The bane of an online blogger are crappy keyboards, but I'm going to tough it out so I can write a long overdue post.
My dream is to make the biggest change I possibly can on this earth. This has been my dream ever since I stepped up from wanting to chase snakes around jungles, although I still want it to include as much jungles and snakes as possible. When I came to India I thought I was going to be spending five months traveling around enjoying myself, living it up, expanding my understanding of the world and getting a new perspective on the world. This trip has done that, and much much more.
To change the world I have to change myself. This is the biggest lesson I've received. and now, still on this mission to change the world I'm looking to transform myself. Gandhi said, "Service to humanity is true service to God."
My live has taken a turn towards the spiritual. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama all have the same message. This message goes back, that we are here to serve, to change the world, and faith is the key. I've had such an amazing experience this last year. Now, in preparation to go home I'm looking to gather the tools I need to keep walking on this path. I'm human, but I have a seed inside me to really make a change. In my own way, however it will manifest, I'm going to make this world a better place.
I'm not blogging as much because I'm trying to avoid the computer, take in the lessons of this magical place. So, when I return, I can share with anyone who's interested about the truth I've found about this world. About the path I'm walking and how we can work together to make the world a better place.
Blessings, I'll see most of you very soon :D
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Benaras
I'm back in Varanassi, the wildest city of my life. And also the dirtiest, I have another staph infection! Which means that I'm going to be taking it easy for the next couple of days. I'm taking an antibiotic, which should kill it soon. These sicknesses, on top of more sicknesses can be very frustrating. There has been a recent development since the last time I've posted. It's time for me to come home. I've felt homesick for the first time in my life during this trip. It's a bittersweet feeling when I'm so far away. But now that I've decided to come home the turbulence of my mind has finally settled. Now I'm 100% present and going to soak up as much of this wonderful city as I possibly can until December when I'll be returning home for Christmas!
There's a giant cow standing outside of the internet cafe, doing it's best to block the 6 foot wide path that is populated with bikes, rickshaws, dogs and people. India is amazing. My time here in the subcontinent has taught me so much. It's been my school 24/7 for over 11 months... I'm still waiting for my degree.
One of the developments that I've been leery about writing is God, Divine, The Creator, Energy Pervading the Universe, Love, however we chose to label it, all these words point to something greater than the sum of all the particles in the universe. Since I've been traveling I have been exposed to more religions than in the rest of my life put together. I didn't come here with this in mind, I guess I didn't have anything in mind, but I didn't imagine the focus turning to God. How to express these things with words, created in the mind, where the object I'm talking is beyond the mind and ego. All this may sound like a farce, reading my thoughts online like this. But I've come to realize things here that I never put much focus on. like, why are we destroying the planet? Why is the U.S. in the name of capitalism destroying the world in search of material wealth? We are missing something, we are unhappy. We are poisoned, and this poison is leaking out into the world. Metaphorically and physically, we have become a cancer on the planet. Unchecked growth, disrupting the balance on earth. These problems lie within each one of us. We are responsible only for ourselves, but we neglect the things that really matter, the things that will fill us up, make us whole so we can step out of the rat race for material wealth. We want to be comfortable, I'm going to be so thankful for hot water, clean sheets and baked foods. But the extremes that we've taken physical pleasures has destroyed our planet. We are the gold standard around the world, we've placed an unattainable and unsustainable dream in the minds of the 7 billion people on the planet. If everyone lived like we do in the states the world wouldn't stand a chance. We are a part of a giant machine eating away at what sustains us, mother earth. Each one of us is a cog, totally independent from the rest, we can each make choices that will change the planet. We can chose to take the decisions that will lead us in the other direction. I'm not going to come back some raging Anti-US fanatic, it is thanks to our country that I'm here in India at all, but we in the "land of the free, home of the brave" have so much responsibility, we're leading ourselves and the rest of the world along the path of destruction. It's totally our choice.
I want to share the many lessons I've learned but one of the most important is that everyone is on their own path. Who am I to say how anyone else should live their life. I'm sure of one thing, I'm trying to take the poison out of myself so I can change the world in the biggest way I possibly can. "service to humanity is true service to god"- Mahatma Gandhi
excuse me for this rant, I want to post, but everything I have to say is entering into things that might be misunderstood through the medium of the internet. I'm in one of the most powerful places in the world. I've heard it compared to Jerusalem. Every religion is present in a city that has drawn people from the sub-continent for centuries. Still there are signs littering the city written in all the languages of India, as pilgrims come from all over to bathe in the holy waters and to be cremated. This is the first time I've ever felt God within the confines of a human made space. It used to be only when I was out in nature, surrounded by nothing human that I was able to connect with the divine. Now, in the exact opposite situation, surrounded by city, the mass of humanity, crammed into winding cobblestone lanes, heating up to well beyond my comfort zone during the day. Populated with everything imaginable. I want to stay in this amazing place for the next two months, soak it up and share it with anyone who is interested when I'm back.
There's a giant cow standing outside of the internet cafe, doing it's best to block the 6 foot wide path that is populated with bikes, rickshaws, dogs and people. India is amazing. My time here in the subcontinent has taught me so much. It's been my school 24/7 for over 11 months... I'm still waiting for my degree.
One of the developments that I've been leery about writing is God, Divine, The Creator, Energy Pervading the Universe, Love, however we chose to label it, all these words point to something greater than the sum of all the particles in the universe. Since I've been traveling I have been exposed to more religions than in the rest of my life put together. I didn't come here with this in mind, I guess I didn't have anything in mind, but I didn't imagine the focus turning to God. How to express these things with words, created in the mind, where the object I'm talking is beyond the mind and ego. All this may sound like a farce, reading my thoughts online like this. But I've come to realize things here that I never put much focus on. like, why are we destroying the planet? Why is the U.S. in the name of capitalism destroying the world in search of material wealth? We are missing something, we are unhappy. We are poisoned, and this poison is leaking out into the world. Metaphorically and physically, we have become a cancer on the planet. Unchecked growth, disrupting the balance on earth. These problems lie within each one of us. We are responsible only for ourselves, but we neglect the things that really matter, the things that will fill us up, make us whole so we can step out of the rat race for material wealth. We want to be comfortable, I'm going to be so thankful for hot water, clean sheets and baked foods. But the extremes that we've taken physical pleasures has destroyed our planet. We are the gold standard around the world, we've placed an unattainable and unsustainable dream in the minds of the 7 billion people on the planet. If everyone lived like we do in the states the world wouldn't stand a chance. We are a part of a giant machine eating away at what sustains us, mother earth. Each one of us is a cog, totally independent from the rest, we can each make choices that will change the planet. We can chose to take the decisions that will lead us in the other direction. I'm not going to come back some raging Anti-US fanatic, it is thanks to our country that I'm here in India at all, but we in the "land of the free, home of the brave" have so much responsibility, we're leading ourselves and the rest of the world along the path of destruction. It's totally our choice.
I want to share the many lessons I've learned but one of the most important is that everyone is on their own path. Who am I to say how anyone else should live their life. I'm sure of one thing, I'm trying to take the poison out of myself so I can change the world in the biggest way I possibly can. "service to humanity is true service to god"- Mahatma Gandhi
excuse me for this rant, I want to post, but everything I have to say is entering into things that might be misunderstood through the medium of the internet. I'm in one of the most powerful places in the world. I've heard it compared to Jerusalem. Every religion is present in a city that has drawn people from the sub-continent for centuries. Still there are signs littering the city written in all the languages of India, as pilgrims come from all over to bathe in the holy waters and to be cremated. This is the first time I've ever felt God within the confines of a human made space. It used to be only when I was out in nature, surrounded by nothing human that I was able to connect with the divine. Now, in the exact opposite situation, surrounded by city, the mass of humanity, crammed into winding cobblestone lanes, heating up to well beyond my comfort zone during the day. Populated with everything imaginable. I want to stay in this amazing place for the next two months, soak it up and share it with anyone who is interested when I'm back.
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