Woke up feeling ready in the am. I went for Sadana at 5am and there was a puja
at 8am. I sat right up front to Guruji for the sake of communication before
this long journey out the Ashram. We glanced a few times at one another and
I felt the blessings coming from him. The puja was long and the energy was sustained.
The amount of love that I feel for this man’s place on this earth is infinite.
It is one of those things where, on a daily basis, I feel so grateful to be
alive at the time of a living Master who is truly living his every word.

The day continued on, and even though I was not completely certain of my departure,
I carried on packing little by little by little each moment throughout the day.
I spent the entire day running up and down the Ashram clearing up last minute
things and then…..I got the call!!!!! Time to leave the comfort zone,
leave home, literally. I have now been in this sacred land for 1 month and have
experienced one place. For a journeyman like myself, I would say that now is
the time to go. It is very interesting to experience a little bit of fear taking
the first step into the arms of the Divine, as that is the source out here.
If you think you are going to live by our Western ways and habits, our comforts
and our standards, think again, there are things happening out here that would
send extremely strong (In American Standards) people home to their Mommy for
a re-evaluation of the reality of life.

Put it this way, you will get nothing and everything at the same time.

Anywho, a great Russian friend and a another from Lithuania walked my out of
the Space and we headed off is a rickshaw down to the bus station where we would
begin the 17 hour journey down to THE BEACh!!!! Karela. God Bless. So another
smog filled journey filled our lungs with toxins and we arrived….to….complete
chaos. I thought the roads were bad, the bus station is a joke. You must come
with your greatest broken English on this maze of insanity. But, somehow, like
every situation in life, we figured it out and stepped into our overnight mission
on the super bus.
The bus had airplane seats and was only half full which allowed us to recline.
That was necessary for those moments of travel sleep that somehow secure your
restful sleep for the journey. Due to the inconsistency of the roads and the
300 decibel blasting of a Bruce Lee film (see movies from Foursome Trip
at bottom of page), it was a bit more difficult then turbulent on a
plane. Oh, and you can never forget the perpetual Indian horn, my favorite.
Horns are used so much in India that they install them as little finger levers
instead of slamming your steering wheel. That along with the fact that the honking
out here is much more conversational then the horns in America, which, for the
most part, are pure indignation.

11/13/07 Trivandrum - Kovalum

We arrived in Trivendrum, the major city connecting us to Karela, about 3 hours
late, so, in all reality, we showed up right on time. From this bustling city
we caught a local bus, which, with 7 pounds of shiz on your back, is not such
a joyous experience.

Counting the souls
endless flows
gratitude soars
from places that were once bored
seeing eye to eye
Divinity does not lie
placing my fears in the hands
of the Motherland
Take me Mama
Take me Mama
For I exist no more.

We arrived to Kovalem and were instantly approached by a man whom offered us
some very nice rooms up on the hill in Kovalem, about a 2-minute walk to the
beach. We accepted and moved in. We instantly got ready for the beach and went
down to the water (experience the first look in the movie below).
The water was covered in Jelly Fish, and, not just any Jelly Fish, but 2-foot
jellyfish that hung like a silent predator in the water. I was not so big on
it. I just did my practice and hung back enjoying the local fisherman going
about their business.

The day carried on and we all went about our business and met up at around
4:30 for an afternoon yoga set. After we finished they stayed back to do their
Shadarshan Kriya and I carried on in hopes of locating a couple of motor scooters
to make a journey down to Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of India. In this
auspicious place you can watch the sunrise and the sun set over the ocean on
the same day. I ended up walking to the store that was next store to the hotel
we were staying at and arranged for 2 bikes that evening. Our departure time
would be 3AM in order to make it for the sunrise. We turned in fairly early
and prepared for our suicide mission down to the tip.

11/14/07 Kovalem to Kanyakumari to Kovalem

The 3AM wake up call came; we got ready and hit the road (see FT movie
at bottom of page). It was still pitch black at this time of night
and every one of us was oblivious to the fact that cars, trucks and motorcycles
like to drive with their high beams on in the nighttime. So with that said the
tension of driving was very high and since it was Jessica and I on one bike
and she did not even want to venture into driving, the next 2 1/2 hours were
left completely in my hands. There were many times when I come to the agreement
with God that this was the End. Countless times we would come around a corner
only to encounter a speeding bus or Tata truck that was entirely in our lane.
At times it was almost comical but downright petrifying in the same instance.

We ended up reaching our destination in perfect time, right before the sunrise.
There was that ethereal blue glow of morning coming on our last 20KM or so but
we landed upon the furthest tip just as the reddish-orange glow of the suns
first light started to penetrate the thick cloud layer on the horizon. We walked
out to the furthest tip possible (from the main land) and sat in complete stillness.
Behind us we were luminously followed by the gentle light of the mainland. To
our right, the Vivekananda memorial and Statue of great Tamil poet Thirualluvar
silhouetted the morning sky. It was quite a remarkable sight to say the least.
We hung in silence for the first half hour, as the sun finally ascending from
the deep grey patch of Indian Haze, one that obstructs most sunsets from actually
hitting the surface of the sea on it’s decent. The clouds usually block
the rays 10 minutes before it touches down, but you get used to it. The clouds
become the sea, as they are already.

After the moment we had risked our lives for was finished, we did our Sadahna
and decided to immediately leave the town. There was an exceptionally large
crowd gathered around what seemed to be a fish market and the launching point
for the boat out to the Memorial Island. It was a little overwhelming coming
from the Ashram, so we grabbed the scooters and began a sensational journey
through hours of South Indian villages. This along with the freedom of the open
air and the “living on the edge” aspect was the main inspiration
and initial thought of my upcoming purchase of a motorcycle!!! Our journey was
filled with luscious landscapes of greenery and lakes, joyous village folk that
looked at a camera like it was a devise 2000 years into the future, and roads
that were much less condensed then the National Highway was even at 3AM in the
morning. My whole life seemed to be uplifted by the experience and I was in
bliss to be sharing it with my great friends from the Ashram.

We slowly made our way back to Kovalem Beach. It actually took us about 4 hours
longer on the return as we took our time getting lost for a few hours. When
we arrived back home the foursome got a little more like a twosome and another
twosome. Nishal and Ale were having a difficult time dealing with the negativity
and unbearable penetration of our friend Jessica so I was forced to be in a
room with her. Knowing that she had a strong personal affection toward me, the
setting was a little uncomfortable in the beginning, but I took it upon myself
to move the beds apart, providing the energetic space needed and to make a point
that this is not going to be the case. Nishal and Ale teamed up like 4th graders
and this happened to bring me back to state of childhood insecurity that I would
spend the next two days in pure entertainment as I witness the unconscious patterns
arise. I felt like the little boy who was left out of the group and stuck with
the person that annoyed everyone, although I did not have that attitude toward
Jessica. Jessica was just one of those people that was in need of a Art of Living
course to shift her awareness of the self away from the self. She was purely
self indulgent and even in the 4 days that we spent together there was a massive
amount of growth on her part. She was like a blossoming flower and was fully
aware of her tendencies and wanted to change. I truly believe that on this journey
the foundation was laid for her to experience that growth and, the greatest
part was, she was returning to the Ashram to attend a part two course. This
was a bare necessity for someone whom had some difficulty keeping her mouth
closed. It was a beautiful experience.

11/15/07 Kovalem to Varkala Beach

We woke up in the AM and prepared for our journey up the coast to Varkala Beach.
Today, I went into a childhood state of pouting. I would not look at or speak
to Nishal and Ale due to the fact that they were separating themselves from
the group like little boys. I too, was acting like a little boy and after a
few hours, we shared in a great group laugh and ventured past these emotional
attachments. When we arrived to Varkala Beach we were dropped off in the beach
side of town. Jessica took a walk up the road to check out a place that one
man had mentioned walking up the road. She came back with the news of it being
decent, so not being fulfilled by her response we chose to hop in a taxi and
head for the Cliffside. As we were heading out of town in a Rickshaw, Nishal
stopped and had a look inside for himself. Being a little more in tune to the
vibration quality of a place he came back out with a highly positive report
so we decided to stay.

The Hotel was called the Bohemia Masala, and had a very similar vibration to
the chilled out places of back home. The environment smelled of incense all
day, was candle lit at night, it had a deck in which beds and hammocks were
laid out in a favorable manor and the rooms were very reasonably priced. It
felt like home to me. They also had a kitchen on the site and ended up cooking
us our first meal in the town. It was absolutely delicious. I was pleased. Being
tired from the day, we turned in to prepare for the next day, The Cliff and
The Beach.

11/16/07 Varkala Beach

This would be the last day of the Foursome Journey and would be the day we bonded
the most. We had an incredible Sadahna in the morning in which I led, we spent
the day on the beach and had an incredible dinner together. We talked about
our lives , our growths, our challenges and Ale and I got to play some music
together, which was one of my favorite things to do. What an incredible Pandeiro
player.

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For me, it was great to begin my travels in a group. There is so much that goes
on internally when you are in a group. The things you must deal with, the compromise,
the mental struggle, the acceptance. It is such a pleasure to have this opportunity
to look within through the collective of four spirits. I really am grateful
for this golden opportunity.

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