Dharma Traveler

We were born in Texas.  Being back here also feels like home, not on some small global scale,  by city or state, or even country.  No, it feels like home on the universal level (curiously this is becoming a theme for me).   Our first stop in Texas is in El Paso.  Driving in you can feel Mexico and even spot it as the simple urban sprawl behind a modest but imposing metal fence, that's about twice my height. You're looking at Juarez, Mexico, "Murder Capital of the World," where more than 3,000 people were murdered in 2010.* Karla is an art history major for the university here, we meet her grabbing a drink in the funky part of the city. She smells like roses- a hostess who greets us with a funky, genuine spunk at the door.  "Expressing yourself through art helps answer the questions you have about life.  That makes you more able to connect with others in a real way," she poeticizes.  We take off for her place where we chill in her backyard s...

And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back . - Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas God is dropping cherry bombs in the fire of my heart. I'm American but I've never seen a land like this before. However, this desert is a part of me.  I know it.  It's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  It's the stories I read about Sonora with my Taiwanese kids in our American textbook halfway across the world.  It's the Native American heartbreak and triumph tales I grew up hearing. In the long stretches of drive, it's ...

Our minds create barriers for us.  They are in a constant flux- wanting noise, drama, discontent.   With humility and knowledge we are learning to watch our minds and adjust them through selflessness.  I see the changes in everyone around me, and in myself..  Specifically, for Kyle, Kensi and me, it's powerful to watch the new wave of understanding that makes one catch themselves in the midst of the frustration that comes from living closely with someone, take a deep breath and apply what's being learned.  Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” - Rumi Amidst heavy study, yoga and meditation, we had a few hours for recreation yesterday. In 100 degree weather, we floated down the Salt River on $10 tubes we bought at the store.   The water was crisp and cool and our surroundings were the epitome of burnt sienna, with some sp...

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” -Rumi 40 degrees Celsius! We are in the middle of the Arizona desert.  It's hot .  It's dry .  I wonder where the water comes from... After a nine hour drive from Summerland, CA, my brother, Kyle (22), sister, Kensi (19) and I have arrived at our home for the next ten days in Nevada.  Like something out of Kerouac novel, we have been reunited after years for our first road trip together in probably a decade.  This trip was a bit different though. Here's a few examples: 1.  In a role reversal, Kyle and Kensi could drive, but I couldn't. After four years plus overseas, I've lost my US driver's license and they're now the drivers. 2.  Instead of singing pop songs (although we did a little of that), we sang kirtan style with a new shruti box and listened to Rumi read by Gangaji. 3.  Instead of using crayons, Kyle was painting on canvas in the back seat. 4.  Rath...

I made it to where I am for now..  I met a fellow traveler and we swapped stories for hours on a movie-less twelve hour flight.  We made our own short films.  Upon arriving, I was reminded that i have the most caring, doting, thoughtful family and I feel again so blessed for the love in my life. "Be humbler than a blade of grass.  Be patient and forbearing like the tree. Take no honor to thyself.  Give honor to all. Chant uceasingly the name of the Lord." -Sri Chaitanya In thanks to my last jaunt in Taipei with my fantastic Taiwan family, I compiled a found poetry on the plane: Bhakti Yoga The flute's tune has truth in it Krishna Hare Kirshna Hare Hare This ancient traveler will love and Offer everything in intense Devotion Cultivate complete unity Cry for God in a desert of despair Drown, gasping for breath in the shoreless ocean Disappear ego on the path Channel a new sense of stillness and peace Asatoma Sad Gamaya The whirling dhikr t...

As promised, nine-year-old Justin's karma story: But first....      No experience of any kind ever happens unless the imprint that triggers it has been planted first.      - Geshe Michael Roach, “Diamond Cutter” A Karma Fairy Tale     Once upon a time, there were two chipmunks.  One was Alvin and the other was Veeitor.  Alvin liked to do crazy things.  He was skinny.  Veeitor was fat.  He liked to eat food.     One day, Alvin and Veeitor went to the bathroom and they stood on the toilet.  Alvin was running on the toilet.  Then Alvin bumped into Veeitor.  Veeitor fell into the toilet.  Alvin wanted to save Veeitor.  He thought he was a super chipmunk that could fly, so he jumped up.  But he fell into the toilet!  They were both very scared because they couldn’t get out and they were scared that someone would flush the toilet.  ...