Flower

I finally opened my photo files from my last trip to India. This was the first photo I opened. It made me cry instantly.

Water, Nalanda University, Bihar.

That first photo above was like a profound Dasein moment for me. It brought me back, actually, NO, it *slammed me hard onto the hard reality of the seemingly plastic concrete existence of the place where I am right now, away from expansive beautiful green beautiful organic Asia... and I cried some more. I've been feeling so trapped lately. Trapped here in silly overly serious pseudo-suburbia.

Barred, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

Sometimes the wild forest nymph in me yearns for a simple mud home, foraging, meditating, being...

Mud, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

I've always been able to reconcile within myself Siddartha leaving his wife and child to become a Buddha... I understand that many people find him leaving difficult to accept. Have I romantisized his life? Maybe. All I know is that if what he did was so terrible there would be no way that his wife, son, AND mother would all join him at his sangha... Even while he did not want to include women originally. Now this part, about him not allowing women initially, this I am having a bit of a time reconciling! Oh but I do love this beautiful man, so much, and with all of my heart. Seeing this makes me want to run also!

Buddha Leaving, Maha Bodhi Temple, BodhGaya, Bihar

And then I see this. And I then r-emember. I re-congnize. Instantly. Just as suddenly, I am thrown back to that beach of being, that original lovely, beautiful beach of beingness I have worked so hard to cultivate deep inside my soul, and thoughts of running cease...

Metta Bhavana, MahaBodhi Temple Bodh Gaya, Bihar

Here is the same window, another angle, and there is light, there is life, and it is so warm, it shawls me completely.

Open, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

And when it is in bloom, it opens likes a flower...

Nalanda University, Bihar

And in turn sees the world through other flowers... The name my father gave me, Mala, means a garland of flowers. The name my mother gave me, Malini, means having a garland of flowers... How very lovely to be re-minded.

Mysore, Karnataka

And you soon begin to notice that the world you once felt so trapped and stuck in, now warmly smiles right back with you...

Bodh Gaya, Bihar

And again...

Nalanda University, Bihar

And Again...ad infinitum. It is so beautiful.

Thumbs Up, Rajgir, Bihar

To not lose myself for too long in what I consider my infantile emotions, I have to be diligent. Feeling beauty and feeling flowery is nice, but to be diligent and mindful is nicer...

Japanese Stupa, Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh

Even in repose, ever mindful, even of our dreams...

Diligent, Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh

How wonderful to have the opportunity to sit silently with yourself for ten days or more...It is the most wonderful gift you could give of yourself to your self. It is more precious than all the jewels in the universe.

Thai Temple Vipassana, Bodh Gaya, Bihar

Walking Meditation, Maha Bodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, Bihar

Even Monkey is ever diligent...

Monkey Contemplating Empty Peanut Shell, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Tree Love, Nalanda University, Bihar

How Buddha shines with Mara looking on, tamed and vanquished.

Maha Bodhi Temple, Bihar

I choose Meditation Park, Maha Bodhi Temple, BodhGaya, Bihar

Until Next Time, Nalanda University, Bihar