Monday, April 30, 2012

Book Read: A Long Way Gone by Ismael Baeh

In A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a powerfully gripping story: At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF, and through the help of the staff at his rehabilitation center, he learned how to forgive himself, to regain his humanity, and, finally, to heal”(www.alongwaygone.com)
My ideas/thoughts/realizations after reading…..
Too much time idol/alone mind sinks into feelings of loneliness, questioning existence, questioning life decisions

Ismael-a young boy tortured by this idol time

Swami Rama-uses this time to control the mind

Human beings are like rubber bands with the human mind and body shifting from one extreme to the next.  The power of the human mind is confirmed with one experiencing a range of emotions, affects, and adaptive/maladaptive patterns created.

Ismael once was a sweet, caring, non-violent, boy who turned into a monster when violence took over his life and he was forced to make a decision to live and work for the army or risk death within the civilian population. At this critical age, a young boy should never have to make such a difficult life decision, but this is the reality of violence and warfare in Sierra Leone, Africa.  He is severely traumatized by the inhumane acts he performs, witnesses, the loss of his friends, and the loss of his whole family.  Ismael projects all his sadness and anger onto the killing of civilians.  He performs such inhumane acts that demonstrate a human beings potential for evil and hatred with the behavioral and environmental impact. 

Ethnic xenophobia plays a role for Ismael in terms of his externalizing his aggression. "Anger makes one feel strong. Paranoia becomes a psychi vitamin for threatened identity and powerful anodyne against the pain that results from genuine self-reflection.  This is the essential dynamic of what I call a "villain hunger." And this hunger gets readily activated when a large group's identity is threatened from external or internal sources(Akhtar,2005,p.115) Ex. Indian independence from the British. Ismael, a young boy, but a villain hunger who is weak and helpless looking for someone to blame to keep his sadness and mourning at bay.
By the grace of God, he is sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center to regain his true identity and extinguish his maladaptive thoughts and behavioral patterns.  As expected, he acts out towards staff and has difficulty trusting, but he shifts back to the boy he once was with the help of a supportive, loving environment. 

Now 26, he has a story of a lifetime to share with others.  In the book, he often ponders why and how he was still alive after such conflict.  His purpose is completed to tell his story and be a strong leader for others in his country and abroad.

This book not only proves the power of the human mind, but it shows that life is unpredictable. One day you can be sharing a meal with your family and the next your village may be in flames and you can not find your family.  Every moment is precious and again one should be thankful for their freedom.  These young children from all over do not have a choice rather they are coerced into violence and war, which will negatively impact their psychological mental health state requiring intensive therapy for a lifetime.
May these children find their way out of this violence and devastation to the light that lies at the end of the tunnel….PRIS

Dr. Brian Weiss Answers Your Questions

From http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/personal-growth/past-life/brian-weiss.asp

Are we just vessels that hold the soul?
Dr Brian Weiss:
Yes, exactly. We are vessels, and we contain this eternal and immortal, much more knowledgeable part of ourselves. Now, probably as you get more mystical you find out that these souls, as well as the bodies, are connected to everyone else's, because really everything is of the same substance.

Why do people find reincarnation a difficult concept to accept?

People fear the unfamiliar. If only they would keep an open mind. Not just scientists, but everybody. Just observe it, watch it.
Meditation can teach people to do that. If they can let go of their fears.

Philosophers and mystics once incorporated reincarnation into their explanations of life, and Plato wrote about soulmates.

Yes, Plato wrote about reincarnation. So, the Greeks believed in this too. And so did ancient civilizations.

Reincarnation is in all religions. Where did this knowledge come from?

It comes from so far back that we don't even know where it comes from. We only lost it recently. I think we lost it for political reasons.

In Judaism, belief in reincarnation or gilgul is not just ancient, but existed until early in the 1800s, and it was only with the migration out of Eastern Europe to the West, and the Age of
Enlightenment and science, and the need to be accepted, that the belief went underground.

But not in the Chassidic (Ultra-Orthodox) populations. They still believe in reincarnation. In
Christianity it went underground much earlier, in the 6th century at the Second Council of Constantinople where reincarnation was officially declared a heresy.
Christianity was becoming a state religion, and the Romans felt that without the whip of Judgement Day people wouldn't behave, they wouldn't follow.

They would think: "Well, I'll do it next time around." And so reincarnation was consciously made a heresy. But this was at the Council, centuries after Jesus.

How is the time period between lifetimes determined?

People who die violently, or children who die, often come back faster. And people who live longer lives, and die more peacefully, there can be a much longer time between lives, a hundred years or more.

How many past lives do people generally have?

That varies, but the numbers that come up most (in my work) is about 100. Not the thousands and thousands that the
Buddhists talk about.

Is there a finite number of souls?

To me it doesn't matter because ultimately we're all connected.
Are new souls being created?
I'm not sure, but my inclination is to say no. We're probably all ageless and have been (around from the beginning).

Are families more spiritually connected from life to life than strangers are?

Yes, and I do think that people come in groups for the working out of debts and responsibilities, the concept of
karma. These are the people that we're learning and growing with. I even put love at first sight, or hostility at first sight into that category, a recognition of souls.

I know the old saying: blood is thicker than water. Well, I mention in Through Time into Healing that spirit seems thicker than blood.

So people can be male in one lifetime and female in another, and vice versa?

Yes, there seems to be frequent switching. You may have a preference, but you've tried out the other to see what it's like. This is also true of races and religions.

How do you explain souls that occupy bodies that are biologically damaged?

If this is all to learn-and this is what my patients keep telling me-to grow, to become more and more Godlike, then whatever experience you have is a learning experience. Sometimes, though, it's a teaching experience as well, so you may come back into this for others, maybe as an act of charity.

How do pre-determination and free will co-exist?

Someone told me this once:
Life is like being on a bus. It has a certain pre-determined route. But the person you sit next to, how you act, what you say, that's all the free will part.

Why don't we automatically, consciously remember our past lives?

For one, more and more people are remembering. Through therapeutic techniques such as hypnosis, but also through dreams, spontaneously, through meditation, déjà vu. When they're in a place they have never been before and they know their way around.

This may be an evolutionary shift. I don't know why we don't all remember. The Greeks had a myth that when you were born again you drank from the River of Lethe, so you would forget your previous lives.

So you think some of us are born with certain values and ideals?

Yes, that's the whole purpose. That it gets ingrained at a deeper level. At the level of the
heart and the soul-where the real learning takes place so that you're not dependent just on what your parents teach you.

If one's parents were bigots, and the child is able to overcome that, this is a degree of independence that transcends what we're taught.

This is your soul saying: "You know it's not right to be a bigot, despite what your parents, what the church or temple is telling you. You know better. Follow your heart." And when you're doing that, you've really learnt it. This is the soul memory.

When we're 'out there', will we be with all the people we knew here?

I think so, and even with those who are still here. The vision is better coming from the other direction. They're aware of more because they are not limited by a body and the brain. But we are.

What's the state of reincarnation research today?

There are physicians doing this. Raymond Moody, the psychiatrist who coined the phrase
Near Death Experience, is now writing about his research with past life therapy. Then there's the Association of Past Life Reaserch and Therapy (APRT). They publish a journal. It's a mixed group, so it's hard to characterize them as representative of the scientific community.

How can reincarnation be validated? Do you look for supporting information?

It's difficult to prove reincarnation scientifically because of what we consider scientific. As a psychiatrist I'm interested in my patients' clinical improvement, in their welfare, so I look at two levels: of therapy and helping people, and then the other level, that of validating, or proving. Both are vital.

But I function more these days at the therapeutic level. There's no question in my mind, or in the minds of all of these physicians and psychotherapists who are writing to me, that this has a therapeutic effect. It's quick, it's vivid, it's relatively inexpensive, and people get better.
Physicists are now researching how one subatomic particle/wave in one location senses instantaneously what's happening to another one. Is it similar to psychic phenomena?
Yes, and physicists have proof that these particles exist, that they travel at the speed of light, and time is relative, and can stop. It's just that we have difficulty in letting go (of our old concepts).

If I told you that you're really, physically, a mass of electrons, protons and neutrons and energy, and wave/particle phenomena, you would say, "but I'm solid", and I would say, "yes, but that's not really true, because at a deeper level you're energy".

Scientists talk about things being connected at a sub-atomic level-what we would consider ESP-between these subatomic particles. Since we and everything in the universe are made up of these, does this explain how people can have 'paranormal' abilities?

Yes, that summarises the millennia of mystical knowledge, and solves the
problems of the universe! It's true. We need to develop the skills. How to do this, how to be aware. Mystics have always been saying that there is no time, it just appears that way to us.

And when you start talking about other states, there is no space, there is no time. It's all happening now. This is our conception of
God and of nature beyond the three-dimensional. That's the fascinating correlation that physics is starting to prove.

In mystical Christianity, Buddhism,
Hinduism, this is all part of the esoteric tradition: There is not time, no space, we're all connected.

Do you believe that physicists will find that science, mysticism, spirituality, religion and parapsychology are connected through quantum physics?

Physicists are the mystics of the 21st century. They've begun to study consciousness, time moving backwards, all of these phenomena that were called occult or esoteric. I believe they'll be found to have their roots in nature, in science.

As we begin to use more of our brains through
meditation and other ways, we're going to find that these things do have their basis in science, in nature. To discover the truth you have to throw out your old assumptions and old knowledge.

You wrote in Many Lives… that the most important lesson you learned with past life therapy is that there is no death . How has this changed your life, and how can this change everybody's life?

When you stop fearing
death you start to live more. What I value now that I perhaps didn't value as much before are love, relationships, family-not just in the genetic sense, but in the larger sense. And what I value less now are material things. You can't take it with you. That's a cliché, but it's true.

How do our past life experiences and relationships affect our present life?

They affect us in every way. Many of your most meaningful relationships are not new. That's how you connect. Past lives also affect us in symptoms, both emotional and physical. Certain fears and anxieties carry over. Physical symptoms, where one may have been wounded or hurt in a previous
life frequently come up. It affects us psychologically, emotionally, even in obesity.

Have you had patients who, while reliving a past life under hypnosis, had detailed/technical knowledge about something they know nothing about in this life?

Yes, that happens a lot. One of Dr Jarmon's cases is one of the best. A woman was seeing him for
hypnotherapy for weight loss. He didn't believe in past lives. This was his first case (of past lives), and it happened spontaneously.

A Jewish woman in her 30s, she started to develop a new symptom while she was visiting him. Her periods had stopped and she developed lower abdominal tenderness, and she was becoming more anxious.

He was alarmed and thought she might have an ectopic pregnancy (in a fallopian tube), which can be dangerous because it can burst. So he referred her to a gynaecologist. She tested negative.

But she continued to see Dr Jarmon, and they were working on her anxiety, and he said: "Go back to the time from which your symptoms first arose."

His patient went back to the Middle Ages. She was five months pregnant with an ectopic pregnancy. In that
life she was Catholic, and she was with a priest who wouldn't allow abortion or surgery, and so she died.

And just before she died she repeated the Catholic act of contrition to the priest, word for word. Dr Jarmon is Catholic and recognized it. It's what Catholics say to atone for their sins.

The Jewish woman had never heard of contrition. This happens all the time, but again, it's hard to prove because you can say they probably read this in school, picked up a book or learned this while they were overseas.

If we can go back to past lives, can we go forward to future ones?

There are people who are doing this work, such as Chet Snow, the president of the APRT Society. I haven't found it, and probably the reason is I'm not looking for it.

Many look at God as a force outside the universe that regulates everything.

Instead of within. I say: "Why limit God?" Perhaps
God can listen to all of our prayers, all at the same time and pay infinite attention to it, because God isn't a human being.

So, you're saying that if there are an infinite number of possibilities, then nothing is impossible, and therefore, God can be everywhere.

Yes, and we can all be part of God, and yet be separate, in our own perspective. But we are all connected.

So, if we're all connected to everything, then by definition aren't we connected to God, too, since God, or a higher being, created all of this?

Yes. Now you're approaching my very simplistic way of viewing everything. That God-love-is an energy that is in everything. Intelligence, wisdom, love,
compassion and more-that's all we're made of.

Tell us about your past lives.

The first time I remembered was during an
acupressure massage for an old neck injury that was flaring up. At that point, Many Lives… had been written, but wasn't published yet.

And I wasn't telling a soul. I was afraid for my reputation and career. So I mentioned nothing to the therapist. I would go into this very relaxed, almost meditative state, and during the third or fourth one-hour session I saw this image.

It was me, taller, thin, wearing a multi-coloured robe, standing in a large geometric shaped building. I knew I was a priest of some sort, very powerful, with the ear of the royal family. I had some psychic abilities in that life, too.

And I was misusing it to gain more power, sex, greed, things like that. It was a very good life! Very easy, but wasted. The word ziggurat kept ringing in my head. I had no conscious
memory of ever coming across that word.

It doesn't prove that I didn't, in college or something, but I didn't remember it. I didn't say anything to the therapist, went home and looked up ziggurat. It's a word for architectural structures, temples of the Babylonian era, like the hanging gardens of Babylon.

I had another experience years later. I had this dream of being imprisoned in a European dungeon, my arm chained to the wall. I was being tortured for teaching about my religious beliefs, which included reincarnation. And I died there.

I became aware, as I died, of a message: "When you had the chance to teach it, you did not." I knew that was referring back to that episode with the ziggurat. "When you didn't have the chance, you did."

And I knew that meant that I should have taught about love. I didn't have to teach about reincarnation and get killed for it. I went too far. The implication was: "Now you can have both. You have the chance, and you can teach about it." It's as if those two were the important past lives.

Who are The Masters?

This is what Catherine described as the source of the information coming to her. She would hear them, and then tell me. But she had no
memory of it when she woke up.

When she was in-between remembering past lives she would go into this state. She said this was coming from the master spirits, The Masters. And out came knowledge that was very unlike her. Even the phonetics, grammar and style were different.

And she wasn't an actress, a multiple personality or schizophrenic. I've had other patients tell me things-it's coming from a more pure source that's not contaminated by our brains. I've had much contact with The Masters, but they're not identifying themselves by that name anymore.
What do you think of other alternative physical and mental therapies?
I do feel that there may be validity to many of these approaches and we need to study these. That's why I was heartened to see that the National Institutes of
Health created a division that deals with alternative and holistic approaches. The government is funding and supporting this. There's a tremendous amount to gain, both in healing and direct physical and mental health.

Extracted with permission from Voices of Truth, by Nina L. Diamond, Full Circle.

Contact:
www.brianweiss.com

Book Read: Dr. Brian Weiss Many Lives and Many Masters

Our physical stages are not in line with our spiritual asral phrases-seven phases then how are we going to grow as human beings?

QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:

“Patience and timing. Everything comes when it must come. A life cannot be rushed, can not be worked on a schedule, which so many want it to be.  We must accept what comes to us at a given time, and not ask for more.  But life is endless so we never die; we were never really born. We just pass through different phases.  There is no end. Humans have many different dimensions.  But time is not as we see time, but rather in lessons that are learned.

"We go through many stages when we’re here. We shed a baby body, go into a child’s, from child to adult, and adult into old age.  Why shouldn’t we go one step beyond and shed the adult body and go on to a spiritual plane? That is what we do.  We don’t just stop growing; we continue to grow.  When we get to the spiritual plane; we keep growing there too.  We go through a renewal stage, a learning stage, and a stage of decision.  We decide when we want to return, where, and for what reasons.  Some choose not to come back.  They choose to go on to another stage of development.  And they stay in spirit form…some for longer than others before they return.  It is all growth and learning…continuous growth.  Our body is just a vehicle for us while we’re here.  It is our soul and spirit that last forever.”

YES, YES, AND YES IN LINE WITH PRISCILLA’S BELIEF AND THEORY

“Wisdom is achieved very slowly.  This is because intellectual knowledge, easily acquired, must be transformed into emotional or subconscious, knowledge.  Once transformed, the imprint is permanent.  Behavioral practice is the necessary catalyst of this reaction.  Without action, the concept will wither and fade.  Theoretical knowledge without practical application is not enough.”

“Balance and harmony are neglected today, yet they are the foundations of wisdom.  Everything is done to excess.  People are overweight because they eat excessively.  Joggers neglect aspects of themselves and others because they run excessively .  People seem excessively mean.  They drink too much, smoke too much, carouse too much(or too little) talk too much without content, worry too much.  There is too much black or white thinking.  All or none, This is not the way of nature.”

“In nature there is balance.  Beasts destroy in small amounts.  Ecological systems are not eliminated en masse.  Plants are consumed and then grow.  The sources of sustenance are dipped into and then replenished.  The flower is enjoyed, the fruit eaten, and the root preserved.”

“Human kind has not learned about balance, let alone practiced it.  It is guided by greed and ambition, steered by fear.  In this way it will eventually destroy itself.  But nature will survive at least the plants will survive.”

“Happiness is really rooted in simplicity.  The tendency to excessiveness in thought and action diminishes happiness.  Excesses cloud basic values(YES!!!).  Religious people tell us that happiness comes from filling ones heart with love, from faith and hope, from practicing charity and dispensing kindness.  They are actually right.  Given those attitudes, balance and harmony will eventually follow.  These are collectively a state of being." 

It is beautiful when my theories are confirmed through reading-studying ten years of psychology has definitely paid off for me.  Traveling through Asia, I keep analyzing the “simply happy” and these beautiful religious souls.  After living and experiencing the US to the fullest, I think to myself-“They are the ones that really have it right!” “Not Americans and especially not New Yorkers.” These simply happy, religious beings are the ones with the keys to happiness.

While New Yorkers are running around reading New York best sellers on self improvement, going to their pilates classes, and running through central park-they do not know anything about this internal happiness.

This internal happiness radiates from these people’s souls.  People talk about India becoming a super power.  India is a super power already, but it has nothing to do with materialism.  It has to do with religion and spirituality.  It is here and in the border of Nepal and Tibet where those from America or those rich and powerful figures are coming to seek the answers to their life.
In America, we have education through books, technology (efficiency through this technology), but we do not have knowledge of basic life principles for happiness. India has it, Nepal has it, Thailand has it and America is running around clueless searching for it. Searching through books, movies, lectures, new diets, new theories presented by overpaid/commercial writers i.e. The Secret and Eckhart Tolle. I do like these books, but these books will not provide you with profound life changes rather may aid one in gaining insight into their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. 

A top selling author, Robin Sharma, writes a book about meeting a monk and finding the purpose of life and how to be happy.  He remained clueless about happiness until he had the epiphany(which usually happens around mid thirties to fourties)”Where is my life leading? Why am I a corporate slave?"

Life coaching with others, I inspire others to believe and follow their purpose earlier before coming to this realization in the mid-life stages. 
This book was  written by an intelligent psychiatrist from Miami.  Like many psychiatrists, he focuses on the medical model for his main source of  treatment, but he is unlike many as he specializes in psychotherapy, dream analysis, and hypnosis.  In this book, he uses hypnosis  and past life therapy as treatment for a young female adult who experiences excessive anxiety, worry, and fear.  Through her hypnosis comes the words of many masters providing the key principles of life. These masters comes from different lives in different time periods encountering happiness, suffering, and historical life changing events. With this past life therapy, his patient ends up being cured and Dr. Brian Weiss's life is changed forever.  His treatment lens shifts as he becomes more open minded to the power of the universe and reincarnation. 
It is a confirmation that again anything is possible...PRIS




Guru's Birthday

Instead of going trekking, I decide to hold off a day and go with Sheshila to her ashram for her Guru’s birthday.  Her Guru is currently out of body, but his spirit is still present. This ashram has connection with Sri Aurobindo and Mother Ama, which is intriguing for me and makes me want to check it out.  It has a place for yoga and meditation hall with availability to stay overnight. I thought to myself maybe I could stay for a few days depending on how I like it.  
 
After two buses packed in like sardines, we arrive at her ashram.  It looks more just like a local, community temple, but it is an ashram.  There are pictures of the guru, the original guru, Shiva, and mother ama.  They sprinkle holy water on our heads when we arrive and are very welcoming with kind smiles.  Sheshiela is on the board association so she has some people and tasks to attend to inside.  I go inside and sit in on the chanting and meditation.  Just wearing Indian chulita and not wearing a red sari, I immediately stick out in the crowd. It is mainly a crowd full of ladies with a few men.  Throughout the ceremony, the ladies perform various rituals-bowing down touching their head to the ground, covering their eyes with both hands, handing flowers to one another as a warm gesture, and touching their nose.  I follow along with rituals, but keep failing on bowing my head down to the ground.  The lady next to me laughs at my failed attempts.  I just kept watching the lady next to me with a divine sense of pleasure on her face-looking up as if God was sitting and staring right down at her. 

After this ceremony part 1, there is part 2 outside with all devotees surrounding the fire.  We get rice in a bowl and throw it into the fire in between chants.  Everyone is picking on me telling me how to sit, to use my pinkie finger and ring finger when picking up the rice, to pick up two grains rather than three grains. I am thinking to myself just leave me alone and let me be.  One lady is nice and trying to help, but the other two are just being annoying and obsessive(This little moment contributes to the religious conflicts that people have as people are rigid and not willing to accept outsiders in-I see this frequently with the tourist interaction with locals). 

Sitting two rows behind the fire, we have to drop the rice from the bowl to a piece of newspaper.  At first, I tried to throw it between people in the fire. I did not know and was just trying to follow with everyone else-poor Priscilla ha.

The man chanting just kept going taking only a couple seconds to catch is breathe.  I was able to follow most of the chants and some were so fast I kept getting tongue twisted.  The heat from the fire was very hot as I began to sweat.  The devotees are sitting directly in front of it sweating, but expressing no regard or care for this happening.  They just keep on chating and along with them I just keep on chanting too. 

After an hour of chanting, we finally stop and have another worshipping ceremony followed by my favorite part dancing and singing “Happy Birthday Guru” while throwing confetti in the air. Ramjeet showed up too and joined in on the festivities.  Everyone warmed up to the one outsider joining in the festivities and I was dancing with my new friend Mia and Shesheila.  There were many young children and a specific young group of boys about 5th standard who kept following me around all day asking my name and just being silly.  I thought nothing of this thinking, “Oh just boys being boys." It is time for prasad consisting of my favorite milk rice with vegetable, potato, and lentil side.  For desert, we each get a blessing and a slice of vanilla cake with vanilla icing-delicious! Towards the end people were still singing and chanting so I went to the meditation room for some private time. 

From my observations, these women and their families represent a great group dynamic.  They are cohesive,effective, respectful with positive regard towards one another, loving, and caring.  A group like this is what a community really needs.  This is what has the power to provide support when people are need-when people have a bad day and need someone to lean on or a place to go and feel supported.  It is a simple yet special ashram.  If only Mother Ama was there that would make it an even more spectacular day.

But I'm always on the run

Sometimes I just want to freeze myself in time, moving in slow motion, just sitting in silence, reading and writing, and not moving around but...

I'm always on the run....By Lenny Kravitz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em8JuUW-OOE

You Look Nepali

I am often hearing from people, "You Look Nepali."
I find this fascinating that I am like a chameleon adapting to the new places where I am. Looking at the Nepalese woman, I do not think I look Nepalese at all, but it is nice they think so.  Sometimes I hear my face shape looks Neplali, my smile is Nepali, and recently someone said my body is "strong like a Nepali woman." This was a good choice of words because I am tired of being called "fat" or "big."


People are definitely associating my facial features and body types with a Nepalese woman.  Even when I wear sunglasses and a big hat, I hear that I look Nepalese.  This Nepalese look gives me local discounts and free entry.  It is a nice perk I must say and I do not mind adapting to my local Nepali environment and learning the true culture. 

A couple other new ones are, "You look Israeli." and the one that was the most suprising was, "You look German." Walking through Lumbini in the garden wearing my sunglasses and hat a man starts speaking German and says, "Oh sorry,you look German." How I look German with a sun hat and black Dior sunglasses I have no idea.

I just joke around where I go that I am a cocktail mix or a masala mix. Happy to adapt to the environment I am by spirit, but also my physical transformation ha!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Threes Company Too

I just love this couple-Rajmeet and Sheshila.    They welcome me into their home saying I can stay as long as I like and give whatever I feel comfortable with giving.  We sit together drinking Chai, eating Dal bhat, Rajmeet plays his flute and we dance around,  sitting on the rooftop and watching the sunset. 
Both of them are in the Brahman caste, their son and daughter are away studying in Kathmandu, they owned a bookstore for fifteen years and now Rajmeet works as a radio programmer, and their life is just simple.  Rajmeet has such an adorable innocence to him and says that he is happy to have a new American best friend.  He is quite comical when he speaks and we just have such a great dynamic like my dynamic with Joki-La(innocent, but aware of what the reality of the world).

Learning about Nepalese culture or I guess this is Hindu culture, Sheshila is not allowed to leave the house for 5 days during her menstrual cycle, which they call “technical problem.” When we have dinner, it is cooked by her niece who comes to cook during her “technical problem.” I tell them that I never saw this occur in India, especially not among my family who are workaholics.  I joke with them that this would be amazing if this happened in America!

Could you imagine being off for five days when you had your menstrual period? Things would function more efficiently, less mood swings by supervisors, and marriages would improve because women would get a break.  I just can not get enough of this

Rajmeet says it is also common for Nepalese men to have two or three wives.  One for cooking, one for cleaning, and one for sexual relations. When one has “technical problem” the other one steps up to the plate ha!  This is so interesting to me.      

My family is so busy.  We have Guru’s birthdays, wedding parties, and poojas to attend.  I am quite the busy Nepali bee!

A Man Turns 86 Lets Celebrate

On the streets, there was a lot of dancing and singing among a large group of locals.  Of course, this drew my attention over.  I sat and observed what looked like a family to be engaging in ritual ceremonies and dancing.  The women are mostly wearing red saris and the men are wearing their traditional Nepalese hats. 
I speak with the young boy and they say they are celebrating the birthday of their grandfather who turned 86. In Nepal, there are celebrations once people pass eighty years old and it also involves an alignment with the moon.  They move from the store front to the street and place the 86 year old man into a chair in the back of a pick up truck.  The close family members all pack in sitting around the man and the rest of the family members follow behind the truck.  I am recording a video following along the lovely lady invites me to dance.  I put down my camera and join in engaging in my favorite dance moving THE HANDS. I love this dance-it is just like Rajasthan-same same, but with a Nepalese kick to it. 

It is super hot outside and I am carrying my main bag with my computer, which is very heavy.  I still have not showered from the crazy bus ride and I want to go in the shade.  I am ready to say good bye and the boy says, “Stay with us, we are just going to make a rounds around the lake and come back.” I decide to follow this truck along dancing and chanting“Jai” and throwing our hands up in between the music.  I team up with on beautiful lady who is full of life.  We just keep dancing around each other in circles.  Everyone is watching and complementing my dancing, which I just think I look like a fool, but I am glad they like it ha!

Each person receives a blessing from the old man(I never got his name so excuse my poor reference).  He puts the red clay like substance on their forehead and gives them a piece of banana.  People are laying scarves around his neck and the old man tears up.  He is so adorable, so thankful, so alive-so beautiful to witness. I begin to tear up just watching these real, lively interactions.  Flowers are being thrown up in the air and sparkles of some sort. The route around the town is only a 3 kilometers, but it feels like a lifetime with the heat and my heavy bag, pants, and long sleeved wear, but it was all 120 percent worth it. 

Everyone was dancing with their spirits ALIVE. The men were playing the instruments following the truck with the women dancing in between.  This Nepali culture reminded me a lot of India with the various rituals and celebration with family. This lovely family and community of friends were so welcoming to me and I felt just like a family member.  They invited me for the continued pooja and Prasad(food) after the celebration. 

As I am dancing around, a short man about 5’3 appears on a scooter wearing a vest, traditional hat, and small glasses.  I am entertained by his cute nature. He follows along in the parade and asks me where I am staying.  I tell him I am currently staying in the bookstore ha! He says, “You can stay with me and my wife.”

And this is how I met my new family of Pokhara...two people I just adore spending quality time with….

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Paradise Pokhara

Nepal is home to eight of the tallest mountains in the world and Paradise Pokhara is the starting point for many of these amazing treks.  What makes this place paradise?
The lakes, the mountains, the boat rides, the town area, the great live music venues(so nice to hear some good live music for a change), the teas, speciality homemade crafts, especially wool scarfs, sweaters, and bags.  

When arriving, I look at a few guesthouses, but decide to keep looking.  On the street, I am approached by a man selling fresh chocolate croissants and apple danishes-the german bakeries are back.  I buy one chocolate croissant and enjoy a masala tea- a treat for my circus experience. 

 I get better acquainted with the area by taking a walk through, getting information about trekking/permits, engaging in a free meditation session for an hour, seeing the lake, and visiting the book stores-finding my favorite book store in town-Fewa Book Store. My nice friend from the book store lets me keep my bag there for sometime as I explore the city. 

The hotel is flooded with so many hotels and guesthouses, but the one in particular I could not find- Pushkar Guesthouse specifically because I heard such good things about it and because the name-Pushkar is where my Guru lives.  It was located on the main street in town and people kept giving me the location and I never found it. I found a very nice home stay, but the rooms were unfinished and there was no electricity.  I was not searching for a room and was not worried about it. I knew something would come into place and it did….

Circus on the Bus to Pokhara

Priscilla drops the ball again.  I realized that I had to go back to Bhattawara bus station to cetch the bus to Pokhara (This was my original station of my trip, which means I should have went from there to Lubhini to Chitwan to Pokhara, but everything happens for a reason). If I went to Lubhini first, I would not have met Dhruba who introduced me to my nice family and then met the second nice family-things would be different. 
I walk into the bus stand chatting with the bus friends and the police. I walk behind the window to drop off my bag and while I am bag there I ask to borrow the bike as I have some spare time ha!

I ride around looking for a book store (a difficult find in the main cities of Nepal).  Mission not accomplished, but I manage to find some amazing fish again. Score!

Of course, the lights are out again so here I am riding on the streets in pitch darkness.  It is so dark you can not even see huge animals in front of you.  I grace the side of a cow and stumble around on the bike.  I find my way back and then sit in the bus station behind the window eating my fish and typing on my computer.  People are coming up to the window and I ask them where they want to go, “Kathmandu or Pokhara.” The police wear uniforms, which have a standard army pattern of  dark blue, gray, and white.  They carry big, black guns sitting on their shoulder tops.  They all sit in front of the window watching me and laughing.  People are acting to buy tickets with me and I tear them off, but do not really give them out.  The police are entertained and I manage to entertain myself. 

The small, twenty four seat bus arrives and the bus is jam packed.  I already reserved my seat number five by the window so I hop over all the suit cases and bags in the aisle to get to my seat.  This bus is the fullest I have ever seen a tourist small bus.  The suitcases are high up above the seats almost smacking people in the face. To get off the bus, people are climbing like monkeys over the bags and standing on the seat rails.  Here comes an adventure…

With the thousand bags on the tiny bus, they had to stop to make some organization to this mess.  I had just eaten so I figured this was a great time for me to take a walk/jog.  I jogged around the town area in the pitch black making sure to keep arm movement-moving my arms up in the air consistently.  The people on the bus looked at me like I was crazy and I was happy to get a nice little workout in before my overnight circus bus. 

As I was watching them tie all this luggage to the room, I heard the sound of roosters and realized they had also managed to get three cartons for roosters up there! As if we did not have enough luggage, we have roosters too!

Off we go with the roosters, the luggage, and more people getting on the bus.  They are hanging half way out the window, sitting on the bags, and more and more keep piling on.  The bus driver is driving Nepali style, which makes stops for a few seconds and then hits the gas and speeds off down the road.  You can hear the roosters talking to one another at the top ha! Even with all this commotion, the Nepali buses are comfortable to sleep, but with all this commotion I get no sleep and just sit and stare at the stars above me. When I begin to dose off at around midnight we stop the bus for food.  This always happens where I am just about to fall asleep and we make a stop.  Off the bus they go for food at midnight and I am wondering why we could not make this stop at a normal hour.  The local men are concerned that the American girl is not eating and I explain I already ate earlier and this is time to sleep.  One man has a big stomach and the other is a small, thin man with white hair-they both look Hungarian, but they are Nepalese-confusing.  With many more stops with locals getting off the bus to smoke and them dropping off roosters and picking up chickens ha.  At 5:30am the bus arrives and the Bus adventure comes to an end.. Hello to Pokhara!

Lumbini-Home of the Buddha-UNESCO Site

Wikipedia:
The present Lumbini is divided into an ratio of 1:3 which means it is 3 km long for every 1 km wide. In total it's 2 km by 6 km
The holy site of Lumbini has ruins of ancient monasteries, a sacred Bodhi tree, an ancient bathing pond, the Asokan pillar and the Mayadevi temple, where the precise place of birth of Buddha is located. From early morning to early evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting and meditation at the site.

What is nice about this area is that it is only monasteries.  Hotels and restaurants are forbidden, which makes a more peaceful site. The "Secret Garden" continues on through the grounds with quotes posted by Buddha on the trees and in secret areas. There are monasteries from different countries of South East Asia: Mynamar, Thailand, and Vietnam. There is a Vipassana center for meditation, a Buddhist nunnery, and my favorite was the great Stupa monastery with the tall ceilings and the many portraits inside.

Many people say that you only need a couple hours for Lubhini to see the Buddha stupa and go to the temple. I spent almost 8 hours exploring Lubhini sitting and reading and writing. Tourists just go to see the Buddha monastery leaving the other temples quiet and peaceful. It was not even just the peaceful element, but these monasteries were just so nice. They have little garden, lake areas, and the Buddhist symbols for luck (I forgot the name you walk around the temple turning them clockwise for good wishes).The premises were kept in almost perfect condition: the grass, the many flowers, fountains, and streams. 
One of the temples reminded me of my Golden temple visit in South India and others reminded me of Southeast Asia especially Cambodia. There were such nice places to meditate and just reflect on the quotes of the Buddha and my current life.  There were not many people around and often I felt like I was the only one there walking through the dirt roads and grass from place to place.  It was just what the doctor ordered, " A day of Peace and Reflection."
Looking at the main guide, I visited all the main monasteries and stupas.  I wanted to go to the museum, but did not end up finding it. “Oh well Priscilla you can not have it all.....”


Chitwan to Lumbini

Leaving Chitwan, I had to take two buses. One to Sonali and then a connecting bus to Lumbini  It was up to God whether or not I would make this connecting bus and it turns out I missed it by twenty minutes.  I hopped of the bus and of course-there were no lights again-welcome to Nepal where there is electricity for 2 hours a day. 
Right in front of the bus stand, I see a fruit stand and immediately go over hoping for the fresh juice machine.  One of my favorite things about India and Nepal is the fresh juice machine where you get a cup for 30 rupees, which in US money is about 35 cents.  They also put 4-5 oranges so it is a great source of Vitamin C=)

Anways, I am sitting on the back of the truck just figuring out what to do in the dark.  Should I stay in the dark, dingy town area for the night or should I go over to Lumbini where I can be at a guesthouse and wake up in the morning for sightseeing?

Rishi is very sweet and concerned about my safety as a WOMAN. As he sits and listens to my decision making, he keeps reminding me.  You are not a man, you are a WOMAN who is ALONE.  Acting invincible at times, I forget this fact and forget that there are good people and BAD. 

Rishi recommends that I go check out the hotel 500 meters away and just stay there for the night.  I head over there and they are slammed with customers for dinner, which makes me realize this is the place to eat.  Immediately, my nose is teased with a smell of fish and I walk closer to the stove area and see him making fresh cuts of what looks like sea bass.  I have just been eating purely vegetarian (not even eggs) and I am so excited to eat fish.  I sit down and order thali and 3 pieces of fish(35 cents per piece of fish). They were small pieces-I should have ordered more.  Sitting contently eating and reading, I finish up my $1.20 cent meal and head back to the juice stand (left my bag with Rishi). 

Over by the juice stand is a local friend of Rishi’s who lives in Lumbini with his family.  He looks like he could be trouble, but after talking I observe him and realize his naïve and innocence.  He tells me he can drive me to Lumbini and my friend says, “Don’t worry you can trust him.” I am positive that I can and to double ensure the safety of this ride-the police takes his information.  A traffic police man for the area talking with my local friend takes the boys licence plate, address, and mobile number.  I felt completely safe with our ride and off we went into the darkness.  There is pretty much nothing except a few villages between my area and Lumbini 

My little 24 year old student friend, Sanjit, talks about how he wants to one day go to America to get out of Nepal.  I am happy to say he was pursuing his college degree as many locals I talk to are not enrolled in school.  It is getting late and finding guesthouses so he invites me to stay in his home with his mother, grandmother, and siblings.  He says, “It is not very nice, but it is my home.”
We are motorbiking for a while deep into the village. We pass by a “man in an oven.” In his hut, a man sleeps half way in his house and half way outside with a mosquito net-it looked just like he was sitting in an oven-priceless.  When I get there, it looks similar to the Tharu villages in Chitwan very simple except this one had two floors.  I stayed upstairs next to his grandma who was sleeping outside with a mosquito net.   

Waking up, I see nothing around me, but agricultural fields.  There are kids shouting and playing outside with a tire and playing on the a swing (made to weigh items, but used as a swing).  Like many homes in Nepal, there is no running water just a pump that sits in the kitchen.  At first, my friend says it is just best to skip a shower, but I tell him “Don’t worry I am fine with the pump.” The only thing with the pumps are that they are inside the kitchen area, which is a common area.  I take a shower staring at a bike and random junk items (literally). 

When I get upstairs and change, his mom knocks on the door bringing a coca-cola bottle and breakfast item consisting of ghee.  She speaks a little English, but I put my hands in alms and say, “Dhunya vad.” Sanjit tells her I am from America so she brings Coca-cola-priceless. 

It is a short visit because Sanjit has to go to work and I am off to explore Lumbini for the day and then head to Pokhara.  I hop on the motor bike and waive goodbye.  Biking through the field, I turn around to still see her smiling face..

Just Do not Feel Like Volunteering

Wanting silence and wanting to just read and write-I really do not want to volunteer. Also, I am on ground breaking theories forming in my head and I need to just be writing, but instead I am forcing myself to volunteer. Also, I spent 7 days in Chitwan and was itching to leave and go to the next city.  If I had volunteered earlier in my stay it would have been better. 
Before staying with Joki La, I thought about just canceling our arrangement and leaving Sunday. 
God said, "No, Priscilla you stay put and follow through with your committment."
What happens on Sunday? There is a Maoist bus strike and ALL BUSES OUT OF CHITWAN ARE CANCELLED.  Okay, okay  I get it. 
There was a delay on my volunteering because the school was closed Monday so again I thought okay maybe I can just leave and not start my volunteering and explain that I just was not fully committed.  I am thinking this in my head and expressing my concerns to Joki La and asking about the bus schedule to head to Lubhini.  It is possible for me to make the bus, but then JOKI LA'S BIKE GETS A FLAT TIRE and we are sitting and changing it at the local station for an hour. I sit and shake my head. Okay, I understand. Sign number 2.
This is my life a series of signs, symbols, confirmations from my higher power.. I managed to stay in Chitwan and volunteered, but did not follow through with my full committtment.

What can I say except I am just an imperfect human being...

Another Amazing Family in Chitwan

Staying in the village area on the river with one amazing Nepalese family-I move with another family to volunteer for a few days, which this family is friends with the other family hence the connection to volunteer and stay with them. 
I develop an instant connection with Joki-la who is such a funny, carefree guy. He is retired and lives with his wife, her sisters, there daughter, son, grandsons, and nephews,  In total, there are ten people that live in his home.  His home is a bit nicer as it has a balcony, a second floor, and the rooms are finished, but when you go inside the home it is very old. There is no running water, the pump sits inside the kitchen, they have a large cooking pot and wooden fire to cook.  The seating area consists of two seats and a wooden table amongst the pavement, no lights, and bags of garlic, onions, and potatoes.  The ladies sit in the mornings peeling garlic and cutting vegetables filling up a couple large pots(as they are cooking for ten people).
Joki La's son is home from Dubai where he works and studies.  It is very common for Nepalese to go abroad to work in the Middle East, China, or Japan.  He is home for only one month to spend time with this family and then he goes back to Dubai, which he loves it there.

Joki' La's grandson is so cute running around the home hiding from me because he is shy.  I share the room with his daughter and we sit up talking and watching Bollywood movies. 

I just LOVE the time I spend with Joki La.  We joke that his name is Joki-oh la la. When he laughs it is loud and obnoxious and I too laugh just like this purposefully to enhance the moment.  His laugh is infectious.  We both sit and eat dinner with our hands(which in Nepal I have been using utensils-guilty).  He jokes that he is going to come to America and find a new American wife. We both eat chili peppers trying to see who can handle the spice more.   He wears nice new shirts, business pants, and black leather shoes.  He wears square glasses and smiles with his two front teeth being crooked and he has an overbite. 

Since there was no school Monday, he takes me by motor bike to twenty thousand lakes.  We are just laughing hysterically about random things on the bike.  We then go to visit his friend in another local village for lunch.  The landscape scenery is picturesque and I take video(which is now gone).  Him and his friend eat buffalo and joke around that is is rhino. His friend's wife makes me an omelet and I eat it staring at Joki' La's food disturbed by the buffalo.  I just loved the time we spent together...
 
My school... Nepal consists of private boarding schools or government schools.  My school is private with only a few hundred students.  It is a small school with little supplies and a few teachers.  Outside there is a garden area where the kids unpack their lunches and eat.