I was reminded of a time in Varanasi, sitting at the burning ghats, watching bodies burn. Everything is happening here. The whole city goes by, nay, the whole world! Seasonal festivals pass thru, all the animals of the city are represented, except they’re bigger stinger healthier and more menacing somehow. Aghora tantrics sit around. Madmen…
Most of the other travellers I know have some purpose to their travels: musicians, photographers, artists, writers, and healers. They’re passionate about what they do, they’re driven and ambitious, they have purpose. I envy this sense of purpose, the creative process that drives people and affords them a love that is greater than them selves,…
Dear Friends, This is the second part of the city of light as I see it. You will notice that the main conflict that began the story comes to a very unceremonious end here. I’ll get to it. In the mean time, notice how much fresh conflict (competing dualities) have arisen because of what was…
What is it that causes so many people in their thirties to suddenly contract unhappiness. They look back on the whole of their life: their achievements, their relationships, their careers and their training and suddenly they decide that none of it is enough. Something vital is still missing. While they were building a life they…
Dear Friends, I started writing this story a couple years ago as I plunged into the myths and stories of India. The basis of this story comes to me from the ancient stories of India via Diana Eck’s book of the same name: Kashi: City of Light. At times I’ve wondered if I was merely…
I’ve been keeping quiet for a couple of years. Not much blogging, not much facebooking. I suppose the silence began with the confusion of my marriage back in December of 2011. Maybe you remember hearing about that? Or maybe I was even quiet about that too. Anyways, it didn’t last very long. Differences arose within…
What is acupuncture? Most people know that acupuncture is a practice where very thin needles are inserted into the body to balance or open the channels of Qi (pronounced ‘chee’). Qi is basically life force or energy that brings all things into being; the equivalent of Prana in the East Indian tradition. Many people in…
Preface: Dear Brilliantly, I think I told you this before, back in the beginning…. But Since it fits so well with the end of our conversation last night, I’ll repeat myself. I’ll try to be brief. I kinda feel like the story I’ve been enacting all starts with what you said… Anyways…. I think it…
November 2009 Varanasi, India In a cold guest house room beside the Ganges. Me and Joseph the Swede are wrapped in blankets, playing chess, smoking charas. “I can’t keep going on like this. broken heart after broken heart. it’s not fair to me or to them or to anyone that has to listen to me.”…
I’m amazed by a lot of things. But the thing that really amazes me is no matter what kind of mood I’m in, no matter hat the world seems to be hitting me with, a long slow concentrated yoga session can really bring me back to earth and make me feel happy and contented with…
This blog is my soap box. Writing is my therapist. I write a lot more than I publish because I feel that whatever I publish should be coherent. This desire for coherence is a product of both my training in university and my cultural upbringing in North America. Things must make sense. Not only should…