Archives for 2006

Back in India, when we were studying the Lonely Planet City Guide, looking for low-priced things to do in Bangkok, we learned about the Amulet Market. After enjoying our first, of several, delicious meals in Thailand, we decided to find the Amulet Market and check it out. We took the water taxi, which only cost … [Read More]

One of the best things about going to Bangkok is visiting the Buddhist temples. The word for “temple” in the Thai language is “wat.” The Thai temples are incredibly beautiful and there are hundreds of them. As you travel around the city, you see their gleaming gold pagodas shining above the surrounding walls. Some are … [Read More]

Within a few hours of waking up, on our first morning in Bangkok, we had an experience that we’ll never forget. We woke up hungry, having skipped dinner the night before. Our first thought was to find one of the vegetarian restaurants that we’d seen recommended in The Lonely Planet City Guide to Bangkok. It … [Read More]

One of the challenges of spending time in India for an extended duration is how to fulfill the requirement of the Indian government that tourists do not stay in the country for longer than six months. The solution is to take a vacation to somewhere nearby like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore or Thailand and then … [Read More]

This is the short, very condensed version, of Shirdi Sai Baba’s life for those of you who may be unfamiliar with his life story. If you’d like to know more about the life of the greatest saint to have lived in India during the past several hundred years, see, “The Divine Mystery Fort, Vol. One,” … [Read More]

Every day when we go to the temple there is a beautiful arrangement of flowers in the bowl in front of the door to the temple. Seeing the mandala each day is a wonderful surprise and one of my favorite moments of the day. “Earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson “People from a … [Read More]

After a good night’s sleep, I awakened with the words “united in purpose,” running through my mind. As I entered the waking state, a soft breeze blew through the window and those words, “united in purpose,” repeated over and over. I wondered whether they were left over from a dream that I’d been having and … [Read More]

Today we spent the day exploring the streets of Bangalore, shopping for things that we’ll need while living at the ashram. We’ll be three hours north of Bangalore, so it’s a good idea to stock up on necessities while we’re still in the big city. While walking through the streets of Bangalore, you find many … [Read More]

We’re in India after flying from LA, to Atlanta, to Paris, to Bombay, to Bangalore. We left Los Angeles early Monday morning with as much as we could squeeze into two backpacks and two small suitcases each. We traveled light, figuring that we really didn’t need much and whatever else we might need we could … [Read More]

Namaste, In a few hours, we get on a plane to fly to India for one year. It’s feels like the culmination of a long process that started when we were teenagers, reading books like “Siddhartha,” Shankara’s “Crest Jewel of Discrimination” and “The Compassionate Buddha.” It’s amazing that it took us this long to make … [Read More]