10 days in

In the few days I havent posted Ive had many incredible experiences. Its hard to believe Ive only been here 10 days, with 80 left to go.

I left Delhi by train in the early morning hours, and enjoyed a six hour ride through rural India to Dehradun, up in the foothills of the Himalayas. I was half expecting the train ride to be like in the Darjeeling Limited; it was much less colorful, but they still had old Bollywood music playing and served chai every hour.

Oh the CHAI!!! What a beautiful thing! Its served everyday for teatime, and anytime you go to someone's house, or spend time in a shop, you are served a sweet cup of chai in a little glass. So spicy, gingery and sweet! Bliss in a cup!

Here in Derhadun I am WWOOFING, aka working on an organic farm, but this "farm" is no farm, more like a chill guesthouse with a big garden, yoga and meditation rooms, and a beautiful library full of spiritual, metaphysical, and health books. So I spend my time accordingly, reading Pyramid Power, and various books on energy healing, meditating on the rooftop at sunrise, playing the wooden flute I bought in the bazaar, and listening to many incredible stories about mystics and gurus, miraculous results of pranic healing, past lives, karma and reincarnation. So much for farm work.

The other day I went up to Moussourie, a beautiful little town located at 6000ft up in the mountains. We drove there an old taxi up the only winding road that goes to the town, trying to avoid the cows and passing the slow truckis while almost hitting cars coming in the opposite driection while looking down the steep . The views from up there are spectacular, and the air is so clean and fresh, tho a little low on oxygen.
(The picture is a view from the cable car we took the the highest peak in Moussourie)


The people in the photo are some other folks staying at Vipassana house, friends of the owner. The old guy (tho young at heart) , Sam, has been living at the Osho commune in India for the last 30 years. So long that he now has Indian citizenship. He has farmland in Kentucky that he said I am welcome to use. Since his offer Ive been fantasizing about creating my own organic farm/healing center. In my mind it will be like a new Orgone, Maine with pyramids, geodesic domes, and ill be living in the woods, making music, inviting everyone i know and WWOOFERS too. Ahh! The possibilities!

The woman is a young ayurvedic doctor with her own hospital in Hyderabad, in south India. She said I could stay with her, do a detox with massage, diet, etc, and learn about ayurveda and massage. I am very intregued and am seriously considering her offer. Tonight she gave me an incredible head and hand massage. Mmmmmm, so relaxed.

The big guy is a millionaire (maybe billionaire) from Germany who is opening something like 20 naturopathic/homeopathic alternative healing centers in Europe. It would be nice to more centers like that in America, but he said that pharmaceutical companies will do everything in their power to prevent such centers from blossoming in the US.

The last three days Thich Nhat Hanh has been doing a teachers retreat in Derhadun and everyone in the house has been going. Thich Nhat Hanh was one of the first Buddhist scholars whose work I read, when my interest in spirituality began blossoming, and now I am here in india on my spiritual journey doing a retreat with him! Life is really something.