Tep...come get your elephant! Thailand's Elephants Rock!!!!!!

We made it! Good thing we decided to skip Jaipur due to the 108 temp missing the bombings AND we missed the cyclone that hit next door in Burma. Thank you God.

We finally got to Thailand after an all nighter flight delay and landed ourselves on the infamous Khosan Rd. A very hip place with lots of guest houses and shopping. Unfortunately, Celeste got sick and was in bed for two days. (Good thing this traveling bugs never hit us at the same time.) Anyways, we hung out there for a couple of days getting messages and mani/pedis for 5 bucks and I got to see my dear friend Ross who has moved here to marry his Thai Sweetheart. We then headed north for Chaing Mai. It's about an hours plane ride north into the mountains of Thailand and much cooler that Bangkok as far as the weather goes. Very cool shopping at the night market that starts at 6pm and goes til about midnight. I bought a pair of silk wrap around pants for 8 dollars US that were going for 149 US in Hawaii...I got two ;O.

But by far, the coolest thing we have done to date it to go hang out with the elephants for the day. Not only did we get to ride them bareback for several hours, we got to bathe them and swim with them as well. We left at 7am and returned around 5pm less about a one hour drive each way. We started with learning the daily medical inspection that included checking their sleep marks to make sure they laid down to sleep at night and then we got to check the dung for moisture and consistency...nice. We then learned the three ways to mount and elephant and all I can say is that it is NOTHING like riding a horse! We rode about and hour+ out to the waterfall where we got to swim with them and can I say...this was the most amazing thing. They completely submerged themselves on their sides in the water and of course could stay under forever because they could breathe through their trunks. They stretched and played and rolled from one side to the other as we all tried to stay on. We then gave them a break for lunch and we served a traditional Thai lunch of various rices, banana crisps, eggs and sweets. Meanwhile, the elis played freely in the water until we fed them the rest of our uneaten lunch. We then mounted and proceeded to the nearest road for the ride back. Can you imagine....driving down the road and seeing 4 elephants walking single file? It was all pretty incredible. I'm really still in awe over the whole experience.

Oh ya, and my Eli's name was Boon Puk. Oh, and there was Pai Mai, a 5 week old baby who thought it was super funny to head but me while I was feeding his Mommy bananas. And one more thing...there is not much you can do when your three ton elephant wants to stop to eat...every two minutes! There are no rains and no saddle and not even a God given mane to hold on to. So, you walk 5-6 strides and they eat, then you walk 5-6 strides and they eat, and so on and so on and so on.

The scenery was quite amazing. At one point we were walking our elephants through the and it dawned on me...I am in Thailand, riding an elephant, in the river and it's poring down rain. This is the best thing ever!

I have soooo much more to tell, but it time for my 10 dollar, two hour message so it will have to wait. Until next time.

Khap Khan Kaaaa, P

PS We got to give them baths too...pictures to follow upon our return :)
PSS Tep was Boon Pucks trainer and everytime BP went for food on his own, I would call out to Tep to come get his elephant.

Post Navaratri

Navaratri. What can I say? I am still shifting so much from the experiences I had there, that I might be able to put concepts to words by some time this fall. Suffice it to say, my heart snapped, crackled and popped wide open with a little help from my new friends (and a LOT of help from one closest to my heart in particular), and I no longer have any ideas of what the future holds. Prior to the trip, I thought I had an idea of the future, but was paralyzed with fear. The fear is gone... and every thought running around my head these days has to do with how I can bring more light through my heart to share with this planet. There's also quite a few thoughts dedicated in the general direction to that one closest to my heart...but I have to sit back and see what happens with all of that.

Prema and I wandered to Chilianaula for Ayurvedic PanchKarma the same day I tearfully waved goodbye to all of my new friends. She let me cry on her shoulder for awhile and held me up. ;-) Luckily, I was able to reject getting sick until we were at the ashram and unpacked, though the trip to the ashram was with a troubled and sour tummy. Then I was able to relax into "Delhi Belly in the safety of the ashram. Happily, I was not puking, and one bathroom had western style toilets. The timing rocked, as I saw Dr. Vijay the very next morning, weak and somewhat trembling.

Prema took tremendous care of me. I am so grateful for her. She let me rest and packed up our ashram room so we could move into the guest house. So sweet. I was relieved I only had to drag myself out of bed in order to place my body in the next one.

PanchKarma is definitely NOT a spa stay. I never thought I'd say this, but after day 3, I remarked to Prema, "I don't think I can handle 2 massages a day for 5 days!" The oil massage is no big deal, and I'm loving the steam bath (don't tell my masseuses, but I play with my sweat while it's pouring off of me when I am sitting in the box ;-) ), but the powder massage is gruesome! Do you remember giving/getting snakebites when you were a kid? Where you grab someone's arm with both hands and twist the skin in opposite directions? They do that on purpose while grinding this powder into my skin! Not just the arms, either -- the thighs, the stomach, the arms, the breasts, the back...Ouch!!

I just keep repeating "Om Namah Shivayah, Om Namah Shivayah, Om Namah Shivayah" in my head. The girls giggled at that when I told them.

And as far as enemas go...Let's just say it was a nice little extra special gift that I had diarrhea before the enemas started. For those of you who don't know what PanchKarma is, there's a great description on this website. http://www.babajiayurveda.info/EN-English.htm They are really not a big deal, but it was sweet to start my treatment "clean" so to speak.

The food is good. Bland, but good. It's really healthy, of course. Raju, our cook, immediately took to calling me "Butterfly" because of my eye glasses. It's kind of cool to have been given 2 new names in one week!

2 days after we got here, Muniraji came to stay for a couple of nights. We were able to receive chandun 2 more times from him. He hummed the whole time...

The people here are sweet, and it is nice to see some familiar faces from Herakhan. Aarti is an entirely different event here with the celebration having finished. Last night, we sang without a harmonium to lead us in song. THAT was a treat 2 ways: 1) I'm really am actually learning the words and cadence of the songs, so it must be getting close to test time, and 2) It's certainly a practice in non-judgement when the whole group starts to sing really flat because there's no music! I love it! Had to laugh...

Prema has left for her time share and I have a big room all to myself. Last night, a young woman from California who has been in treatment for 40 days(!) did a tarot reading for me that was amazingly powerful and, of course, dead on for everything that has happened, and everything that I can feel coming into my life. My immediate future calls for introspection and reflection, and I can't think of a more perfect place to be than here right now, for doing more inner work.

From my heart to yours,
Saraswati
aka
Celeste
aka Butterfly

Solo to the Timeshare

So in efforts to ditch all the wonderful enema experience Celeste was having, I hightailed it North. As things turned out, Muniraji's driver gave Rydas, myself and a couple of others a lift to Haldwani and dropped me at the train station where I boarded what I hoped was the right train, a second class sleeper that I shared with a wonderful family (that spoke English) who were traveling North for a years job in the Life Insurance business. It's a good thing that I told them my plans. Because being the blond that I am, I thought my stop was at 3pm the next day. So after a delightful dinner that the family shared with me I pulled out my sleeping bag and settled in on the top bunk only to be awoke at 3AM for my stop in Ambola. (Now there's a blond moment of the week award if I ever had one). The family preceded to push me out the door with my sleeping bag and began throwing me my luggage and various other articles of clothing I had left on the train in my sleepy state.

Where the Hell was I and how was I gong to get out of there?

The train station also served as the dumping station for the rail's bathrooms so needless to say, the place reeked!. There were bodies sleeping everywhere and it was a humid 85+ degrees. I preceded to the A/C waiting room that was locked so I settled for the woman's waiting area by the bathrooms. At least they didn't stink nearly as bad. I waited with the geckos and mice for dawn to break before I set out to look for a taxi. I asked a security guard and he said to wait. Shortly thereafter, a young gentleman pulled up..."Taxi?" He gave me a lift to the timeshare for 1k rupees saying it was 3 hours away. It sounded about right, but was actually only1.5 hours, so he was paid well. That is, if he was really even a taxi driver. I think the security guard simply called a friend to make a couple of bucks.

In any event, he drove like a bat out of Hell with the tunes cranked and got me to where I need to be. Unfortunately, I had to wait two hours for the gondola to open before I could get up the hill to my room, so I read, half dozing, in the lobby. When I finally got there, I showered and climbed into my KING SIZE BED WITH PILLOWS and slept for 4 hours...pure Heaven after 2 weeks of sleeping on Ashram floors!

There I spent the next ten days integrating, meditating, reading and doing yoga. It was nice to be away from all the traffic and honking horns. I was the only white chick there so every time I made a move it did not go unnoticed, right down to what I ate. They even threw me a party for my Birthday, Birthday cake and all.

Well, I'm off on the next adventure, that is to get to Dheli, again by train, to meet Celeste to continue on to Kalcuta. I'm traveling by day this time, so no chance sleeping through my stop ;)

Until next time...Namastee, Prema

Life in an Ashram

So, we get there and these 8 year old little boys through our bags on there heads as if they were feathers. We journey down the road into the unknown and are deposited into a large room-18 women and one toilet - that doesn't flush without tossing in a big bucket of water. Our schedule for the next ten days are as follows: wake at four AM and hike ten minutes to the freezing Ganga River to bathe and wash away the sins of our past lives. ( I cried the first two mornings). 5AM Chunden- a sandelwood paste applied to the forehead to open the third eye. This take approximately 1 1/2 hours of chanting to get throught roughly 300+people. 6:30Am Group meeting to share our experiences. 7AM Arti- 11/2 hours of chanting and meditating. 9am Puja- religious ceremony in Hindi. 10am-Havan-Fire ceremony in which cocaonuts are offers to the fire to rid whatever you want to rid- ie: pain, fear, health aillments, etc... 1:30p, Banderas- lunch of blessed prasad (food) for 300+, we sit on the floor and eat with our fingers off leaf plates and bowls,,,amaising vegi meals that take a couple of hours to get through. 3pm - afternoon bathe in the Ganga River-easier when its nice out, but still cold. 4pm- usually guest yogi speakers for a little Q&A. 7pm-Arti-two more hours of meditation and chanting that sometimes turns into a dance party. 9pm-sleep FINALLY! This goes on for TEN DAYS...and we go to another ashram afterword...WHY?? You ask. This time for some Ayvedic cleansing. However. I am now on my way to a time share further up into the Hymalaya that has a real bed and hot running water. Celeste will stay for more cleancing, but I'm outta here on the overnight train to Chandigahr.

Oh, and Hairy Cow has been blessed by the Guru and is now Holy Cow. Addorned with Mala (Prayer) beads he is finding he sacred self in India and doing quite well. He will however, be having some plastic surgery in Thailand to remove the tag from his ass.

Hope this blog finds you all healthy and well. Namastee,
Prema (my new Hindi/Spiritual name- It means Love and was giving to me by the Guru, Muniraji.

Bole Babaji Ki Jai

Hairy Cow

Well, we made it! After 18 hours of flight and an overnight in Taipei, we have made it to Dheli and are on our way to the ashram. As most of you can tell, Celeste truely is a writer, however, I do have a story.

For those of you who know Hairy Cow, I'm sorry to report that he has had a terrible accident. (Don't worry Lynnie, he is fine and anticipating his transformation from Hair Cow to Holy Cow at the ashram.) Turns out, he'd been tucked away safely in my backpack for his journey only to be discovered by Tasha, my German Shorthair Pointer and was left with a deep head laseration and duel severed horns. After an hour and a half surgery including a double horn transplant and 37 stitches to the head, he spent the night in recovery and has now joined his place in our traveling alter. The surgery was a success with the exception of some slight, but perminate hair loss that has left him looking a bit like Donald Trump. His new intentions are to lose his vanity by a cerimonial head shaving in surendering to the Divine Mother and asking for forgiveness for his horn envey as the holy cows here wonder the streets with extremely long horns...we wish him well in his spiritual journey.

Hope this blog finds you all well as we head to the ashram. (Next blog in two weeks or so)

Namastee, Patti

How it all began

Wow. I am going to India AND Thailand.

I was checking my email in a coffee shop one day when I got an email from Patricia Henderson. "Who the heck is Patricia Henderson?" crossed my thoughts as I double clicked to open her message.

OH...it's Patti! Cool!

I met Patti at a Firetribe gathering (www.firetribe.org) on Oahu when I was still making my way on my big move to Kaua'i from Wisconsin. (Yep, I missed all of the record breaking snows.) Patti was that person at the gathering, whom I felt like I've known for many, many lifetimes. Her smile is big, warm and friendly and I wanted to get lost in her big warm hug. I remember dancing around the fire all night, coming out of my dance trance long enough to see her shaking her rattle on the side of the fire circle and taking in her brilliant smile. That smile encouraged me to keep dancing -- it was a long night and the whole point was to keep dancing or drumming for the entire night (thus the trance state) -- as I felt a new surge of joy bubble up within me.

So, I opened her email -- and as I read it, my body was wracked with goosebumps.

I have come far enough in my spiritual revolution to know that my emotions are the signal I need to follow. Logic is what I put to use to make the things happen that my emotions tell me what to do. Instead of following my emotions, fear responded to her email that day, instead. I thought about my finances and in a somewhat disassociated way, watched my fingers type how "I'd love to go, but there was no way" I was going to be able to swing a trip of that magnitude.

Later that afternoon, I remembered the goosebumps -- or better yet "thrill bumps" as Abraham calls them (http://www.abraham-hicks.com/) -- and I decided to kick fear aside, and find a way to go. With excited anticipation, I responded to her email and told her to "CALL ME!!!!" When we finally connected, we talked, screamed, cried and laughed for a good solid hour about how this trip came about for her, what our fears were, and how we were going to pull this off.

The friend who had taken me to Firetribe and had also met Patti, said "You're going to travel for almost 8 weeks with someone you met only once?" "Yes I am!" I replied. She tickled my funny bone when she asked this question, because I had only met her a couple of times at a similar type of event! She offered to have me visit her on Oahu when I was moving to Kaua'i, and said I could only stay with her for a couple of days because she had just had a house guest. Well we got along so well, I stayed for three weeks!!!

I am now visiting Big Island for the first time. Patti and I are in a windfall of preparation. We're backpacking and taking one empty duffel bag each. There may be some shopping involved. Last night, it occurred to us that we have to pack winter gear because when we looked up one of the timeshares we are going to be staying in, we discovered we are going to be staying in the Himalayas!!! It's 44 degrees farenheit and drops to a whopping 4 degrees at night. Patti's all psyched because she wants to go skiing. Aside from cross-country skiing, the last time I went downhill -- in the 7th grade, in Wisconsin -- I narrowly escaped death as I shot straight downhill on a rutted iced-over path between two very closely planted and mature trees with my breath caught in my throat. I couldn't tell you if my eyes were open or not. I never traversed that hill again. Nor did I ever go on another ski trip.

I hear skiing in the mountains is quite different.

The part I am most anticipating, however, is our stay at the ashram. I have never done anything like this and know deep in my inner core -- my Inner Being, that this is key to completely allowing my inner light to shine fully through, and my fears to be cast aside forever. I have this deep sense -- this knowing, that this is an opportunity to Be who I really am. The time has come for me to trust that I am safe and protected. It is time for me to reveal that part of me whom I have hidden away and doggedly protected -- since the earliest of my childhood years.

I can't wait to fully embrace you, Authentic Inner Me. I can already see you winding your way to me in order for us to step into each other. It is heart-warming to see you within sight.

Patti, thank you for offering me the option to seize the opportunity of a lifetime. I look forward to your company, your ceaseless energy, your unabashed personality -- and to taking you to a dance club in India!!!

Peace, Love and Light,
Celeste

Two weeks before we leave

Here it begins. A journey of spiritual development.

I first met Celeste at a fire circle on Oahu in Dec of '06. I was drawn to her light through her smile and dance. She welcomed Mark (concert friend Mark) and I to a glorious three days of chanting, drumming and dancing and I will ever be grateful to her for sharing with me her inner strength. She is an amazing woman and I hope you all get to meet her one day.

MY journey first started when I met Sondra Ray here on the Big Island. Her writings, healings, and Ho 'o pono pono blessing have truly changed my life. When she invited me on this trip to the Divine Mother Festival at an ashram 10 hours outside of Delhi, I thought "how nice would that be, but how could I possible make that happen?" As I contemplated and meditated, more and more I was being called to the journey of lifetime in which I am about to embark. On a whim, I fired out an email to Celeste and invited her to join me. As the stars aligned for her, she was able to make it happen as well.

So as we leave for this journey to find our inner selves, and strengthen our souls for this and other lifetimes, we invite you to join us. Namaste, P.