Signals

It's 9:30pm and there is snow in the road outside. This afternoon I bought a guitar amplifier for $200 from a guy on the musician's alias at my company. That's more than many people in India would make in a month. My girlfriend is coming down ill and asleep in the other room. The cats are scattered around the apartment in various stages of slumber. Slumdog Millionaire just won a bunch of awards and a friend in Hyderabad sent me the recipe for authentic chicken biryani. And I'm still watching myself dream of India so very often.

My trip ended on January 7th but lives on in my mind. You will have to read my book to get a sense of it. Every so often in life something happens to change your perspective fundamentally. That's what India did for me. In the Ramayana the character of Rama goes through a number of adventures and toward the end of the story remembers that he is actually Vishnu incarnate. That's what India did for me, it reminded me of who I am. Many of us have forgotten ourselves, and it takes a long journey and many battles to rediscover what we are. So I careened through traffic in Kareem's Maruti listening to Indian pop music. I spent Sunday mornings in meditation at the Thai temple in Secunderabad. I made good friends both in and out of the office. I traveled through the Buddhist heritage sites on the Mahaparinirvan Express. Through it all I rediscovered a new sense of peace with myself and my life.

This photo is of the main alter at Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, arguably the most sacred place in Buddhism. Just behind this part of the temple is the Bodhi tree itself under which Buddha found enlightenment. As I worked my way to the front to take this photo there were many people chanting and bowing as well as a throng of tourists. The peace in this place was as thick as the mob of vendors outside. I could have spent a lifetime there.

Namaste and thanks for listening...