Prabhu's Blog

Diversity

2010-07-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here are three different shades of the same flower and a picture of a bee on a different kind of flower.

Classic New Mexico Sunset

2010-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

The past few years the sangat has been invited to Siri Singh Sahib Ji's ranch in Española to enjoy an outside kirtan program and langar on the weekend after the summer solstice sadhana camp. Last year there was a beautiful sunset and this year there was one as well.

Mountain Lion

2010-07-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

We went for a hike in the Jemez Mountains to some of the hot springs. Before we started our hike we had a picnic and a friend spotted a mountain lion running by. He chased after it and so did I.

(Do you see the lion behind the log on the left)
I chased him for a little while, to get a good picture, but he just kept running further away.

Cute kids

2010-07-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

We love God and all of God's servants (all of us :-)

Pretty Desert

2010-03-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

On the way to the Las Vegas samagam earlier this year, I took this photo.

Dreaming

2009-12-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

When we awaken from this dream,
reality it will no longer seem.
The attachments that now gleam,
of little value we will deem.
What value remains beyond?
To what treasure should we bond?
The treasure of the sacred Naam,
to the world ocean it brings calm.
That vast ocean which seems impossible to cross,
will be a puddle when we realize there is no loss,
there is only gain in awakening to our soul,
living without separation, by ourselves totally whole.
Liberated while alive, consistently awake,
the Guru's helping hand is there for us to take.

Guess which mountain this is :-)

2009-11-03T09:31:00.001-08:00

I flew over this on the way to Sacramento from Albuquerque.

Went for a Scenic Drive

2009-10-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

So Darshan Chakra Kriya

2009-09-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

In love with the beloved,
I have planted the divine shabad,
to grow in my mind and serve me,
to be Me who is truly also Thee.
If we truly love ourselves we can truly love all,
because we are all, known by the soul's eternal call.
We are called to be not to do,
without effort we are all that is true.
We are truly souls of the divine,
we can honor that and we can shine.
It is a false separation to believe we are not God,
a trapping of the mind that creates this facade.
The trap of ego, which is not subdued,
which devours maya as it's sacred food.
One tenth of my day to repeat your true name,
the rest of the day, for me, you do the same.

WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru
WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru
WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru
WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru

Same spot different views

2009-08-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

Political cartoon

2009-08-05T16:56:00.001-07:00

This is my first attempt at a political cartoon. I hope people don't take it too seriously and find it funny.

Tonight's sunset

2009-06-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

The rest of my Mt. Taylor photos

2009-06-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

The sun came out and we started walking again :-)

The snow started melting pretty quick and we started warming up as well.

At the top looking at the other side of the mountain, the side we didn't hike up.

He didn't pose for this photo, he was signing the log at the top of the mountain and I snapped the photo.

We meditated and picnicked at the top. Here we're about to go down again.

Another view from the top.

The mountains looked kind of like a bowl with a peak in the middle.

Just before we left the top it started to get cold again.

Looking at the path from a little hideout, surrounded by branches.

Then it started to snow

2009-06-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

There was lightening in the distance so we stayed under some rocks for about 20 minutes until the hail/snow passed us.

We were just getting near the rocks, but it soon snowed/hailed much more intensely.

Starting to clear up.

Getting ready to move on with the hike.

Going Up

2009-05-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons I wanted to hike this peak is that it is a really tall peak relatively alone. There aren't really other tall peaks in the area, so you can see pretty far in all directions.

The rain/snow/hail is approaching :-)

Memorial Day Hike

2009-05-27T10:01:00.001-07:00

We hiked a really cool mountain called Mount Taylor (or Tsoodził in the Dine language) Here is some info about it on Wikipedia.

Reaching the first of many meadows.

We got a pretty good turnout. There are about 5-6 other people that also came, that aren't in this picture.

Starting to get a little higher up.

More pictures coming later.

Whole Self Recovery

2009-05-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Deva Singh Ji, is involved with a really cool new program for people dealing with addiction. Here is the info:

Whole Self Recovery

Here is some great information from my friend Deva Singh about a new wholistic program to assist with substance abuse recovery.

"For over 5 years now I have been working in substance abuse recovery field along with my millions of other activities. It is truly one of the most rewarding fields to work in and I have found that Kundalini Yoga is always the cornerstone of a persons growth, change and development. After doing it a number of years independently, a couple of friends and I realized that there was such a huge national and global need in this area for the technology of Kundalini Yoga, we decided to start up a 40 day relapse recovery program called Whole Self Recovery. It is all based on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan and I have been working closely with Mukta Kaur the director of Superhealth as well.

The Whole Self program is a holistically based program which utilizes the 40 day herbal Cleanse, a regimented organic vegetarian diet with fresh juices, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, counseling and most importantly Kundalini Yoga. We have been doing it for over a year now with incredible results. Some people have stated that 40 days of this program was like a years worth of time at Bette Ford. The largest foundational piece has been the awakening of the individuals souls. Once that is no longer dormant and asleep, the person is no longer able to live an unconscious life without being aware of the repercussions of their actions. We made the program a minimum of 40 days because we all know that it takes a at least 40 days to break a habit and it has been scientifically proven that is the length of time to legitimately rewire the brain. It works on cleansing the body of residual toxic buildup, purifying the mind and reprogramming unhealthy thought patterns and awakening the spirit. Here is a quote from one of our participants:

“After months at different treatment centers around the country, I know Whole Self offers the most well-rounded, comprehensive, holistic approach to healing available. Their team of healers is not only highly qualified, but also compassionate and uniquely dedicated to uplifting, energizing and bringing out the best in each individual. For anyone who truly desires and is ready to change their life, Whole Self is unprecedented in its ability to provide powerful tools and support in an incredibly loving and profoundly life-altering program. In my opinion, Whole Self has created the temple for a new paradigm in therapy.” JJ

If you know anyone needing or seeking help in this area, please have them contact me at deva@spiritvoyage.com. As it is my life’s mission to heal and strengthen each individual to fulfill their own purpose.

May God bless us all with happiness, abundant health and most especially a deep sense of holy spiritual self.

- Deva Singh Khalsa

Trip to the springs

2009-05-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

A few of us were hanging out this weekend and then randomly decided to go to the springs in the mountains. These springs aren't really hot, they're just warm, but still nice.

One of the pools there.

On the walk back, the sun was setting and creating cool lighting and shading on the surrounding mountains.

This is known as Battleship Rock.

There's also a little waterfall nearby.

Great way to spend a day :-)

Blogging laziness

2009-05-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

My apologies to all readers of this blog. I seem to have caught a wave of extreme laziness with this blog. I have cool stuff to share too, I just have been so busy, I haven't had the time to upload photos.
In the mean time, here's a funny video:

Doing Kirtan at the Albuquerque Samagam

2009-04-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Baisakhi

2009-04-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

My head belongs to thee,
the one who set me free.
In my heart I have always known,
the beauty of God, which the Guru has shown.
How to manifest it, and bring it out,
When you have been trained to forget and doubt?
It is Dharma, which keeps me on track,
being on this path, I will never lack.
Awakening to truth, is a continuous path,
doing the work daily to escape maya's wrath.
The birth of the Khalsa is my birthday too,
The birth of consciousness, brought forth by Guru.
Today I celebrate my true identity,
one of the Khalsa, a sovereign entity.
A free nation beyond even earth and sky,
God's own soldier-saints, on a mission so high.
To live for the protection and service for all,
To live righteously, and answer the Guru's call.
Today we are free, we are strong, we are blessed.
We are the Guru's children, we live to our best.
Bole So Nihaaal!
Sat Siri Akaaaal!

WaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa, WaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh!

Snow :-)

2009-03-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

It snowed again on Thursday night. We hadn't seen snow in the valley in a few weeks. This what it looked like on Friday morning:

Kirtan

2009-03-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is a video of me doing kirtan. I messed up several times, because I only tried this on the dilruba the day before, also I improvised on the spot, and the dilruba was tuned higher than I usually sing. Still it didn't come out too bad. This tune comes from Bhai Balbir Singh, in raag malkauns.

A cool place near Flagstaff

2009-03-03T07:42:00.000-08:00

About a month ago some friends and I drove out to L.A. We stopped for lunch at this place near Flagstaff.

It was a really cool canyon.

Then we spotted former dwellings.

Beauty

2009-02-12T11:21:00.001-08:00

The place where Baba Deep Singh Ji's martyrdom began

2009-02-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

We all know that Baba Deep Singh Ji was martyred at Harimandir Sahib, after continuing to fight with his head in his hand. These are pictures of the Gurdwara commemorating the place where his head was cut off, before he continued to fight and reach Harimandir Sahib.

The back of the Gurdwara where there is a small sarover.

The front of the Gurdwara.

Inside the Gurdwara.

Next to the Gurdwara is this building. I think it may be where they do sukhasan, I'm not sure.

Inside there were a lot of colorful decorations and art.

This bench (or perhaps manji sahib) was ornately carved.

This was one of the fields next to the Gurdwara. The ubiquitous pollution generating smokestacks in the background.

Another place where my heart resides

2009-01-21T15:55:00.000-08:00

Baba Bakala.

The place where Guru Tayg Bahadur meditated for 22-26 years (different numbers from different sources).

Now surrounded by a 9 story tower to commemorate the ninth Guru.

Another Gurdwara next to the location.

Dhan Dhan Siri Guru Tayg Bahadur Ji! WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheGuru WaheJio!

Really good article - please read

2009-01-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

I hope everybody will read the following article, it is really good:
http://www.sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=692&cat=18

Views at Tarn Taarn Sahib

2009-01-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Tarn Taarn Sahib

2009-01-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

The massive Sarovor (pool of nectar) and myself.

Anandpur Sahib - Kayshghar Sahib

2009-01-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Playing in the snow

2009-01-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

Me and my friend Ram Rattan Singh playing in the snow in between snowboarding last monday.

learn kirtan on youtube

2008-12-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

I got an email from a Sikh who started a channel on youtube for learning kirtan. Here is the link: http://uk.youtube.com/learnkirtan

Winter Solstice

2008-12-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

If anybody out there reading my blog is planning to go to the Winter Solstice Sadhana camp, I will be there. I'm pretty excited to go. The camp is always amazing!
WaheGuru!

Tarn Taarn Sahib

2008-12-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Pretty Awesome

2008-12-12T13:45:00.001-08:00

I could maybe do half of what he's doing and it would require a great effort on my part. This inspires me to get back into better shape, and feel lighter on my feet.

Finally the flickr uploader cooperated

2008-12-12T08:22:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to upload pictures from India for a while. I'm not sure why the pictures are ordered in the way they are. This is the first picture that showed up, in my latest India pictures. I still can't seem to upload half of them. But the pictures I took with my friend Parvinder Ji's camera were able to upload.

This is, of course, Takht Keshghar Sahib in Anandpur Sahib.

Prabh Kay Simran

2008-12-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Into the earth I go,
to experience the universal flow.
To isolate myself from myself,
to meditate on myself as thyself.
Infinite within the finite,
finite within the infinite.
What is my condition that I miss you so much?
Within me, is WaheGuru's sweet touch.
The nine gates are focused elsewhere,
my mind and body they wish to share.
Myself, my soul, is shared with the five thieves,
they are the fall winds and I am the leaves.
Blown around with no regard,
leaving my mind and body scarred.
Did I invite the 5 thieves to rob from me?
They enter through the nine gates, says Guru Ji.
Even aware of the 9 gates, the thieves enter and exit as they please.
I could lock the body temple, but when I forget I may give away the keys.
I have yet to achieve simran, the constant remembrance,
as a human I am forgetful, and forget my essence.
My essence remains partially hidden behind the tenth gate,
I'm knocking on the door, I AM Prabhu, I will live in this state.

Rapid Stillness

2008-12-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

Change - back to the earlier criminals

2008-11-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

"Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge to bring change to Washington. "I don't want to just end the war," he said early this year. "I want to end the mindset that got us into war." That is going to be very difficult if Obama employs a foreign policy team that was central to creating that mindset, before and during the presidency of George W. Bush."

From:

This Is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House

Back home - pictures soon...hopefully

2008-11-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I didn't post a single photo while I was in India. Now I'm home and back at work, and realized that I hardly blogged at all for the last month. Even though my camera was stolen I got some photos from others and I borrowed a camera for a little while as well. So hopefully pictures will be forthcoming. Many blessings to every one.

Things to share

2008-11-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Sometime in the future I will share pictures of my India trip. For now I want to share two things that were sent to me via email.
1. http://november5.org/
2. Money and the Crisis of Civilization

As I walk the streets of Amritsar and I see trash everywhere, pollution out of control, poverty of the mind and in some cases poverty of motivation, as well as an abundance of material wealth with a few and an abundance of spiritual wealth with a few, I think to myself 'something's got to change soon.' We shouldn't fear change, we should embrace it, we should participate in it. Really our lifestyles now will determine our lifestyles in the future and the lifestyles of our children and generations. If we start living responsibly and sustainably we can be happy that way in the future as well :-)

Anandpur Sahib

2008-11-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

I really like Anandpur Sahib. After all, it is the birthplace of the Khalsa which means it's my spiritual birthplace.
I still yearn to be in Amritsar which is where I plan to be in a few days. My friend Parvinder Singh Ji is lending me his camera so I should be getting some nice photos of the rest of my journey.
I've hardly been online and I just realized that several people have mailed me about visiting them. I hope I can read those mails and make it all happen.
I should have some cool updates in the near future with pictures :-)

Latest from India

2008-11-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't been online since Mumbai, but I hope anybody reading this has been over to Sikhnet or MrSikhnet to see the updates from Hazoor Sahib. I wanted to share a lot of amazing pictures that I took, but my camera was stolen in Nanded. I have some pictures that my friends took which I hope to put up later. Right now I'm in Delhi and in a few days I'll be in Anandpur Sahib and then in Amritsar. I hope to update my blog more including some photos in the near future. I'm enjoying my time here in India and am blessed that I have gotten this opportunity.
WaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa, WaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh!

Very different from where I am now

2008-10-24T01:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in a hot crowded and polluted city (Mumbai) at this moment, but I thought I should post at least one more pretty picture from my little adventure a few weeks back.

In India

2008-10-24T01:24:00.000-07:00

It feels like I took off yesterday and arrived last night, but it's been two days since I left the US. Right now I'm in Mumbai, later today I'm flying to Aurungabad and tomorrow we will be off to Hazoor Sahib.
I flew from Albuquerque to Chicago, then Chicago to Paris, then Paris to Mumbai. Chicago to Paris, wasn't a full flight so I had two seats to myself which was nice. The India flight was pretty full. I watched the movie "Jab we met." I thought it was pretty bad actually. I couldn't relate or really respect any of the people's actions. Any way I got to the hotel and meditated then slept. Then I woke up meditated again, checked out and am now at an internet cafe before I fly to Aurangabad. I bought a cell phone and minutes so if you're in India and reading this, then email me, prabhublog@gmail.com, and I'll send you my number.
I hope to follow this post soon with pictures.
WaheGuru Ji Ka Khalsa, WaheGuru Ji Ki Fateh!

At least a couple photos

2008-10-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put up at least a couple photos from our scenic train ride a couple weeks ago.

This is the scenic Cumbres and Toltec railroad which starts in the village of Chama in Northern New Mexico and goes into Southern Colorado and back.

Let me know

2008-10-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

If anybody reading this blog is planning to be in Hazoor Sahib in the next week or so, please let me know, it would be awesome to meet up.

Hermit

2008-10-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

I think I look like a hermit in this photo.

Rest of my Mt. Blanca pictures

2008-10-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

The rest of my pictures from my hike to Mt. Blanca are in my flickr account.

Hari Darshan Kaur Ji, looking at the valley 6,000 feet below, which was our starting point that day.

In the top left you can see the mountain that we were looking up at when we started our hike. It now looks like a dwarf.

Triangle in the sky, as we were driving home.

Contemplation

2008-10-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking:
"How long is it going to take me to get these photos on my blog?"
Also I'm thinking:
"REAL Sardars wear churidars!"

Going to India - Hazoor Sahib

2008-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

In two weeks from today October 22, I'm going to India for a whole month. I'm first going to Hazoor Sahib for the BIG event! Then I'll mostly be in Punjab. I feel very blessed and am getting excited for the trip. If you are from India and read my blog, let me know, maybe we can meet :-)

Treading up the mountain

2008-10-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

The various colors of the water was cool.

Closer view of some of the colors.

We were getting pretty far up there. We had come a long long way at this point.

We still had a ways to go though.

Getting near the top, we could see the view on the other side of the mountains.

continuing with my pictures from Mt. Blanca hike

2008-10-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have some great pictures from this weekend which I'd love to share, but I need to organize them and upload them. In the mean time I'll keep posting my pictures from when we hiked Mt. Blanca.

Somehow this waterfall still looks smaller than it is in this picture.

Gurprakash Singh Ji in the mountains.

Me posing - haha

Clean mountain spring water for free :-)

Making our way up the mountain.

Continued journey

2008-10-01T08:33:00.001-07:00

I have other pictures to post, but I don't have them organized yet, so for now, I'm continuing with my journey up another mountain :-)

I liked the reflections in this picture.

The peak in the distance is another 14er next to the one we did. The one we did still isn't yet visible from this point, this is about half way through the hike.

Cool waterfall.

Getting closer to it.

Mountain lake

2008-09-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

At this point we were higher than the peak we were looking at earlier. The one in the picture two posts earlier.

Looking towards one of the 3 14ers in the area.

We found a nice little waterfall that feeds into the lake. Later we filled up our water bottles from mountain springs/waterfalls.

In the mountains

2008-09-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

We were there at the right time. It was raspberry season and I ate a lot of them.

An old time log cabin. Even the floor was made of logs. I figure this must be at least 100 years old, probably more.

This log seems to have been cut down with an axe. The rest probably were probably cut with a saw, but almost certainly not a chain saw. It must have been a lot of work to build the few cabins we saw that day.

Just chillin' Taking a little break after quite an incline. We were probably 1/4 of the way there.

Looks like a Jeep commercial. I could just imagine the commercial:
"The all new Jeep Behemoth, CRUSHES all nature beneath it. With a price tag of only thirty five thousand, plus 30 thousand in modifications. The engine, like all Jeeps, is guaranteed to crap out after about 50k miles, but those will be 50k miles of monstrous, gas-guzzling, nature-conquering power!" lol

walking up a mountain

2008-09-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't believe it, but the mountain in this picture later became like a little spec in the distance when we reached the top of Mt. Blanca. This hike was real long.

On the trail.

It was still early in the morning.

Starting to gain in elevation. Not yet realizing we weren't even 1/20th of the way there yet.

My friends that made it out with me. Gurprakash Singh Ji and Hari Darshan Kaur Ji.

Enjoying the view. It's good that I enjoyed it now, because when I saw this view again on the way down, I was totally wasted and only had enough will power to keep walking without really enjoying the view.

This was a really cool site. The shadows of the mountains down upon the valley below, which I believe is the San Luis Valley.

We reached the aspen belt and found a group of people camping Suburban-American style: drive instead of walk and lug all your junk including tv's and video games. At this point we were about 1/10th of the way there, but I believed we were probably 1/3 to 1/2 way. It really surprised me and the rest of us how long of a hike it was.

Excellent Video!!!!

2008-09-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

Toughest hike I've done thus far

2008-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I did the toughest hike I've yet done. It was to Mt. Blanca which is another 14,000 foot peak in Colorado. I woke up at 2 AM to do my sadhana, then at around 3:00 AM I picked up a couple friends and left one behind who didn't wake up. We arrived at the destination and started walking around 5:45 AM. It's probably supposed to be a 2 day hike, but we did it one day. We arrived back at the car at 7:30 PM, after walking almost the entire time up and down a mountain. Then we drove back to Española. We started around 8,00 feet which was below the tree line, walked to the pine forest, the aspen forest, and then above the tree line.
Here is the first view of the mountains at around 5:00 AM. You might want to click on it and view a larger size to see anything.

By the time we parked it was just light enough to start walking.

In the beginning of the day, I kept thinking we were making serious time and distance. This was us just above the valley where we started, maybe 1/50th of the way there.

In the next few days I'll post more pictures from this trek. I'll probably post them in order to sort of re-create the journey online :-)

Been busy :-)

2008-09-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to sort through my photos of different events/activities or post them here. I also want to write a few more political articles just to get people to think about their alliances vs. ideals.
In the mean time check my flickr account for some photos that I've posted :-)

God's evening masterpiece

2008-09-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

One evening I went to take a picture of the sunset and in each direction of the sky I saw something unique.

The little things - up at 14,000 feet

2008-09-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

If you're curious what might be growing amongst the majority of rocks at 14,000 feet here are a few things.

This is at the top of Mt. Cameron, an unofficial 14er.

Through the fog

2008-09-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

I usually have not discussed politics on my blog, and I don't feel that my opinions will change the outcome of the election. I did feel the need to respond to friends and family who are using their "feelings" based on propaganda (t.v./mainstream media/staged and frivolous debates) to argue with me about politics. They would argue with me and mention how Obama is keen and intelligent on the "issues." When I'd press them to discuss the issues in an informed and objective manner, none of them could. Not that they are incapable, just that they'd rather stick with their feelings and root for their team. In my opinion, loyalty to McCain/Obama is loyalty to a white and black version of the same monster.
I'll write a few more articles later, like the ones posted below, but in the mean time here are some pretty pictures:

That's my brother in the distance. It's hard to gain perspective sometimes in the mountains, some things that look small or close are actually large and far away.

Seeing through the fog. How many of us can do that?

Here is a common perspective. Fear of falling off a cliff. This was created with a zoom lens. We have to be careful of the lens we see things through.

I like how people argue with me, "Aren't you afraid that McCain will win?" I tell them "NO!" First of all I don't think he has a chance, secondly if he did win, it's the white version of Obama! I'm still going to see my responsibilities as a citizen of this world and as a Sikh to be a good person and create meaningful change within myself and my actions so that my personal global impact is positive.

Translation services - Iraq

2008-09-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Again, if anybody reading this has a hard time identifying the destructive and backward ideas of McCain I will rip him a new one, but until then I will continue to translate Obama's flowery and deceptive language.

From Obama's website (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/):
"Military experts believe we can safely redeploy combat brigades from Iraq at a pace of 1 to 2 brigades a month that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 – more than 7 years after the war began.

Under the Obama plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel."

ACTUALLY... do I need to translate this? Is anybody reading this dumb enough to believe that a "residual force" is necessary beyond corporate interests? Also, with the ridiculous cost of the war, why can't it end sooner? Summer of 2010 is a long way off. With millions being spent by the hour, that is an especially long gravy train.

He doesn't mention the size of the "residual force" or what "diplomatic" and "civilian personnel" will be protected. Honestly shouldn't the American embassies require security provided by the government and any American civilians/business men make their own arrangements? As a civilian, can I expect "forces" to join me while I vacation or do business in other countries? I think tax-payers might disagree.

More from Obama:
"Bush Administration’s blank check approach has failed to press Iraq’s leaders to take responsibility for their future or to substantially spend their oil revenues on their own reconstruction."

translation: Yeah, I'm amazed Bush has not forced the Iraqis to hire Bechtel to rebuild the destruction we caused! Seems like a no-brainer!

Obama:
"Obama will make sure we engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society—in and out of government—to forge compromises on oil revenue sharing"

translation: We will continue to impose our will and reap financial benefits from "their" oil, which we will likely control indefinitely with our "residual force."

Translation services - energy

2008-09-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

From Obama's website (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy):

1. Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump
2. Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
3. Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
4. Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
5. Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
6. Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Translation:
1. Use tax money to increase profits of oil companies. How will he provide relief? "an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills." Isn't that nice, he's giving us some of our own money back, but only if we use it for energy (i.e. profits for oil companies).
2. Any time you see the word "private" you have to be on alert. Here he's saying that he will use $150 billion, which is no small amount, of our (tax payer's) money to invest in "private" business (read Exxon, etc.) to "build a clean energy future." What does that mean? Shouldn't the voters have a say in where this money gets invested and which technologies look the most promising? Bush invested in Hydrogen which may or may not be useful and is a long way off, while helping to destroy the electric car which already existed and already demonstrated enormous beneficial impact to reduce the consumption of resources.
3. Within 10 years, with the resources at your disposal, we could be almost completely off of oil! HELLO!!!! He also writes on his website "Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas. " What does "responsible" mean? It's environmentally destructive any way you look at it!
4. What is the point of this? Why not electric cars that don't need any gas and get even better mileage? It's not like they don't already exist.
5. Why 10% by 2012? Why not 50% by 2012? Why not education programs that help people reduce energy usage instead of finding ways for people to continue to consume more?
6. Not soon enough.

Solution:
1. Short term solution would be a public campaign to encourage people to carpool and use public transport. Also increase public transport options. Long term, there are thousands of solutions.
2. Use the funding to support the National Laboratories and government programs with clear objectives and oversight to produce energy solutions.
3. We reduce our use of gas and use gas-free products when or if they become available.
4. Use electric cars, air cars, whatever it takes to reduce our need for oil.
5. We learn to live with less electricity and build houses that don't require any energy input more than what the sun, wind, rain can provide.
6. We can only reduce emissions by doing it on an individual level. We can start now, we don't need Obama.

Translation services - the issue of healthcare

2008-09-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

If you are voting for McCain, you're an idiot, there's really nothing I can say different than that. If you're voting for Obama, you've bought into a lot of hype. Here and maybe in future blog posts I will translate statements from his website and express how dysfunctional, and corrupt they truly are. I want to expose the idea that Obama brings significant change to the way Washington is now a slave to big, corrupt, environmentally destructive, human rights insensitive "business."

Barack Obama on healthcare (source http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/):
Barack Obama's Plan
Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All

Translation:
Instead of using the taxes we already pay for healthcare to insure that all Americans have healthcare, Obama believes that we should continue to allow insurance companies and drug companies to make a profit off of American's taxes and their continually declining health.

Solution:
HR 676, introduced by Dennis Kucinich, who also approached Al Gore and John Kerry to support this bill. Not only does this bill cover all Americans, it costs less than we're already paying in taxes. Instead Obama and the rest want us to have access to affordable insurance - MEANING we're still paying more than what we already pay in taxes.
Please read: http://www.healthcare-now.org/hr676.html
http://www.ontheissues.org/2004/Dennis_Kucinich_Health_Care.htm (This will help you understand the issue in depth)
or simply watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTgPFJnV76c (It's less than a minute)

P.S. I consider this like a seva (selfless service) for those who have bought into "change" and "hope" and are being led down a path that leads to more of the same. Also, I'm willing to tear down McCain as well if the readers of this blog wish. I just think that if you have any intelligence his normal speeches are enough to turn you off to his diseased behavior. I shouldn't have to translate him, he's already espousing in plain language the same things which are destroying this great nation (i.e. war, human rights abuses, heavy dependence on oil (foreign or domestic), mass consumption, environmental destruction, fear-based tactics, socially conservative ideas which limit the freedoms of religion, choice, etc.)
I'm not a pessimist, I just don't put faith in either of these politicians. I have faith in God and that we are all part of God. Our hope and change comes from our behavior and lifestyles, which have a global impact. Let's celebrate our own power of change and hope and become great within ourselves. WaheGuru!

Funny Video - nailing politicians

2008-09-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

14ers - at the top

2008-09-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

The pictures I've been showing are from 3 14ers we did on one weekend. I've since done one more, which was a crazy hike, but also awesome. I'll put pictures up from that when I upload them.

At the top of Mt. Democrat with my brother.

At the top with my brother and my friend M'hamed.

At the top of Mt. Lincoln.

At the top of Mt. Bross.

Coming down on the second day. We did Mt. Democrat on one afternoon and the other two the next morning. We were down by around 1 PM and went to the hot springs :-) It had been snowing on us a lot that day, so it was nice.

Thematic

2008-09-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

Continuing on the same theme

2008-09-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

I think we were there at the perfect time of the year to see thousands of wild flowers every where.

Even on the way there, we saw tons of flowers :-)

Flowers

2008-09-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of many flowers that I saw when hiking a few weeks back. This area was above the treeline, but still had a lot of grass and flowers. I think it was the exact right time of year to see all these flowers.

This flower was tiny, but very bright.

I'm not sure if these are considered flowers or seed pods? Some were purple others brown.

Labor Day weekend

2008-09-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Wow this weekend I went on the toughest hike I'd ever been on! I did another 14er (14,000 foot peak) only this time we started from 8,000 feet. On Saturday, I woke up at 2 AM to do my sadhana then picked up two friends to leave Española at 3:15 AM. We then drove to the hike in Colorado. We parked the car and started walking around 5:45 AM. After doing the hike and only stopping a few times to eat we got back to the car at 7:00 PM. We were walking the majority of the time for 13+ hours. It was quite a unique experience and it was very challenging. I will have pictures later. I haven't looked at them yet. In the mean time I still have pictures from my last hiking adventure which I'll share.

Of course we dipped in the lake!

2008-08-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

It just doesn't look that far, does it? Rest assured that peak would take a while to summit. The first 14er that we did is behind at that peak.

This zoomed in picture and later pictures I post may give more perspective on the size of the mountains and the surrounding areas.

This lake actually wasn't as cold as a lake we went into at a similar elevation last year when we hiked mount Sneffels. By we I mean me and my brother. Even though it was snowing on us most of the day and snowed a bunch when we left, we took the opportunity to get in the lake. These pictures are from the day before the snow.

Surroundings

2008-08-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

On the way to the hike in Colorado I saw these two views on each side of the road.

Driving while photographing

2008-08-25T10:43:00.001-07:00

Well I've done this a few of times, because sometimes it's the only option. Here is a photo I took while driving to Pagosa Springs after our hikes in Colorado.

The one who captures my mind

2008-08-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well God is the one who captures my heart and mind. God who is both Nirgun (unmanifest) and SarGun (manifest). The pictures on this blog are of the Sargun God. God in all forms inspires me daily and I try to share that inspiration here.

This is the beloved columbine, which I've never seen below 11-12,000 feet.
The beauty of this flower has captured my mind so often, but I only found out this time that it's fragrance matches its presence. It is a magnificent work of God's art.

Note to Gurumustuk Singh Ji (I hope he sees this): These are some of the stunning photos I promised - hehe. More to follow later :-)

These pictures are after it snowed the night before.

My brother and my friend walking ahead. I was still taking photos. I don't get to see this flower often or in abundance so I had to get some good photos :-)

This was the first columbine we saw, it was right near the path, the other we searched for and my brother spotted. This was taken the day before the snow. This particular group didn't have the deep purple that makes such a beautiful contrast.

One of my favorite things to do :-)

2008-08-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Cliff jumping!

This rock was the best height for diving. Not too high to hurt and not too low for the dive to be boring :-)

p.s. I'll put more of the amazing mountain pics up soon.

God is the best gardener

2008-08-18T20:21:00.003-07:00

I'm pretty sure God is the only gardener above 12,000 feet and the gardens are just amazing :-)

I gotta upload my pictures!

2008-08-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have some amazing photos from this weekend. Well I assume they are amazing, because what I saw was amazing and I took photos of what I saw (I haven't yet looked at the photos). Seriously these photos are going to blow your mind... or maybe not, since they are similar to other photos on my blog :-) but a rare few get to see such beauty in their lives, and an even rarer few, like myself, get to see it often :-)
I don't mean this as some kind of proud statement, just that I feel very blessed in this life, and I love that I get to share all the beauty that encompasses me.
I went camping and had incredible views. So stay tuned :-)

Photos from March

2008-08-13T08:33:00.001-07:00

I was going through my flickr account and found some pictures from March that I didn't post. I have some new photos to post, I just haven't uploaded them yet.

Just outside Española after a recent snow. This was a few days after a recent snow and a lot of snow had already melted.

Flashback to my Gymnast days

2008-08-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

I remember when Joey Hagerty was a little brat who got too much attention from everybody. Now I'm watching him in the olympics. He certainly proved to be really good and I'm happy for him carrying forward the tradition of great New Mexican gymnasts. I haven't seen him in probably 15 years, but he may still remember one of the two turban wearing gymnasts from New Mexico.

Shout out

2008-08-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

I got to give a shout out to my man Gurvinderpal Singh Ji! He spent a few months here in Española and we all enjoyed his company. He's one of those guys who uses his knowledge in Punjabi to understand Gurbani (some of my favorite people :-) and it was nice having him around. If anybody in Atlanta is reading this, you're lucky to have a member of your sangat back. Good luck to Gurvinderpal Singh Ji in his studies.

What you can do with 6x zoom

2008-08-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Spot the truck for reference :-)

I bought my camera to take advantage of the 6x zoom. I wanted something with a lot of zoom that would still fit in my pocket. Unfortunately it's a bit bulky, so I would like to get something smaller with the same zoom. I need to find it first.

Just not dumb enough

2008-08-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Maybe if all my decisions were based on feelings and stereotypes I would be dumb enough to vote for Obama or McCain. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for myself, I'm just not dumb enough.
Here is an interesting article:
Obama And McCain: Two Sides Of The Same Coin
A few points to consider:
"That’s a half Billion Dollars between Hillary Clinton and the “sainted” Barack Obama. Where did they get this money, from ordinary people that are loosing their homes to foreclosure that are working two jobs because their good job was outsourced by corporations that wanted to cut costs? Are they getting donations from people that can’t make the minimum on their credit card bills? You tell me."

" I’ll save you the trouble of looking on your own. Go to WWW.Opensecrets.org, a website that was made so everyday people like you and I could find these things out. The Center for Responsive politics tell you who gave and who got from whom. Check it out, or are you afraid of being disillusioned? If you care about the truth, take your look and see who’s behind the campaigns. You’ll see who corporate America is betting on to keep the status Quo. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the same Military-Industrial-Corporate-Complex is behind both candidates of the two major parties."

"He (Obama) even went so far to say that they never should have been able to be on the ballot, because there was evidence before the elections that they would win. How’s that for a “believer in Democracy”. Don’t let the people’s choice get a chance to run."

Aavaho Sikh Satguroo Kay Piaareeho

2008-08-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

"Come, O beloved Sikhs of the True Guru, and sing the True Word of His Bani."

The sweet nectar of God's name,
into my mind and body it came.
When I joined with the saints;
my body the canvas, the word as the paints.

I painted a mural colorful and bright,
pleasing to my ears as well as my sight.
The Guru's masterpiece took residence in my heart.
Come, O beloved Sikhs, lets enjoy this most beautiful art.

Nice place to hang out

2008-07-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

San Antonio hot springs in the Jemez mountains in New Mexico.

Let's see if I can jump this stream...

2008-07-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Mi amigo, Hari Nam Simran Singh Ji, attempting to jump the stream. He's pretty tall, and he did make it.

Let me try :-) This is Siri Chand Singh Ji, also from Mexico, jumping the stream.

Next Gurusevak Singh ji.

Y mi hermano (and my brother).

Yeah, after watching other people do it and taking some pictures, I had to give it a shot. I didn't get a good take off and one of my feet landed in the water.

Beating the Hybrids

2008-07-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

After my brother and I rebuilt the engine on his Geo Metro, we started getting really good gas mileage. My brother recently bought some aerodynamic hubcaps which may have helped our gas mileage. Yesterday he broke three of our personal records for mileage, he got 47 MPG on the way to work (mostly uphill), 82 MPG on the way down, and finally reached over 60 with 60.6 MPG for the day's average. Not bad huh? Take into account a lot of that is due to driving habits and knowing how to get the best mileage. Also though, it is a really well built car.

A few flowers

2008-07-28T12:08:00.001-07:00

It seems that my blogging has permanently slowed down and also my readership has reduced, so it's all good :-) Sometimes I upload pictures and I want to blog them, I just don't have the time.
Here are a few pictures from an outing we had on July 4th which was really fun.

An interesting day

2008-07-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back some friends and I went to a nearby place called Nambe falls, where there is a waterfall and a creek to swim in. It was sunny and warm when we got there, but things changed really quickly :-)

Hiking into a canyon area where the waterfall is and some pools below it for swimming. Unfortunately my camera was acting up and I didn't get any pictures of the falls.

It started raining and then hailing. It came so fast and so hard.

The road we came in on, was now totally flooded.

Mi amigo Pancho made it across in his jeep.

My brother was checking it out, outside the car, the Buick was checking it out from inside.

After waiting about a half hour, my brother's creative abilities got us out of difficult situations. However other people got stuck, so we stayed to help.

What is this? Snow with green deciduous trees in front?
It's the remnants of the hail.

It really did look a lot like snow.

I need to keep my camera closer

2008-07-22T08:22:00.001-07:00

Last night was an amazing sunset. It changed colors and the clouds changed shape and it remained like an amazing changing work of art for more than a half hour. We were playing volleyball in one of the fields near the Gurdwara and had a beautiful backdrop. Next time I have to get a photo :-)

Rest of my Solstice pictures

2008-07-17T14:25:00.001-07:00

The rest of my summer solstice sadhana pictures are in my flickr account.

These are two people for whom I have so much respect and reverence. I am blessed beyond words in this lifetime to know such great people and to spend time with the sadh sangat.

Click here to see the rest of my pictures.

When people say...

2008-07-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

When people say "I like to travel."
I always hear:
"I like to go on vacation."

Random scene at solstice

2008-07-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

There are more pictures at my flickr account.

Just in case...

2008-07-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just in case there are people who read my blog that don't already read Gurumustuk Singh's blog. You gotta go and hear the incredible music from the summer solstice sadhana camp. Mrsikhnet.com

More solstice pictures

2008-07-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for tomorrow morning?

I wasn't ready for this :-) The line was sooo long. But I ended up with a good spot :-)

A lot of people ready to meditate!

Some people probably left their tents and went backwards - hehe.

All my photos are taken in between the meditations, when people are breaking and stretching etc.

Most people wear white. It's encouraged to wear white during the white tantric yoga.

During the break I looked over and spotted this really famous and really tall guy stretching. He didn't know the paparazzi were present. I also got some cute photos of his little ones :-)

Interesting Day

2008-07-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

On the first Sunday of Solstice I was down the mountain doing ishnaan seva at the Gurdwara. Then my brother and I decided to help Gurvinderpal Singh Ji fix his car. We lucked out because the parts we needed were in stock at auto zone in Española. The only lame thing was that we were missing Gurdwara to fix the car. If you have a civic and if someday your car suddenly doesn't start but is getting gas and a spark in the plugs, it's probably the ignition coil. Anyway, we got to see some of the broadcast of the Gurdwara and got there for the very end.

It was Siri Dyal Kaur Ji's birthday. Nice way to spend it, serving the sangat.

This baby was adorable, with his turban and little chola and mala, plus he smiled a lot.

The moon was out already. I never seem to be able to get a good picture of the moon.

I ended up going down the mountain for a birthday party for my pitaji, then I went back up and came down for work the next day after sadhana :-)

The sun rising as I'm going down the mountain to go to work.

Going down the road.

I thought this was interesting

2008-07-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I never put this on my blog, but I was thinking about it recently so I thought I should:
http://www.punjabheritage.org/material-heritage/many-colours-of-sikh-art.html
At this URL is an interesting article about historical Sikh paintings. One of the things that particularly struck me was a painting of Maharaja Ranjit Singh with a man named Guru Sadhu Singh.
Since people have criticized other Sikhs with the word Guru in their name, I thought it would be interesting to bring to light a historic reference of a Sikh with the word Guru in his name.

The place we're all missing :-)

2008-07-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well the Summer solstice Sadhana camp was amazing! Really I can't describe it, it is the best time of my whole life and I love every second of it. Here are some pictures from my first time up the mountain this year.

You can see the tents and the shelter where most activities occur at the camp.