I feel the need, the need for...

blogging... (yes, i know it doesn't work as well as "speed") but trust me speed is going to have nothing to do with this blog... so go ahead make some popcorn, get settled in and come with me on a tale that is a cross between the princess bride and the alchemist, and yes a little top gun for good measure...

so... our story begins in a little apartment on 9th street in santa monica, california... the boy who lives there has led a very blessed life and tries his best not to forget it... however, he never ceases to be amazed at how amazing the universal principles are... and how consistent they are. These are the rules that the universe follows and if we are in alignment with them and using them for good, life is a constant flow of magic... if however we are unaware of them or using them in a negative way we suffer... it's written about it every tradition and taught by every great teacher that has ever walked this planet, yet most still seem to be unaware of it or in denial of its truth...
what I'm talking about specifically is what Earl Nightingale called the Strangest Secret in the world... after making a study of the most successful people throughout history which lasted over 25 years, looking for the secret as to why some people seemed to get everything they wanted while the rest seemed to be at the mercy of circumstance and constantly struggling from one trial to the next... he reduced everything he learned down to a single sentence... "we become what we think about"
maybe you've heard...
"thoughts become things"
"we reap what we sow"
"pray believing that you already have, and it shall be yours"
from marcus arelius and Alexander the Great, from Jesus the Christ to the Dali Lama, from Oprah Winfrey to Dorthy from the wizard of oz... they all said the same thing... "there's no place like home"... and... "you become what you think about."

so for me... my trip was to be a celebration of all life from the highest in spirituality to the most primal in the secular... and so that was my intention. One specific part being that I would really like to deepen my knowledge and practice of meditation while here... these two countries are steeped in spiritual tradition and practice and their ancient roots have always spoken to me.

so there it is, my intention... then released... not attached to anything happening but open to everything... I'm a "yes" if the universe offers... and so here's a brief glimpse of what has unfolded so far...

my hosts' Noo and Jung are deeply spiritual and Noo in particular has been studying meditation for many many years, knows many of the great monks personally and it's probably his favorite topic to talk about... pretty good start.

then, having absolutely no solid idea of what I was going to do when I landed... they asked me what my plan was... i repeated my intention to them which I had previously shared and said that I was totally open... did they have any suggestions... after realizing my seriousness about meditation they began to help me look for temples that offered classes. I made a list of some of them and went out the next day to get more info. By the end of the day I was no closer to finding what I was looking for on my end and was a little beat down by the extreme heat of the day... I called to check in and Jung said she thought she had some good news... "what?" I asked

she said that she had called a friend, and well that friend has a connection with one of the highest ranking monks from Malaysia, who just happens to be having a meditation retreat in Bangkok next week, and it's one of only two all year that he opens to foreigners, and that although normally there are anywhere between 200-300 people per retreat, this one was being capped at 15... and even though all of his retreats are booked for at least 6 months in advance, including this one... she was able to get me a spot, did I want it?

hell ya!!! so that is happening next week and there will be more on that for sure... if I don't sponteneously burst into the enlightened samadi state from which I merge with all there is... (i wonder if they have blogging in the higher realms... God I hope so...but back to the present.

so the day after receiving that bit of amazing news my friends take me and Master Ananda to the ancient city... this is a place that has replicas of all of the major spiritual spots in thailand... it is the fast track for spiritual seekers... which is what our group is all on : ) and after a beautiful morning of learning history, myth, tradition, and ritual, brewed together with the magical blending of all of our unique individual journeys, the US, India, Thailand, and China all represented (Jung's family is chinese) Noo wanted to take us to a temple of a certain forest monk who was the teacher of his teacher. This place has a special mortorium where they keep the bones of the aleman from Thailand. The alamen are the monks who have achieved enlightenment and have been freed from the cycle of reincarnation... what is of particular interest is that this is one of the temples that has an actual bone from the buddha... the tradition here is for people to be cremated when they die and their bone remnants kept in a sacred urn... however they have found that the bones of enlightened beings turn into glass after cremation... a powerful example of the clarity and purity of consciousness that they attained while here.

So, Noo wanted us to see the glass bones, which of course I was totally enthralled to see... as I know that several of the Christian saints after being buried for years, many have not decayed at all... so glass bones seems entirely possible and another reminder that there is so much more happening than we can see.

So after paying our respects, Noo went to get a couple souveneur shop while Ananda, Jung and I took a few more pictures... as we were meeting back up with Noo, who was talking with a Nun who had just sold him some books, he said that there was a monk who lived here that spoke english and did i want to meet him... "yes" and next thing I knew the Nun handed me the phone and said talk to him...

I said hello, and he asked me my name... I said Jeff... he said not name, "aim"... oh... okay that was a trick question... okay aim, what's my aim... is this a riddle... quit thinking and just speak from your heart man... okay... I said, my aim is to know myself more fully... He said meet him by the library in 10 minutes.

We all headed to the library and we were all very excited, except the pressure was on... I was going to get to speak with him for a couple of minutes... but how do I make this count... I gotta have a good question... maybe something like...I'm a big fan of the robes, but why orange... no that's stupid... how about, Ive always thought of being a monk... I mean you guys aren't allowed to work, people just give you money, your are extremely respected, but the short hair thing is a dealbreaker, any loopholes for that one?... no, no, time was running out... we were almost there... relax man, relax, just be yourself...

so, he came and immediately started talking to Ananda, and after a minute or so, I was like, hey what about me... Ananda's already a guru... I'm the one that needs help... just look at my hair! but I would get my time as would everyone else... for the next 1 1/2 hours this monk shared with us techniques to help us with our meditations, specific insights into each of our lives, with a guidance that is spoken in that simple riddle kind of way... where you know that he is seeing so much more than he is sharing but that he knows what we are ready to hear and won't reveal more. He even lead us in a 10-15 minute meditation after which we each got to ask personal questions about our lives, our missions, energy, and for a glimpse at what the next level of consciousness was like (i mean this is a guy who has been devoted to spiritual practices his entire life, has meditated for over 20 hours straight and from his penetrating eyes and sponteneous laughter, if anyone knew it was him)... then we asked to take his picture which we did in front of an amazing statue of the buddha with the huge temple as a backdrop. We left in awe... Noo said that in all of his years of coming to this temple, (his grandfather even lived on the grounds for several years) he had never heard of getting this much one on one time with one of the high ranking monks. Ananda said that in his 2 1/2 years in thailand he had never actually spoken to a monk one on one... and for me well you would have thought I just got to sit in Santa's lap and tell him that I wanted a red rider bb gun for Christmas... but instead of shooting my eye out, this santa gave me hints on opening an extra eye...

I took pages of notes on the way home... jotting everything I could remember down... I will be writing that, but some of it was very personal it probably won't make the blog, but I would be happy to share it off line if anyone is ever interested. However, the gist of it of it is similar to Santiago who traveled the world in search of his personal legend and ended up meeting the enlightened alchemist who shared... "it is indeed our destiny to find our personal legend, but we must listen to the voice inside and act upon the clues it gives us and follow the omens... and in the end, even though our journey may take us to the four corners of the world, the treasure we seek is inside and often found right back at the place we began."

and so each night here I have gone to bed with more and more of a feeling that I am indeed in a fairy tale and yet it couldn't be more real. I have so much gratitude for God (you can call him whatever you want) but the truth is that this first week here has reminded me he is ever present, all knowing, and all powerful and that we do indeed experience what we think about... and God's response to all our thoughts... echos Westley's consistent response to Princess Buttercup's every whim...

"As you wish"

as for the top gun part of this tale... everyone here has call names... Noo means little mouse, Jung means messy... and they are still working on one for me... they are thinking of something to do with cool water or ice since I have been struggling with the heat...and if they go with ice... just remember... that's Mr. Iceman to you...

all right that's enough for now, Baietto requesting flyby... yep, gonna have to buzz the tower...
(fade out and cue "highway to the dangerzone" as the credits roll)
over and out,
ice