practice. We’ll do “around the dome at Nimboli walking practice” with a lot more consciousness now. The no talking and separate rooms helped the practice as well.
We visited quite a few “golden monasteries” in Chaing Mai – easy to do, as they are around each corner, just about. The openness and welcoming presence of all of them is impressive - - loving kindness on a stick - -well done. The statues of Buddha were so tall and so Gold and so lit, and so imbued with presence, that bowing the forehead to the floor three times, the standard practice, hardly seemed enough. And then there were the statues of the lineage and the statues of what appeared to be Patanjali and the 5 or 7 Nagas forming a Naga crown over his head, and the statues of the revered elder Monks, and the beefy protector guys who looked like a slightly historic Nordic powerhouses, and Manjusri cutting everything to pieces into One . There was a guy sitting in focused one­-pointed-meditation in one of the galleries of an especially impressive black and gold decor temple, who i respected very much because of his one ponted concentration in the midst of the big influx of Buddhist devotees during a holiday celebration. Jenatta says he was a statue, but i must insist she objectified the guy and couldn’t see his real nature. We shall have to return and pinch him to find out. I hope he is alive and doesn’t flinch with the pinch.
After months in Nimboli, which we love dearly, it wazzzz a joy to have coffee houses and great restaurants on every block. The Thais know how to cook. You probably knew that, and so i had heard, but proof is in the pudding, and we had some great meals. If i really liked to shop, i could go on and on about the silk and the fashions and the clever designs, and on and on, but since i really don’t get off on it that much, this is as on and on as i get about shopping, but check in with Jenatta, and know that a shopper, even though there are great price deals here, should arrive with lots of dough and suitcases.
The Thai people have beauty coming out of their pores which shows up everywhere. Orchids greet you as soon as you exit the airplane and flowers are everywhere. And they have some very admirable cultural traditions. Children are taught to remember to be happy whenever they hear a bell ringing, which must keep them happy all the time because of the heavy density of monasteries and trigger happy rope pullers. It really makes one want to ring a bell if it’s going to make everyone happy. Another is, respect elders, and monks, and anyone who is politically advantaged to you. The bowing with respect can be very wonderful and also an impediment at times. Who to bow to and how low to bow and how high to place your prayer hands gesture is complicated. We were excused as ignorant foreigners, so anything we did was appreciated.
A language where you have to change pitch and do variable stretches of duration of different sounds to get the meaning across is just too much to contemplate - - might as well sing - - and the writing, forget it - - adding little dips and swirls and circles everywhere made me dizzy just to look at it - - it does make English look and sound kind of boring though.
We did take a 5 day course in Thai massage and I’m hoping Jenatta remembers it well so that I’ll get the benefit when we get back to Nimboli-ing. Not like any massage I’ve ever known, is Thai massage – possibly the best. We had a great time and a great teacher - - her name is OM – and that probably had a lot to do with it. I now know how to step on your body, sit on your body, place my knee in the most excruciating samskara loaded places, and yoga stretch you out of your monkey mind – -get in line.
Well, it is nearly time to board the big Thai bird to Mumbai for re-entry to India. We are returning with a great dose of the more feminine Thai nature and some great ideas for implementation at Nimboli. Please check in for further blogs from the “get your visa stamped adventurers” - - Jenatta and dewadas. Love and impermanence and happiness and rising-falling bellies. J and d

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

GODOT FINALLY ARRIVES, MONSOON THAT IS











The Land and everyone on it breathes a sigh of relief now that the monsoon, two weeks late, has
finally arrived. The stress of enduring the buildup of heat in the hottest May-June in 50 years is finallly broken. The final days were difficult even for local people. Shortly after the rains started the sound of laughter rang through the valley from adults and children playing outside in the rain celebrating monsoons arrival. The bells of the temples rang in happy celebration, and the temperature dropped with a thunk. Body heat stress is difficult to imagine if never experienced, but suffice it to say that great relief is felt as systems return to moderate levels.

But Wait!! New adventures await one in monsoon. If never experienced before, like us, nature has some surprises for you. We had just stepped out of the kitchen on the night of the first heavy rain and plofp, ploffp, ploffffpp, they were jumping everywhere - -Jenatta screamed like a good girl would and Dewa stood frozen in that time warp when you don't know what is happening yet, but it's real wierd and your body knows before your mind has got the picture.

Yes, you guessed it, big shiny slimy green bull frogs with also celebrating monsoon by jumping out of hibernation in the mud onto the front porch and into the dinning hall and going for the kitchen and the bedrooms. Brooms and shouts and hysteria did channel them off the porch and the cowardly crew retreated inside to escape possible frogilation. The next morning, peering out onto the porch, none of the celebrants were in sight. Looking over the edge of the porch, a mass of protoplasm at first unrecognizable, gave way to a vision of two who had found each other and were not pleased with my flashlight glare. Monsoon celebrations come is all different styles.

Two days before, we experienced the first wave of pestilence. a very light rain had occurred, and no one could say the monsoon had arrived -- just a dusting, a hint, a tease of the heat suffering ones. Lawho, our gardener, shouted out something unintelligible in marathi, which is easy for him to do as we don't yet speak the language, and we hurried to see what up. Snake - - very dangerous snake, "one bite you die, nothing can be done, no need to go to hospital" says Roidas, the other gardener.

We learned later that this is not true, but the snake found was a Russell's Viper, one of the most poisonous and feared snakes of the asian areas. It was small - - a baby -- only 15 inches, but very potent we are told. The gardener has helped this one off to the happy wriggling land. We went to question the doctor at the nearby clinic. Reassuring us, he said he had anti-venom shots for forty patients and had never lost a snake bite client. We felt relieved. He also related that 40% of his snake bite patients were out at night with no flashlight or boots looking for crabs, frogs, and fish delicacies and were under the influence of alcohol - - drunk dummies. Running a quick poll of friends and workers, further relief was given by the fact that no one had ever been bitten, and these creatures only come out during the first part of monsoon. By this time we were way relaxed about the whole thing.

We didn't like the "one bite, you die" prognosis. Well, let's count. Today marks the 5th day of snake finding, and today the number is ten. 9 of the baby Russel Vipers and one big fat, 5 foot long non poisonous serpentine visitor that only the gardener saw. In between snake one to 10 we had a morning of the invasion of the big ants - - the black rather harmless ants, but big and awkard to continuously be stepping on in the kitchen and the veranda. Desparate, i tried the only thing at hand, "Pril" our sink soap bubbled them off and they have never returned. Pril - - keep some on hand.

We vacilate now between some anxiety about the invasions and a keen suspense about what surprise Monsoon Goddess has in store for us. Grateful for the entertainment and excitment, we are a bit widgy about the next waves on the beach.

All in all Nimboli is a wonderful, peaceful and very spiriually powerful place. we are grateful to be here. Come and visit.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009


MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL,
WHO HAS THE BIGGEST SAHASARA OF ALL?






YOU HAVE PROBABLY BEEN WONDERING
HOW OUR MEDITATION PRACTICE IS ADVANCING.
WE JUST WANTED YOU TO SEE FOR YOURSELVES!!