I realized that I forgot to write about my time in-between the sadhana mandir ashram and my trip down south to Kochi. To be honest… I’ve been so busy here in Kochi staying at LeLinda homestay cooking and exploring that I needed to slow down and rest the last couple … Read More
10/29/2018 – I write this on the airplane traveling from Delhi to Kochi, India while 2/3 of the people on the airplane are a group of a “semester study abroad” college students from the US. I guess I needed to write this now. ???? “Everything happens for your benefit” … Read More
Having been in India for over a month now I have learned so much about this country, the culture and the people. A couple of the things I have learned are how much the people do not think they really lack anything even though they may be poor… and how … Read More
I arrived here in Rishikesh on October 17, 2018 and made my way to Swami Rama’s Sadhana Mandir Ashram. Why Sadhana Mandir you may ask. I took some classes with Dr. Rudy Ballentine who was Swami Rama’s doctor at his ashram in New York and I wanted to see what … Read More
I have wanted to take a 10-day vipassana course since a few friends told me about it a few years ago. Since I was traveling to India and a town called Sarnath, about 14km from Varanasi I found a place called Dhamma Chakka Meditation Center. Here’s a bit of a … Read More
I couldn’t get to this piece of writing before I left due to time constraints and wanted to write about it before I wrote about my vipassana experience… What I did on my last day in Varanasi was talked about as being something I should be doing as one of … Read More
Rohit (the dairy farmer) was talking to me about the cows he raises and the cows that are in the streets in India. This man has a passion for what he does and is very progressive in his practices, even in the USA! Millions of Hindus revere and worship cows. … Read More
Last night was a special night. I was invited to Reeta’s sons (Rohit) home for dinner last night. Rohit runs a dairy farm a few doors down and I was interested in how things were run knowing they would be very different from the USA, just not sure how different … Read More
Inspired by my many teachers… I came back to Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching about the five mindfulness training’s this week to help guide me in my upcoming travels when I experience some kind of challenge during my time away from the creature comforts of home. We have a tendency to … Read More
After almost two decades of teaching at Southern Maine Community College I finally decide to take advantage of their sabbatical program and apply for it…. not thinking I would actually get it… yet I did! Once again… be careful what you ask for in life… you may just get it. … Read More