Intro to the blog!!!!!

Hi everyone!

Great news! After three days of hard work, I have pulled together the blog! So, I’ll try to e-mail everyone whenever I post, but if you get really hooked, you can always check the blog a http://seaninindia.blogspot.com (“Sean In India”) I think blogspot.com is interchangable with blogger.com, if that makes it easier for you to remember….

About the blog: I’ve reposted all the original e-mails, chronologically, so the stuff you’ve read if you’ve been getting those e-mails is waaaaay at the bottom, however, there’s something like four new writings that I’ve done while I traveled that are posted on the blog, also chronological, oldest stuff at the bottom…

This post, though it’s an intro to the blog, will be at the top when you come to the page, so it will be easy to spot when you first come to the blog…

Anyhow, I’m in Rishikesh right now (lots of info on that in the last two blog posts)… I’ve been in India just under 2 months, which puts me just over the “1/3” mark for my total trip. I’ve been facing a little homesickness, but I try to balance that with staying in wonder about what my trip will bring.

Guruji has given the official okay for me to do volunteer work in the Bangalore Ashram, so that’s my destination after my sister’s visit, and until she comes, I may head up to Dharamsala after Holi (Springtime Holiday) and maybe see the Dalai Lama.

In a way, my trip thus far seems to have been of three parts:

1- Relaxing in Gujarat and acclimating to India

2- The insane busy days of silver jubilee and receiving everyone in Bangalore and then hauling up for the rushed tour of Jaipur and Agra before Shivaratri, all laced with cultural celebrations and friends from around the world

3- The past two weeks of intensive meditations as I took courses in Rishikesh…

Anyhow, that’s all the cool, calm reflection I’m getting thus far! Jai guru dev!

Ha ha- small update... yesterday we (myself and four buddies) went rafting down the Ganges-- my first rafting trip ever, to boot! We had an amazing stop at a cave where Sage Vasishta, the ancient sage that bestowed knowledge and enlightenment to Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, 10,000 years ago (by Hindu calendars, western historians, *of course* disagree) We did some prayers inside and the moment we stepped out of the cave, rain came pouring down on us, an excellent excuse to just let go and jump in the river. It was surprising not-shockingly-cold water and a wonderful trip all around! We had an excellent tour guide who totally fell in love with our enthusiasm... Broke my glasses because I was holding them in my hand as I dunked in the Ganges (which was simultaneous with me clenching my fist :) ) getting two new pairs of glasses today from an optometrist in central rishikesh... extravagant you say? About US $30, I say! (For the trip and the glasses!)
Guruji is back in town today and the wild Spring time holiday, Holi, the festival of colors, will set in as soon as the rain blows past the city, and we'll be celebrating for about two days :)