Photo: Randy Wick

Swept up in the notion that life is meant to be happily lived, many of us often struggle with what it means to be happy on any given day. Am I feeling good at this moment? Was I feeling better yesterday? Why can’t I get to that balanced state of bliss?

Ah, yes, the “balanced state of bliss.” What in the world could that possibly imply? Some sort of a delusion, at least on my part. After a better part of my childhood and 20s fraught with depressive tendencies, I feel a daily pull of that which remains, on some levels, an enigma. Which gives me full appreciation for something I recently read on the Happiness Project blog:

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned (through a decade of practice with Zen Buddhism) is that melancholy is perfectly normal – it’s neither happy nor unhappy – and it’s all right to walk slowly through it.

Sometimes, I feel with all the positive affirmations, law of attractions, and 2012s being thrown around, we are forced, in a way, to feel “happy” all of the time. Even when we don’t. It’s as if sadness, anger, and discomfort have become four letter words that we beat to a bloody pulp as if they were a rabid raccoon attacking our child.

Here at Matador, we’ve searched far and wide for the ingredients to happiness, best summed up in Carlo Alcos’ piece, 5 Key Ingredients in the Search for Happiness. He found that introspection, freedom, compassion, generosity, and contentment were all necessary aspects for happiness.

But can’t these just as easily be ingredients of melancholy? And is that necessarily a bad thing?

To be human is to feel all the emotions available on the spectrum. I sometimes want to cry out that to accept where you are right at this moment is to be free. The problem comes in when those emotions, whether happiness or sadness, take over. Then we are no longer who we are – we have instead become the emotion.

The Absolute End of Happiness

Photo: | spoon |

Within the context of feeling happiness is necessary all of the time comes the idea that death is looming to take life, happiness, and – as Ian MacKenzie recently explored with filmmaker Patrick Shen – meaning away.

We all only have a set amount of time here, and we best power-pack it full of smiles, giggles, and moments of perfection.

A recent post over at the New York Times contemplates these beliefs around life (and death). Author Todd May explores our fear of death, as it “extinguishes” the light of our future, which we are programmed as humans to be constantly striving for.

But May argues for the validity and awareness of death in truly living life:

It is equally true that a life without limits would lose the beauty of its moments…this is the paradox death imposes upon us: it grants us the possibility of a meaningful life even as it takes it away.

He continues, “we cannot live forever, to be sure, but neither would we want to,” and I believe the same is true for happiness. Would I want to be happy forever? No, because then I could not truly understand what it means to be happy.

And though I believe fully in shooting for a middle-ground, and understand how important this is for the sake of mental health, I also revel in the ups and downs that the universe hands me (or I hand myself?) as a way to feel fully alive.

We can’t get rid of death (well, according to most, though Jason Silva disagrees), and by the same token, we can’t get rid of melancholy. The question is, why do we continue to fight so hard against both?

Do you think sadness or melancholy should be avoided at all costs? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: digitalbob8

Drugs certainly hold the possibility of being mind-expanders, at least for some people.

And many travelers have had the opportunity to partake in an illegal drug or two while visiting spiritually-enhancing areas, which also hold the potential of many years in an extremely scary foreign prison if caught.

But this guy goes above and beyond what few have done, or would ever contemplate doing. The British man, ‘Mr. A’ is reported to have taken 40,000 ecstasy pills over a nine-year period. The previously heaviest lifetime intake was 2,000.

Whoa.

Can’t imagine that was good for the brain, body, or spirit. According to doctors from London University, it wasn’t. The man stopped taking pills seven years ago, but still suffers from:

…severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression. He also suffers from painful muscle rigidity around his neck and jaw which often prevents him from opening his mouth.

And it seems like many of the symptoms are permanent. His short-term memory loss, including “the time, the day, what was in his supermarket trolley,” makes living life on a day-to-day basis a frighteningly hard task.

The Dark Side

Photo: azrainman

I think that most who have taken ecstasy, ranging from just once to more times than they would like to count, can still agree that 40,000 is a bit over the limit and would naturally cause trauma to the brain. But I’m a bit more interested in the why of choosing to ingest that massive amount.

Some people might just call this man crazy, off, mentally-deranged. Yet, something in me wonders if this is just an extreme example of what is happening for people all over the world.

A lack of connection – be it to community, self, or the spirit – pushes us, consciously or unconsciously, to search for that connection. For some, this can be a very positive experience, and as Jennifer Blair writes, can lead us to our soul place:

A soul place is an island, a building, a city, or a natural vista that speaks to you in a language unheard. It opens up a space within that you didn’t realize was closed.

For others, the drive may be toward darkness. From a traveler’s perspective, dark tourism, or “the practice of visiting sites related to death and suffering,” can put you face to face with the underbelly of humanity: genocide, natural disasters, terrorism, slavery, the effects of drugs on a community. These are the ugly parts of history that on certain levels, we all share.

And there are many things out there that can make us spiral further into the darkness, including drugs, alcohol, work, sex, TV – the list goes on. None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but it is when we come to depend on them to catch a glimpse of connection that we disconnect from that which we are searching for.

The key, according to many who are spiritually-inclined, is that we must fully and deeply look at our shadow, lest it take over. By shining a light on the darkness that is within each of us, it is no longer dark.

So I wonder, for this man and his 40,000 ecstasy pills (who has since dropped out of his doctor’s care), what shadow was he running from?

What do you think is behind this man’s ecstasy binge? Share your thoughts below.

God is a popular topic these days. Most people seem to have an opinion on a) what God is, and b) who’s side he (or she) is on.

And thus arises the problem: how can God be on more than one team at the same time? If humans are the sort of species that don’t mind a few glaring illogical realities, than we’d probably get along just fine. Unfortunately, as most of us know, humans aren’t that sort of species.

Instead, it appears ever since the idea of God took hold, we’ve decided to fight about it. The only thing that’s changed is the size of our weapons and the stakes of the conflict.

Luckily, filmmaker Peter Rodger decided it’s time once and for all to explore how God is perceived around the world. The film, premiering this Friday in the US, is Oh My God.

Watch the trailer:

Suitably intrigued, I decided to interview Peter about the film, and his epic experience shooting around the world.

The Interview

BNT: What initially compelled you to start this film?

PETER RODGER: Frustration. I was amazed in a shrinking world of enhanced communication, mankind can be so seemingly narrow minded. There seems to be such a childish schoolyard mentality that permeates our world – I call it the “My God Is greater than your God syndrome.”

Where you have grown men flying airplanes into buildings shouting “God is Great”; where you have the leader of the free world telling the BBC in 2003 that he invaded Iraq because God told him to; where you have the constitution of a country (Iran) that dictates that its supreme leader is God’s representative on earth; where you have young men and women blowing themselves up (and innocent others) to buy a place into heaven.

None of these concepts made any sense to me, so I thought it was about time someone went around the world and asked people what this entity that goes by the name of God means to them.

Did you have any expectations on the journey and what you would learn?

No. I just knew I was going along for an interesting ride. I wanted to rid myself of expectation and see what the experience would throw at me. I had no idea what I would learn when I set out. I was far too concerned about how to make a film out of such a wide, sensitive and seemingly unanswerable question!

Your film features some stunning cinematography and editing – at times resembling a music video. How important was this aesthetic to the content and message of your film?

Filmmaker Peter Rodger

Extremely important. Another reason I had for making the film was to be able to go shoot without clients around my head – make a film where I wanted to point the camera and not because someone was paying me to point the camera. (I’ve directed many commercials!)

The aesthetic became extremely important. There is also a sub plot going on in the film. I wanted to shoot the earth with as much artistic integrity as possible – to wrap the audience in the amazingly diverse beauty that surrounds us – in the guise of a bucolic landscape or the look in a child’s eye.

To use a biblical phrase, the earth became the garden of Eden for me. If you want to explore the entity of God – then open your eyes, grab a camera and shoot it. Music played an enormous part in the process. Film is sound and vision. I would cut sequences with John Hoyt, my editor and then Alex Bubenheim would score to it – but in two instances in the film – we switched.

Alex had come with me on to Australia and Japan and had recorded all sorts of music/vibes/sounds etc that he incorporated into a track – so we cut to the track instead of vice versa – which gives you – as you said – a music video vibe in places. It’s a film full of amazing words and information – throwing 2 sequences into the mix like this has the effect of pulling you back and keeping a pace at the same time.

What were the challenges of travelling with a small crew? What are the advantages?

The challenges were a bad back and having to do EVERYTHING split between myself and my one crew member – Line Producer Patrick Ellis. But it is amazing what training does for you.

Masaii Tribesman

I learnt to put things back! Instead of just leaving a lens cap, or a filter somewhere for some assistant to deal with – I actually PUT IT AWAY! Amazing. It soon became that I could prepare the camera and prep to shoot in complete darkness without thinking, – just by knowing exactly where everything was.

The advantages for the film were amazing. We shot under the radar – no one would know we were making a theatrical movie. We slipped in and out of places, unseen, as tourists or NGO workers or whatever.

Once we walked into the Palestinian Parliamentary building one Thursday afternoon unannounced in Ramalah and got amazing stuff and a great interview with a Hamas leader. If we had a full crew – with assistants and production coordinators, translators and egos – we would have been arrested and locked up – especially as we didn’t have a permit.

In your opinion, why do people all over the world have a need to believe in God?

Because they don’t have the courage to believe in themselves. They have been conditioned to believe in something greater than the sum of all their parts. They are scared of death, and don’t know where they came from.

We are all just primitive little organisms on a big rock in a scary vacuum desperate to have something to hold onto. God, usually in the image of something, and mostly in the image of man, becomes a comfy thing to hold onto. The trouble starts when people hold on so hard they push other human beings away.

What Mankind has to learn is that there is room for us all.

Who were the people you met that appeared the most profoundly at peace? How did their understanding of God (or the divine) contribute towards their peace?

Zen Master Kanju Tanaka from Kyoto Japan. He was wonderful and made so much sense. Being a Zen master he rejects the concept of God. He believes that we are already in paradise – we are already here and conscious now because we have earned our place in paradise – here – already.

For some, life on earth is hell. It is up to the individual to have peace and realize that problems are self created and then even in the most dire situations with the right outlook and in-look we can learn to make our hell – heaven. That concept is very powerful.

At one point in the film, you make that connection that conflict is usually caused by two things: land and religion. I would argue even further – conflict at its core is never about religion. It’s about human insecurities cloaking themselves under religious guise. Do you feel in some ways the search to unite us in the common thread of belief detracts from the social and economic reasons behind world conflicts?

All wars are about money/land and most use religion as the excuse. Throw in emotion and you have a lethal cocktail. Good news is no news.

We are all guilty – filmmakers, journalists, readers and watchers – of that one. Nobody talks about the great charitable work each religious institution executes. They just talk about the guy that blew himself up, and the blood and turmoil he caused. No one mentions institutions like Rabbis and Imams for Peace – they just talk about katyusha rockets and walls.

When it comes to conflict it’s about the club in which people belong – that maim those that don’t belong. So the answer to your question is yes.

Who was the most surprising interview you conducted?

Christian Hernandez, the little boy with cancer. (I am very happy to say he went through a bone marrow transplant and is doing REALLY WELL and he came to a screening last week.) I asked him – “What is your greatest wish today?” His answer blew me away – but you have to go see the film to find out why!

By the end of the film, how did your perception of God change? And what was the most important insight you learned about yourself?

Oh boy! My perception of God melted from any human form into a much more powerful force – a glue if you like – that binds humanity together.

I think Jesus Christ was bang on when he said he was the son of God because I think we’re all the son of God. We are all right now collectively what a lot of people would refer to as God – the Anima Mundi – the reservoir of every thought that has ever taken place in the history of time.

And what was the most important insight I learned about myself? To learn to let go.

Oh My God opens this week. Check the website for showtimes.

What do you think about the diversity of God? Is it a concept humanity needs to let go? Or does it serve a binding purpose?

Photo: Eddi 07

Part III: Return

To see our lives in the poetic light of a heroic quest is empowering. It frames our experience in a creative context.

Imagining ourselves as heroes in the cause of our own lives is to embody timeless attributes. Far from childish fantasy, it’s a powerful and motivating vision for facing life’s challenges as champions of our own stories.

Yet every journey ends, and there comes the need for home. Outlasting the journey is a kind of impotence in fighting the return – a running away from connection. But re-entry is a challenging process, and perhaps a greater test of heroism than undertaking the journey itself. The unconscious bonds with home must be reaffirmed or recreated, and the experience of the journey translated into ordinary terms. If this isn’t completed, there is no Return.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero Monomyth details the themes of the mythic journey, reflecting the issues of mortal travelers who experience profound transformation in their own travels. Rediscovering home – wherever it may be – is the final leg of the journey, often taking longer to come to terms with than the time spent in travel.

The Six Stages of Return

1) Refusal of the Return: Reaching the end of journey and winning the spiritual prize, the hero may be tempted not to resume their life in the home they left.

Photo: h.koppdelaney

Campbell noted, “…the responsibility has been frequently refused. Even the Buddha, after his triumph, doubted whether the message of realization could be communicated, and saints are reported to have passed away while in the supernal ecstasy. Numerous indeed are the heroes fabled to have taken up residence in the blessed isle of the unaging Goddess of Immortal Being.”

The hero faces a kind of fatigue, a skepticism of meaningful placement within their original context. There’s a tale of a mighty warrior who refused home, asking to be granted eternal sleep. When his rest was disturbed, he had the choice of rejoining the world of men.

Again, he declined, and “retreated to the highest mountains”, and there dedicated himself to the ascetic practices that should finally release him from his last attachment to the forms of being. Said Campbell, “…in other words, instead of returning, (he) decided to retreat still further from the world. And who shall say that his decision was altogether without reason?”

2) The Magic Flight: Leaving “Dream World” for “Common World” is easier said than done; it’s difficult to convert the radical experience of initiation into a mundane plot. A hero may become trapped by the psychological impact of the transformation – and the abyss that has been stared into will stare back.

But all hope is not lost. According to Campbell, if the hero locates and grasps a sense of purpose in the prize of their journey, “the final stage of (the) adventure is supported by all the powers of his supernatural patron.” Yet, he continued:

On the other hand, if the trophy has been attained against the opposition of its guardian, or if the hero’s wish to return to the world has been resented by the gods or demons, then the last stage of the mythological round becomes a lively, often comical, pursuit. The flight may be complicated by marvels of magical obstruction and evasion.

3) Rescue from Without: “The hero may have to be brought back from his supernatural adventure from without. That is to say, the world may have to come and get him.” Heroes sometimes require some kind of prompt to escape the egoless Dream World.

The true climax of the Hero’s Journey is not in the winning of the boon, but in re-participation. Returning home is about regaining the ties that bind; the emphasis here is that the connection has always been within reach, though perhaps disguised. It is “paradoxical, supremely difficult” – but all Dorothy needs to do is click her rubied heels together.

4) The Crossing of the Return Threshold: The hero returns home intact with their knowledge of the other side – an awareness that spans barriers which must be kept ever separate.

Photo: Eddi 07

The hero has passed through something which cannot be defined in Common World, but which must yet find a voice. For example, when someone speaks of a powerful vision of love, they speak of timelessness, inner conviction and need that swallow other needs.

How can love be made into an easily-related symbol? Its unexplainable nature shows “the reality of the deep is not belied by that of common day.” Even more unnerving: the artifacts from the journey are seemingly more potent than those of the Common World, operating from a primordial energy with its own inscrutable logic.

More than the bravery of confronting the inner fears and entering the incongruous Dream World, “The returning hero, to complete his adventure, must survive the impact of the world.”

5) Master of Two Worlds: The hero now embodies both worlds, no longer fully of one or the other. Harmonizing one domain with the other is the cosmopolitan challenge of mastery – deciphering a mystic experience without defeating it.

The difficulty is that the discoveries cannot be represented simply – and this is the problem with understanding myth in general. As Campbell explained, “The problem… is to keep [the] symbol translucent so that it may not block out the very light it is supposed to convey.” The hero must find a context for interpretation, relate their unrelatable experiences as a form of mastery.

Keeping this doorway open is “freedom to pass back and forth across the world division… not contaminating the principles of one with those of the other.”

6) Freedom to Live: After witnessing the relationship of oneness that all things are part of, the hero shifts beyond the narrow confines of ego into a selfless existence.

Photo: h.koppdelaney

The meeting with the unknown dispels “the need for such life ignorance by effecting a reconciliation of the individual consciousness with the universal will.”

It’s to abandon mere preference for a greater connection, a surrender of staunch certainty to admit the absurd – to accept the indefinable as a natural condition. Casting off these demands frees the perception of life to include many more possibilities to meet the unknown flexibly.

Entering adventure and returning home is to share with others the greater kingdom beyond that of the little king. Campbell understood why myth continues to resonate in the modern heart: because it is a cord tethered to the past, a link to the basic elements of the human equation and our common nature. More than that, they can be used as stepping stones to our own potential – a path we can follow in the steps of the hero.

Have you had a hard time reintegrating at home after your own Hero’s Journey? Share your thoughts below.

Read the series:

• Part I, Heroic Travel: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Mythic Journey
• Part II, Heroic Travel: Navigating the Mythic Journey.

Photo: yosoyjulito

Part II: Initiation

Travel is a fundamentally human activity, practiced around the world for thousands of years. It’s about discovery – the passion of following where an unknown road will lead us – and it can reshape how we see the world and ourselves within it.

The same can be said about myth. The reasons for travel are identical to why we study myth: to explore new ways of life, to learn more about the world, and to better understand the nature of human imagination.

What no mythologist before Joseph Campbell recognized was the relevance of myth to issues of contemporary living. He was keenly aware that myth can speak to the modern world. The key is to view myth as a metaphor of spiritual instruction, rather than historical fact. Campbell believed fixating on literal readings leaves us blind to underlying messages. Myths provide existential signposts to navigate by, and they should be read symbolically, not factually.

For example, imagine a man getting ready to go to work in the morning. He kisses his wife and says, “I’m off to slay the dragons.” Certainly we understand his meaning – he’s going to face the day’s challenges, not to chase down oversized lizards. He casts himself in the metaphoric role of a hero.

However, if he walks out the door with a sword in hand, he has taken the metaphor literally. The problem isn’t only that this is inappropriate for the office, even on casual day. By recreating the image literally, he misses the point of the heroic image – the deeper meaning of the figurative message.

Where the Mythic Road Leads

Campbell’s hero endures mythic themes in their journey, and some of the most profound are encountered in the world outside home, or “Dream World”. Echoing the spiritual experiences of many travelers, Initiation to the mystery involves six stages:

Photo: h.koppdelaney

1) The Road of Trials: The Dream World represents the proving grounds of the hero’s aptitude. Marked by a fair amount of stumbling, the hero faces surface challenges of every kind: mental, physical, emotional, ethical, devotional, and so on.

The trials of the volatile dream realm are preparation, a chance to learn the rules. Heroes may suffer the return of doubt, but facing these obstacles proves the hero’s worth. Only those who “talk the talk and walk the walk” can progress to future stages.

2) The Meeting with the Goddess: “Woman,” wrote Campbell, “in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known.” A common feature of the Hero’s Journey is to encounter divine feminine insight, interpreted as “true seeing”.

Though traditionally depicted as male, literal translation of the hero’s gender is not the message. Spoken in today’s dialect, the theme of this stage is to harmonize masculine action with feminine mystique, uniting both aspects of the hero’s identity without one facet overwhelming the other.

For a hero too soft or gruff to the union, the journey becomes anti-heroic. Execution and essence must be balanced to bring the hero’s identity into accord, without losing grace or potency. Vigor becomes brutishness, charm becomes conceit, if one side overshadows the other.

Only by display of the “gentle heart” do heroes and heroines court their “missing half” – a step which affirms the full range of the engendered psyche.

3) Woman as Temptation: Arguably not part of every journey, this stage refers to the ever-present libido. Campbell regards the issue of sexuality as critical: heroes mustn’t be lured either from the journey or their own identity. Embracing the goddess of knowledge, a hero is also made conscious of the “impurity” or “carnality” of contact across borders – movement is sexual.

Often a prelude to union (some might say reunion) with the goddess, the hero must deal with enticement from the path. Like a flame with the power to help or harm, respect for the union must be paid. Walling off the dark side creates stress, while contact with the radiant source of life burns and corrupts the hero’s higher self. The conflict is to stay in control – resisting the siren’s lure is freedom to choose, versus servitude to personal demons.

4) Atonement with the Father: This stage begins the climax of Initiation: to amass the final powers needed to assume the mantle of the role model. In simpler terms, it’s to say, “I can do it myself” – to change potential into confidence.

By incorporating the symbolic position of father (or mother, if female), the hero also integrates a model of the “law” – the law of how to live on one’s own terms. Campbell described this stage as developing the vital wisdom for the final prize to complete the Initiation. He saw it as a form of atonement (“at-one-ment”) with one’s potential, to see the parental figure as a mortal keeper of wisdom, not an unapproachable warden.

Photo: h.koppdelaney

“The hero transcends life with its peculiar blind spot and for a moment rises to glimpse the source. He beholds the face of the father, understands – and the two are atoned.”

5) Apotheosis: Apotheosis means “to become godlike”. The responsibility earned in the previous stage opens the hero to a new way to relate to life, the final step needed to face the “shadow-self” – the greatest threat to the hero’s character.

This is an encounter with a kind of death: a death of innocence, of “what-was”, similar to the passing on from home into the Dream World itself. The “way things were” is shattered and reintegrated; the ego dissolves and recrystallizes in a new awareness – a rebirth. The hero encompasses their naïve past, the present of their new role, and direction of the future with the fresh power they now control.

6) The Ultimate Boon: In the rebirth, the hero wins a spiritual prize. Often depicted mythically as a magic elixir, cup or device that grants immortality, endless food and water, or healing, it may also appear as treasure or a powerful new awareness. Yet these are still symbols of the boon’s real meaning: an end to suffering, to mend a rift or heal a wound. The prize supports the sense of harmonious life, and the true essence of the reward is to move beyond symbols to revelation.

A gift to be shared, the boon confirms myth as a means to link individuals to the causes of their communities. But the revelation presents a new barrier: how to connect the new self to the life left behind. The journey becomes a mirror of itself: having translated Dream World, the hero must relate their insight to the departed Ordinary World. The journey is not yet complete – the decision of where to establish home is considered in the next phase, Return.

Have you experienced travel similar to Campbell’s mythic journey? Share your thoughts below.

Read the series:

• Part I, Heroic Travel: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Mythic Journey
• Part III, Heroic Travel: The Mythic Art of Homecoming.

Illustration: alicepopkorn

I’ve been meditating regularly for about ten years now. I have to say, I’m much more relaxed than I used to be. I don’t worry as much, and I’ve become more patient.

I’m also more aware of how my mind works. I see patterns in the way I think and approach things. This makes me more aware of faults that I previously hadn’t noticed. I’ve also become more comfortable with who I am.

There are many different meditation techniques. The goals are generally the same; however, the methods for reaching that goal vary widely.

Meditation is a way to change your attitude towards life. As you practice, you gradually become more relaxed and feel more connected to other people around you. But even though it sounds easy, it’s harder than it seems.

How it works

In the type of meditation I practice, Vipassana, the basic idea is to teach you to accept things the way they are. When you meditate, you actually practice accepting reality, and like anything, the more you practice the better you get. Gradually you become more able to accept the things you cannot control while working to change the things you can.

When you meditate, you try to do two things.

First, you try to pay attention to the breath going in and out of your nose without controlling it. You just watch it. When you notice that your mind has wandered and you are thinking about something else, you bring your attention back to your breath.

The second thing that you try to do is to accept how you are doing. If you can barely pay attention at all, you just try to accept it without getting annoyed. This is contrary to the way we’ve thought our whole lives. When you try to do something, if you do it well, you are happy. If you do it badly, you become unhappy.

While you are meditating, you may accept how you are doing for a while, but inevitably something will come up in your mind that you don’t accept. You may become bored, or tired, or uncomfortable, or you will want to feel differently than you do.

You just have to try to accept these feelings. Of course you won’t be able to do this. But by practicing regularly, you gradually improve your ability to accept whatever you experience.

Practicing Acceptance

Being able to accept things for what they are effects many different aspects of your life. You become more accepting of people not acting how they’re “supposed to” act.

Photo: roshnill

These are the main causes of anger in life — you become less angry in circumstances that tend to make you angry and gradually anger begins to wash out of you. Instead of allowing the emotion to boil up inside, you say to yourself, “Whatever happens, happens. I’ll deal with it.”

This helps remove the fear of the unknown which tends to keep people from having a full life because they’re afraid of uncertainty. In the same way, meditation helps diminish people’s fear of change. As you become less fearful of the unknown, you become less fearful of the future being different from how you want.

And when you aren’t afraid of the future, you can enjoy the present more fully.

How to Practice

After a meal, you tend to be more tired and less alert. That’s why I’ve found it’s better to meditate on an empty stomach. You can sit with your legs crossed, but it’s not necessary. If you do, you should sit on an incline or put a pillow under your butt. This will help keep your back straight.

A comfortable position is crucial. You shouldn’t lie down because you’re a lot more likely to fall asleep. I meditate with my eyes closed to reduce distractions, but there are people who meditate with their eyes open. There are different schools of thought on this. Both work, so just pick whichever one feels right.

Try to pay attention to the breath going in and out of your nose. If your breath is deep, that’s fine. If it’s shallow, that’s fine. If it’s relaxed, that’s fine. If it’s not, that’s fine.

Your job is not to judge or control, simply to observe. If you can feel the breath touching the inside of your nostrils, then you should feel it. If you can’t feel anything, just notice when it is entering your nose and when it is leaving. It doesn’t matter how well you can pay attention, only that you keep trying to pay attention.

Your mind will wander, and it’s shocking how quickly it will wander, often after less than one breath. When you notice this, bring your thoughts back to your breath. When it wanders again, bring it back again.

The goal is to work without caring how it goes. However, you will find that you do care how it is going. As you practice, you will improve and you will become more accepting of how you are doing.

After years of practice, my mind often wanders as much as it did when I started. The big change is that I am much more able to accept this fact. THIS IS THE ONLY MEASURE OF PROGRESS.

Dealing with Frustration

There are many different ways you may not like how your meditation is going. You might get frustrated at your awful concentration; you might get bored; you might feel angry, sad, upset or annoyed; you might want the meditation to relax you and get frustrated that this isn’t happening, or countless other things.

But you have to realize that this is how meditation works. It’s supposed to bring up these feelings so you can learn to accept them. When you work out, you use weights that are difficult to lift because that is what makes you stronger.

It’s the same way with meditation. It’s designed to be difficult.

Sometimes when you are meditating, you can have strange experiences. You might experience emotions for no apparent reasons. You might see lights, or your body may feel like it’s a single point. You might have visions pop into your head.

There are countless different things that can happen, and they all make it harder to pay attention to your breath. If they do happen, you should treat them like every other distraction and try to pay attention to your breath as well as you can, regardless of the distraction.

As well, the way you are meditating can change from minute to minute and from day to day. It can be frustrating to have what you consider an acceptable meditation one day and one that you are unhappy with the next. Try to accept that this is just how it works. If you cannot accept this and are still frustrated, try to accept that your mind is frustrated.

Practice Regularly

It is important to keep a regular practice. I would suggest starting at no less than fifteen minutes and gradually increase the time as you progress.

Photo: el photopakismo

As time goes on, you will develop a more relaxed form of concentration. This may seem paradoxical because we normally associate strong concentration with a tense, furrowed brow.

Meditation changes the way you view the world, so many of the analogies people use to describe it can at first seem contradictory. As you begin to practice, these examples begin to make more sense.

Let’s say you are in a situation that makes you upset or angry. Try to accept the situation. Just by trying to accept it, you are practicing accepting things, which gradually improves this ability.

If you are too agitated to accept the situation, notice the effect that the situation is having on your body. In the same way that fear creates a sensation in your stomach, all strong negative emotions create noticeable sensations in your body. Observe how the anger or frustration affects you physically and try to accept the physical feeling.

This is something more concrete to work with than the abstract emotion. In addition to helping improve your ability to accept things, you begin to use negative experiences to recognize the positive side to them. They begin to have purpose in your life, just as much as joyful events.

Meditation and Faith

It should be evident that you don’t need to follow any religion or believe in God to get the benefits of meditation. However, every major religion incorporates some form of meditation. I think this is because meditation can help deepen you faith.

The reason many people are atheists is that they look at all the awful things in the world and cannot see how there could possibly be a God who cares about people. However, people who have a faith tend to say that everything happens for a reason that we cannot always understand God’s plan.

There are different levels of faith. When something awful happens, like the death of a loved one, a person of faith is able to cope because they feel like it is part of God’s plan, or at least derive a reason from the loss. However, someone without faith can be easily upset by minor setbacks because they cannot accept that every event can be learned from.

As you use negative events in your life to develop your ability to accept things, you begin to find a purpose in them. This makes you feel more like negative events are just as important as positive events. As you progress in meditation, your faith will deepen. You will also begin to understand how religion is connected to meditation.

There’s an old saying, “Prayer is like talking to God, and meditation is like listening to God.”

Many meditation schools teach that if you want meditation to have an effect on your life, it is important to live in a moral way. One of the main reasons has to do with the attitude you cultivate through meditation. It helps you feel more connected to people.

When you act selfishly and screw people over, you act as if you are only accountable to yourself. When you act selflessly, you are working to develop an attitude of awareness and compassion, enhancing the attitude that meditation develops.

Free meditation courses

One great way to progress in your meditation and delve deeper into your mind is to attend a free ten-day course given in over 20 different countries at a Vipassana Meditation Center.

They put you up for ten days and feed you for free. They operate only on donations given by people who’ve taken a course, but they don’t pressure you to donate. The catch is that it’s incredibly hard work. Their students meditate for ten hours a day (not in a row) for ten days straight.

When I first heard of the course, I thought there was no way in hell I could meditate for ten hours a day — I could barely sit for 30 minutes. But after talking with some people who had taken the course, they explained the hardest part was deciding to do it.

I gave it a shot. It surprised me when I learned that that 90% of the students finish the course and many are experiencing meditation for the first time. But I made it through, and I highly recommend the course for anyone willing to challenge themselves.

For a list of centers and course dates, visit www.dhamma.org

Community Connection

Waiting around for the best time to meditate? Think again. Read Why You’ll Never Find the Perfect Time To Meditate. And check out 20 Basic, Fun, Sexy Resources For Beginning Meditators.

Photo: King Chimp

The original plan for today was to find and write about something funny making it’s way around the internet, it being Friday and all.

Or maybe something about Halloween, its origins as All Hallows Eve, the day before the beautiful celebration of the Day of the Dead.

But instead, I feel a bit overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with being a woman, living today, in the world in which we live.

That might come as a surprise, what with me being a white gal living in America, and though far from rich, just as far from destitute.

Yet, I can’t turn off what happens to my sisters throughout the world, both abroad and right down the street. From death threats to a doctor who performs reconstructive surgery on women ripped to shreds through female genital mutilation, to the gang rape of a 15-year-old high school student by up to ten 16-25 year-olds in the town next to where I used to live, we are not safe.

We are mothers, we are sisters, we are friends. We give the gift of life to those who wish to keep us down or take our lives.

I can’t help but recount the number of women I’ve known that have been sexually abused, assaulted, or raped repeatedly. There are many more that have than not. I also can’t help but struggle with my own “maybe” and all the implications it has had for my life. Who would I be now if it, whatever “it” was, hadn’t happened?

The Power of a Single Moment

Think, for just a moment, what effect we have on each other in our passing interactions every single day. Bridges are built or destroyed by single words or sentences, intentions are paramount to success or failure, and whether we choose to scream out in anger or somehow engage in dialogue can impact us for hours, days, weeks and months to come.

Photo: Ingorrr

Now think about the long term impact of an unwanted, and as is often the case for young girls, a misunderstood advance. The repercussions are a life of mistrust of themselves just as much as others, and acting out in ways in can take a long time to process or come to terms with.

Further down the line, you have women that will never, ever, EVER experience sexual pleasure in their lives – and in a way, what it means to be a woman – because all that is left “down there” is scar tissue.

What about the ever present “rape as war tactic” that is valued by military (and apparently, peacekeepers) the world over, despite the recent UN resolution classifying it as a weapon of war? What exactly does that resolution do to change anything?

And maybe, worst of all (is this even an area for comparisons?), are those girls and women, living in “free” Western countries, who are sexual slaves. Look no further than the Houston Maria Bonita Cantina or the Asian massage parlors in San Francisco to contemplate the complete ravage of life this $8 billion international industry promotes. I’d honestly rather be dead than in their place.

The End of Oppression?

As I write, I wonder if this world will ever exist without the oppression of women. Even that word, oppression, hardly scratches the surface of what these tactics do to women; they rob part of our soul. There has got to be a word that when said, strikes at the heart of men who commit acts against women – something that implores them to feel what tremendous pain and anguish their actions cause.

At the very least, I’m amazed again and again at the resilience I see in the many beautiful women that surround me near and far. There is a small part of me that understands that even if they rob a bit of your soul, it’s regenerative, like a starfish. We have the power to heal ourselves.

But what can also help it to regenerate are the men who understand it’s not about protecting the women you love – it’s about changing the mindset of the men who don’t love women.

Please share your thoughts on this subject below.

Photo: h.koppdelaney

Part I: Separation

Joseph Campbell returned home from his studies in Europe soon after his twenty-fifth birthday. Inspired by the brilliant tapestry of thought he encountered there, he planned to combine modern art, medieval literature and Sanskrit into a single doctoral thesis.

Predictably, his advisors didn’t support the idea.

This prompted Campbell to abandon doctoral work completely, leaving him without a clear direction in his studies or his life. Two weeks after his decision, the Wall Street Crash of October 29th, 1929 left millions of Americans suddenly destitute.

Yet Campbell was about to embark on a quest – one which would endure throughout the Great Depression to generate a remarkable new vision.

Committing himself to an arduous program of private study, he buried himself in books for twelve hours a day, supporting himself in the evening by playing sax in a jazz combo. After five years of rigorous self-education, he emerged a formidable authority in comparative mythology and religion, fusing philosophy, psychology and anthropology with – sure enough – art, literature and Eastern studies.

The Role of Myth in Everyday Life

Photo: !anaughty!

One of Campbell’s great talents was to connect seemingly unrelated ideas into harmonious design. His most influential work came from linking archetypes, or fundamental human themes, to myths from around the world.

Campbell believed myths were more than just fanciful stories – they were guides to dealing with the mysteries of existence.

What is the best way to live? How do we explain the natural forces all around us? Where do we fit in the grand scheme of life? Myths provide grounding beliefs for these questions.

Though many of the ancient tales seem absurd to modern sensibilities, we still invent our own myths to function in a world of unknowns. And, because these problems are inherently human, we confront them in ways which follow similar patterns.

The Hero’s Path

Campbell discovered that no matter where they originate, hero myths follow a consistent outline he called the Hero Monomyth – a template that applies not only to mythic tales but to our own lives.

In essence, this means any journey or life-altering event can be seen as a heroic quest. The Hero Monomyth offers points of reference to help orient the traveler with a meaningful experience of life. Depending on the level of involvement, journeys can be deeply transformative.

According to Campbell, a hero’s journey follows three stages:

• Separation (or Departure) – the hero leaves home to follow a defining mission.
• Initiation – the hero enters the Dream World, a place where normal rules are suspended.
• Return – the hero claims a transcendent prize and returns home to share it.

Leaving The Common World

Separation has five substages, each of which addresses an element of crisis in leaving home for the “undiscovered country”. It should be noted that not every theme will appear. Every journey is unique, as well as the lessons they teach.

The Call to Adventure

The hero receives a “call” to action, a prompt to leave the comfort of home for something more. Whether literal or figurative, the call may come in as many forms. The hero may be lured by curiosity to a strange new place, awaken to a new situation, have no other choice but to adventure, take a “wrong turn”, or suffer a significant loss.

The call carries with it a sense of destiny. Sometimes it is announced by a symbolic herald, or perhaps the “invitation” is misunderstood at first. Regardless, transformation begins at the hero’s discovery of need – something which may cause great distress or confusion.



Photo: h.koppdelaney

Refusal of the Call

In many cases, heroes are reluctant to face impending destiny – instead of answering the call, the hero hits the snooze bar.

The longer a hero denies fate, the more they or their loved ones suffer. This “converts the adventure into its negative,” and the hero becomes a victim to be rescued. Often, heroes are unaware of qualities that mark them for the quest. To join the adventure, heroes must escape the paralysis of doubt, or act in spite of it.

Supernatural Aid

After accepting the overture of destiny, a hero may encounter a helper with unique insight. Their purpose is to aid the journey with protective knowledge and tools. The patron appears mythically as a little man of the woods, a good fairy, a kindly crone, a blessed virgin, a respected wizard, or an innocent bystander. With luck, the hero will recognize an aide’s form when it arrives.

The Crossing of the First Threshold

The hero crosses the barrier separating the ordinary from the fantastic, a symbolic commitment to face the unknown. The crossing is seen as a subtle but meaning-laden “coincidence of opposites”, an intersection of normal and exotic, comfortable and alien. Defending the boundary may be a “threshold guardian” that chases off casual or unprepared travelers. Part of the test ahead is to respect the nature of the guardian – secretly, an embodiment of the hero’s fear.

The Belly of the Whale

Once past the barrier of extremes, the hero enters the Outlands: a dreamlike, hyperreal place where rules no longer apply and nothing can be assumed. This stage of “passing beyond” is key to a discovery of purpose; from outside, it resembles a kind of annihilation or death.

The new world reveals a fullness and dimensionality of life to the hero.

But the “betweenness” isn’t entered into lightly; the foolhardy or overconfident are soon undone. A hero’s task is to integrate the personal and cultural ghosts projected in this realm: some cannot, defensively blocking out the full experience.

Without honoring their commitment, there’s little to save the hero from defeat. But for others, their potential awaits.

What do you think of Joseph Campbell’s Hero Monomyth as it pertains to travel? Share your thoughts below.

Read the Series

• Part II, Heroic Travel: Navigating the Mythic Journey.
• Part III, Heroic Travel: The Mythic Art of Homecoming.

Photo: NeoGaboX

Yoga teacher Hilary Carter began to notice how often she would look at the clock and notice it was 11:11. Or 2:22. Or 3:33.

Since she was already the type to be interested in such “coincidences,” she decided to start following the numbers, à la The Celestine Prophecy, to see where they would lead her.

After beginning to compile “past lives, premonitions, and number signs,” she found herself purchasing an ancient convent in Spain in order to renovate it. As Hot Indie News noted, after her purchase:

First, her financial backer died, then her first builder ended up in prison and the second builder became paralyzed in a tragic accident – and all this only scratches the surface.

Carter’s book, The 11.11 Code: Secrets of the Convent, goes deeper into the adventures that entailed, but also invites each of us to contemplate our own destiny, and the signs available to direct the process.

Facing One’s Destiny

I remember a time in my life where the idea of such signs, connections, and karma didn’t touch the surface of my brain. I’m sure some beliefs around destiny were hidden somewhere deep inside of me, but they were nowhere near my intellectual comprehension.

Photo: whatmegsaid

And yet now, I live by signs and connections (well, most of the time anyway). Doing so certainly makes life more interesting, more full, and makes me feel, well, more connected.

I think when I’m traveling, I see it most – and can imagine that many of you would agree. That’s part of why it can be so hard to come “home” sometimes, to get back into a daily routine that seems to lack spark, intrigue, or any sense of a life force.

New places provide a sensory overload that is stimulating and satisfying, and people that often think completely opposite from you (or exactly like you, which is even more amazing).

But what if you brought that feeling and view point back home into your daily life? That’s certainly part of what we try and keep alive here at Matador, and debate on how exactly to fulfill this quest.

Often, you have to radically alter your conceptions and perceptions of “home” and whether money or career will dictate your life. Yet this process is powerful in and of itself, and really, isn’t life about shifting, changing, and getting better?

Sometimes, all it takes is to “let go” in whatever way you personally need to. As my friend Amar says, “I take life where it takes me.” Now, that’s a motto to live by.

Do you live by following signs in your life, or do you think it’s a bunch of new-age bunk? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: annnna.

We previously talked at BNT about what it might mean when white people take on heritages other than their own.

But I found dialogue on Reddit that delves into an area where we just scratched the surface. Someone posed the question, “What is white culture?”

The purpose and responses of that post happens to be about Glenn Beck’s comment that Obama has “hatred for white people or the white culture.”

Some of the readers believe Beck’s statement essentially implies that white culture is American, Christian and conservative. Other people say that there is no such thing as white culture, that culture in fact comes from:

Where you live, how you were raised, and the collective traditions, beliefs, and prejudices of the people around you.

What is Culture?

While making fun of white people can be well, funny, it got me thinking, is the term “white culture” even valid in the world? I’m taking this question beyond the borders of the US and even other white-majority countries.

Does being born white in Africa mean that a person is culturally linked to someone in Canada? Probably not, unless their family came from there.

But what if you paired the UK and the US, who share a language (minus accents), cultural heritage, and at least on a world stage, have remained political allies? Does the rest of the world think there exists, to some extent, a culture of shared whiteness between the two?

I can think of a lot of people from both the UK and the US who would not concur, though I can see how people in other parts of the world very much connect the two.

But I’m not sure if at this point in history, we can say that culture is at all based on race. While for some cultures, such as the Aboriginal people and South Asians, a large percentage of the people are still not of mixed races, on the whole, our world has intermeshed in a big way.

And place is also key – where you settle often ends up being the “culture” you take on.

This is not to say that culturally-based racism isn’t alive and thriving, or that keeping cultural history alive is not important; far from it. It is only to say that I’m not sure definitive lines can be placed according to race any longer.

And I’m not sure that we should ever listen to anything Glenn Beck has to say. But really, that’s another point entirely.

Do you think there is such a thing as “white” culture? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

Check out Matador Night’s Editor Kate Sedgewick’s piece White Privilege – Can You See it? to test your view of whiteness throughout the world. Don’t forget to read Buster’s illuminating piece (and the comments that came with it) about racism in Russia: Should People of Color Go To Russia?

Why does everyone have to have the same cupboard? This seemingly simple question sparks the journey of one kid who grew up under the influence of intolerant and fearful parents.

For another amazing short film, check out Sweet Dreams: An Epic Story About A Traveling Cupcake.

Makes me think there’s a melody all around us… if we listen close enough to hear it.

Want to get even closer with animals? Check out:

• 12 Steps To Healing Our Relationship With Wild Animals
• How To Put A Baby Elephant To Sleep
• Close Encounters: Reconnecting To Animals Through Our Primitive Nature

“Looking forward, thinking back”/Photo: HAMED MASOUMI

Whether you are a part of the world of travel, finance, or simply a human being in the Western Hemisphere, today certainly marks a tragic day in history.

Around the internet, you’ll find all sorts of pieces related to that fateful day in 2001, all the way from how Obama is handling terrorism to an extremely poignant recount of being in New York the morning of 9/11 by Matador’s own Tom Gates.

Here is a blurb from a 9/11 conversation on Reddit which asks, What were you doing on September 11th, 2001 when the planes hit?:

I called my girlfriend at the time and told her to stay at home because some bad stuff was going down. I made it to work in time to see the second plane hit the towers. Within hours, my company had 6 million dollars worth of software contracts canceled. A week later, 90% of the company was laid off. Over the next 7 years my rights were systematically destroyed, billions were wasted on an unjustified war and the name of America was dragged through the mud.

The terrorists won.

You may need to tweak the story a little, but the last sentence describes how many people feel.

Memorial To The Future

Memorials tend to remind us of the past. In essence, that is their purpose, beauty and how we honor innocent lives lost. But what if, along with remembering the horror of what happened, where we were when a tragic experience took place, or the sometimes painful repercussions of that experience, we contemplate all of the other amazing things that have happened since?

My big question for you on the 8th Anniversary of the US 9/11 is: where have you gone? Where have you traveled that you had previously never even contemplated going; what life work have you accomplished that might have once seemed impossible; what love has been brought into your life?

What have you learned about yourself, and the world, in order to make both better?

How have you memorialized lives lost, whether those lives were in New York at Ground Zero, fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, your grandmother, or your 23-year-old friend that died of cancer? Beauty begets tragedy and tragedy begets beauty; what I think counts most is what you are doing with the only moment we are guaranteed: now.

Those who have given their lives willingly or unwittingly wouldn’t want it any other way.

What are some of the amazing things you’ve done since September 11, 2001? Share your experiences below.

Community Connection

Check out Julie Schwietert’s thoughts on last year’s anniversary of 9/11 in “History is ours, and people make history”: Some thoughts on 9/11. And I can’t reiterate enough the importance of reading Tom Gates view of 9/11 in 8:46 am, 9/11 Manhattan.

Photo: badlogik

I will attempt not to stray too far in the direction of ‘political’ in this post, but there will certainly be politics involved.

Mostly US politics in fact, so I will go ahead and apologize to those outside America, or who are trying to stay away from the madness. I’m not here to make anyone’s head explode.

But, there has been quite the ruckus about President Obama’s supposed “socialist agenda” stay-in-school speech being shown in classrooms, which finally occurred yesterday. The Obama administration has also had a tough week with what I see as the forced resignation of Van Jones, the Green Jobs czar, over the fact that several years ago, he signed a petition asking that the Bush administration be investigated for allowing 9/11 to happen.

The specific issues don’t really matter when it comes down to it; there will always be something. For me, it brings up the question of how we, both as a nation, and as a world, plan to ever move forward.

We don’t all have to believe the same things, and we never will, but we need to be respectful of each other in the process, whether the question be about religion, our sexual orientation, or our politics. We are 99.9% genetically identical, and doesn’t that count for something?

Or really, most everything?

Thinking Critically and Repectfully

I was moved by a piece by Terrance Heath on Huffington Post entitled, How To Think. In it, Health talks about a high school teacher he once had named Mr. Harrison. Mr. Harrison was politically conservative and a devout Christian, while Heath was a gay teenager who was reading the The Gnostic Gospels.

Photo: Capture Queen ™

But instead of pushing a particular agenda, this teacher was doing what all teachers should do: showing kids how to think critically, and then make up their own mind.

For example, Harrison was supportive of Heath and other students as they wrote letters to the school board opposing the banning of certain books, even though Harrison didn’t approve of some of the books in question.

To think critically, we must see and hear both sides of the story, and come up with our own truth. This truth may not coincide with the truth of the person next to you, but hopefully in the process, you’ll come to understand, at a least a bit, where they are coming from.

Blogger Munz spends this whole post trying to convince us of Van Jones “socialist” and “communist” roots, which are just so anti-American. I certainly have quite a bit to say about this, having worked in the same social justice circles as Jones. But instead, I’ll just ask, so what?

How many openly racist, sexist, and/or classist conservatives have held office over the years, and are those things that the US was supposedly founded on? No. Can these people still do their job? Probably. Because each and every one of us holds some “extreme” beliefs that other people will not agree with.

Stop Blaming, Start Listening

I’m not trying to blame only the right in America – the left is just as guilty in spouting inflammatory remarks. Same goes for either side of a belief system in just about every country in the world.

Maybe the deeper question here is why, as a world facing economic hardship, fear of persecution on just about all sides, and environmental implications that could easily mean the end for us all – really, really soon – do we continue to have these snide and unapologetic discussions in mainstream media? Why are we burning our brain cells on standing in place?

Critical thinking, and listening on ALL sides, is necessary now more than ever.

What do you think it will take to make the world move forward instead of stand still? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: jcheng

I found myself around two old friends in the past week who are living extremely hectic lives.

One friend is in law school, and barely has a moment to breathe, much less sleep or eat properly.

The other has a four-month-old baby to breastfeed, along with taking care of her 22-month-old, working a couple of night shifts as a nurse, finishing her Masters, and somehow cooking and cleaning.

Yeah…

I watched as they moved frantically around me and thought, “wow, I’m not doing enough in my life.” Even as the law school friend’s head just about hit the table at dinner, and I barely exchanged a word in four days with the friend who is a mother, I berated myself for taking too much time to, well…relax.

And then I thought about what “too much” looked like, and how it made me feel, in my 20s: extremely sick.

What You Love

Erica Johansson’s (not related to Scarlet, as far as I can tell) recent blog, Reminding Myself of What I Love, drove it home even further. Many of us can get caught up in what we see other people doing, and compare ourselves – positively or negatively – to how we perceive them.

Instead, as Erica points out, it feels better (and I believe, gets us further) to remind ourselves of what we love in our life. The best part about her list is the fact that she names pretty simple things, ones most people can do pretty much anywhere in the world. Yoga, reading, writing, music, movies, water, driving, cycling, running, dancing, food, and museums made her cut.

As I sat on a long train ride Saturday, I thought about what would make my list, things I could do on the road as well as at home. This is what I came up with:

• Travel
• Writing
• Dance
• Being connected to others
• Driving a different car than my own
• Balancing food (having a little bit from every type of food, but knowing what feels best to my body to eat)
• Hiking
• Plain old excitement

I could go on, but I’ll stop there. The point of this little exercise, though, is palpable: thinking about what you love in your life takes away the need, or desire, to compare yourself to others.

And isn’t at least one of the points of life to find contentment with what you have?

What makes your list of things that you love? Share your lists in the comments.

Community Connection

Interested in finding out the guilty pleasures of Matador editors? Then check out Travel Guilty Pleasures: What’s Yours? And if you want to employ the simple pleasure of saying “Cheers!” just about anywhere in the world, How To Say “Cheers!” In 50 Languages is your go-to reference.

Photo: inhisgrace

Have to admit, I had a few toxic thoughts this weekend.

First, there was some jealousy of the many friends, acquaintances, and basically everyone surrounding me in Truckee, California who are on their way to Burning Man. This is the first year I really wanted to go, was supposed to perform, and have been living in a town right off the I-80 path to Black Rock City. But I couldn’t afford to go.

Then there was a feeling of being disconnected from one friend, my roommate, and a couple of other people I was hoping to meet up with. Feeling disconnected with one person is doable for me, but these things tend to come in threes, and end up making me feel pretty unhappy.

Yet, toward the end of the weekend, I came across the piece, 10 Ways To Transform Toxic Thoughts by Sandra Ingerman. Aha, right, there is something I can do.

Whether we are on the road or at home, we all face some of those moments or days (or weeks), but without sounding too new-agey (I’m trying hard here), we do have a choice of how to look at things. Sometimes we just need a little prompt to see things in a different light.

In that vain, here are my favorite four ways, from Ingerman’s list, to transform those ugly, unhelpful thoughts:

Breathe Through Your Heart

She says: “Place your hands on your heart and feel your heart moving as you breathe.”

Photo: helgasms!

We often forget both the power of breath and the power of the heart, much less the power of touch (even our own). Put all of those together, and you have a recipe for feeling calmer, safer, and less toxic.

Don’t forget breathing through your stomach. The number one thing that quiets my sometimes extremely loud head is the breath of fire, a kundalini yoga technique.

Breathing at a very fast pace seems to clear out my anxiety and leave my mind soft (yes, you are free to compare it to sex – I have no problem with that).

Express, Don’t Send

One of the issues that I was having this weekend was feeling an acquaintance had some sort of a problem with me, though I had no idea what. I sat with the feeling of anger and general pissed-off-ness (’what did I ever do to him?’), vaguely understanding that hurt lived underneath that anger. Finally, after rolling the situation around in my head for so long that I couldn’t sleep, I realized I had to say something.

I’ve learned that in this life, with my personality, I need to express myself or I will eventually explode in a much less constructive way (to put it mildly). I actually believe most of us need to verbally express our issues, but we are taught we aren’t supposed to, that we need to keep the peace. Yet I wonder if more peace would occur if we actually expressed our feelings more often.

So I want to shift the “don’t send” part of this one to “don’t send negative thoughts and feelings.” Express what you have to say in a respectful and constructive manner. For me this weekend, I started out wanting to write an email saying, “What the hell is your problem with me?” It evolved to asking if there was something that happened which bothered him, as I was feeling hurt by his disregard, and I wanted to clear the air.

Much less toxic.

Connect With Nature

Sometimes, this is easier to do on the road than at home. I know that nature saved me this weekend. Right now, I’m lucky enough to be in a place that is filled with amazing fir trees, so many hikes it would take a lifetime to do them all, and more watering holes (of the lake variety) than most states contain.

Photo: Mike Pedroncelli

I sat by the Truckee River on a warm rock, feet dipped in the cool water, getting my Vitamin D on. It was lovely.

You can’t help but feel better, physically and emotionally, once you get outside in nature. If you don’t have that luxury, try and have a plant or an animal close by – they can also work wonders.

Respond With Love

Ah, yes. The easiest and the hardest thing to do in life: show love. It’s especially hard to show appreciation when someone, or something, has hurt you. And feeling angry, hurt, or upset is completely valid. Just don’t let it take you down.

After fully feeling the pain, it can be really healing to respond with love to whatever has hurt you. It changes the energy of the situation, and probably even the outcome.

If you can’t seem to show love because it feels like the other person doesn’t deserve it, do it for you. Then you get to move on with your life and bring more good people into it.

So I’m sending lots of love to everyone I know and don’t know who is heading to Burning Man, to my roommate, and those I have felt a bit disconnected from. And I’m taking that love along with me to the East Coast. See you guys on the other side!

What are other things a person can do to transform toxic thoughts? Share your ideas below.

Photo: Burning Blog

Life changing. Mind blowing. Complete insanity. These are just a few of the words I’ve heard tossed about when mentioning Burning Man to those that have made the pilgrimage to the sands of Nevada.

I decided this was my year. It’s time to experience the mayhem and beauty first-hand.

I have no idea what to expect, but I do know that a few familiar faces around Matador Network will be joining me, including Ross Borden and Josh Johnson.

As well I hope to meet up with inspiring travelers from around the web, including Pat the Vagabond, the rest of the crew from Camp Nomadia.

On the eve of such a trip, I find myself reflecting on the many people I’ve recently met in person, or more likely, online. These are people busy doing. They are changing the world in their own way. Or more appropriately, they are changing their own worlds, which in turn affects the world at large.

I can’t say exactly how we cross paths. A meeting through a friend, an article published online, a comment left on a blog. I like to think we’re both putting out the vibes. This in turn, attracts people on a similar wave length. It’s like…science for the spiritual.

Sometimes, we trade ideas for collaboration. We fire each other up with our mutually positive energy. We know there’s a project we could work on… but…

The problem is time. There are only so many hours in the day, and so many ways to spread yourself too thin.

And so, this brief moment of mutual collaboration among like-minded individuals fizzles… perhaps we both sense it’s not going to happen. Part of me feels disappointed, knowing that the chance to work with another’s creativity may have passed.

But another part of me realizes that these moments come and go. The very fact that I’m creating positivity means that other like-minded people will inevitably arise. Not all of them will result in a collaboration. And that’s okay.

When the time is right, we will work together to build something. Or we won’t. It may be just the two of us, or it could be a much larger crew. Which brings me back to Burning Man.

I suspect Burning Man is what you get when a vast amount of people pour their hearts and energy into manifesting the impossible: an alternative city in the middle of the desert.

As I said earlier, I have no idea what to expect, but I have no doubt I will cross paths with an array of enlightening individuals that will challenge, inspire, and most importantly, teach me. In anticipation of these future encounters, I want to offer my sincere gratitude.

I’ll see you in the desert.

- Ian

p.s. I came across this bit of prose and thought it was entirely appropriate to share. I hope you enjoy it.

A SPIRITUAL “CONSPIRACY”

On the surface of our world right now
There is war, violence, and craziness
And things may seem dark.

But calmly and quietly
At the same time
Something is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
And certain individuals
Are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up.

This is a global co-operation
That has sleeper cells in every nation.
It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy.

You won’t likely see us on T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.
You won’t hear from us on the radio.

We don’t seek glory.
We don’t wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

We are in every country and culture of the world
In cities big and small, mountains and valleys
In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

Most of us work anonymously
Seeking not recognition of name
But profound transformation of life.

Working quietly behind the scenes
You could pass by one of us on the street
And not even notice.

We go undercover
Not concerned for who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.

Many of us may seem to have normal jobs.
But behind the external storefront
Is where the deeper work takes a place.

With the individual and collective power
Of our minds and hearts
We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all.

Some call us the Conscious Army
As together
We co-create a new world.

Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency
Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking.

Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Smiles ~ Kind words
Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites
Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves
In our own unique ways
With our own unique gifts and talents.

“Be the change you want to see in the world”
That is the motto that fills our hearts.
We know this is the path to profound transformation.

We know that quietly and humbly
Individually and collectively
We have the power of all the oceans combined.

At first glance our work is not even visible.
It is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.

And yet with our combined efforts
Entire tectonic plates
Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come.

Love is the religion we come to share
And you don’t need to be highly educated
Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

Love arises from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse
Of all living beings.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Yet don’t forget, we are all here supporting you.

We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.

For in this spiritual conspiracy
All are welcome, and all are loved.
The door is always open.

~ Author Appropriately Unknown

Indian students in AU protest attacks / Photo: will ockenden

Although I’m under no delusions that racism isn’t alive and well in this world, I have to say I’m a bit surprised about the attacks happening lately to students of color in traditionally white countries.

Between Buster’s piece on Matador Abroad asking Should People of Color Go To Russia?, and a recent article in the Times of India about attacks on Indian students in Australia, the fear reverberating from the ruling class of the past is palpable.

It hardly escapes attention that those being targeted, according to both of these pieces, are students, some of which are working on their Ph.D. To me, it seems like the fact that people of color are being educated to a higher degree than most of the rest of the population is triggering some deep insecurities of being ‘less than,’ which are being acted out with vigilantism.

For both Blacks in Russia and Indians in Australia, the need to tell roommates their whereabouts at all times, be on full alert while taking public transportation, and not be out past a certain time at night certainly makes one feel like a second class citizen.

What Is Being Done About It?

The Times of India tried to come up with a more subdued reason for the prevalence of attacks:

Another possible reason for the attacks against the Indian students could be the fact that they work part-time along with pursuing their studies and travel late in the night, which makes them vulnerable to assaults.

Hmmm. Well, the Victorian Police have started “sensitisation programmes” in order to educate the community about the attacks happening in Melbourne. Also, Buster notes in his article, “most people in Russia are not violent racists.”

While in one way, these are attempts to stem the assaults, I feel like a much stronger message needs to be sent to those initiating the attacks. Unfortunately, that may not come from within these countries, so pressure from the outside – by the media, or your blog posts – might be the way to help keep these students safe.

What can we do to help stop attacks on students of color? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

The first week of August was International Blog Against Racism Week, and you can find links to blogs leading the revolution here. And if you think that racism isn’t outwardly tolerated in the US anymore, check out the piece, A “Whites-Only” Pool in 2009?

Photo: Azriel Cohen

Last month, I wrote two articles on inviting us to think about including animal culture – and not just human culture – as part of our explorations as we travel through the world.

Healing our relationship to wild animals may hold keys to reversing the environmental crisis as well as helping us rediscover our own natural state of health.

Now, I wish to share an experience that introduced me to a new way of thinking about humans and animals, and changed my life. Afterwards, I will share twelve principles, distilled from my experiments, that I invite you to try yourself.

There are at least two reasons for you to take my invitation seriously. Firstly, it may assist you in developing a more healthy relationship with nature, which is so crucial given the serious environmental crisis we are living with.

Secondly, while most humans desire to move towards more balance, we often cannot tell if we are actually moving towards balance or away from it. Eastern medicine teaches that in a state of imbalance an individual’s tendency is to move towards greater states of imbalance, while believing what they’re doing is the healthiest.

If collectively we are in such a state of imbalance, we need to be extra mindful to ensure we move in the right direction. Wild animals can serve as reliable “tuning forks” to help us calibrate our nervous systems towards states of natural balance.

Peace Within Myself

The experience that forever changed my relationship to the animal kingdom was in 2002, after a retreat focused on “peace within myself”. I went into retreat because of my first experience of war.

Thich Nhat Hanh followed by Israelis and Palestinians in
walking meditation at Plum Village (Azriel Cohen
holding the umbrella), summer 2001

Shortly after I left the retreat, I had an experience with an animal that I never imagined possible.

Having grown up in war-free Toronto, my ideas about war were not rooted in any direct experience. I thought that the roots of war were just emotions and attitudes. But living in Jerusalem during the second Intifada (Palestinian Uprising) in a field of great violence, I sensed there was something else at the root of war that was not being addressed – something physiological. Something subtle shifted in my body as a result of living in a field of extreme violence, and I began to wonder about the role of the nervous system in cycles of war and violence.

I sensed that war zones had something intangible that could, in a sense, infect people, and that peaceful places had something intangible that could help people heal.

I decided to take a leave of absence from Jerusalem and immerse myself in a peaceful zone. I chose the eco-village Findhorn in northern Scotland. The main inspiration for my retreat was a program that I co-founded called “Peace Begins With Myself” in July 2001.

This program brought Israelis and Palestinians to Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village Meditation Center in France. It was rooted in the Buddhist perspective on peace – that peace in the world begins with each of us working on peace within ourselves. Peace exists in every detail of life, even how we walk, sit and eat.

In addition to various practices that I learned in Plum Village, I spent a lot of time in the woods around Findhorn. I had the sense that tuning into nature held a key to rediscovering an embodied peace.

I constantly wondered: if this state of being was my central focus, would I experience the world differently?

Encounter

After two months in that bubble, I left Findhorn to meet a friend in the Austrian countryside. During a walk near a forest, experimenting with that embodied state of peace, a young male deer emerged from a distance of about one hundred and fifty meters.

The deer walks away / Photo: Azriel Cohen

Something in my body and mind urged me to become very still and calm. I did all the things listed in the twelve steps below – it was not a rational decision, but rather it came from listening to my intuition and my body.

I calmed my thoughts, breathing and muscles, made the most gentle of movements and never initiated direct eye contact with the deer. The deer walked closer and closer, until it came right up to me. I was almost shocked, but I continued to calm myself on all levels.

With the curiosity of a young child, the deer slowly came closer and closer, until it reached me. It sniffed the sleeve of my jacket and proceeded to lick me.

It took a couple steps away and I began to walk. It followed closely behind, sometimes letting a larger distance separate us, but then would run back to my side, like a dog without a leash.

This continued for about thirty minutes and then it retreated into the forest.

I took photos as the deer walked away. Otherwise, I would probably still wonder today, if it was but a dream.

Post Encounter

Since then I have had more experiences with wild animals that have absolutely surprised me. I deconstructed the experiences and extracted the following twelve principles, or steps, so that others may reevaluate their relationship with wild animals. These steps are meant as guidelines, but the process is organic, not linear.

In the process of refining these principles, I consulted with three international experts in human-animal relations (Tara Lumpkin, Marta Williams, and Wynter Worsthorne).

I am grateful for their time and feedback.

Twelve Steps Towards Healing Your Relationship With Wild Animals

(Please exercise caution: this is not for use with dangerous animals)

1. Your emotions, thoughts and intentions

Connect to a feeling of love, as you would as you approach someone dear to you. Keep sensing that you are energetically communicating love to the animal. Focus your mind on the phrase “I am safe for you.” Repeatedly think this phrase towards the animal.

Focus on the following intention:

“I believe we have scared and hurt you, causing great damage to our relationship. My intention is for you to know that I will not hurt you, that I care about you, that I am safe, and maybe in a tiny little dose I can contribute to healing our relationship. I have no expectation whatsoever to get anything from you. Just to be a caring human being who, for at least a few moments, has a presence that is not a threat to you.”

2. Your breath:

Notice the sensation of your breathing in and out. Allow your breath to get deeper, slower, steadier and calmer.

Elephant kiss / Photo: Azriel Cohen

3. Your heart rate:

Allow it to slow down.

4. Your muscles:

Let your awareness scan your body from head to toe. Gently release every place where you notice tension, especially around your eyes and mouth.

5. Sense your whole body:

As your attention moves from head to toes, keep your attention on the sensations of the body part your are currently focused on, while focusing on the sensation of the body parts you have already passed. Do this until you can feel your whole body at once.

6. Movement:

While sensing your body as a whole and your breath, let the movements of your arms, legs or head be slow, steady and fluid. Move without altering speed or tension. If you have ever done or seen Zen walking meditation, you will have a good example.

7. Your eyes:

Keep your vision relaxed. Allow your eyes not to fixate on anything as you look ahead. Keep the range of your visual awareness as wide as possible.

8. Your jaws:

Release all tension around the mouth and keep it loose.

9. Approaching a wild animal:

Simultaneously do all steps 1-8 (thoughts, breathing, heart rate, relaxed muscles, body sensing, slow movement, soft eyes, relaxed jaw) as you move as slowly as possible towards the animal. At some point you will likely sense to not move closer, but rather to let the animal move towards you. Do not make direct eye contact, but rather allow the eye contact to be via peripheral vision.

10. Making contact with a wild animal:

Spend some time close to the animal – it may be a few feet, or a few inches away. Allow it to feel safe and stay steady with steps 1 – 8. Pay attention to subtle sensations, images and thoughts without censoring. Some animals may initiate contact with you, if you feel safe enough.

11. Open mind:

Keep focused on the possibility that this isn’t some crazy new-age esoteric practice. As you do these exercises, think to yourself,

“I am open to the possibility that all living things are able to communicate with one another, although that communication might be different from how I communicate with humans. I know there is within me the capacity for communication with animals, because my ancestors had that capacity within them. There are people today who are able to communicate with animals.”

12. Experiment:

Be patient. If, indeed, this is a lost capacity, then modern humans as a whole lost it long ago. Realize that it might take some time for you to rehabilitate your animal communication instincts.

The goal: try these techniques and report back here. Share your experiences in the comments!

I don’t know about you, but doesn’t it feel like our society is extraordinarily self-centered? Sure, we pay taxes, donate to charity, send aid to foreign countries… etc.

Yet at the end of the day, our lives seem geared toward looking out for #1: our own personal happiness.

Is there anything wrong with this picture? Not necessarily… unless our own quest for self happiness has been co-opted for the gain of corporations, as explored in this brilliant BBC documentary “The Century Of The Self.”

From the film’s website:

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really?

The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

I highly recommend watching the entire film, with all four episodes below. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the current state of the self and the forces that seek to taint your inner journey.

Episode 1 – Happiness Machines

Episode 2 – The Engineering of Consent

Episode 3 – There is a Policeman Inside All Our Head: He Must Be Destroyed

Episode 4 – Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering

What do you think of the argument in the film? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Non-violent protestors advocate for Tibet / Photo: lecercle

Spiritual Activism is the coming together of spirituality, and activism.

It is not about any form of dogma, it is simply activism that comes from the heart, not just the head, activism that is compassionate, positive, kind, fierce and transformative. It focuses as much on what we are for, as on what we are against.

Mother Theresa’s response to a question about why she did not attend an anti-war rally, was “When you have a pro-peace rally, I will be there.”

Spiritual Activism is rooted in an understanding of interdependence, and works to end of the suffering of all beings, even our opponents. Nothing could be more inspiring and more rewarding than being the change we want to see in the world, within and without.

Below are some suggested tenets I have adapted from a group called Humanity Healing. This is not a definitive statement – just one groups’ suggestions – but a good set, and well worth considering.

The path of Spiritual Activism enables individuals or groups to develop the noble qualities of compassion, wisdom and gratitude.

It is in itself a Path of Transformation – a Spiritual Blueprint for living. The core dynamics behind the Spiritual Keys of Activism are creativity, adaptability, understanding and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

1. All Action is Based on Compassion

When championing a cause, the mindset must be altruistic and the motivating emotion must be positive. Spiritual Activism is action for the benefit of something, not against something.

2. Compassion Flows from the Understanding of the Connection Between All Living Beings.

We are all connected through our shared Humanity. When you learn to see that our differences are superficial and our similarities manifest, sympathy (or worse, pity) gives way to compassion. Our actions shift from one of “us helping them” to one of “for the good of All”. We become One.

“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.”
 ~ Thomas Merton

3. Compassion Must Be Applied With Wisdom

There are more causes that exist than an individual or group can possibly be involved with. It is important to choose your causes carefully. Learn to act instead of react.

4. Apply Synergy and Teamwork to Accomplish Goals

Synergy is the process where two or more actions combine to produce an effect greater than the sum of its individual parts. Like ripples in a pond, spiritual actions combine and build on each other to magnify an effect beyond what each could do individually. Whenever possible, team up with others to acquire a multifaceted and more holistic approach.

“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”
 ~ Unknown

5. Spiritual Activism is the Pursuit of Service for the Good of All, Not for the Advancement or Benefit of Individuals or Selected Communities.

The mindset behind your actions is noble, holistic, universal and non-partisan. Be mindful that ego and self-service have no place in Spiritual Activism. However spiritual activism is all about Self serving – it serves your highest Self, not your ego, and is a pathway to true and deep happiness, as opposed to the temporary and unstable happiness of the ego.

6. Pursue Integrity, Honesty and Dignity in the Conduct of Your Actions

Embrace mindfulness in the application of your activities and be aware of how your actions may be perceived by others. Machiavelli’s “The ends justify the means” has no place in Spiritual Activism. If our methods are not noble, our results will not be either. Practice spiritual transparency, allowing negative energies to bypass your system without harming it.

“Integrity is doing the right thing even if no one is watching.”
 ~ Unknown

7. Do not Defame Your Detractors or Those Who Doubt You

A confrontational approach leads to a defensive reaction. Approach others with openness and compassion in your heart. Build on the commonalities between you instead of focusing on the differences. As much as possible, detach yourself from the results of your actions. Aspire to always be a peacemaker.

“Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

8. Raising Another Up Raises You Up As Well

Helping another becomes a form of self-love as well as an expression of outward love. This becomes an upwardly spiraling cycle of increasing awareness, connection, compassion, involvement, capacity, and back to increasing awareness.

9. Learn to Listen to Your Heart and Not Your Mind

Your mind may only see the problem. Your heart will always feel the solution. Learn to act with Faith and cultivate a loving perception when facing collective problems.

“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
 ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

10. Search Out Viable and Sustainable Solutions

Seek out solutions that maintain or restore the dignity of individual human and their communities. Solutions that become self sustaining.

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”
 ~ Jesus

11. Spiritual Activism is about process.

The process by which you arrive at the goal is as important as reaching the goal itself. If we live the change we want to see in the world, we cannot lose. We have already won.

First published website for the documentary Fierce Light: Where Spirit Meets Action.

What are your thoughts on spiritual activism? Share in the comments!

Photo: Ed-meister

More than one of us have heard a grandparent or elder say, “Back in the good old days…”

What surprised me is when I began to utter these words, about days that came before I my existence was even a contemplation. I think it is a by-product of studying alternative health, and more specifically, ancient medical and spiritual practices.

I think believing the Eastern spiritually-inclined of the past kinda knew better than we do, or were at least more tuned in than we are, is part of my generation’s burden. We have much more access to Eastern ideals than ever before, and spirit beyond Christianity has infiltrated pop culture.

So when I came across a recent article on Slate.com entitled, Do Shamans Have More Sex?, I chuckled a bit (at myself) when I read author Robert Wright’s opening paragraph:

Wouldn’t it be great to be back in hunter-gatherer days? Back before the human spiritual quest had been corrupted by the “relentless onslaught of Western scientific materialism” and “dogmatic male-dominated religion”? Back when there were shamans—spiritual leaders—who could plug us into “the realm of the magical,” show us “the reality behind apparent reality,” and thus lead us to understand “how the universe really works”?

Wright goes on to say is that he doubts “selfless, spiritual leaders” were any more common in the “heyday of shamanism,” or that the “spiritual quest was any less corrupted by manipulation and outright charlatanism” than today.

Though I’m not sure I agree that there was a heyday of shamanism, I can see his point. Along with our search for purity, we often like to grasp at the grass is greener on the other side.

The Conundrum of Inner and Outer Travel

I know I can also take this approach with travel, as the inner and outer travel are obviously deeply connected. I often think another place (in this case, physical land) is better, offers more, and has more depth than the place I currently find myself.

Where to next? / Photo: Randy Son Of Robert

And so I set up in a new place, and for a few days, I see all of its greatness. But eventually, I begin to notice the less bright spots “hiding” underneath, as the varnish slowly comes off.

Suddenly, many of the issues that were there in the last place have shown up in the new place, and I start to dream of that next perfect destination. But what is the connecting factor here? Me.

If we are always looking outside ourselves for perfection – whether this be an ancient tradition that did spirituality right, or the ultimate place to set up shop – we’ll always be disappointed once we unearth the entire picture, which is bound to have some bad with the good.

So love your shamans and the world around you, but don’t forget to take off those rose-colored glasses and check into reality. It makes life, well, more real.

Do you often think somewhere else is better than the place you are, or are you satisfied with where you find yourself at the moment? Share your thoughts below.

Little monks at play / Photo: Sukanto Debnath

A colleague of mine came up with a wonderful project for her thesis: develop an adult play center.

No, she doesn’t plan to have a jungle gym, at least not that I know of.

But she will offer classes ranging from dance to making art, a cafe where people can just sit and chat (not sure about the allowance of computers), and a free space for people to do anything they’re playfully inclined to – keep your mind out of the gutter – like tumbling or playing hopscotch.

The idea is that we all are so caught up in work, family, and all of those daily to-do’s, that we rarely take time to truly play. And play, is in fact, a central part of life.

Sure, many adults might consider going to happy-hour play time, or taking trips to tropical islands as adult amusement. But what about just jumping on a trampoline or counting the stars? Sometimes, I think these forms of play can be even more fulfilling for adults than kids. And they can actually be an easy way to connect to nature, self, and spirit.

Along those lines, I recently ran across an article by William McKenzie about the role of play in different spiritual faiths. Here are a few excerpts of what religious leaders had to say:

Taoism

Amy Martin, Executive Director, Earth Rhythms; Writer/Editor, Moonlady Media:

Photo: Eustaquio Santimano

Taoism refers often to the folly of striving, the appetite of acquisition that can never be sated…to be like a young child, in a natural state of joy, capable of wonder, seeing only love, is the highest state of man, says Lao Tze…The success of books like “1000 Places To See Before You Die” speaks of a widespread desire to experience more of life, to see the places that are so uniquely of this earthly existence, to experience them with the senses, seeing, hearing, feeling and even tasting what the Earth has to offer.

Christian – Baptist

Larry Bethune, Senior Pastor at the University Baptist Church, Austin

…The Bible reflects nonetheless a playful party tradition in the sense of joyful, self-forgetful celebration. This tradition of the feast which Jesus extended was rooted in the Sabbath tradition of the Hebrew scripture, a day of rest, re-creation, worship, and celebration, a day of grace rather than productivity, a day to be rather than do. Biblically speaking, our need for rest and play are deep-wired into our beings from the beginning of time.

Hare Krishna

Nityananda Chandra Das, Minister, ISKCON Kalachandji’s Hare Krishna Temple Dallas

In the Bhagavad Gita chapter 6.19, it is understood that leisure is a part of a balanced life, “He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.”…Our recreation becomes an offering to God if our thoughts are of God and/or our purpose is His purpose.

Now that I feel officially sanctioned to go play, I’m off!

How does play fit into your idea of spirit? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

Need more religious backing to enjoy a bit of play? Check out Yogis At Play: Spend 10 Minutes Doing Something Fun. Or if you plan to sit by the fire and play some tunes soon, check out Carlo Alcos’ article, Learn How To Play the Greatest Campfire Songs of All Time (For Free).

Photo: freestylebmx

Early this year I interviewed Jason Silva, founding producer for Current TV and current host of Still Up. We spoke about his short film, The Immortalists, along with his own take on science’s goal of ending death…forever.

Jason paints a compelling argument. He believes death is an evolutionary flaw that needs to be overcome, rather than satiated by weaker philosophies or religion.

“By labeling death a problem,” he says, “it shifts our complacent attitude about death and turns it into an engineering problem, one that we can solve, much as we have solved impossible problems in the past.”

Since then, Jason’s interview has gnawed at my own personal beliefs on life.

I found similarities in his worldview and my own explorations in Buddhism – both which share the goal of ending our fear of death. Yet, both could not be more different in their approach.

I decided to contact Jason for a follow-up discussion. I start first with my own understanding of the Buddhist’s approach to life, then share Jason’s rebuttal.

The Buddhist: Ian MacKenzie

“Everything changes, nothing remains without change.” – Buddha

Photo: hurleygurley

The first of the Four Noble Truths, as discovered by the Buddha 2500 years ago, is the realization that “life is suffering.” For this reason, many people believe Buddhism is essentially transfixed with suffering.

But this is not the case. In fact, the second noble truth reveals the origin of suffering: attachment.

Why does attachment cause suffering? Because life is inherently transient. Nothing stays the same; not the birds, the trees, your job, friends, even your own thoughts, moment to moment. Our egos like to believe that we’re individuals, that we have an exalted place in the world.

And so we have a difficult time handling all this transience. We cling to what we enjoy and avoid what we don’t.

This is suffering.

While it’s tempting to believe that most people are affected by mortal anxiety, the knowledge they will die someday, I believe the opposite. I think most people vaguely realize they will die, but they don’t seriously contemplate it until they have a near death experience, or they’re on their deathbed.

So the problem is not quantity of life, but rather quality.

Our egos are not content to live with the present moment, instead we grasp at transient moments, never happy, never content. We can’t remain content for more than 10 minutes, let alone infinite.

For Buddhists, enlightenment is the deep realization that nothing is permanent. To fear death is to actually go against the fundamental law of the universe: everything that arises must pass away.

The goal is to become content with this transience, and therefore, content with life. Suddenly there is no more fear; life becomes eternally now. We aren’t worrying about moments beginning and moments ending.

In contrast, the idea of “living forever” seems the ultimate triumph of the mind (ego) winning over the heart (soul). The mind is so terrified of death it refuses to let the soul go. Life would become eternally static. Like a beautiful painting of a sunset…but nothing like a real sunset.

When you step back and attempt to see reality, to imagine yourself in the larger context of life, you realize that there would be no life without death.

Steve Hagen, a Buddhist author, captures it beautifully:

Pick up a flower – a beautiful, living, fresh rose. It smells wonderful. It reveals a lovely rhythm in the swirl of its petals, a rich yet dazzling color, a soft velvety texture. It moves and delights us. The problem is that the rose dies. Its petals fall; it shrivels up; it turns brown and returns to the earth.

One solution to this problem is to ignore the real rose and substitute a plastic one, one that never dies (and never lives). But is a plastic rose what we want? No, of course not. We want the real rose. We want the one that dies. We want it because it dies, because it’s fleeting, because it fades.

It’s this very quality that makes it precious. This is what we want, what each of us is: a living thing that dies.

Perhaps one day, through science, we will finally be able to preserve the body from dying. What then? We’d still have a lot of unconscious people, who now don’t have the face the ultimate moment of awakening…death.

I’m reminded of a quote from John Steinbeck, who spoke about his own impending death in Travels With Charley:

“I see too many men delay their exits with a sickly slow reluctance to leave the stage. It’s bad theater as well as bad living.”

And so, the fear of death is revealed for what it truly is: the ego’s fear of ceasing to exist. The essence of a human is not contained in the mind. It is temporarily channeled into a body for a moment of existence, before sinking back into the ocean of life. As Osho says:

“You have to pass through fear and accept it as a human reality. There is no need to escape from it. What is needed is to go deeper into it, and the deeper you go into your fear the less you will find it is. When you have touched the rock bottom of fear, you will simply laugh, there is nothing to fear.”

- Ian MacKenzie

The Immortalist: Jason Silva

“The philosophy that accepts death must itself be considered dead, its questions meaningless, its consolations worn out.”  – Alan Harrington, The Immortalist.

Jason Silva

The mindset of an Immortalist is simple and straightforward: death is an abhorrent imposition on a species able to reflect and care about meaning.

Creatures that love and dream and create and yearn for something meaningful, eternal and transcendent should not have to suffer despair, decay and death.  We are the arbiters of value in an otherwise meaningless universe.  The fleeting nature of beautiful, transcendent moments feeds the urge for man to scream: “I was here; I felt this and it matters, goddamn it!”

In the face of meaningless extinction, it’s not surprising that mankind has needed to find a justification for his suffering.  Man is the only animal aware of his mortality – and this awareness causes a tremendous amount of anxiety.

As a child I wanted to understand the world. Nothing much has changed – the sense of urgency has not dissipated; I’m still running around trying desperately to understand things.  To have emerged; to be self-aware, to know that I know that I am; all these things were troubling mostly because they fueled the panic over having some semblance of control over my experience. 

I think that when I first understood what love was at a visceral level was when I first grasped the concept of death- death felt real when I pondered losing someone I loved.   Imagining that everything and everyone I loved was temporary was unbearable, even as a young child.

This is not to deny that my life isn’t sunny and lusty, packed with fascinating hours; in fact it is. But when we start to grow a little older, when we pause for just a moment, there begins to intrude on all our scenes a faint disquiet.  

The psychologist Ernest Becker wrote in his pulitzer prize winning book, “The Denial of Death,” that in the face of an acute and agonizing awareness of his mortality, man has developed three main devices to sustain his sanity.  These illusions act as temporary solutions to the problem of death. 

The Religious Solution

The Religious Solution invents the concept of God and projects onto him the power to grant us what we all really want: the ability to bestow eternal life on ourselves an our loved ones; to be freed from disease, decay and death.  

This belief in an all powerful deity made perfect sense during the dark ages when people lived short, miserable, disease-ridden lives. With no explanation for their suffering, people were better able to bear their hardships by having faith in God and believing, that in the end, their gods would ’save’ them. 

However, the gods never came.  Suffering persisted; people lived and people died.  

In an age of science and reason, however, the Religious Solution has all but become obsolete.  The irrationality of religious dogma has become clear in our modern time of scientific enlightenment, and rather than alleviating our anxiety, it has only served to exacerbate it.

Alan Harrington, wrote in the Immortalist, that “Anxiety increases with education. As we grow more sophisticated, ever more ingenious rationalizations are needed to explain death away.” Man still needs something to believe in.

The Romantic Solution 

Enter the The Romantic Solution; the second illusion Becker identifies – when we no longer believe in God, we then turn our lovers into gods and goddesses. We idolize them, write pop songs about being saved by their love, and for a little while we feel immortal; like gods beyond time.  

Becker elaborates: “If the love object is divine perfection, then one’s own self is elevated by joining one’s destiny to it.” All our guilt, fear, even mortality itself can be “purged in a perfect consummation with perfection itself.”  

When in love, man can “forget himself in the delirium of sex, and still be marvelously quickened in the experience”.  We are temporarily relieved from the drag of “the animality that haunts our victory over decay and death.”  When in love, we become immortal gods. 

But no relationship can bear the burden of godhood.  Eventually, ours gods/lovers reveal their clay feet.  It is, as someone once said, the “mortal collision between heaven and halitosis.”  

This is the revelation we all come to in a romantic relationship when sex is revealed to represent “species consciousness;” a mere process of reproduction in service of propagation, not in service of “man as a special cosmic hero with special gifts for the universe…”

Man is revealed to be a mere link in the chain, with no lasting purpose or significance. Passionate love then tends to transition into housekeeping love; boredom and routine coupled with the impossible standards we have for our lovers collides in a flurry of disappointment, and perfection begins to show its cracks. 

This is why most marriages end in divorce and why love doesn’t ever quite seem to last forever.

The Creative Solution

At this point Becker identifies the last illusion man has devised: the Creative Solution.  This explains our urge to leave a legacy; to create a great work of art that has lasting impact and value; in essence to create something that carries our signature and lives on after we’re gone.    

“This is the artist’s way of scribbling ‘Kilroy was here‘ on the wall of the final and irrevocable oblivion through which he must one day pass,” Harrington explains. This is quite touching and clever, but ultimately fails where it counts: still, everyone dies. 

The absurdity and ache of our condition can be summed up by the opening line from the documentary Flight From Death:

“To have emerged from nothing; to have a name, consciousness of self, deep inner feeling; an excruciating yearning for life and self-expression.  And with all this; yet to die.  Human beings find themselves in quite the predicament.  With our minds we have the capacity ponder the infinite, seemingly capable of anything, yet we’re housed in a heart-pumping, breath-gasping, decaying body.  We are godly, yet creaturely.”

The Immortalist Thesis

The time has come for man to get over his cosmic inferiority complex. To rise above his condition – to use technology to extend himself beyond his biological limitations.  Alan Harrington reminds us: “We must never forget we are cosmic revolutionaries, not stooges conscripted to advance a natural order that kills everybody.” 

While Ernest Becker identified our need for heroism and our extensive attempts to satisfy it symbolically, Alan Harrington proposes we move definitively to engineer salvation in the real world; to move directly to physically overcome death itself: “Spend the money, higher the scientists and hunt down death like an outlaw.”  

While some cry heresy and might gasp in protest at the pretense of ‘playing god’, Harrington simply states: “The truth is, of course, that death should no more be considered an acceptable part of life than smallpox or polio, both of which we have managed to bring under control without denouncing ourselves as pretentious.”

What must be eliminated from the human drama is the “inevitability of death as a result and natural end of the aging process.  I am speaking of the inescapable parabolic arching from birth to death–the point is “being alive now, ungoverned by span, cycle or inevitability.”

Alan Harrington also rails against any philosophy that teaches complacency: “All philosophical systems insofar as they teach us sportingly to accept extinction are a waste of time… the wisdom of philosophers may nearly always be found trying to blanket our program to conquer death.”

“Death seems simply to be a return to that unknown inwardness out of which we were born,” state thinkers like Alan Watts.

But Harrington critiques those that embellish ‘nothingness’ as: “Voices preaching false consolation will not help us, no matter how skillfully and soothingly they arrange nothingness. This may be appraised as fine writing, but it serves also to glamorize death, and therefore, in the context of humanity’s mission to conquer death, to weaken and tranquilize our rebellion.”

The Immortalist point of view, then, could be described as a project that uses technology to “Individualize eternity, to stabilize the forms and identities through which the energy of conscious life passes.”  

This is hardly a stretch for human beings, as Harrington proclaims: “We have long since gone beyond the moon, touched down on mars, harnessed nuclear energy, artificially reproduced DNA, and now have the biochemical means to control birth; why should death itself, ‘the last enemy’, be considered beyond conquest?”

I want to leave you with this biting and eloquent passage I read somewhere on the internet:

“There is nothing about death that is less than abominable.  I am forever bewildered by the placating palaver wasted in efforts to quell this irrational horror. The cessation of all that is, the chasm that devours every memory, every fleeting intellection, every redeeming fragment of meaning and love and lust and friendship and hunger and hopeless vitality, and reduces it all to the inconceivable cosmic ash of nothing – That is my enemy.”

Enjoy your day.

- Jason Silva

Conclusion

In the end, there’s no right or wrong answer. It’s up to the reader to decide based on the evidence, and most importantly, their direct experience of following certain beliefs. Keep what works, and discard what doesn’t.

After all, very soon you may have all the time in the world to ponder life’s big questions…

What do you think of the debate on ending death (and the nature of life)? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Yesterday, as we focused on the detainment of Matador writer Sarah Shroud and two other hikers in Iran, a celebration was taking place for International World Forgiveness Day.

This event, led by the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance, was held in San Rafael, CA. Honorees included well-known spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson, human and civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis, and Elwin Wilson, a former Ku Klux Klan member who violently attacked Lewis 50 years ago.

In case you missed the story when it was on ABC News a few months ago, here’s a clip of Wilson’s apology to Lewis:

If the tale of a former violent racist asking one of the people he attacked for forgiveness doesn’t move you, an even larger inspiration drew honors at the event: Christopher Rodriguez.

A prime example of the pain that Oakland, CA continues to feel as time marches on, early last year, Rodriguez was hit by a robber’s stray bullet during a piano lesson. This bullet paralyzed him from the waist down. I remember the event vividly, as it happened about 4 blocks from where I used to live, at a piano store in a “good” part of Oakland.

Rodriguez has since shook hands with the gunman and said, “I forgive you.”

If a 10-year-old boy has the capacity to forgive a man who took his ability to walk, and we pray and hope that the Iranian government will “forgive” and release Shroud and the other backpackers, can’t those of us who have had less extreme occurrences say these same three words to those who have caused us pain?

Remember, you also have to forgive yourself in the process.

Do you have an inspiring story of forgiveness? Share your stories below.

Feature photo: ruthieonart

Photo: catusbones

In my early 20’s, I almost became a nihilist. An existential nihilist to be exact, which argues “life is without meaning.”

I based my belief on the reality I saw around me (or at least on the news): war, violence, and death was everywhere. In the face of such suffering, I couldn’t understand why anything “mattered.” The only logical explanation was that the universe had no purpose.

I quickly realized this mentality was a deep, dark hole, and decided to continue exploring other beliefs on the nature of existence.

Now, looking back 8 years later, I realize it would have been interesting to chronicle my worldview at that time. Like a spiritual diary, I would have been able to study where I came from, and better understand my personal evolution.

Recently, I came across 20 questions that eloquently serve this purpose. Featured in the 2005 documentary film One, these questions were posed to various spiritual leaders of today: from Deepak Chopra, to Ram Dass, to the Dalai Lama.

I realized answering these questions myself would provide a snapshot of my beliefs today. And if I did the exercise again in 5 years, 10 years, 25 years… who knows the insight these polaroids will provide?

If you, dear reader, would like to join me, here’s how:

Instructions

Copy and paste the questions below into a blank document or blog post. Answer each question with as much detail as you like, then publish your answers on your personal blog.

Leave a comment below with a link to your post.

20 Questions For Every Spiritual Seeker

1. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world?
2. What is the relationship between science and religion?
3. Why are so many people depressed?
4. What are we all so afraid of?
5. When is war justifiable?
6. How would God want us to respond to aggression and terrorism?
7. How does one obtain true peace?
8. What does it mean to live in the present moment?
9. What is our greatest distraction?
10. Is current religion serving its purpose?
11. What happens to you after you die?
12. Describe heaven and how to get there.
13. What is the meaning of life?
14. Describe God.
15. What is the greatest quality humans possess?
16. What is it that prevents people from living to their full potential?
17. Noverbally, by motion or gesture only, act out what you believe to be the current condition of the world.
18. What is your one wish for the world?
19. What is wisdom and how do we gain it?
20. Are we all one?

Remember, post a link to your answers in the comments below!

Photo: xlordashx

Have to admit, I thought polyamory was a San Francisco Bay Area (specifically, Marin County) original.

Ok, ok, I knew it was probably happening in a few other enclaves throughout the world, like Paris, or Salt Lake City.

But whoa, nelly. Newsweek just did a spread on this type of extreme loving. For those who don’t know, polyamory means having a relationship with more than one person at a time.

What differentiates it from Mormonism is the fact that women also have multiple partners, and marriage isn’t necessarily involved. Newsweek also refers to it as “ethical nonmonogamy,” and estimates that the number of polyamorous couples in the US alone is over a half million.

Naturally, this growing movement has brought out commentary from the religious right. But they are taking a bit of a leap, with some leaders believing that if gay marriage becomes legal, polyamory will become “normalized.” Glenn Stanton, the director of family studies for Focus on the Family, had this to say:

This group is really rising up from the underground, emboldened by the success of the gay-marriage movement.

At the same time, some gay-rights activists are distancing themselves from the polyamory movement. Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic recently wrote, “I believe that someone’s sexual orientation is a deeper issue than the number of people they want to express that orientation with.”

Exposing False Traditions

Photo: robad0b

Looks like not all Christians are against this lifestyle choice, though.

In my research, I came across the Liberated Christians site.

Here’s their mission statement:

Promoting positive intimacy and sexuality including responsible nonmonogamy or polyamory as a legitimate CHOICE for Christians and others/Exposing false traditions of sexual repression that have no biblical basis.

They believe that polyamory is simply the expression of the “God-given natural desire to connect emotionally and sexually with more than one person.” They say that cheating, so common in today’s society, comes from our repressed culture and the stigma that comes with expressing our true desires.

So, contrary to what both the religious right and the gay movements proclaim, maybe polyamory is the natural way. Or is it just an excuse to do whatever our heart desires?

Do you think that polyamory can be ethical and spiritual? Share your thoughts below.

The author (right) with the baby elephant “Faa Mai” in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Scott Meredith (left) from Conscious Media Network

A decade ago, if you would have talked to me about communicating with animals I would have said you were nuts.

Unexpectedly over the last few years, my studies and work in the field of conflict resolution has led me to theories that link conflict between humans to conflict between humans, animals, and the natural world.

It is believed that all living beings have an innate capacity to communicate with one another (this includes plants). These theories claim that if we resolved our conflict with animals, we’d find that we can actually communicate with them.

I found the idea at first to be outrageous. Yet, with a curious spirit, an open mind and the willingness to experiment, I’ve had some fascinating and unexpected experiences.

When you communicate with an animal you will likely experience a “zone” that is unlike what you normally feel in communication with humans. The closest experience might be the non-verbal awareness of holding a baby or being with a lover.

It is an embodied physical experience. In this space we are tuned into our sensations. Our intuition guides us.

It is a long lost human capacity, that most, if not all, indigenous cultures once had. Derrick Jensen’s “A Language Beyond Words” and David Abrams’ “Spell of the Sensuous” are two great introductions to this topic. Trainings that can assist developing these capacities to engage with wild animals include the teachings of the animal tracker Tom Brown and Buddhist walking meditation.

Journey To Thailand

My most recent explorations of human-animal communication have occurred in northern Thailand, with an animal that has one of the most ancient relationships with humans – an animal that as a child I considered one of the most exotic creatures on earth – the elephant.

Statue in Bangkok / Photo: Ian MacKenzie

In Thailand, the relationship between humans and elephants is anything but exotic. An enduring symbol of Thailand, the elephant is at the very center of the culture and history of the region.

Historically, elephants were used in war and as beasts of burden to build the country. Spiritually, the elephant is significant because of a legend that Buddha’s mother dreamt of a white elephant before she conceived, and also because of Ganesha, the Hindu god with an elephant’s head.

Africa is the ultimate destination for a wilderness experience of the largest land animal, but for a human-animal experience, the place to go is northern Thailand where the slightly smaller Asian elephant resides.

It is unlikely that anyone visiting Thailand won’t see real elephants. Many tourists ride elephants on treks through the jungle and go to elephant shows, where the animals perform tricks that demonstrate incredible coordination and intelligence.

But the unavoidable elephant experience in Thailand is the surreal slow sight of a colossal grey-brown creature delicately stepping down the middle of a hectic tourist-filled street led by young men begging for money.

The Elephant Whisperer

Elephants are renowned for their intelligence and sensitivity. Some people studying elephants wonder if the emotional intelligence of elephants is comparable to or even greater than that of humans.

Lek with the elephant / Photo: Azriel Cohen

Whatever the truth is, there is no question that the human-elephant relationship is very special.

My most insightful encounters with human-elephant communication have been around the Elephant Nature Park, an elephant sanctuary and rescue center about one hour outside of Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

I spent time with Sanduen ‘Lek’ Chailert, founder of the park who some refer to as The Elephant Whisperer, because of her special ability to communicate with elephants.

When she was five years old, her grandfather, the healer and shaman of her hill tribe village, received an elephant as a gift for saving a child’s life. He gave the elephant to Lek and mentored her as to how to engage with and heal wild animals.

Most Thais working with elephants believe that without breaking an elephant’s spirit, the elephant is incredibly dangerous. Lek believes that the elephants can be trained to have a safe relationship with humans, solely through the use of positive reinforcement and love.

Breaking Them Down

One of the goals of the park is to gently influence the tourism market so that elephants that live naturally are more attractive to visit than elephant shows.

Most tourists have no idea that in order to train elephants to submit to the guidance of a mahout (the elephant’s friend, caretaker and trainer) and to do tricks – such as painting and playing soccer – the elephant must have its spirit broken.

There is a long tradition in Thailand of a training ritual called phajan, where the elephant is confined in a cage for a number of days, poked and beaten, until it becomes scared of humans and loses its natural self-confidence.

Lek’s approach is revolutionizing the way people think about elephants and elephant tourism.

The elephants at the park, many of them physically and psychologically damaged from work injuries and abuse, are encouraged to lead as natural a life as possible. There are no elephant shows or elephant rides. Visitors can observe them, feed them, bathe them and walk with them.

During my visit, the park was at an historic moment – for the first time a baby elephant was born to one of Lek’s elephants. The new baby elephant, called Faa Mai (meaning “new sky”), Lek hopes, will offer her the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that her theory of disciplining elephants is realistic.

Into The Pen

I watched Lek as she entered a closed pen, and began to play with the 25 day old baby elephant beneath the shadow of her massive mother elephant (adults can be up to 4 meters/12 feet high and weigh 3,000–5,000 kgs/6,500–11,000 lbs).

Lek invited my friend and I into the pen.

Under normal conditions it is extremely dangerous to be close to a mother and baby elephant. Tiny Lek, with absolute confidence and clarity conveyed to us that it was safe and explained to us where to go and what to do, so the mother would feel safe with us physically playing with her baby.

With an almost comically undersized trunk that it is still trying to figure out how to coordinate, a baby elephant is unbelievably cute…and bizarre.

From a human vantage point it has features that make it look much older than the adult elephants. Humans get more facial creases as we age, while baby elephants go in reverse like Benjamin Button, beginning with ancient creased faces that smooth out as they mature.

Zoning With Baby

The baby sleeps / Photo: Azriel Cohen

The 100 kg hairy baby “played,” trying to knock us over like a crazed rugby player.

When it tired, the elephant placed its head onto the lap of my friend, nearly crushing him in the process. But the baby was restless. I sensed that it was waiting for a specific kind of touch somewhere on its body.

When I “listened” to my own body I felt that I should lay my palm on the baby’s head, on its leathery cheek, just under and in front of its ear. The baby responded.

Within seconds its energy shifted from twitching around and flapping its ears to completely dropping into a deep sleep. From the tip of its undersized trunk, I could hear snoring. I had put a baby elephant to sleep!

For 10 minutes, I held my hand on the baby elephant while using some further techniques (which I’ll describe in a future article).

Later, walking with Lek among a small group of elephants in knee high grass, The Elephant Whisperer turned to me and said “People might say I am crazy to say this…but elephants can read thoughts.”

I wondered what it means that elephants can read thoughts. Perhaps, with enough effort, it is another lost human capacity waiting to be reclaimed.

Update: Watch Conscious Media Network’s interview with Lek Chailert

Have you experienced this physical “knowing” with an animal? Share your experiences in the comments!

Photo: Goldemberg Fonseca

After reading an excerpt of an interview with author and blogger Lena Katz, I’m now extremely pumped to read her forthcoming books, Sip California, Snow California, and Sun California.

I’m mostly pumped because of something she noted about finding people to interview for her books.

It certainly made me chuckle (and feel exasperated) in my little corner enclave at the Whole Foods (yes, I see the irony):

I…discovered that of all the self-involved, money-grubbing, shallow people in the city, the worst by far are… the Yoga Gurus. If you see “spiritual,” “mind-body” or “conscious healing” in a biography, you’re almost guaranteed that person will not give you 30 seconds of their time without being paid for it.

Visions of The Secret danced in my head.

Thing is, I got my Masters in Holistic Health Education. So I’ve studied the hell out of many prominent MDs-turned-holistic-heath-healers, Consciousness-raisers, and Raw-Food-Lovers (who all add the signature “love” to their ingredients list), and subscribe wholeheartedly to the system.

But between yoga trademarking, the rumors of one very well-known Ayurvedic MD focused intently on money and status, and raw foods that cost $10 for a piece of chocolate love, I get a bit weary of it all.

I like to think of both traveling and delving into holistic approaches to life as ways to expand a person’s perceptions. I see nothing wrong with making money from either; in fact, I think it is an excellent way to incorporate what you do with who you are.

Yet it certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I hear that pretty much any well-known alternative practitioner is focused on making as many bucks as possible, all while spouting that money doesn’t bring you happiness (sans The Secret, of course).

It reminds me of the religious leaders of old (and sometimes new), and it certainly diminishes the quality of the perceived consciousness shift we are going through.

Do you think most spiritual leaders are simply focused on the money? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: hkoppdelaney

Given the relative safety of aviation, and the existence of many budget airlines such as EasyJet, SkyEurope, and Ryan Air, one might be tempted to conclude that travel is a common pastime, partaken of by most.

Yet, as any good traveller already knows, there’s more to travel than moving from one place to another. Travel is about broadening horizons and knowledge, and can be, as cliché as it may sounds, a way of life.

There will always be those that opt for one- or two-week holiday packages, preferring a slight respite to paradigm-altering travel that usually requires longer blocks of time and willingness to dive deep.

And then there are the wannabe travelers that have never traveled. This may be caused by the slew of valid reasons why one cannot travel—a lack of money, family obligations, legal restrictions, physical handicaps, inability for time off work, and the list goes on and on.

But assuming one is able to clear this checklist, it can be difficult to understand why someone would choose not to travel.

I believe this choice is greatly influenced by fear. The fear is layered à la Dante Aligheri’s depiction of hell; the outer layers comprise some of the more shallow fears, the inner for the more serious.

Layer #1 – Fear Of Leaving Things Behind

The first layer to overcome is the far of leaving things behind. Whether it be for a fortnight or for a year, the obstacle that every traveller or prospective traveller faces is that of what will be left behind when one departs.

There’s the inanimate that needs to be minded at home: the house, the cars, the valuables, and all the material things. Then there’s the sentient being one doesn’t want to feel like one is abandoning. Pets, friends, and the familiar faces of daily life can prove too difficult to relinquish, even for a short period of time.

Attachment is not the ally of a traveller. Instead, realize that material possessions are just that, things. They will be there when you return, or even better, can be sold before you leave.

Pets are more difficult to leave behind, though if you’re lucky, a friend or family member can adopt your animal while you’re gone. Or in the case of extended trips, a loving home can be found.

Layer #2 – Fear Of Not Reaching The Destination

Supposing the first layer has been conquered, the next challenge is achieving the act of reaching the destination. The demons plaguing this layer are the questions of:

How exhausted will I be upon arrival?
Will the plane crash?
How long will I have to sit on the train?
What if the car breaks down en route?

Often overcoming these fears can be conquered by having enough enthusiasm for the destination yet to be visited. Film, book, and word of mouth are often enough to catapult the timid from home, along with an understanding that bad things can happen, no matter if you’re at home or not.

Layer #3 – Fear Of Losing Our Security

Nearly everyone resides within a fortress of familiarity. We have our own homes, our jobs, and our daily routines. It’s this level of security and comfort that must be trounced if one is indeed to travel.

This anxiety can manifest itself in the form of prejudice. The aspiring traveller might assume the worst of the local population, convinced they are a target for violence or theft, and that the foreign cuisine’s only purpose is to spew havoc in their gastrointestinal tract.

These fears are easily counterpoised by a healthy scepticism and trust in regards dealing with the locals, along with trying a few traditional dishes before embarking on a journey.

Layer #4 – Fear Of The Unknown

The fourth band that binds the body to home is the first ardent impediment faced, as opposed to the other fears, which are largely products of conditioning and culture.

Fear of the unknown hails from something deeper, something practical at times. (Had the dodo been for frightened of visitors to its native Mauritius, where it had no natural predators, the dodo might be flourishing today.)

To defeat this obstacle it takes a strong will fortified by desire and validated with sufficient research to bring the purposed destination out of the shadows and into the light, ready for personal observation and experience.

Layer #5 – Fear Of Opening Our Minds

So, a caretaker has been found for the home and garden, friends have bid their ‘farewells’ and ‘bon voyages’, and an unquenchable thirst for the land from a childhood story has been stoked and the vigour to overcome a fear of flying is maintained.

Enough information about local custom and tourist traps has been acquired through friends, the printed word, websites, and documentaries. The expected food has been tried and emergency medications have been stocked. Research has shed enough light into the darkness of an unknown and foreign place to make it seem less than uncharted.

It’s time to brave the final echelon of fear.

The conquest of the first layers will have all been in vain if one is not willing to face the endmost trial, the last challenge. It is debatable whether or not I should even call it a fear, a trial, a challenge. Unquestionably, it is not easy, but it is something that should be embraced rather than confronted, accepted rather than conquered.

This last challenge—no, let us call it, the reward for accosting the worries of travel—is the prospect of having one’s own views changed.

Travel is the act of shattering what we know at home, the act of destroying our preconceived notions of foreign lands, of challenging what we believe based on our own cultures and previous experiences.

This is the great reward of travel.

For those afraid of having their paradigms altered, I have no advice.

What do you think of these travel fears? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Statue of Santiago on top of the Alto de San Roque/ Photo: Fresco Tours

Through advances in science and technology, we have unprecedented access to knowledge. Yet the ‘Information Age’ has left us bereft of wisdom.

We are now entering a dangerous new period — an Age of Ignorance. The worldwide launch this week of the film, The Age of Stupid, suggests we are headed towards a 6th mass extinction, the 5th being the end of the Dinosaurs.

‘Change’ is the new buzzword. It was not only Barack Obama’s platform, but also became the catchphrase of the recent G20 gathering. Individuals in every country know that we have to dramatically shift our modus operandi to achieve a stable and sustainable future. More of the same is a recipe for disaster.

Enter the Camino de Santiago — pilgrimage routes throughout Europe that are a powerful agent for positive change.

Our Past and Our Future

Photo: compostelavirtual

Of course, every age has inspired humanity to grow to meet new challenges, but this time we have reached the limit to growth. The capacity of the earth to meet our incessant demands is reaching the end point.

Virtually every independent scientist (the ones not employed by government or by multinationals in the oil, motor, pharmaceutical, food and finance industries) and forward thinking individual accepts that fundamental change is now urgently needed.

Humanity’s collective greed spreads like a cancer that, if not checked, threatens to kill the host. For example, an increase in global temperature of a mere 4 degrees means humanity becomes history.

Through the exploitation of natural and human resources, we have created enormous environmental and social degradation. The core issue, however, is not about environmentalism or ethics — it is about the crisis of the human spirit.

The World Wisdom Council, and its affiliated Club of Budapest, are made up of some of the most illumined minds of our time. They include world leaders from a broad background of enlightened engagement, such as the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Muhammad Yunus, and Desmond Tutu.

The Club’s manifesto includes reference to another Nobel Peace Laureate, Albert Einstein, stating:

The fact is, one cannot solve a problem with the same kind of thinking that gave rise to it. When all is said and done, we come to a basic insight: we need a more evolved consciousness. Entering the 21st century with the consciousness that hallmarked the 20th century would be like entering the modern age with the consciousness of the Middle Ages. It would be not only inappropriate, but dangerous.

So what does this have to do with the Camino de Santiago? Put simply, the Camino, with its winding roads and paths, offers respite from the business of modern existence. It provides a unique opportunity to reappraise our direction, and helps to shift us from the Age of Ignorance to the more evolved state noted by the World Wisdom Council.

The Camino allows time away from the familiar and habitual so that new insights can be revealed. A wider perspective opens up, where we begin to realize who we are and what we came here to do.

Our lives are currently lived at such high speeds that we often forget to press the pause button. Many find themselves at the end of life too exhausted to care, while others feel powerless to make any difference.

Making the Shift

It is a given that we need a more evolved consciousness, but how do we make the shift?

Photo: compostelavirtual

Barring divine revelation, such as Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, we are unlikely to make the leap to an entirely new way of thinking while our noses remain welded to the grindstone.

There are, of course, many different paths that we can follow that may help elevate our lives and our collective consciousness. We can join a yoga class, start a daily meditation practice, go on a retreat, take a mid-career break.

But there are always temptations that come to rob us of our new resolve. How easy is it to miss just one class and then another, to skip the morning meditation because we have a deadline, or to use our timeout to travel to some exotic location where we are tempted to drink too much Tequila or to eat too many Fajitas?

With the Camino, no such temptations arise. Each day is lived in the simplicity of the path where we travel at a more natural pace of just 2 miles an hour. This allows time to witness the rising sun, the sacred landscape that surrounds us with its rich array of fauna and flora.

We proceed slowly towards the welcome that awaits us at the day’s end where the warden of the next pilgrim hostel greets us. Along the Camino, these guardians are called ‘hospitaleros,’ a softer term from which we get the word hospitality.

The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has his main ashram adjacent to one of the Caminos in France. Here, he and his community practice ‘mindful walking’ every day.

He explains that mindful walking is one of the most effective forms of meditation for our frenetic western mind. He suggests that sitting meditation is simply too difficult for many of us and that meditation has to form part of an activity to be more generally effective.

The Divinity Within

Walking an overtly pilgrim route, such as the Camino de Santiago, reminds us every day of the divinity within ourselves and within all life.

As we walk through the landscape Temples of France and up over the Pyrenees into Northern Spain and Galicia, we are reminded every moment of that spirituality that connects us all, irrespective of our differing religions and philosophies. We find ourselves in the company of like-minded individuals that form a traveling community unique in the world.

Country cart path along the Camino / Photo: Fresco Tours

There are many pilgrimage routes, such as the way to Fatima, but that is exclusively Roman Catholic in orientation. The Hajj is exclusively Muslim, and the Kumbha Mela is sacred to the Hindus.

Only the Camino de Santiago transcends our differences to unite us in an eclectic bond of openness and shared values.

Only the Camino has been designated Europe’s First Cultural Itinerary, recognized by UNESCO, and given World Heritage status on account of “…the testimony to the power of faith and the 1,800 buildings of great historic interest that lie along its path.”

That power is as potent today as it was over a thousand years ago when the first pilgrims set foot towards Santiago. If you are in need of some spaciousness and change in your life, put on your boots and join a community dedicated to lifting collective consciousness by mindful walking along the Camino, which translates simply as ‘the Way’.

What do you think about the possibilities of the Camino de Santiago? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

Interested in other spiritual pilgrimages? Check out an interview with Spirit Quest Tours’ founder in Greg Roach Wants You To Make A Spiritual Pilgrimage, and amazing places to worship throughout the world in The World’s 12 Most Spectacular Houses of Worship.

Photo and Feature photo: René Ehrhardt

Here at BNT and the Matador Network, we often discuss what it means to be a conscious traveler.

As a traveler in the 21st century, respect for other cultures and our environment demands that we question how our choices will affect both people and place.

On that note, I recently came across a New York Examiner.com article entitled Conscious Carnivore that discussed whether or not eating meat can ever be a truly conscious, peaceful choice.

I personally debated this question in a big way at the end of what I term my “vegan era,” considering my ethics had kept me partaking in this lifestyle even as my health and body was crumbling before my eyes. Note: I am not saying veganism or vegetarianism is bad for everyone, just that they didn’t work for my body.

But more than that, reading through this article made me think about my travels during my vegan period.

When I traveled to Africa several years ago, I demanded to have my food completely vegan due to my belief system (and truthfully, as I look back now, also because of my ego).

I also did the same thing in Germany, where my exasperated Grandfather ranted about my requirements to my Mom in German since I couldn’t understand, and also because we hardly know each other.

Although I could easily let his reaction roll off my back because he really and truly is an angry man, I can also now see he had a point in that I should accepting of the culture and food that was available.

Was I being a conscious traveler by staying true to my ethical needs above what was readily available? Or was I a completely unconscious, demanding American tourist, who made people of other cultures that had never seen such a request, fulfill my demands?

Keeping The Peace Or Maintaining Health?

And yet when I last traveled, though no longer vegan, I wanted to “keep the peace.” So I ate quite a bit of wheat and dairy even though I had learned by body was highly allergic to both.

Photo: stlbites.com

Interestingly enough, the aforementioned vegan trip had actually kept my body healthy and in better shape than when I had left home, which I know isn’t true for most travelers.

But this time around, my health suffered quite a bit.

Upon my return home, I had to go on thyroid medication (full disclosure – I believe my low thyroid function had been a part of my body for a long time).

I also had to seriously change my diet for a few months due to elevated liver enzymes (never underestimate the power of eating foods that you are allergic to).

And very soon, I will embark on a trip around the US. While I now eat meat, I will be eating gluten-free and dairy-free because I’m allergic to both foods. I also try and only eat free-range and humanely-raised meat, and wild fish. I know I need to follow this diet in order to maintain my health, because it can quickly slide into a scary place if I don’t.

Of course, it is certainly different to request only certain foods in America as compared to say rural Ladakh. But part of me still debates whether or not it is fair to demand certain foods in places they are not readily available or accepted. Will it be that bad if I consume these foods once and a while out of respect for the place I’ve landed?

Because once again, I might be putting my personal needs above those who are providing their own culture to me.

Do you think maintaining personal ethics around food and health can be a part of conscious travel? Share your thoughts below.

On Saturday, I attended a workshop on sacred activism, where the instructor showed this video of environmentalist Paul Hawken’s speech at the 2006 Bioneers conference:

At the beginning of the speech, he says:

It is my belief that we are part of a movement that is greater and deeper and broader than we ourselves know or can know. It flies under the radar of the media by and large. It is nonviolent, it is grassroots. It has no cluster bombs, no armies, no helicopters. It has no central ideology. A male vertebrae is not in charge…it is growing and spreading worldwide, with no exception.

Hawken goes on to describe this movement as the intertwining of indigenous culture, the environment, and social justice. During his speech, on the black screen behind him, runs a list of the 130,000 minimum organizations in the world dedicated to social and environmental justice.

The power of using this tool came when he noted that the list would have taken the full three days of the conference to witness every single name. And though some of these groups employ traditional means of activism, such as loud protests, walking around with signs, or chaining oneself to a storefront, others take a quieter approach.

Sacred Activism

This “new” form of activism can happen alone through the way one decides to live their life (i.e. only shopping locally, so that you know where your food/clothes come from and that the people producing them are garnering a fair wage), or as part of a group via such avenues as microloans or community bartering.

The basic premise combines the tenets of social justice and spiritual connection.

I personally believe we are in a time of shifting perspectives, understanding that the us-vs.-them mentality has mostly lead to pain, war, and a whole lot of bloodshed. It seems that if we engage long enough with anything, there is the possibility of finding common ground, collaborating, and maybe most important of all, feeling a sense of compassion.

This might just be the new world order.

Holy War

Or am I just being naive and living in a bubble? As we watch peaceful protesters lose their lives in Peru, and big oil once again failing to be reprimanded for human and environmental degradation, Hawken’s words can ring as hollow.

China continues its oppression of Tibet (and Lhasang Tsering doesn’t think the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” is working), and no matter how much we hope and pray for a positive outcome for both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it seems to barrel forward.

Plus, our religious divisions worldwide seem to be growing larger instead of being bridged.

So is this where we are actually headed instead?

Illustration: Geoff Olson

Do you think we moving toward a better future or one of annihilation? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: Bhaskar Banerji / Feature photo: aperturepriority

“Life can be pretty surreal at times. And travel is no exception to the rule,” write Dave and Deb, the bloggers behind The Planet D.

In recent post, they chronicle a few of their most surreal travel experiences.

We seem to have some of our strangest experiences when we are on the road. Some of them are completely out of our control and we just have to hang on and enjoy the ride. While others have been completely our own doing. A momentary lapse of reason if you will. Either way, they make for some fun stories around the campfire.

Which got me thinking…

Without a doubt, the most surreal travel experience I had involved snow, hot springs, and 3 mailboxes out in the middle of the desert, no houses in sight.

It was mid-May, and we left at 5 o’clock rush hour east of San Francisco, heading up highway 80 towards Lake Tahoe. Hot air came in through the cracked window as we sat in traffic, but I simply relaxed in the passenger seat.

A friend had led this trip many times before, so for once, I was able to completely let go of the reigns and just sit back and enjoy.

Due to a game of “let’s point out all the weird, dreamy stuff we see” (which is pretty easy to do once you start paying attention – pink buses, guy dressed in drag on the side of the road, etc.), several hours passed quickly, and I noticed the air change as we climbed into the Northern California mountains.

Snow And Heat

Suddenly, I noticed snowflakes falling lazily onto the windshield. I literally felt as if I had been transported to another part of the world.

Then the darkness began to set in as we made our way past the brightly-lit casinos on the Nevada side of Tahoe, turning off the road onto a dirt path.

My friend drove the switchbacks through the small bushes and what resembled tumbleweed. I wondered, “How the hell does he know where we’re going?”

Abruptly, we came to a stop at the end of dirt path, and he said to me, “let’s go.”

Out of the rented four-wheeler (it was always his approach to rent, knowing some serious damage might happen to the car in the places we were going) we jumped, and in the dead of night, made our way to a tiny, hidden pool of hot water.

Did I mention it was still snowing? That quickly became the fastest I’ve ever stripped. But I couldn’t believe the feeling of sitting in the middle of nowhere, the snow hitting my face as I warmed my body in the hot spring.

After grabbing a hotel room that night, we headed south to Saline Valley, located right beside Death Valley in California. We had to make a stop by these incredible sand dunes, where the most insane wind I’ve ever experienced made our hike to the top and along the edges a bit scary (and sandy in the teeth), but hardly prepared me for where we would transpire just a couple of hours later.

Oasis In The Desert

Mail call / Photo: Bhaskar Banerji

My friend had often told me of this “oasis in the desert,” but I couldn’t believe it until I saw it.

In the middle of Saline Valley, a humongous desert landscape surrounded by mountains, were two natural hot springs with friggin’ palm trees and grass surrounding them.

Apparently, hippies had been trekking there since the 60s, and somehow planted grass in the middle of the desert, with volunteers keeping it up over the years.

Because it is so hard to get to, and there are no signs, only those who know-the-way make it there. Which made the existence of three lonely mailboxes (what the hell are those doing out there?) all the more bizarre.

On that short, two-day trip, I felt a spiritual connection to the Earth that I had never known before. But I also found myself wondering… was it all just a dream?

What is your most surreal travel experience? Share your stories below!

Loki, the Norse trickster. / Photo: Wikipedia

For years I’ve been on the trail of discovery. Actually, that’s not quite accurate: I’m on the trail of what it really means to discover something, popularly referred to as “inner travel.”

It’s a slow-going process – like any investigation, intuition is a faster guide than fact, but you need the facts if you’re going to extend intuition further.

You start to wonder if there really is a decent way to define it. My intuition says there is, but there aren’t always facts to back it up. Sometimes, though, I spy a parallel that helps shed more light on it – this time, in travel as an “in-between” state.

Inner travel is extremely difficult to describe, I suspect, because it has so much to do with inner meaning.

Meaning isn’t physically real. You can’t hold it in your hand or buy it from a catalog. But we do recognize meaning in physical things – concepts like beauty, truth and love find expression in art, reason and spouse.

Meaning is liminal, existing in an “in-between” place, like the threshold of a doorway. Everyone knows what love is, they can’t define it; most people can describe what they enjoy in a lover, but it’s almost impossible to explain why.

As Lou Reed might say, it’s somewhere “between thought and expression.” And so it is with meaningful travel.

How do we talk about these ideas clearly, if what’s meaningful for you isn’t necessarily for me? Answer that one, and you’re on your way to becoming an “inner travel agent.” But perhaps if we study other liminal ideas, we can get clues to the journey.

Meet The Trickster

Photo: Yvonne

In mythology, there’s one character that typifies the liminality of inner travel: the trickster. While other deities mainly act for the scheme that best benefits them, tricksters are more selfless, appearing to serve a design of wider scope.

The trickster is an archetype, or fundamental human theme. Appearing throughout world religion and mythology, the trickster causes strife or commotion, seeming to live for chaos.

What they really inspire, however, is change; they represent the fickleness of nature and “shaking things up.” While not necessarily evil, they represent a break from the shared narrative of culture. Tricksters include the gods Loki and Hermes, coyote from North American belief, the sly fox from European fables, and many others.

There are four significant traits of the trickster:

1. They are “go-betweens.” Tricksters are able to move with relative ease among contrasting regions or levels of being. They have the power to escape order, crossing the threshold into another version of it. Hermes was the only god able to enter the underworld regularly and without difficulty.
2. They embody inconsistency. Rather than enforcing one view of reality, tricksters support the paradox of multiple views. They follow the guiding principle of improvisational theater: you never deny another person’s reality, you only build upon it. Sun Wukong, the Chinese monkey god, could change each hair on his body into a double of himself.
3. They have “smart luck.” Tricksters are always prepared for the unprepared because they hold their ideas lightly. There really are no accidents in the liminal perspective, only opportunities for discovery and insight: you simply play through. When Loki bet his head in a wager – and lost – he agreed to let the winners take his head as long as they don’t harm his neck.
4. They have no home. The trickster is closely associated with the road or constant motion. Hermes is the god of roads and escort of travelers. The Nigerian trickster god Edshu walked down the road in a hat colored blue on one side, red on the other. Half the farmers would say, “Did you see that god with the blue hat?” while the others argued it was red. Edshu would further complicate matters by walking the other way with his hat on backwards!

The Trickster Is Alive and Well

Tricksters are much like travelers: they stir up controversy and discussion as unsung heroes for cultural change. They’re often unpopular or misunderstood, but they speak with an uncompromised voice and have their eyes on a more distant horizon.

The Joker / Photo: LA Times

In his fascinating book, Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art, Lewis Hyde suggests that the trickster continues to shape reality.

He points to mortal examples such as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Allen Ginsberg, Maxine Hong Kingston, Frederick Douglass as liminal creators. Throughout literature, it’s characters like the Artful Dodger and the Great Gatsby, Hunter S. Thompson and Huck Finn, Robin Hood and Don Juan, who embody the trickster.

Everyone knows a rogue or rebel with an undeniable charisma, one who can cause a fair amount of pandemonium.

Yet as much as they turn things upside-down, you’re more grateful for them than words permit. The trickster is everywhere among us, and the color they fill our lives with makes them so much more extraordinary.

It’s this spirit of travel I’m trying to capture, one that’s close enough to touch but always slips from grasp. Just as it seems I’ve got the idea surrounded, it disappears and I’m left with only a short string of footprints.

But though sometimes maddening, the chase is wonderful – as liminal as the trickster gods (and goddesses) of meaning themselves. I learned a long time ago that the most alive you’ll ever be is in pursuit of that which is just outside of your reach.

The most beautiful things always are.

Dedicated to my wife Nathalie – happy fifth anniversary, moya krasivaya zhena!

What are some examples the “trickster” has played in your life? Share your ideas below!

It hasn’t been an easy week, what with more hidden photos of torture, the arrest of a former Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and learning that all of us recyclers/composters/bikers/tree-huggers are really just taking down the planet by sending out our emails to save the Arctic.

Plus, I locked myself out of my apartment. But I digress.

Even with all the bad news out there, every once in a while, I come across something that makes me ponder the beauty of even man-made creations.

Lanscapes From Above

The Boston Globe recently ran a series of pictures from photographer Jason Hawkes called Human Landscapes From Above. Here is the first pic:

Photo: Jason Hawkes/Boston Globe

Some people may see a sea of red and metal, and think this picture is just an example of our over-consumerism.

While on the one-hand, this is true, I also see the many hands went into creating these cars, possibly being the life’s work of some. The intricacy with which the cars are placed speaks to our ability to create usable patterns that the eye is still able to get lost in.

And every once in a while, stepping back to contemplate that just over a century ago, a very simple version of these machines were just a dream in the minds of a few people, is pretty staggering.

So how are we able to bridge the two – over-production of something that is causing harm to the planet versus the art of creating machines beyond the wildest dreams of our ancestors – and handle these realities without jumping to either extreme?

Call me an optimist (and most people I knew growing up never would have), but I believe that every “problem” has a solution. You shine a light in a dark corner and guess what happens? It’s not dark anymore.

And I have a sneaking suspicion travelers understand this best of all.

Natural landscapes

Another one of Hawkes’ photographs is of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park:

Photo: Jason Hawkes/Boston Globe

The colors and landscape are a simple reminder that nature outperforms us every time. But that’s ok – we have the ability to work with (not against) nature’s beauty and bounty, enjoying all its free entertainment, if we keep trying to figure out how we can work with (not against) the Earth.

I remember a story a friend once told me about a Native-American tribe who volunteered to hold some nuclear waste on their land. Why would they do such a thing, I asked?

My friend explained: the tribe knew it was better for them, who have always had a give-and-take relationship with the Earth, to figure out what to do with the waste than it was for the US government.

Good point, and a starting place from which to ask questions.

Will human creations be as beautiful – and not harmful – as nature’s? Share your thoughts below!

Feature photo: Garry

Kuta Beach, Bali / Photo: bobby-james

Barely a year had passed since the September 11th attacks in New York City, when bombings struck the small Indonesian resort town of Kuta Beach, Bali.

Two popular night spots for tourists, the Sari Club and Paddy’s Pub were destroyed, one by a suicide bomber, the other by a car bomb. A year prior I had spent several nights in a row partying at both Paddy’s and the Sari Club.

The sting of knowing how easily it could have been me instead of those killed was undeniable.

In October 2008, I watched news reports coming out of India, detailing the horror of gunmen storming the corridors of a Mumbai hotel, exterminating people based solely on their nationality.

I’d walked the same halls a year earlier and once again, felt that same sinking understanding of how easy it is to simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones – more threats to our personal safety, none of which would discriminate based on nationality or religion. Even now, I’m writing this as the world looks to be on the brink of an influenza pandemic.

Terror, it seems, is forever lurking around the corner.

How then, can we possibly consider travel while such horrible things continue to exist? Can we escape the Enemy, be it in the form of disease, natural disaster or human being?

The Truth About Danger

Bali Memorial / Photo: antwerpenR

The fact of the matter is that there is no easy answer, no simple remedy. Danger exists, it always has and it always will.

Perhaps that isn’t much of a comfort, but once we allow ourselves to surrender to that concept, the easier it is to gain perspective.

The vast majority of the time that I’ve ventured out of my own little world, I’ve found that by and large, kind and generous people populate the earth. People whom in many cases, will go out of their way to help or lend a hand if need be.

True, I’ve also been robbed at knifepoint and on one particularly bad occasion, hospitalized after receiving a beating by a gang of skinheads.

I don’t wear these unfortunate experiences as any sort of badge of honour, but I have learned that bad things do happen. That much is inevitable.

Studies done by the National Safety Council show that one is far more likely to perish by drowning in the bath or accidentally suffocating in bed than as a result of travel.

And while such statistics are in no way consolation for those who lost friends and family in the Bali bombings, or the Mumbai attacks, they do emphasize the heart of the matter: that risk isn’t restricted solely to the adventurous.

A Broader View

Bali children hold candles in memory / Photo: leoniewise

Perhaps it is too easy to build up a false sense of understanding about the world around us. Without the first hand experience that travel provides, we tend to rely on hearsay and news snippets to define our opinions of foreign lands.

Unfortunately, too often, this information gives us a microscopic glimpse, rather than a broad view of the whole.

For example, which of these four countries would you guess to be statistically more at peace both within and without, than the United States: Syria, Rwanda, Cambodia or Jamaica? According to the 2008 World Peace Index, all of the aforementioned nations rank as statistically more at peace than the United States.

Nonetheless, we can only read so much out of such information. These statistics, as with all news and information are simply guidelines.

The reality of your experience is impossible to predict. I’ve travelled through dangerous places and encountered dangerous people, but these are isolated incidents that no more tire my resolve to travel than does losing my luggage.

Relinquish Control

What is possible to define however, is that we’re all unified by more or less the same desires: those of peace, health and happiness.

The borders that separate us aren’t arbiters of where good ends and bad begins. We live the lives that we want to live and while some decisions can lead to better results than others, in the end there’s only so much control we can apply over any given situation.

I can’t imagine a world where the art of travel was lost and I don’t want to, either.

If we are ever to bridge the gaps that divide us and if we strive to make the world a slightly less frightening place, then surely our only real option is to continue to see it firsthand, come what may.

What do you think about traveling and danger? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Explore. Dream. Discover. / Photo: satbir

Go to school, get good grades and one day you will grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer. If you are lucky you will marry someone, have two kids and own a big house in the suburbs.

Ah, the American Dream.

For decades, the rest of the world has fantasized about going to America and living the good life. They thought that the only way to be truly successful was to be in the United States living with the stars in Hollywood and schmoozing with celebrities.

With travel becoming more affordable, the growing popularity of the Internet, and developing countries emerging in the global market, things have changed.

People are realizing that there is more to life than what you own.

Life Passing By

With the world economy collapsing, people are questioning why they have put so much of their hard earned money into properties and investments as life passes them by.

Those who travel extensively tend to not want the weight of bills and mortgages. Their beliefs are slowing influencing everyone else. At one time everyone’s goal was to save for a dream home, now they are saving for that dream vacation.

People have started to feel that life is an experience and what you do with it enriches you in a way that possessions cannot.

International travel has opened people’s eyes to exciting possibilities. When once a family would only consider driving to Disneyland for a vacation, they will now go to Cairo or Paris to learn about ancient civilizations history.

Education is also changing. When children learn about geography and places in history, chances are someone has been there before. Locations linked to American history like Normandy, France and Hiroshima, Japan don’t seem that far away anymore.

A (Big) Small World

Photo: bitzcelt

The world is shrinking and cultures are blending.

Countries like China and India have developed their own middle class and their own brand of celebrity. They no longer only look to the U.S. for leadership and are comfortable with developing their own version of the American dream.

In contrast, travel has enriched the lives of Americans and opened up their eyes to different ways of living and thinking. They have learned that people are comfortable and happy in other countries and that they too can learn something from other cultures.

As flights become more affordable and staying connected with home becomes simpler, people are traveling to more exotic locations.

Millions of Americans travel abroad each year and the same can be said for tourists traveling to America. The more exposure one has to other cultures, the more one is influenced by that way of life. People are enjoying ethnic cuisine, practicing different religions and adopting values from countries that they have visited.

These travelers come home with a different perspective, adopt a new outlook on life and incorporate their new ideas into their lives at home.

Freedom to Choose

As we enter the 21st century, there seems to be a new way of thinking on earth. The definition of the American Dream is changing.

What was once considered strange and unusual is now normal.

What the American Dream truly is and always has been is the freedom to choose. Just because people are choosing to live their lives differently, doesn’t mean that it isn’t still the American dream.

Americans have the freedom to explore any way of life that they desire and that is what keeps the dream alive.

What do you think about travel and the American Dream? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: Azam Sa’ad

I tend to believe that many of us want to live forever.

Or at least think we will. At age 20.

But, according to a poll conducted by Reader’s Digest, it turns out most of us do not want to partake in a never-ending existence.

Except Brazilians – 72% of them wanted eternal life (duh…it’s because they’re out partying all night).

Indians ranked next in hoping to break the death barrier, with 67% voicing an affirmative yes! to life.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, only 36% of Russians, 39% of Singaporeans, and 40% of Germans are hoping against meeting their maker (or not heading on to their next life). Americans also came in at 40%, Brits 41%, and Canadians at 42%.

It’s interesting to contemplate why the numbers range so much between certain countries. What exactly do these statistics imply?

Views On The Afterlife

Does wanting to live forever or just get it over with have to do with religion, socioeconomic status, or a general outlook on life? Or is it just a random process?

I suppose Indians on the whole are less stressed than Americans (although the Westernization that is currently underway may be changing this belief), so inevitably, they’d want to live longer.

But then a good chunk of the Indian population believes there is more than this one life, and hopefully the next life will be better, so that makes me think they’d want to get on with it.

I might also hypothesize that Russians have had to deal with quite a bit since the fall of Communism, and it’s not been exactly smooth going, so maybe they want the misery to end.

Plus, the largest religion is Russian Orthodox Christianity, which is pretty clear on the trials and tribulations of life and death, and the kickass-ness of the afterlife.

And yet, Russian artists seem intent on capturing the timelessness of life. As Maxim, a Russian couchsurfer, explains in a recent interview conducted by by Matador Trips co-editor Carlo Alcos, in his culture “poets, writers and musicians have always been the ‘conscience of the people.’”

For some, creating a masterpiece is certainly something worth living a long time for.

Contemplating the reasons for or against life eternal based on one’s current life seems to split 50/50. But maybe there are other reasons why the populations of different countries had such a varied response to this question.

Why do some countries want a never-ending party, while others think a finite amount of time is just fine with them? Share your thoughts below!

Community Connection

Don’t miss BNT’s recent interview with Jason Silva about how science can eliminate death, along with the interesting debate in the comments section.

Run! Pandemic is coming! / Photo: Playadura / Feature photo: y

I was reading Matador Abroad co-editor Sarah Menkedick’s dead-on piece about traveling in times of our current lovely, media-frenzied swiney pandemic, and I began to think about how we’re all going to kill ourselves from the stress of such thoughts, rather than any actual disease or illness.

Once this pandemic clears, there will be another “it’s going to kill as all!” catastrophe on the horizon, whether it has to do with organized terror, pathogens, gangs, or voodoo.

Of course, it is important to know what is happening in the world, but it is also good to have some tools in the chest to handle the adrenal surge to avoid what is actually the world’s largest killer: heart disease.

Luckily, I found a nice little video created by the Humanity Healing Foundation about the 12 Keys of Spiritual Activism. These can easily be adapted to how to spiritually and sanely deal with the hair-and-cortisol-raising realities of, well, stepping out your front door in the morning:

Here are a few of the instructions noted in the video:

1. The core dynamics behind the Spiritual Keys are creativity, adaptability, understanding, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

How often do we, as humans, approach conflict with the “we’re gonna git em!” attitude? How many words have been fought abroad, and at home, because of our ego’s need to win?

The same goes for handling disease. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re never going to fully kill off bacteria and viruses. They mutate and evolve for survival, just like we do. Can you blame them?

Maybe it’s time to start looking at how to work with them, instead of against them. First place is to start working on your own immune system.

2. Compassion flows from the understanding of Connection between all living things.

When you visit a country and get to know a new culture that you previously had no contact with, other than the occasional news story or Hollywood movie, you find the similarities that connect you, and the differences that sometimes challenge, and sometimes excite you.

But once you realize that most of us have the same underlying basic fears, wants, and desires, and that we depend on each other economically, spiritually, and intellectually, you can see this whole big experiment we call Earth is really based on a delicate balance between humans, animals, and nature.

And oh yeah, each of us carries around about five pounds of bacteria in our bodies at any given time. How’s that for a symbiotic relationship?

3. Learn to act instead of react.

All I can think about every time I hear the words “swine flu” is Jon Stewart’s facial reaction to the media onslaught of “the sky is falling” after he spent a day skating around Manhattan in the warm sun, thinking everything was finally getting better (priceless).

This Daily Show clip also notes at the time, swine flu had killed 149 people in Mexico. This made it rank last on the list of things that can kill you in Mexico (this is that thing they call, what? Perspective…)

Point is, we can take precautions and preventative measures around many things in life, but living a life of action really does feel so much better than living from reaction. Otherwise you might have that sour puss stuck on your face permanently.

4. Embrace mindfulness in the application of your activities and be aware of how your actions may be perceived by others.

Ahh, it’s all going to be ok/Photo: dotbenjamin

The thing that I always hate the most about these types of outbreaks (or terror attacks) is the reaction to racially and culturally segregate.

I understand that governments and health organizations want to contain the virus, but to quarantine every Mexican visiting another country on the planet? Is this necessary?

It reminds me of how after 9/11, every Muslim (and really, anyone who looked remotely Middle Eastern) was detained at airports, subway stations, etc. Even worse, how many were literally detained, thrown in jail without access to lawyers, and sent back to their country of origin, all because the color of their skin.

And during the early part of the 20th century, the Chinese who came into America via the San Francisco Bay were quarantined for months and sometimes years at what was basically a prison on Angel Island.

Are we being mindful of our (over)reactions when crisis arises? Are we thinking about how our actions may be perceived by those who are being affected by these actions?

Life is a series of ups and downs, and none of us know when it will be our time to meet our maker. So enjoy the time you’ve got, but be sure to live it with awareness.

How else can we approach crisis with a more sane and grounded attitude? Share your thoughts below.

School in Prek Toal / Photo: tajai

Being a foreigner in Cambodia often feels like one big web of miscommunication.

At the most basic level, this has to do with my minimal Khmer vocabulary. Even when I find the right words, there’s a good chance I’ll mangle them beyond recognition. Likewise, I hate seeing the shattered look on a Khmer person’s face when he thinks he is speaking English and I cannot understand a single word.

But the missed connections are more than just a problem of language. Even when someone speaks English well, there are still dozens of cultural potholes that we can fall into.

Here’s one that comes up all the time: Khmer people exist in a world in which everything is taken very literally.

Sometimes this manifests itself as funny cultural quirks. (You want an ice cream sandwich in Cambodia? It’s a baguette with some little scoops of sorbet stuffed inside).

But I didn’t realize how compelled Westerners are to turn everything into an abstraction until I saw their ideas constantly being lost in translation, and that can be utterly maddening for everyone involved.

Fun And Games

In session / Photo: tajai

At the Buddhist school where Jason and I teach an English class full of teenagers each week, our attempts to recreate Western education techniques fail miserably.

Pictionary seemed like a grand idea, but the students were easily frustrated, as they didn’t understand the concept of drawing anything besides a literal rendering of the word.

Given the word “party,” a Westerner might draw a cocktail glass or a disco ball, party hats or a birthday cake. One Khmer student drew four people sitting at a table. That is, after all, what parties often look like.

When trying to get her teammates to guess “teacher,” another student drew a picture of a monk, at which point her team guessed “monk” repeatedly. We suggested adding something to the picture, but she was confused – why would she draw an apple or a chalkboard or a pencil when the word was “teacher”?

If Pictionary was arduous, Twenty Questions was a complete catastrophe. The class seemed perplexed by the notion of “guessing what we were thinking.” (Why would they do that? Why couldn’t we just tell them?)

When we convinced them to start asking questions, the queries tended to be hesitant and completely unrelated. “Is it pizza?” one girl asked hopefully. “Is it a duck?” asked the next student.

Even after we corrected this habit of asking about single items and provided them with some hints, the game limped along pathetically. “Okay,” I said. “So remember, it’s not served hot and it’s something round. What could it be?”

“Is it soup?” one student asked innocently. I had to restrain an urge to hurl an eraser at him. The lesson had ceased to be about English at all – it had become an exercise in abstract thinking and logic.

Abstract Meets Logic

On days when we give up and teach by rote, the students are relieved, cheerfully repeating our monotone pronunciations.

If this happened in a Western classroom full of seventeen-year-olds, one would conclude that surely learning disabilities were to blame. But on the contrary, our Khmer students are very bright, remembering vocabulary and grammar rules quickly. Their learning style has little to do with intelligence level.

At first I thought the explanation would involve complicated notions of Eastern thought and perspectives (which it might). But I think the more likely answer is that most Khmer people can’t think abstractly because nobody bothered to teach them how.

Skills like creative thinking and basic logic feel innate to me, like an inborn part of my personality, but I’m realizing that they’re not. I was taught them just like so many other things, at school, from my family, and in my backyard, playing with the girl next door.

That playtime when we were very little girls is the first time I remember learning that an abstract “imagined world” and a real world could coexist.

For years, summer vacations were full of magic trees and blue whales swimming in the back yard, of royal tea parties and dastardly villains lurking in the basement.

The Privilege To Learn

Peeking through / Photo: tajai

In a country razed by horror just a generation ago, my Khmer students have never been taught to pay attention to anything other than the very real and pressing world around them.

Maybe it is a little like America in its infancy – I used to dread when early American literature was assigned in high school, all those texts of Thomas Payne and John Smith and Cotton Mather that speak of much passion and hard work but little imagination or whimsy.

They were men who were busy inventing a nation, and they had no time to invent anything else. I see echoes of this in Cambodia.

Paintings by Khmer artists, for instance, are not valued for originality of content or technique, but rather for their careful precision in replicating a few standard designs. They can recreate a temple backlit by a sunset perfectly, but would they ever again be able to translate their inner life onto the canvas?

It makes me painfully aware that a life like mine, filled with thought and art and invention, could only have been hatched in a handful of very fortunate countries.

On the one hand, it makes me newly appreciative of the country of my birth and desperately grateful.

It is both a heady and terrible realization to know that those deepest and most private parts of the mind, the mental pathways that serve as the foundation of one’s self, were granted by a privilege that I did nothing to deserve.

What are your thoughts on the privilege to learn? Share your thoughts in the comments!

How do you feel when you see this ad?

Photo: Cordaid/People In Need

I’ll tell you the truth: I uttered “whoa” as I finished reading it. The ads were created by Cordaid for third world poverty.

Sometimes a nice smack-in-the-face reminder is just what we need when we’ve been complaining about not having the latest Google phone, or top-of-the-line Mac, or even a sweet pair of sunglasses (although considering I always sit on my sunglasses, I refuse to spend more than $10 on a pair. Still, that’s $10 a pair).

But some people do not appreciate this form of manipulation, or are downright offended by advertisements like these. Two recent campaigns that caused some negative backlash.

Depression Notes

The NYC Child Study Center used a ransom note as a means of portraying how depression can “take your child.”

This campaign also included a note about autism, saying, “We have your son. We will make sure he will no longer be able to care for himself or interact socially as long as he lives.” The campaign was pulled because critics complained these ads reinforced negative stereotypes.

The Booby Wall

Another offensive campaign was Schick’s Booby Wall (check out another one of their not-so-gender-correct ad campaign’s about “trimming the bushes“), which is supposed to bring awareness around breast cancer via an online picture exhibit of breasts.

This campaign is still in rotation, despite the fact that some viewers think it is trying to “sex-up” cancer, that it is thinly-veiled exhibitionism, and reinforces the objectification of women.

But, Do They Work?

Some social campaigns are obviously going to be smarter than others, and I’d be hard pressed to find people who don’t agree with the Dutch Cordaid/People In Need campaign.

I mean, who can argue with water being more important than sunglasses?

The real issue is whether these “shock ads” lead to much needed awareness, or merely outrage.

What is the more effective to promote behavioural changes: shame, or by positive experiences, such as directly connecting with other cultures? Share your thoughts below.

On January 19, 1971, two oil tankers collided in San Francisco Bay, creating an enormous oil spill. After seeing the devastating damage, John Francis decided to act.

For the next 22 years, he refused to ride in motorized vehicles. He also spent 17 years voluntarily silent. During this time he walked across 48 states of the USA as well as South America, and even managed to earn a few scholarly degrees along the way.

Watch his story above, and the message he learned from his self-imposed prison.

Learn more at PlanetWalk.org

What do you think of John’s story? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: quinn anya

I spent Saturday night doing something pretty cool: I walked on coals that were upwards of 1200 degrees.

Ok, I didn’t spend the whole night doing it; probably more like five seconds or so.

But the group I was a part of did a lot of amazing exercises to build up to it, like swinging around a fire stick, in order to prepare ourselves for the big finale.

Firewalking entails walking on an 8-10 feet bed of hot coals, which have been heating up underneath a fire for several hours.

One person takes a walk at a time (not a run like Pam did on The Office), ending the ritual by placing their feet in a bucket of cold water so as to soak them, and get rid of any pieces of coal that might have stuck between the toes.

Basically, it was an incredible experience. Here are the reasons why you should contemplate firewalking if you get the chance:

1. Challenge yourself to overcome fear.

Everyone feels fear, it’s a natural human emotion. But what if that fear keeps you from doing something you really want to do? Or makes you believe you don’t want to do something that could end up being an amazing experience?

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a gut feeling and fear. One of the main points of firewalking is to face a really large fear and connect to what is going on inside of you right at that moment. Ulitmately, you must decide whether you are going to take a walk or hang back, both of which are valid and have their own lessons.

2. No one truly knows why most people don’t get burned.

Photo: Patty Morris

Theories include that the moisture on the foot creates a layer, or barrier, that prevents the foot from actually contacting the coals, that coals are poor conductors of heat, that the experience is all about mind over matter (the first two theories are discredited here).

There is also the little notion of “walking across burning coals is a sacred art, said to unite human will with spirit fire.” Beautiful.

3. Realize that your body is an amazing tool that can go beyond what you thought it could do.

If you had asked me earlier on Saturday if I was going to actually walk on the burning coals that evening, I would have said, “Eh, probably.” If you asked me 10 minutes before we lined up to take the walk if I was going to do it, I might have uttered, “Um, hell no.”

But as our instructor Sarah noted, you will know if and when you are supposed to go. And even though your heart will pound, and your palms will sweat, you will take that walk and be amazed at your own capacity to take on fire.

Then you’ll wonder what else your body is capable of doing.

4. It provides an opportunity to have a truly spiritual experience.

Many people are searching for answers during our current economic and environmental meltdown. The Spiritual Research Foundation defines a spiritual experience as one that is “perceived with the sixth sense, i.e. through the medium of the subtle sense organs.”

Firewalking is one way we can take part in something that will undoubtedly go beyond the mind’s comprehension and make us feel closer to whatever God or deity we believe in.

5. The “war wounds” that may show up on your feet are great for street cred.

I mean, c’mon now, it’s pretty damn cool to be able to tell people you walked on fire, no? And yes, I do have one large blister on my right foot to prove I was there.

On the recommendation of our guide, I used a reflexology chart to determine what organ of my body this blistered area corresponds to, as some believe this can be a message of health issues. (So firewalking can be informative, too).

Resources for firewalking around the world:

• The European Office of Firewalking Institute of Research and Education
• The Firewalking Institute of Asia
• Sundoor Firewalk Finder in North America.

What is your take on the idea of firewalking as a spiritual endeavor, or have you had this experience yourself? Share your thoughts below.

Tayrona Park, Colombia / Photo: Ian MacKenzie / Feature photo: Caranaval King

“Anyone need help with a headstand?” our yoga teacher called out to the class.

“Yes please!” I replied. After practicing yoga for four entire days, I thought a headstand couldn’t be that difficult.

He came over to help me balance. I kicked my legs up and yes, sure, with his hands on my ankles, I could stand on my head. But as soon as he let go I flopped over, the full weight of my near six-foot frame crashed to the mat. OK, so it was a bit difficult.

That was in May 2008, on Koh Samui, Thailand during my first-ever yoga retreat.

It was also the beginning of a months-long world journey with my partner. While she had practiced for years, and many of my friends swore by yoga, I had never embraced it. The early 70s flaky veneer was still sticking to me.

At the retreat, I felt silly doing ashvini-mudras (you want me to contract what?) and couldn’t focus on single-nostril breathing. But as the week went on, the postures made me feel stronger and healthier.

I looked forward to the 7am meditation and yoga in the studio by the sea. I liked, sometimes even really loved, the evening classes where we learned more about yoga’s origins, and yes, talked about India and The Beatles.

By the end of the week I was determined to continue the practice.

Keeping The Flow

The day we arrived back in Bangkok after the retreat, we bought yoga mats at the local department store. Shoved into our overstuffed bags, they endured eight months of travel over four continents.

In every kind of climate, at any elevation, on any surface, I could rely on my mat. We practiced at almost every stop on our journey.

This required dedication and a certain shamelessness. We rolled out our mats in the tiniest spaces. On a narrow balcony in Siam Reap, Cambodia, I had to be sure the low whirring ceiling fan didn’t turn my sun salutations into hospital hellos.

Staff at a hotel in central Thailand watched us practice, and with eyebrows raised commented “Wow, velly stlong!”

In a friend’s chilly yard in Nelson, British Columbia, we dodged dog poo and tried not to notice her tired and tearful two-year-old.

My arms, historically useful only for putting in sleeves, gained definition. My waist became firmer and twistier. My knee, long stiffened from surgery, could bend more than it had since my 20s. My back, prone to morning pain, was longer and stronger.

The simple act of drawing and exhaling breath fed an emerging spiritual centre.

Dreams And Downward Dogs

Photo Christine Mcnab

We practiced yoga in the most incredible places, where we could draw strength from the earth’s magnificent and sometimes frantic landscapes.

I did warrior pose on the pebbly shores of northern Canadian mountain lakes. I tried back bends in Phnom Penh, while tuk tuks puttered by. I reached for the sky in the late afternoon sun by the sea on Salt Spring Island.

I held downward dog on the deck of our riverside bungalow in northern Laos, the muddy red river Ou stretched out before us.

When we had to wait for road crews to clear on the Alaska Highway, I instinctively began sun salutations on the hot tarmac. While truckers looked on at me from behind their shades, I thought of all the bears we had seen that day on the roadside, deepened my breathing and pressed on.

I finished a series of standing poses just before the orange-vested flagmen waved us through.

Yoga was a solace to many of us in the days following the death of a dear relative. Family had an impromptu session together on a blue plastic tarp in view of Mount Edith Cavell in Jasper. We didn’t say a word, but instead bonded through the breath we silently dedicated to the wonderful woman we had lost.

Teachers In Every City

No matter where I was in the world, the yoga mat, my body, and the practice became home. When we needed guidance along the way we stopped into random studios for classes.

One of the best teachers I’ve encountered ran a beautiful studio in Edmonton, a city best known for its massive shopping mall.

In New York, a lovely man named Jeremy taught us how to find stillness in a space overlooking the madness of Broadway. Jeremy also helped me with my headstand. After months of practice I could do one on my own, but only if no one was looking. In class I had a fear of falling on and crushing one of my lithe mat neighbours.

But Jeremy, with the lightest of touches, steadied my headstand, talking me through the posture. I listened to him, breathing, and held it on my own. I was grinning wide, convinced my headstand would last forever.

“Now come down gently,” Jeremy said, after several grueling seconds. I crashed onto my mat with a loud thump. There were giggles. I didn’t mind. I relaxed into child’s pose, breathing.

If you’re planning to travel, I recommend doing yoga along the way. If you don’t already practice, consider a course before you go. Bring a light mat and use it whenever you feel inspired.

You’ll find a place to call home wherever you are.

Community Connection

Need some yoga tips? Check out Simple Beach Yoga For Backpackers. And read an interview with another world yoga practitioner.

What are your tips/experiences for yoga on the road? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/16/yoga-travel-around-the-world-in-eighty-poses/feed/ 3 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/15/what-if-you-treated-your-travels-an-experiment/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/15/what-if-you-treated-your-travels-an-experiment/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:32:10 +0000 Ian MacKenzie http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=949 Unconventional philosopher talks about how to make life (and travel) more mindful.

Jumping for joy / Photo Gene

Let’s say you have 20 minutes. You sit down in the middle of a room and tune into the silence. You’re aware of the slightest sounds.

Then…you start speaking your first name out loud.

You play with the different sounds of the word that is your name. Lengthen the vowels. Stress the syllables. Maybe even imagine the word as if it hovers in the air in front of you.

After a while, you might get the feeling you are being “called.” Who is doing the calling? A very existential question. Your voice begins to appear as an “other,” almost a double. Who is this person, you ask?

This is the first experiment that philosopher Roger-Pol Droit describes in his book: Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life

I recently came across an article on Droit, written by Richard Handler, exploring his unconvential ways of stepping outside the mundane.

As a philosopher, Droit is very much under the influence of Eastern philosophy. His intention is to “provoke tiny moments of awareness.” These tiny moments can take a few minutes, a few hours or the rest of your life.

Other experiments mentioned in the article: Peel an apple in your head. Imagine your imminent death. Telephone someone at random. Try to feel eternal. Watch somebody sleeping. Shower with your eyes closed. Become music. Try to measure experience.

All these tasks are meant to provoke a change in the way you see reality.

In fact, the life that we see before us is so obvious, so seemingly boring, that it escapes comprehension almost all the time. That’s the point of the increasing emphasis on what is often called mindfulness, which is sifting through our culture, be it in our gyms and yoga studios, or in psychological journals and certain TV cop shows.

As a traveler, you may think that you’re already challenging your reality. Anytime you step into a new culture, you’re forced to re-evaluate yourself, to hone your awareness.

But as any meditator knows, being mindful is hard work. Thoughts continue to invade your psyche whether you want them to or not. Says Handler:

Paying attention to what’s in front of us takes patience and fortitude. Just try counting to 10, or eating a single raisin, and see if you don’t get distracted by your fitful “monkey mind.”

The good news? It get’s easier with practice.

Similarly, if you were to attempt all 101 of Droit’s experiments in his book, I suspect stepping outside of the mundane would become second nature.

What other ways of experimental travel have you tried? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/15/what-if-you-treated-your-travels-an-experiment/feed/ 4 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/14/me-myself-and-mine-the-philosophy-of-liberty-explained/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/14/me-myself-and-mine-the-philosophy-of-liberty-explained/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:15:54 +0000 Ian MacKenzie http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=800 In 8 minutes, learn how the philosophy of liberty is based on the hallmark of self-ownership.

In the USA, it seems barely a moment passes before you hear references to freedom and liberty. This could be talk about the right of free speech, gun control, property, or any other number of topics.

This is not surprising. The US was built upon the philosophy of liberty. But what does this philosophy even mean? Watch the short film below:

Seems a fair and pleasant way of living, doesn’t it? If we always look out for Number #1, everyone would be better off. Or would they?

Consider this philosophy for anyone who’s traveled to developing countries. The truth is that the world economies are vastly connected – cheap goods in one means cheap labour in another. It becomes soberingly clear that only looking out for ourselves means crippling the well-being of others.

Helen Lindsay agreees. In response to the film, she writes:

Libertarianism does not recognise the interrelatedness and interrelationships between all the people on this planet. It provides a haven for inherently selfish people – people with the ‘cheating’ gene. Unless humans recognise we have an inherent nature for materialism and greediness, which competes with our altruistic tendencies, we are doomed to compete and fight with each other forever.

What do you think of the ideas presented in the video? Is it the ideal system or fundamentally flawed?

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/14/me-myself-and-mine-the-philosophy-of-liberty-explained/feed/ 8 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/10/osho-god-is-not-a-solution-but-a-problem/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/10/osho-god-is-not-a-solution-but-a-problem/#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:17:17 +0000 Christine Garvin http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=802 “I know for sure that God does not exist – and thank God he does not exist.”

I first happened upon philosopher and guru Osho when visiting LA, perusing through the Bodhi Tree bookstore. There I saw his book, Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic, and as I had been currently struggling with my own, I picked it up.

For those who haven’t read or heard Osho, he is certainly a controversial figure.

Case in point: Intuition says that we should let ourselves go fully into our animalistic nature and vices in order to become free of them, which will connect us to our deeper intuitive sense.

In this excerpt from one of his talks, he postulates that if God “created” the world, that would have signified a fixed end point which occurred on the seventh day of creation. That’s it – done. Perfection would be the world’s truth, and therefore evolution would not exist:

He goes on to say that we need God as a “hypothesis of how the world was created,” and yet we fit this God into our own definitions of time and space.

As for Charles Darwin, Osho thinks it would be “against God’s nature to rule out evolution,” that in fact, evolution is an extension of what God created. Darwin’s work merely shows that creation is a continuous process, imperfect in nature, and will never be finished – exactly who and what we are as human beings.

View many more Osho clips here. Feature photo: tamburix

What do you think of Osho’s contentious views on God and evolution? Share your thoughts below.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/10/osho-god-is-not-a-solution-but-a-problem/feed/ 10 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/05/20-basic-fun-sexy-resources-for-beginning-meditators/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/05/20-basic-fun-sexy-resources-for-beginning-meditators/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:38:55 +0000 Christine Garvin http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=770 A collection of 20 resources covering all types of meditation: from laughter, to sexual, to extreme.

Photo:karl17

Ah, meditation. Conjurs up thoughts of being centered, at peace with one’s self and the world, and being rid of all those pesky worries.

Worries like the total loss of every penny you’ve made in the stock market and your dog throwing up on your bed, again.

But then you sit down to try and meditate, clear your mind, and quickly see that it takes about 15 seconds for your brain to go back to that project due 3 hours ago or to picturing the Dalai Lama naked.

Whoa. Well, while meditation may end up being harder than you thought it would be – many of us wonder, “am I doing it right?” – it doesn’t have to be.

There’s more than one way to approach meditation, and there is something out there for everyone, trust me. Just take a look at the list 20 resources below.

Basic Guides to Meditation

1. Meditation for Beginners. A nice little video guide for those who want detailed instructions.

2. Meditation for Beginners: 20 Practical Tips for Quieting the Mind. Gives some good pointers like, “Notice frustration creep up on you” and “Do NOT Stress” (a bit helpful during meditation).

3. Do you want some Basic Meditation Exercises to try? Succinct little list that mentions the all-inclusive “Choose your own mantra,” extremely helpful in developing focus. Also has links for different forms of meditation.

Laughter Meditation

4. How to Feel Great Every Day for the Rest of Your Life… Laugh as hard as you can for 15 minutes and TRY not to feel calm afterwards. Go ahead, I triple dog dare you.

5. Centered Silliness. “The physical act of laughing is one of the few actions involving the body, emotions, and the soul.” Boom, there you go.

6. Risatel Laughter Hotline. Need to hear some laughter in order to get your meditation on? This video will help.

Fun Meditation

7. Can Meditation Be Fun? There aren’t too many people out there who dare to ask the question: “If you were God, would you be serious?”

8. Notes from the Universe. Meditate daily on how cool, and funny, the Universe can be.

9. Betty Funny Meditation Pose. Is this what you’re supposed to look like when meditating? Well, maybe…

Photo:Luiz Carlos

Travel Meditation

10. Guided Meditation for Astral Travel. For a little nightime travel of the astral variety.

11. A simple travel meditation. Easy, to the point, and can be done whether you are going to work or sitting on the back of a bush taxi for 9 hours in the middle of Tanzania.

12. Baby Meditation. You can even meditate if you are a baby, anywhere in the world!

Sexual Meditation

13. Qtantra Sexual Meditation. It’s labeled “Sacred Sexuality for Lesbians,” but it looks to me like anyone can use it.

14. How to do Sexual Meditation. Even eHow, the “dummies” instructional for the internet, can show you the way toward satisfying sexual meditation for one.

15. Sex and Meditation. If you need some guidance to get your qi flowing…

Photo:MJ Mac

Movement Meditation

16. Basic Movement Meditation. Essentially, an easy Tai Chi how-to.

17. Dance Meditation for Adults. If you normally enjoy getting your (dance) groove on.

Extreme Meditation (in true western style)

18. Extreme Weight Loss Meditation and Mantra That Work. This one’s for weight loss…guess eating food is fulfilling your desire with something “simple.”

19. Meditation as Extreme Sport? For those into “slacklining with banda activation.”

20. Extreme Meditation. Taking the piss out of Zen.

And remember, the key is to realize you can actually bring meditation into everything, just by bringing awareness to well…whatever it is you are doing.

What are some other beginning meditation techniques that you have found helpful? Share your thoughts and resources below!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/04/05/20-basic-fun-sexy-resources-for-beginning-meditators/feed/ 3 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/30/asanas-for-sale-the-privatization-of-yoga/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/30/asanas-for-sale-the-privatization-of-yoga/#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:07:25 +0000 Christine Garvin http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=790 Sure, yoga should be accessible to everyone, but are new forms of yoga more about the cha-ching than deepening awareness?

Photo: Daniel Sandoval

When I first began practicing yoga about seven years ago, I chose to learn the Iyengar form over Ashtanga or Bikram, the two other main types of yoga classes offered at the time.

Now, it seems I can’t look left or right without seeing a new “form” of yoga, most of which are trademarked before they even make it out the door and into a gym near you.

The newest crazes include Acroyoga , for those who feel like using a partner to stretch beyond their normal limits, and AntiGravity Yoga, or its sister (i.e. differently trademarked) Aerial Yoga, acrobatic forms of this ancient practice.

Then there is rope yoga, which uses a contraption that looks a bit like a Pilates rebounder, and the similarly-named but completely different approach of flat rope yoga, which has a person literally sitting on tight rope and holding a pose.

There are those out there, such as Shirley Archer, IDEA mind/body exercise spokesperson, who believe these different forms are simply expanding yoga to a wider audience:

I think yoga can reach people at many levels of interest and need. Some people seek yoga practice for the mental benefits, to clear their mind and achieve deeper levels of relaxation. Others practice it to enhance their own mind-body connection. Some simply enjoy the physical conditioning benefits in a more gentle environment.

But is this spiritually-based form of movement, practiced for free for literally thousands of years by millions of people, in danger of becoming just another capitalist exploit?

Take a look at Bikram’s lawsuit-happy approach to yoga. After obtaining a copywright in 2002 for his series of 26 postures taught in a 105 degree room, he began filing suits.

Any yoga instructor that has not completed his $6,600 teacher-training program who proceeds to teach this “hot” form of yoga is at risk of being slapped upside the head with some serious legal fees.

Other forms are not only costly, but can be life-threatening, as a lawsuit against Dahn yoga enterprises shows. The family of a woman who died of heat stroke and dehydration during a Master training hike filed a wrongful death suit against the group that some have alleged is cultish and money-hungry.

What do you think about the ever-expanding choices around yoga? Share your thoughts below.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/30/asanas-for-sale-the-privatization-of-yoga/feed/ 5 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/19/peyote-perception-searching-for-truth-in-the-mexican-desert/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/19/peyote-perception-searching-for-truth-in-the-mexican-desert/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:16:16 +0000 Dani Redd http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=759

In the heart of the desert, Dani Redd digests the ‘heart of the earth’, and learns the mysterious secrets contained within.

We drove through the desert, miles of fissured ground and small geometric shrubs, our way repeatedly blocked by barbed wire fences, which necessitated countless u-turns.

I don’t know how our friends managed to find the correct place, since the desert offers no defining markers, but find our way we did.

We parked the car and piled out. “I’m scared’, whispered Suzie, as we kicked our heels outside, waiting for the others. “Me too,” I replied.

Peyote is a natural drug – it’s like eating the heart of the earth.

My friend gave us nervous first-timers a few pieces of information about the cactus we would shortly ingest.

“Peyote is a natural drug – you won’t get the sweaty palms and beating heart of the artificial powder drugs. It’s not dangerous in that way, but if you do feel bad, don’t worry, just do exactly what will make you feel better.”

“Also, the flavour tastes very strong. Never in my life have I tried anything as strong as peyote – it’s like eating the heart of the earth. So, it might make you throw up, but that’s normal. Peyote is a cure, it’s a way to cleanse yourself.”

Into The Desert

We made our way into the desert. After a few steps we encountered the first peyote button.

It was hidden under the meagre shade of one of the shrubs, impressed firmly into the ground – a few inches wide, with small clumps of hair scattered at regular intervals over a dark green surface.

“We can’t cut this one. This is our guide,” said my friend. “We’re going to separate and find our own peyote, and meet up by that tree over there. Don’t cut the peyote with a knife – use a sharp rock instead.”

We split up, and left alone I stopped and felt the silence of the desert, the type of silence you can’t find in the overstimulated urban lifestyle. And suddenly, I wasn’t scared anymore.

I found two buttons fairly quickly, and carried them across to the meeting point, ready to begin.

My friend was right. The buttons tasted disgusting. Our faces stretched into grimaces as we struggled to keep down the pulpy flesh, swallowing gulps of water and huge sugary slabs of Abuelita hot chocolate in an attempt to disguise the taste.

Afterwards, we sat under the shade of the tree, waiting, waiting. We had no idea how long it would take for the effects to take hold, or what would happen when they did.

First Signs

The world begins to wobble…suddenly we’re pacing around in the desert, unable to keep still. Everything is suddenly hilarious and I become hugely enamoured with my tinted sunglasses. “The world’s so bright like this,” I say.

We accompany the boys to the car, and they start pumping atmospheric drum and bass into the silence of the desert. We dance like Egyptians. And then forget why exactly we went to the car.

It takes a long time to gather ourselves and return to our spot, complete with video camera and tent.

And as we’re walking along through the desert, Suzie and I, clumped together and giggling, the peyote really begins to hit us.

The Trip

We could see how everything was connected to everything else by these physical vibrations.

How do I begin to describe this? At the time I tried to write, my notebook ended up in a scrumpled heap on the desert floor as I occupied myself talking to the plants.

“Write about what?” I wrote. “The world as it shifts and changes before my eyes? The colours, the shapes…the sky pulsates like spider eyes, like milk in blue coffee…the horizon encircles us like chains of eyes.”

Eyes, I think, because every plant, every stone, everything had its own clearly visible, beautifully palpitating soul. We could see the beauty in everything. The cracks of the desert floor vibrated with intensity, and we could see how everything was connected to everything else by these physical vibrations.

Strangely enough, it was only us two girls that felt this. The boys struggled to put up the tent while Suzie and I lay in a loving heap of confused limbs on the floor and watched the sky.

“I can feel the pulse in this rock” Suzie breathed. “You’re lying on top of me”, I said. “Oh.”

We could see beautiful women beckoning to us and dancing among the clouds. Behind these beautiful, feminine shapes lay a faint grid of purple and green fractals, like the strange neon cacti that were scattered round the desert.

Multi-Sensory

Dancing with the fire / Phot Dani Redd

Afterwards, Suzie told me that she felt that Peyote (who does somehow, maintain a very tangible presence) had made love to every sense in her body. It was true.

We made different sounds for hours, ‘zzzzzz’, ‘ooooo’, and felt them vibrate in our mouths and echo across the desert. We ate grapes and slid the round globes round our mouths, gasping in awe as we crunched down and the juice ran down our throats – the most sensual eating experience I’ve ever had.

Peyote is like having a full-body orgasm, but one that isn’t connected to your sexual self, but to your spirit. It gave me the most heightened sensitivity I have ever experienced.

It got dark. The sun set and huge pulsating stars appeared in a clear black sky. Even without the peyote effect they would have looked beautiful, because there was no light pollution from nearby cities, no presence of people.

But the desert, however beautiful it is at night, gets very cold, and in the intensity of the day, we’d forgotten to gather firewood.

Absent ones

Various wood gathering expeditions (initiated by the boys) ensued, of varying success, as we danced around the desert replete with music from a mobile phone and our headlamps set on ‘flash’.

Destinations

Community Connection to Mexico

Mostly, Suzie and I remained by the fire, trying to appease Calcifer, the greedy fire God with small sticks, watching this disco across the desert. We watched shooting stars and the blinking lights of airplanes, which looked like they were rolling themselves into globes of light and sneaking out of the sky towards us.

Gradually, the peyote wore off. We felt tired, and lost. And suddenly, sitting by the fire, we missed the boyfriends we’d left behind.

We both, without an indication to the other, stretched out our hands towards the fire, and watched the smoke curl round the dark silhouettes of our outstretched fingers. But there was nobody there to hold them. It was time for bed.

Post One-ness Experience

A one-ness experience is not the realization that ‘everything is connected’, but the concrete visualization of this – a true knowledge of what the “hippies” call the unified transformative energy field.

A one-ness experience is the concrete visualization of what the “hippies” call the unified transformative energy field.

People access it through meditation, astronauts sometimes experience it in space when they see the Earth from far away, a huge curved globe in the sky. We found it through Peyote.

The trouble with one-ness experiences is that people can suffer afterwards, spending their whole lives trying to capture that fleeting glimpse of beauty, of order in the void.

Fot us, in the days following the peyote experience, the world seemed flat, washed out, cold.

Suzie said she felt that when Peyote left, her lover had left her cold in her bed – he introduced himself to us that night, flirted, and left.

And did we learn anything?

The Lesson Out Of Reach

At one point, after the sun had set in the desert, I walked off alone in the night and almost saw Peyote in the sky; cracks of brilliant light that had nothing to do with the stars.

“What are you trying to tell me? What is the answer” I screamed inside my head, almost crying in the intensity and the confusion. I didn’t find an answer that night, but I think what Peyote taught me is the strange incomprehensibility of everything.

You can’t measure quality of life by what you do every day, but by this shining brilliance beyond it, just out of reach.

And so, I am still flat broke, still carting around the same old backpack of burnt clothes (a different story), still have the same relationship worries.

But they don’t seem to matter anymore – these mad, wild, rare experiences are more important.

I know i’ll go back to the desert again. I think everyone does. But until then, I’m not going to let the memories of this experience leave me feel flat and cold, but use them constructively. Somehow.

Have you shared a similar experience searching for truth? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Don’t miss Dani’s previous article Meditating In Mexico: Close Encounters of the Guru Kind.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/19/peyote-perception-searching-for-truth-in-the-mexican-desert/feed/ 7 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/16/adyashanti-asks-are-you-motivated-by-existential-fear/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/16/adyashanti-asks-are-you-motivated-by-existential-fear/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:56:40 +0000 Ian MacKenzie http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=756

Many people would agree we’re in a profound state of flux. Economies around the world are crumbling. Institutions are losing their value. Violence and war are flaring.

Amidst this “chaos,” we have an opportunity to wake up from the collective and individual delusions that keep us from making the shift to a better reality.

Yet, many of us are trapped by the “existential emptiness” we fear is at the end of the tunnel.

As Zen teacher Adyashanti says in the above interview, “The fear of losing our individual identity keeps us from making this shift.” But the irony is that only through confronting our fear can we come to love – and affect profound change.

Watch full interview here.

Looking inward, how do you feel fear affects your decisions day-to-day? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Feature photo: h.knoppdelaney

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/03/16/adyashanti-asks-are-you-motivated-by-existential-fear/feed/ 2 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/02/21/traveler-on-the-couch-analyzing-the-travelers-consciousness-through-3-persistent-myths/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/02/21/traveler-on-the-couch-analyzing-the-travelers-consciousness-through-3-persistent-myths/#comments Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:48:18 +0000 Sarah Menkedick http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=741

Photo: Andrew Ciscel

Who, a travel anthropologist might ask, are these people calling themselves travelers, and what do they think? What are their beliefs, customs, rituals, myths?

Stepping into an anthropological frame of mind, I’d like to take a crack at debunking a few of the myths that seem to cling to traveler consciousness, in the hope of getting beyond the same tired givens and conversations.

Before travelers become too easy to pin down, maybe we can create new variations on the myths that often form the center of the traveler worldview.

Myth #1: Cheaper is Better: Sleeping On a Filthy Mattress in a Hotel that Smells Like Urine Makes You A Better Traveler

Photo: Morrow Less

To a certain extent, this is true. The further towards comfort, familiarity, and privacy one moves, the closer to a globalized and sanitized version of culture one gets:

• Take a private taxi in China vs. a local minibus and save yourself the experience of peeing on the side of the road in the rain with 15 other people.
• Eat at a McDo in Mexico City and spare yourself the havoc the chilaquiles might wreck on your stomach, and the hectic experience of securing a table, flagging down the waitress, and briefly being the confused gringo at the center of attention.
• Stay at the luxury hotel in Malaysia and save yourself the buckets of sweat under a lethargic ceiling fan and the view of massive red underwear hanging on the balcony.

But then again, the McDo might turn out to be the chosen make out joint for Chinese teenagers. The luxury hotel might serve the most amazing Malay lahksa you’ve ever tasted, and give you the energy to go on a five-day trekking expedition through the jungle.

The private taxi might let you relax enough to notice the hills of pines wrapped in fog, the factories and the barefoot children outside of them, the soot that coats the walls of every town you pass.

Perhaps cost shouldn’t be the defining factor here-perhaps it should be contact and awareness.

Does a traveler having beers with other travelers every night on a hostel roof necessarily learn more than a tourist having a conversation with a Malay businessman over a plate of satay?

Does splashing out from time to time mean one is betraying some sort of inherent travel pact to suffer in the name of understanding? I don’t think I could travel standing on a Chinese train for 20 hours, but I don’t think that means it’s impossible to comprehend the fact that the majority of migrant workers do just that.

The key, I believe, is balance – not self-righteous, self-flagellation, or dependence on luxury and comfort that one grows immune to daily life in a place.

Myth #2: More is Less: Places Are Ruined by Tourism

I remember reading an article by a very well-known travel writer, who bemoaned the arrival of “the tourists” in Laos and reminisced about the “penniless” woman serving him, the sole traveler, a cup of juice in the street so many years ago.

He went on to rant, in typical fashion, about how places had been colonized by tourists on the banana pancake circuit.

Photo: indi.ca

Now, I’m not going to slip so far into relativism as to say that eating banana pancakes with a mishmash of Americans and Australians is just as “authentic” and eye-opening a travel experience as, say, sipping noodle soup in a dimly lit local joint with a Lao family.

When tourism begins to colonize a place to the point where local culture is nearly replaced by travel culture (hostels, internet cafes, banana pancakes), I find that troubling.

And yet, isn’t there a paradox for travelers here? In the idea that, while travel is a magically transformative experience that should be undertaken by (almost) everyone, and undertaken cheaply and independently and “off-the-beaten-track”, only they, the select few, truly have the right to experience and understand the off-the-beaten-track places?

There is an egotistical assumption here, that an elite group is privileged in its appreciation and understanding of travel and therefore should be uniquely allowed to experience it and decide its reach and limits.

They avoid being tourists; they avoid polluting an area with their culturally different presence and their gaze and needs as outsiders, because…because they suffered more on longer bus rides to get to more distant villages? Because they, and only they, appreciate the real, the authentic, the down and dirty of travel? Because they’ve never held 9-5 jobs?

A host of factors seem to select someone to be part of this group who bemoans the arrival of the other, the tourist.

And once a traveler of this way of thinking identifies with a place and starts the ranting about the arrival of tourism, a particular imperialist tone creeps into the discourse: the traveler somehow takes ownership of the place, waxing poetic about the need to protect it, to keep it poor, isolated, exotic.

A Fruitless Debate

This tendency of travelers to berate tourism as some sort of tragic, corrupting presence, is blatantly ironic and, in my opinion, fairly useless.

It encourages an irresponsible and selfish way of thinking that says, “Get there now, before they spoil it!” It is the rhetoric of a club of wealthy explorers who are in a race to be more exclusive, more exotic, the first; to control, intellectually if not physically, an area by determining what it should and should not be and who should or should not be allowed in.

Instead of focusing uniquely on the traveler vs. tourist dichotomy-a well-worn debate dealt with eloquently in this article- why not emphasize the way places can retain the culture that makes them unique and attractive to travelers in the first place? And the ways in which locals can have the maximum say possible in how tourism affects their communities?

This expands the dialogue from vain bitching among travelers to constructive conversation between the people who are actually being visited-the “hosts,” as anthropologists call them, and the visitors, or “guests.”

Myth #3: The More, the Better: The Longer, Farther, and Harder You Travel, the More You Learn

A travel conscript, as Claire Moss called it in her excellent article on the subject, is that hostel-goer with a weary look, who spends hours wistfully writing e-mails back home, who keeps going, boarding another tour bus, eating another plateful of something strange and spicy, sleeping in another strange bed, and counting the days, accumulating…what?

Notches on a stick? Anecdotes? Factoid after factoid? Bits and pieces of language, a “thank you” in Indonesian here, a “cheers” in Hungarian there?

Photo: Karen Sheets

There is a fine line between the thrill of creating new routines in new places – the walk with a cup of coffee through the strange half-familiar streets each morning, the hello to the same juice vendor, the mini-life in a foreign land-and the monotony of going through the routine of traveling, backpack, bus, bed, backpack, bus, bed, beer, backpack, bus, bed.

One can easily give way to the other.

I have felt that weariness several times and known, okay, enough. After awhile, traveling can become a 9-5 affair, just like sticking in the old punch card at the office.

It becomes a routine that blinds just like any other, carried out with a vague sense of boredom and repetition and obligation. The days pass more as sun-filled, distant films than as actual, fully realized experiences. There will always be another exotic destination, another bed in another dorm, another beer in another bar, another cultural event, tour, park, museum.

And when they turn into one spectacle, one forced journal entry after another, they are just as rote as tedious lessons recited in a lecture in which you’re half-asleep and hung over.

Sometimes, stopping in one place for awhile, or turning one’s travel eyes upon home, can be more rewarding than going through the motions for months, years on end.

As sites like Matador and the vastly growing array of travel literature can testify, the travel movement which has grown up in the past several decades has its own priorities, belief systems, and myths, just like the more static communities that have been the traditional focus of anthropologists.

Can we dissect ourselves anthropologically from the inside out? And, when we need to, remake our own myths?

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Got strong opinions on the “Banana Pancake” trail? Join this discussion in the Matador forums: Is the “Lonely Planet Trail” really so bad? For more on Myth #3, check out Hal Amen’s article, Sounding Retreat: Why Seasoned Travelers Aren’t Afraid to Call it Quits. And for one Matador member’s perspective on the traveler/tourist debate, read Jay Martin’s blog post, The Travel Spectrum.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2009/02/21/traveler-on-the-couch-analyzing-the-travelers-consciousness-through-3-persistent-myths/feed/ 20 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/07/10/the-first-timers-guide-to-magic-mushrooms/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/07/10/the-first-timers-guide-to-magic-mushrooms/#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:33:50 +0000 Janine Yu http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=611 Psilocybe or “magic mushrooms” as they’re commonly known, are a mild hallucinogen. Follow the author as she experiences them for the first time.

These guys look harmless enough…

This article is provided for informational purposes only. Please use your own judgment in deciding what to do with it. Be aware that magic mushrooms are illegal to possess in many countries.

An orange slice was sitting on the kitchen counter, hidden just behind the light. My head was throbbing mercilessly, the mushrooms just beginning to kick in.

A quarter of an orange- plump, juicy, veined. I began to laugh, in fact I began to laugh hysterically and couldn’t stop for the next three minutes.

I couldn’t help it – the orange slices reminded me of a vagina.

Help spread the word!

At their best, magic mushrooms reduce you to a blubbering mess of giggles and bellyache laughter. At their worst, they make you feel like you just walked out of a harrowing rollercoaster ride: nauseous, dizzy, and bilious.

Prior to my recent foray into the hallucinogenic world, I was what one would consider the uncommon phenomenon of a drug-free, 20-something writer living in New York City.

I suppose my biggest hesitation with the idea of taking magic mushrooms -or any drug, for that matter – was losing self-control and putting into question the ideas I had about myself. But then again, maybe that was the point: discovering the unknown part of you, the alter ego lurking just behind the surface.

One day I had too much time, too few obligations, and access to a stash of magic mushrooms. That’s when I began to discover the complexities beyond what I thought I knew, and more importantly, who I thought I was.

Part 1 – Prepping for Shrooms

Psilocybe, or “magic mushrooms” as they’re more commonly called, are a mild hallucinogen.

The setting, I learned, determines largely whether you’ll have an enjoyable or excruciating trip.

They affect each person differently, and unless taken in large amounts, most people don’t actually hallucinate or have “visions” or “flashbacks.”

They’re organic, accessible (not much more difficult than scoring weed), and though it does come with its hazards, there’s the reassuring thought that if you don’t like it, your body will simply metabolize the drug and you can get back to normal again.

“Mostly it’s just glowing colors, distortions, details popping out.. good vibes,” I was reassured. “You’ll like it.”

The website MagicMushrooms.net is a great resource for first-timers, though my friends provided me with the most practical tips:

Through the looking glass.

Make the mushrooms more palatable

“They taste absolutely disgusting,” experienced shroom-takers all agree on. “Take them with M&Ms,” was one suggestion. “They’ll go down easier.”

Be in a good place

“Stay in a safe, comfortable environment.” The setting, I learned, determines largely whether you’ll have an enjoyable or excruciating trip. One friend highly recommends taking them on the beach, where the ocean looks like a pulsating blue glow.

Don’t let the blind lead the blind

“Make sure you’re taking them with someone who’s had them before,” I was told again and again.

Dave, my boyfriend and experienced shroom buddy insisted we clean our apartment. “You’ll find that everything clean will look dirty, and everything dirty will look disgusting,” he said.

“Good luck,” a friend of mine wrote before the experiment. “You’re going to learn so much about yourself, others, the world…”

Part 2 – Is it just me or is the world throbbing?

Twenty minutes into our first serving of shrooms, I was complaining of their non-effect on me. “I feel completely normal! They probably don’t even work on me,” I declared. “Let’s take the rest then,” Dave said. We licked the plate clean of mushroom dust.

Getting past the initial, debilitating effect of the mushrooms was the most challenging part of the experience.

Within minutes, Dave was bouncing around the room, laughing at every little thing and marveling at colors. I, on the other hand, was spiraling down a dark cave.

My limbs couldn’t decide if they wanted to shift restlessly, as they were beginning to do, or lay inert in bed. My head felt like someone was kneading it, and my stomach kept threatening to launch a revolution. The mushrooms were not sitting well with my body.

Getting past the initial, debilitating effect of the mushrooms was the most challenging part of the experience.

But once I was outside, navigating traffic and negotiating with sundry New York characters, it became easier to forget how horrible my body felt and how light my mind actually was.

My head wasn’t cloudy (the way one’s thoughts can be muddled when drunk) and with the city being an explosion of stimuli, my mind zipped through so many connections. I was aware of all of them, if only briefly.

Occasionally I would burst out laughing. At what, I didn’t know or remember, but I just laughed and snorted and wheezed until I was out of breath, stopping mid-giggle to convey how I had no idea what was so funny.

Part 3 – Did I just say that?

In our heightened state, Dave and I decided to walk to a nearby park. I still knew how to put one leg in front of the other, but not much else. Nausea was still invading my body in sporadic bursts, and though I hid behind large sunglasses, I felt everyone in the world could tell I was high.

Colourful stimuli / Photo by Photo Gallery

We found a grassy mound where we laid down and stared at the sky and the trees. I’ve heard colors appear to glow when on shrooms, but I wasn’t convinced that the greens and blues of the park were any more vibrant that day.

Dave noticed every little detail: “Did you realize that all the trees on our block are of the same species?”

After studying some puzzling elements around the park -a stuffed pig on roller-skates, tourists who asked for directions but never moved, people running to and from a tree with bright, fluttering balloons, he figured out that all these strange, disparate characters were planted by a Disney-sponsored Bingo game. “Now it makes sense,” he said.

I had settled into a mental acuteness unfamiliar to me. There was a distinct remove between what I was saying and what I was doing, and who the person was behind it all.

It felt like I was observing myself as I was being, and though I’d lived in New York City for two years, everything felt new again. The tranny who works at a vintage shop on my block (and whom I stopped noticing almost two years ago) looked me in the eye and said in her baritone, “Need a pair of shades?” I was terrified.

An Altered Perspective

My mind was opening up connections I wouldn’t normally make.

On our way home, we stopped by a deli and Dave said, “Let’s take a bottle of water,” I instantly responded, “But we have to pay for it first!” He looked at me strangely.

I reveled in this strange but satisfying sentience, and when the drugs wore off, I was left with a lingering curiosity about myself and the world.

I realized I was paranoid about doing something wrong. My subconscious, I figured out, is more uptight than my conscious self.

Soon, in the comfort of an air-conditioned bedroom, I was waxing existential and listening to music, which is famous for sounding better on hallucinogens. Lyrics turned into epiphanies.

Sometimes I’d catch myself mid-sentence, and wonder -do I actually live with this person (meaning me) and do I even like this person? It was a strange back- and-forth of ruminations, which I could sometimes convey verbally, sometimes not.

I reveled in this strange but satisfying sentience, and when the drugs wore off less than three hours later, I was left with a lingering curiosity about myself and the world.

Would I take magic mushrooms again? Sure, but next time I’ll do it outside of New York City -even when I’m sober and completely cognizant, the city’s still a lot to take in.

Update: Find some more specific tips for taking mushrooms here.

What do you think of magic mushrooms and their ability to “open” the mind? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/07/10/the-first-timers-guide-to-magic-mushrooms/feed/ 22 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2006/12/21/uncovering-your-inspiration-in-the-present-moment/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2006/12/21/uncovering-your-inspiration-in-the-present-moment/#comments Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:15:24 +0000 Cameron Karsten http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2006/12/21/uncovering-your-inspiration-in-the-present-moment/

I’m traveling. I’m in the middle of nowhere, say the Indian countryside in the heat of the monsoon.

I’m soaked, damp, wet, sticking with my own fluids and gritty under a haze-laden sun. Or say I’m in Nepal, trekking alone within the Himalayas. A snowstorm descends upon me and I’m instantly lost, wandering from the trail by blinding white winds.

This is the present moment. This is the only situation that exists.

You’re in it, alone or accompanied, and it’s that which you’re experiencing. Whatever the circumstances might be, you have access to inspiration, you have the key to its discovery.

What do you need? You need nothing. You are the experience and the experiencer. But inevitably your energy is zapped, and life suddenly teeters on a ledge. One side leaning towards life and the other down into an unfathomable abyss. You’re not ready for the latter, so you breathe.

This is your inspiration.

The root of the word inspiration originates from Latin: inspiration(n-). The noun forms from its verb inspirare, which has a duel meaning.

Breath is the key to life. With each observed inhale, our awareness is renewed and deepened.

First, it is that imaginary force of mental stimulation luring toward the potentials of illimitable creativity. Second, inspiration is simply the drawing in of the breath. In other words: to inhale and fill the lungs with air.

Breath is the key to life. With each observed inhale, our awareness is renewed and deepened. We honor the present moment and whatever situation we find ourselves in. Equipped with breath and awareness, the fundamentals of our internal search are created and the tools for life and inspiration are in our hands.

Every morning we rise from our beds, glide upon our weighted feet, with the potential to pursue further, harder, deeper and with more conviction into each day’s possibilities.

This force of mental stimulation is inspiration – as real as your own skin, and as impermanent as your own bitten nails. It is the drive toward maximum creativity into that which you live for and that which you thrive upon.

But then, suddenly it’s gone.

Drained, we find ourselves rummaging our own streets or the debris in our pockets, wondering how we accidentally threw this force out the window.

If we grasp it too hard, if we claim it as ours and only ours, a slap in the face will remind us that inspiration is a fine balance. When we have something in our possession then lose it, we realize its importance, how necessary it was to carry and sustain us among our life’s journey.

Without inspiration, we come to believe we’re lost, stuck in the swamp of mind’s banality.

Suddenly, we realized we stopped breathing.

There comes a soft ticking to our ears. It’s gentle, peaceful amidst the cacaphony, subtly resounding within our body. The blood feels it. Our heart vibrates as the arteries contract and dilate. Within our observance, the awareness returns to the source of this heart’s beat and we’re breathing.

Our breath, the awareness. Hello present moment.

No map is good or bad. There isn’t one out there without the capability of leading us to how we uncover our own inspiration. But here is one to start on:

You’re at the center of your being; breathing, living, recognizing the moment in your life that is directly before you. It’s a piece of art. It’s nature and the solemn mountains in your backyard. It’s the smile on your child’s face and the beauty within the pages of your tattered book.

By letting go of everything else but the present moment, creativity is at your fingertips.

Whatever it is, wherever you are, your present moment is the inspiration, and as you watch your breath and become aware of its life-giving force, the pumping of the heart stimulates the mind.

By letting go of everything else but the present moment, creativity is at your fingertips.

While embarking on a new business idea, a new relationship, or exploring the damp, dank corners of India, these are the experiences that force you to stop and touch your inspiration: inhale and live.

The mind is the pick, the heart is the hammer, and they chisel as one, directing your will into the vastness of creativity that lies within your soul. The hammer and the pick-they’re yours.

Cameron Karsten writes a weekly spiritual travel column for Brave New Traveler. Each week he will explore the emerging art and practices of spiritual travel. To read his previous columns, see the “also in this series” links below.

Technorati Tags: spiritual+travel, inspiration, creativity, backpacking

Where do you draw your own inspiration from? How do you develop your own creativity?

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