I really need to update my blog more frequently

I just have so many pictures. Here are some more from my visit to Isla Mujeres near Cancun. The rest from this set are posted in my flicker account.


I took a picture while driving the golf cart.

This is the boat we road to get to the island.

First view of the island. It's pakced with tourists and places to rent scooters and golf carts.

There were nices houses on that island...

...and some were right next to this shanty town.

Hari Singh Ji and Sita Kaur Ji, in the golf cart, just after we got it.

They had some kind of zipline that went out to that platform in the ocean. We didn't do it though, I think they were charging something like $15 for it or more. I figured I have a lot more fun than a zipline when I jump off cliffs at home for free :-) If I got to ride it multiple times, it might have been worth the fee.

A MUST WATCH!!!

There is a website with an excellent video for everybody to watch. Even though I'm passionate about these things, even I learned a few things from this video. If you've never learned any of the information on this site, this video will open your eyes real wide.
http://storyofstuff.com/
Please everybody watch this video and start to make changes. We all have to do our part.

Lighthouse

I think I'm going to be posting pictures from Mexico for a long time. I have so many photos from there and I haven't taken many photos since then. These are some pictures from a lighthouse on an island called Isla Mujeres.



"Be the Lighthouse" :-) I actually wasn't sweating profusely, it was raining a little bit and so my chola's slightly wet.


The top of the lighthouse was pretty small, so my brother took this photo by putting one arm way out over the edge of the lighthouse.


There are remnants of a little pyramid at the edge of this island, and a bunch of lame sculptures leading to it.

This was our happenin' ride. Like most tourists to the island, we drove a golf cart all around the island, it was pretty fun :-)

Facebook is distracting :-)

I just joined yesterday and I now have 63 friends. I guess it's like myspace for 20 somethings. It reminds me of myspace, but doesn't seem nearly as juvenile. I still don't get everything about it, or really what the whole point is, but I can easily get distracted finding friends on there.

I like this kid

I don't really understand what he's sining, but I think he is really talented and I like his jaikara at the end.

On a beach near Cancun

"Hey, there are coconuts up there."

"You want me to pick some?"

He stood on my shoulders and got two of the closest from that tree.

I didn't have a machete and was only carrying a small kirpan, so I threw the coconut against a rock. It wasn't ripe, but I could still drink the "agua de coco" (coconut water).
Did anybody notice the sunset behind Hari Singh Ji in the above picture?

I think Hari Singh Ji is trying to open the other coconut.

I really like this shabad

ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ ਬਾਣੀ ਭਗਤਾ ਕੀ ॥

Raag Gond, The Word Of The Devotees.

ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧

Kabeer Jee, First House:

ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:

ਸੰਤੁ ਮਿਲੈ ਕਿਛੁ ਸੁਨੀਐ ਕਹੀਐ ॥

When you meet a Saint, talk to him and listen.

ਮਿਲੈ ਅਸੰਤੁ ਮਸਟਿ ਕਰਿ ਰਹੀਐ ॥੧॥

Meeting with an unsaintly person, just remain silent. ||1||

ਬਾਬਾ ਬੋਲਨਾ ਕਿਆ ਕਹੀਐ ॥

O father, if I speak, what words should I utter?

ਜੈਸੇ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਰਵਿ ਰਹੀਐ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

Speak such words, by which you may remain absorbed in the Name of the Lord. ||1||Pause||

ਸੰਤਨ ਸਿਉ ਬੋਲੇ ਉਪਕਾਰੀ ॥

Speaking with the Saints, one becomes generous.

ਮੂਰਖ ਸਿਉ ਬੋਲੇ ਝਖ ਮਾਰੀ ॥੨॥

To speak with a fool is to babble uselessly. ||2||

ਬੋਲਤ ਬੋਲਤ ਬਢਹਿ ਬਿਕਾਰਾ ॥

By speaking and only speaking, corruption only increases.

ਬਿਨੁ ਬੋਲੇ ਕਿਆ ਕਰਹਿ ਬੀਚਾਰਾ ॥੩॥

If I do not speak, what can the poor wretch do? ||3||

ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਛੂਛਾ ਘਟੁ ਬੋਲੈ ॥

Says Kabeer, the empty pitcher makes noise,

ਭਰਿਆ ਹੋਇ ਸੁ ਕਬਹੁ ਨ ਡੋਲੈ ॥੪॥੧॥

but that which is full makes no sound. ||4||1||

For those who might be unfamiliar with this shabad, the last line refers to a pitcher in the wind. If the pitcher is empty (metaphor for a person being spiritually bankrupt) the wind will cause it to howl. The pitcher that is full (person with understanding of God within) makes no sound.

Please enjoy the rest...

...of my photos from Tulum
























The rest of my photos at Tulum can be viewed at my Flickr account. I still have so many more photos from Mexico to organize and show.

A few more pictures

I really need to spend some time organizing photos and updating my blog. Here are a few more pictures from the same series.




The rain God Chac Mool.

Preview

I have a lot of pictures from Mexico to show here. Here are a few from one of the first places we visited called Tulum. It is a site of ruins near the beach.

Akal Moorat

Akal Moorat, image of the undying,
not altering, not trying.
Just living, just being,
honoring and seeing
God in all
big and small.

What is the image of the deathless creator?
Every image in this world and greater.
All images in the universe known and unkown,
are the works of art, the moortis, that God has shown.

So what moorti should we do puja to?
The inner moorti, instructs the Guru.
God is Hazoora Hazoor, ever present and present everywhere,
present throughout the universe, present in each and every hair.

The disease of ego vandalizes God's perfection,
it give our natural image (Akal Moorat) complete rejection.
The ego celebrates mutilation of body and hair,
forgoes God's image for something flashy to wear.

Realizing God, the Khalsa honors purity,
unpolluted mind and body become God's moorti.
Khalsa worships God with every breath,
Khalsa IS love, with no fear of death.

Deathless and pure, our image is complete,
we emobdy Akal Moorat, and it is so sweet!

Back Home

I'm back home in Española and I went to work today. They let us out early due to the heavy amounts of snow. Though on the way home the sky started to clear up and the snow started to melt, it's nice to have a little time at home. I have to unpack and I was already in the middle of rearranging and reorganizing my house when I left. I can definitely feel the impact on my life when my house/room is messy and when it's clean. I have a lot of pictures and stories to share. Hopefully I'll start with all of it this week.

More pictures from solstice

Here are some more photos from the winter solstice camp in Florida. If you go to my flickr account (by following this link), you´ll find the rest of my photos. For those who´ve never been to solstice you may not understand the pictures so well. A lot were taken during breaks from the white tantric yoga. White tantric yoga is done in rows so people are generally lined up in rows, it can be very intense for some, as it is very powerful and transformational. A lot of people sort of just lay down during the breaks between meditations. I just took random photos to remember my experience.

Here is the tower in the middle of the lake, which I enjoyed jumping off. People kept telling me there were crocodiles in the lake, but I didn´t meet them when I was swimming in it.

The dock that I was jumping from. In the background are some kayaks and canoes that people could use to go in the lake. Me and Aditya raced from one end of the lake to the other in kayaks.

Dr. Kartar Singh Ji and Harpal Singh Ji

Gagandeep Kaur Ji and Abinashi Kaur Ji. Two really nice people whom I got to spend some time with (mostly laughing :-).

Random capture of people hanging out or stretching during the break after one of the meditations on the third day. In this photo is another new friend that I met, named Meherban Singh who came all the way from Helsinki (Finland) to be at solstice.

The kitchen/hang out area where people relax during off times. I seem to have had a lot of really interesting conversations with people in and around this building. And of course given my nature, I met probably close to 50 people at this camp. This time I´ll probably remember a majority of names.

This is my tent. My friend Aditya, whom I met the year before in Florida, at Mandeep Singh´s wedding, came to solstice and was my tent mate during the week. This is where I slept, changed and did my extra meditations.

P.S. I´m still in Mexico, but I flew yesterday from Cancun to Toluca, and now I´m with my dear friends Pritampal Singh Ji and Ardas Kaur Ji who live in Cuernavaca. I´ll be back in Española and back to work by the end of this week. Also I´ll be putting a lot of photos from Mexico on my blog.