Lost two days

Somehow, I lost two days, so today is Sunday in Jaipur and it is the 7th day of the festival. I have continued to take side adventures to temples in the area and to see life as it is. All so different. Yes, that is traveling and the joy of it! Interesting to tag along with two guys, one native and one from the group at home and experience everything with two extra pairs of eyes. The one native person lives in the thick of the bargaining process, so it fun to watch how he 'works" the system. He gets the real prices on items. He came to the ashram having trouble with his eyes--he couldn't see. He credits Gurudev with healing him and has been a disciple for the past 7 years. He is still into cars/items and what we consider the material world, so I also learn from how he integrates the two worlds. The other guy grew up in the thick of the spiritual world with his family in California. He understands a lot of the history, symbolism, and ritualistic aspects of the process. Having both serious seekers with their unique paths thrown into the mix with my nature/animal base makes for an interesting salad. We are like the Three Muskateers at times.

Because of the newness of India for me, I have had quite a bit to share, but it is probably an ideal setting for me to investigate the spiritual world without distraction. Many of you know that I was looking into taking a year off to move to Northern California to meditate and study with Narayana. This is quite an intense trial run with no car, no phone, no daily demands, no work, etc. so it is not so different than diving into the fire with both feet. With the festival going on, I have been hanging out at the ashram for 8-10 hours a day. Living and breathing all the diversity of ceremonial vs. meditative process. My seat bones are actually getting bruised from sitting so much--new experience too. I might need to invest in some extra padding to get through the next three weeks. I can appreciate how distracting that can be for riders now.