Monday, July 29, 2013

a new quest

25 more days of work at Manzanitas. 46 more days until I get on the plane. 47 more days until I land in Santiago, Chile. I bought a one way ticket to South America. People ask if I am afraid. I am not really afraid of anything. Well, only the truly absurd. Like being alone in a big house after dark. I am not afraid of being alone, but I do run up and down the stairs flicking lights on and off, sticking my arm out in front of me, feeling along the wall to turn the light on before continuing on. Seeing things in mirrors and windows. At the root, any fear is just of the unknown or unseen. Though, even in a dark house, it's important to remember everything is still light. It has always been my belief that the soul has a true home, a true place where it belongs. My view of travel is to discover that something else that is out there; though we technically live in the same world, it is hardly a world united. Going to another place, you experience a different version of this same earth. Ask yourself, "Where is the one place I would like to go more than anything?" Most people have a particular place that really attracts them. Why is that? Part of my exploration, is to find that out. Within reason, of course. Though anything is possible as I see it. So, here I am, getting ready for my journey. What I do while I am there, can only be found out as I go along. Though I hope to keep on, as I have been, with my yoga and meditation practice. There are various Satyananda yoga centres and ashrams around the continent. I think I have been progressing in meditation though there is still something missing. I am (hopefully) going to be taking more meditation classes with the teacher I have studied with here in Ann Arbor, MI. Of course it's very nice to know that in Santiago too, is another teacher that teaches the same style. While the most important practice is the one you do at home, on your own terms, an important piece of spiritual life is satsang. It was recently my first teacher's birthday and the weekend prior, guru purnima. There has been a very special energy in the atmosphere and I have been feeling incredibly inspired by this. I am on an ever on going quest to increase productivity as well as inner silence. Just looking at those words, inner silence, brings a deep breath and wave of calm over me as I think on my inspirers.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati