The sounds of Tushita--[9/8-9/17]

For the last 10 days I have forgone many things that I have become "attached" to over the course of my life.

A brief list of "no's"

No meat
No coffee
No alcohol
No Internet
No cell phone
No music/TV/iPod, etc
No talking

Leading up to this I was actually looking forward to the experience. I thought, how hard could it be to forgo a few of life's indulgences / conveniences for 10 days. I mean this is going to be good for me right? Right?!? Let's just say this is one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I'm so happy I did it.

...a little context...the setting was Dharamsala, high in the mountains of northern India, the seat in exile of His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. Here I attended a ten day course: Introduction to Buddhism. The lessons about Tibet and its people, the Buddhist philosophy, life, and perhaps most importantly, myself are still being discovered, but I can say that this experience has changed my life in a most profound and positive way. I had the privilege of sharing this learning with over 50 other wonderful, kind people from all over the world, easily the most diverse room in which I have ever had the pleasure to sit. A true blessing.

10 days of silence...needless to say, sound was in short supply (a daily one hour discussion group and brief Q&A, notwithstanding). In that environment it was quite amazing how sharp the other senses became, even in such a short period of time. With that said, I wanted to share a few sound bites. These quotes / paraphrases are in no particular order of importance, they are just sounds that stuck with me that I wanted to share. Remember, they are all out of context so please, PLEASE take them with a grain of salt...or two...or three... In other words, no judging please:)

"Buddhism is based largely on logic and reason, not on blind faith."

--Monk explaining a central part of the basis for the Buddhist philosophy

"There is no malaria in Dharamsala, so if a mosquito lands on you and you are feeling generous, you could share a drop of blood so it can have a meal"

--Monk explaining that we should respect all life and not intentionally kill anything

"This is monsoon season and it's been raining for three months so nothing will completely dry...as a consequence your rooms will be a bit musty!!"

--Monk explaining accommodations at the check in orientation

"Are you hungry? So are all of our students so please serve yourself modestly and only once."

--sign laying the ground rules for meal time.

"Don't put paper products in the toilet, it will clog, please use the trash receptacle."

12 hours later....

"Do not use this toilet, it is clogged!"

--Signs on outhouse door

"The first time is used LSD I didn't think it was working so I took a second dose...5 minutes later I thought my girlfriend and I were Hansel and Gretel as we walked around the town...I thought I could eat the houses, that they were all made of candy!!"

--Monk sharing an experience from his life before Buddhism

"Love is the sincere wish for others to be happy...Compassion is the sincere wish for others to be free from suffering and its causes"

--Monk explaining concepts of Buddhism

"...but I intended to kill it!"

--Student lamenting the bad Karma gained, even from a failed attempt to kill a mosquito

"Ego and attachment are what gives things their value"

--Lama Yeshe

"To some degree it's like trying to roll a joint without a cigarette paper; teaching Buddhism without a discussion of attachment"

--Monk emphasizing the importance of the concept of attachment to the Buddhist philosophy

"I'm a wolf spider, and I am no harm to you, please let me pass in peace"

--Signage reminding students to be mindful of even scary living things

"It's not the size, it's how you use it [brain]"

--Student explaining his rudimentary understanding of brain function

In closing, I would recommend this experience to anyone.

Enjoy

Namaste!

India...first impressions--[9/18/12]

We've just finished a day exploring Delhi. We are on our way back to the hotel and already my heart is starting to sink. Our hotel is in a relatively impoverished part of town and I'm just dreading what I may see this night. How many dogs will I see lying in the street dead or waiting for death starving and with injuries of all types. How many people I will see lining the streets, sleeping on make shift mattresses that are little more than a rug or sheet. Trash strewn all about, puddles of stagnant water everywhere your look, and a smell that will never let you forget this place.

Welcome to India!! A land of extremes...extreme traffic, poverty, beauty, diversity, pain, determination, optimism, and honking car horns!

Talking with locals it's clear there is a rising tide, but it is unclear weather it is raising all ships.I couldn't help but be struck by the stark contrasts between the more well to do Indians and those that are not so well off. I had read somewhere that in a country with over a billon people there are still more than 500 million living in abject poverty (that number may well have changed since my reading).

With that said this is no doubt a dynamic city. I heard someone say once that no Indian has ever failed in business. I am not sure if that's true but there is clearly a vein of self determination that transcends this city and there are people making every type of product and offering every type of service imaginable. This is a very enterprising population.

Through my travels I have heard "tales" about the other parts of India and how they are so different than the north. One person explained it to me this way, India is really like three different countries; north, central, and south with different culture, language and religion. I concluded that a solid two years might be enough time to really explore this land. Unfortunately we don't have that long on this trip so we will excitedly start with India's Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur).

Stay tuned...

I close my eyes...[9/19/12]

I close my eyes so I can pretend, that I don't see the pain you're in

I know you did not choose your plight, to be on the streets alone each night

You carry on weary and weak, the only food is trash from a heap

Scars so deep and leg bones broken, with no hope you lay in the open

Waiting for death to take you away, from the pain and suffering of this day

Your eyes full of fear and confusion, the ones you depend on provide no solution

My heart weeps for each and every one of you, there is so much that I wish I could do

When I see your fragile bodies at rest in the street, I know your time here was brief

My heart beats just a little at ease, for I know you have finally found peace.

RIP

This is dedicated to the dogs living on the streets of India...love you little guys, stay strong!

Tushita Meditation Center

We endured a 12+ hour bus ride to Dhalamsala. It was quite a ride and more than a bit scary in a few places. Picture a large bus working its way up a step mountain in a torrential downpour on roads that were far too narrow for the bus to begin with, and were made smaller by the several mudslides that narrowed the road even more. It's the start of the rainy season here in Dhalamsala!!

After a tibetan vegetarian breakfast we set out exploring the town. The first thing I notice is that we are in India but for the most part the people here are all Tibetan. I suppose this is to be expected considering the history of the area, but something that was not entirely obvious to me :)

The second thing I notice is the energy here. Everyone seems to be on a great quest. The cafes are filled with people (both foreigners and locals) discussing the teachings of the Dalai Lama while sipping warm Tibetan teas. The ginger and several derivations on that seem to be favorites in this cafe. The collective buzz of enlightenment is both exciting and scary at the same time. Conversations are reminiscent of a first year law class with lively debate and deep learning happening at every table. "Don't get attached to material things...kindness and compassion toward everyone are key to achieving inner peace...meditation is essential" I think to myself how obvious some of these teachings are, but I can think of countless examples of when compassion and kindness were in short supply, and for what? It is clear that patience is going to be important in this endeavor and not something I've always been good at.

Apart from many other places I've traveled recently with so many foreigners, there are no party hostels or discotheques that are obvious and certainly no beach or PADI dive shop around. People are clearly here sharing and educating as they are on the collective mission to discover something about themselves that would give more meaning and perhaps peace to this existence. I suppose that is precisely why I am here.

And so it goes. All of us united in one common goal. People have come from all around the world to soak up this peace...to find something...

It's about one hour before we will make our way from the cafe to the meditation center and I must admit I have a healthy level of trepidation for several reasons. I have never had to be still for such a long time, what if I go nuts? Further, what is going to happen to me?!? What am I going to discover? Will it help bring me peace or will it just raise more questions? What will these moments of clarity reveal? I guess I am about to find out.

Reflections 9/3/12

This has been a long / short 15 days here in Central America. We have had so many amazing experiences and met so many wonderful and a few not so wonderful people along the way. We have been travelers and tourists, teachers and students, uncomfortable and comfortably uncomfortable, but perhaps most important, we have been open...open hearts and open minds to this diverse, and amazingly different, yet similar, part of the world. Immersed in our common humanity that binds us, that transcends the "differences" in how we look, what we eat, and how we live. We shared these "differences" with others, without judgment, but in pure appreciation for being so blessed to have been able to walk so intimately in another's shoes, if only for a brief moment in time. To see myself and my world from a different point of view and to hopefully share some perspective as well. That is what this journey has been all about!

Though we have come a long way, this experience is only just beginning. The next 17 days will be a journey considerably more difficult than the last. We will make our way to Dharamsala, located in Northern India near the Pakistani border, to the spiritual grounds of the Dalai Lama. Here we will visit the Tushita meditation center for 10 days of silence / meditation / yoga as we seek understanding, peace, and enlightenment. So for 10 days there will be no contact with the outside world. No cell phones, Internet, etc. For all that know me, you know that 10 days of silence is going to be extremely difficult. This will be the toughest journey yet, but I am so excited to experience the person that emerges on the other side.

After the retreat our travels will take us through the heart of northern India where we will again seek to walk in another's steps. At this point I will pick up the blog as I will have lots to share.

Thanks for continuing to tag along and again my apologies for getting behind on the blog...please, charge it to my head and not to my heart.

NYC to Delhi, Sept 6th

See you friends.

Namaste!

Mayan Ruins at Copan Honduras

The Mayan ruins here are some of the most impressive in the region. This site was named a UNESCO world heritage site and is still being actively excavated. It is estimated that at one time there were more than 25k Mayans living at this site. We hired a guide to lead us through the park after first thinking we could pick it up on our own, but quickly learned that a guide was essential. At the conclusion of our hike around the city I felt as though I had just completed a college course on Mayan history. I also learned a bit about what makes the central American countries each so different and unique. Part of the answer is related to the make up of the populations of the countries, more specifically the mix of indigenous people and those of Spanish heritage. Guatemala has one of the larger percentages of indigenous people and this is quite obvious as you travel around the country. As you move further south into Honduras and Costa Rica the percentage of indigenous people, as part of the population seems to decrease. One can imagine how these differences in population mix have shaped the cultures of these very geographically close, yet quite different countries.

Here is a link to more information about Copan...this is definitely a must see place!!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copán

On the backpacker trail

Today we are taking off from Lago Atitlan to Copan, Honduras via the cramped backpacker shuttle. We travel along the windy and at times treacherous roads winding through countryside and the occasional towns. It's quite peaceful today. The sun is shinning, the views are phenomenal and the driver is playing the local music on the radio. It's such a good day that I am much more tolerant than usual of the frequent barrage of black smoke from the tailpipe of any and every motorized vehicle. I had my first hot shower in the last 4 days and that was wonderful. The small things that you take for granted can be quite rare here, but my appreciation for said shower has surpassed any of those tht I have had in my comfortable Ohio apartment. Little things are beginning to mean a lot :)

Copan 8/24/12

After a 6 hour drive from Antigua we crossed the border into Honduras, and made our way to the town of Copan Ruinas. Copan has the feel of Antigua in terms of the layout. The roads are made of cobblestone and have very narrow sidewalks. We noticed far fewer westerners than in Antigua, which was a bit surprising. The town is also seemed a bit more "lively" than Antigua. Many people were out and about late enjoying a bite or just the cool night air. There are plenty of music venues around with an eclectic mix to choose from. There is a great diversity of food and we had an opportunity to check out some local spots. So far the flan with a cup of coffee has been a favorite. I know it's a dessert, but that's a course too, right? Tonight we were invited to a local party on the outskirts of town...father and son DJ team. This should be fun!!!!

Today, I climbed a Volcano!!

On the edge of Lago Atitlan is the small town of San Pedro, which sits at the base of the now extinct Vulcan San Pedro. The day began at 6AM with a cup of coffee and a short tuk-tuk ride to the trail head at the base of the volcano where our hike would begin. Our guide was a man in his mid 50s named Luis. He is a kind and knowledgable man who set a pace that was hard for 3 thirty-something's to follow, it was quite impressive that a man at his age could move so quickly up this steep and slippery trail. As our hike continued we learned that much of the land surrounding the volcano was public land on which locals grew all sorts of crops from corn to coffee to avocados. Fences were in the form of non-food bearing plants that were planted in nice rose to clearly delineate the plots. Luis, feeling bad agreed to slow the pace, but warned that we must not slow too much or else we risk getting caught in the afternoon rain. As we continued we learned more about the indigenous people of the lake region. Language and alcohol were mentioned as two pervasive problems in the Mayan community. Young people were just know beginning to learn Spanish in school and this is considered essential for these kids to participate in the broader economy outside of the villages. Luis also lamented the abuse of alcohol within the indigenous community. I couldn't help but think of the parallels between this and the native communities in North America. Luis told us that he was born in San Pedro and had never been outside of the town once in his entire life. I could hardly believe it. On our way back to town following our hike we met a woman who ran a tienda and she told us that she had been to the capital city one time in her life but had also not left the town. She said that it was far too expensive to travel outside of town. It made me wonder about the many travelers / tourists that had made their way to San Pedro over the years from all over the world and how their interactions were shaping the perspectives of countless villagers throughout central America. We're we being good ambassadors for the places that we came from, or were we only being condescending, demanding party tourists that treated the locals as lessor people. The answer is mixed

The view from 3,000 meters

We found ourselves on the shores of Lago Atitlan, a large deep lake surrounded by volcanos and dotted with small indigenous villages. We arrived in one of those villages, San Pedro, after a 3.5 hour ride on a cramped mini van through the Guatemalan country side passing many small villages and towns along the way. This ride, along with our time in San Pedro provided an opportunity to really see and experience the local culture. No doubt that this town and the many towns that dot the lake are quite poor and tourism is a huge part of the local economies. To that end many expats have come to Guatemala to establish hotels, hostels, restaurants, tour companies, etc which has had a mixed impact on both the experience of travelers and that of the local people.

Critically speaking, it almost seems to be just another iteration of the colonialist practices that have given rise to institutions that operate to keep the indigenous people impoverished. In retrospect this is something that I have observed in many parts of the developing world to varying degrees, but it seems particularly pervasive here. No doubt that expats know what American, British, Canadian, Australian, Israeli, etc travelers will find familiar, comfortable, and appealing and they do a great job of marketing it. The result is little pockets of culture within this larger landscape, both coexisting separately.

The children typically go to school for 4 hours per day beginning in the early morning and then hit the streets to work selling all sorts of goods and services from cashews and chocolate breads to shoe shines. This adds an additional 5 hours of work time to the days of most children. The youngest boy we met was 7 years old who was selling shoe shines. We did not purchase the shoe shine but shared our lunch with him instead. He ate the meat but not the vegetables as he said he didn't like them, but at our suggestion he did give them a try. And so it goes, young children frequent the expat businesses to offer pop corn, baked goods, and honey roasted peanuts. I can't help but wonder how this town, or this country might be different if the local people actually owned their own means of production (i.e. the establishments that capture the majority of the tourist revenue). Would the tourists still come if they could not speak Spanish or if they could not hang out at the resort hostels with hot water, western style toilets, English speakers abound, and Bryan Adams on the radio? In a land so different from that of the many travelers that come through here, the lack of the comforts of home can be a bit foreboding. Understandably so! In the end, so many come here and stay for weeks or months but truly fail to have a meaningful cultural exchange.

Antigua

What is ViCuriously?

ViCuriously is a not so clever a play on words--vicarious and curious

Curious is what I have always been as long as I can remember and unfortunately that impulse has not subsided in me one bit, which is making it so incredibly difficult to live an ordinary life. So I am this 34 year old boy who owns nothing but a mountain of student loan debt and a lifetime of experiences. I have just recently quit my job and am embarking on my biggest adventure yet.

I was talking with a friend recently who said, upon learning of my upcoming adventure, "man, I am living vicariously through you, so don't forget to send me photos and stories." With that I decided to start ViCuriously? to share what is so special to me with you, and hopefully something you see along my way will inspire you and hopefully change the way that you see this wonderful world. Together we can live ViCuriously. Thank you for reading...the journey starts August 20, 2012