1000 STEPS HEAVENWARD

Chamundi Hill

One of the things to do in Mysore is to climb Chamundi Hill in the countryside. 1000 steps to the top of a mountain and at the 1062 m summit- a temple. There is a 7 story gateway tower at the bottom of the steps and a lady in a candy stand with a baby monkey on her shoulder, sucking its thumb.

I arrive after taking a rickshaw by myself. I ask the driver if it is safe to climb alone...he assures me it is. I ask him to wait 10 minutes for me to scope out the action. There are no white people, only local men sitting and hanging on the steps. I am hesitant to go alone. I see a white, German tourist with a backpack descend and I ask her if she speaks English...yes...and how it is on the trail. She says a little lonely as no one is up there. Even scarier for me! I start climbing and feel breathless and panicky, as I see the bushes of the mountside wrapping around the rock stairs. More Indian men loiter and stare. I think of the motto "Do one thing a day that scares you" but I am still unnerved. I keep climbing. Its hot and noon. I decide today is not the day and turn around back to catch my waiting rickshaw. Monkeys crawl over the house and fence at base. Get in rickshaw and go to Mysore Temple.

Later that night Yashoda gives me crap for going to Chamundi alone. Apparently there were cheetah sightings...

ONLNE:
"Cheetah warning in Mysore (Chamundi Hill)

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The locals in Mysore are strongly advising that people do not walk from Mysore to Chamundi Hill as suggested in the latest edition of the Lonely Planet. In the last few years the cheetah population on the hill has gone from 0 to about 20 and there have been over a dozen attacks on people in the last year alone. Check the newspapers as the attacks have been reported there. No one has died but several people have been seriously injured, including a few foreigners (no details, sorry - I tried to find and talk with someone who was attacked but I ran out of time). Take the bus (3 -/ Rs) or an autorickshaw or whatever, just don't walk.
The government has started actively capturing the cheetahs and relocating them to Bandipur National Park but it will take up to a year before the last cheetah is gone.
I noticed how unusually quiet the roads were going up the hill (I was on a motorbike); many locals used to walk up the road but no longer due to the attacks.
Apparently the cheetahs had easy prey with the farmer's livestock at the base of the hill, that is until the farmers started protecting their animals and the cheetahs (now over-populated and quite hungry) have turned to people. Be warned.
(Incidentally, I found this out by accident, I had been planning to walk to Chamundi Hill the following day.) Happy travels otherwise.

I invite Elise from NY , my roomie, to join me another day to climb so it is safer. We take a rickshaw there and lo and behold...apparently, Friday is holy day and the hill is mobbed with locals celebrating their religion. They bend over and dot each step with a dot of red powder and a dot of saffron.

They carry them in little baggies and climb each stair bent over. We ascend the stairs together and are harassed by brown teenage boys laughing and chiding us. Indian women want to take their picture with us. People stare at Elise wondering if she is Indian or a Bollywood star. We stopped at the man who lives in the cave halfway up and he handed out sugar. 2/3rds of the way up a solid rock statue of Nandi- Shiva's giant bull, carved in 1659.

people offer food and flowers to the priest. People drape it with flowers. We each got a red dot on our forehead. At the top, there is a massive line of people, thousands long to get into the temple. Policemen are on horses controlling the crowd. We overlook the city and sit on the edge of a stone ledge.

We descend the hill and my legs are shaky. At the bottom, I see a woman spinning with her hands in prayer. So I make a wish, pray my hands and spin 3 times, not knowing what it means. An Indian man laughs and says: "Good prayer!"

To make your life count, do the things that count.

My girlfriend Carrie died of breast cancer 2 years ago. At her funeral they played "Live like you were dying" by Tim McGraw. She has been my inspiration in life. Knowing not to waste time and to seize the moment. Carpe Diem.
"In 1902, as he lay dying at the age of 48, Cecil Rhodes could look back on a not undistinguished career. He had made a vast fortune in gold and diamonds. He had built railroads through the wilderness and become one of the century's great rulers. He had created an empire, which is more than your average 48-year-old has on his rsum. But Rhodes was not going gentle into any good night. On his deathbed he was heard muttering, "So little done, so much to do."
~(Forbes magazine 10 things to do before you die)

The following is taken from the list of:
John Tierney, 09.18.00 (I erased meaningless ones to me and added 'done' to those I've done!) Feel free to copy or add your own!!!! Damian and I made a list of 100 things to do a few years ago...I just can't find where I put it! So here is a new start...it may end up being a 1000!!!!

1. Go skydiving.

2. Go backpacking in Europe.

3. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

4. Eat cheese in Paris.

5. Tour the Louvre.

6. See the Mona Lisa.

7. See Africa.

8. Visit China

9. Make a pilgrimage. The destination might be a traditional one such as Jerusalem or Rome or Mecca. It might be a site of prehistoric rituals, like Stonehenge or Machu Picchu. For nature-worshippers it could be an African savanna or Amazonian rain forest; for music-lovers it could be La Scala or Bayreuth. The goal is a cathedral you hold sacred, a place where you can feel part of something larger. The reward is a moment, whether it's hearing the "Gloria" at St. Peter's or watching a gazelle take its first step, that you won't need a video camera to capture. (Forbes)

10. Climb the Himalayas

11. See the remains of the Berlin Wall.

12. Learn to surf well enough to surf. (Half done)

13. Memorize a poem and pass it on.

14. Read a poem at a poetry reading.

15. Self-publish a book of poetry.

16. Let someone else have the chance you missed. Maybe it will be one of the things on this list, like a trip you always meant to take but which eventually becomes impossible. With age come limitations. But with age also come wisdom and money. When it's too late for you, give someone younger what you always wanted. (Forbes)

17. Go to Tibet.

18. Plant a tree.

19. Learn to ballroom dance properly.

20. Learn how to salsa.

22. Live and work in LA

23. Teach someone to read.

24. Learn Chinese

25. Do 3 series of Ashtanga yoga

26. Go bungee jumping.

27. Learn to play the stock market.

28. Get a black belt in Kung fu

29. Learn jujitsu.

30. Go on a Vision Quest.

31. Send an inspiring message in a bottle.

32.

33. Start a Pay It Forward movement.

34. Create passive income.

35. Get a scuba diving license.

36. Publish a novel.

37. Save a life.

38. Write a personal mission statement, follow it, and revise it from time to time.

39.

40. Run a marathon. (Done)

41.

42. Participate in a protest.

43. See a lunar eclipse.

44. Give a large anonymous donation to the charity of your choice.

45. Rent out a penthouse suite and throw a party.

46. Fly first class. (Done)

47. Save a life.

48. Take a trip in a hot air balloon.

49. Learn to fly a plane.

50. Learn to hang-glide.

51.

52. Give $1000 to a stranger in need.

53. Start a real estate investment business.

54. Experience weightlessness.

55. Learn to ride a horse (done)

56. Go see Stonehenge.

57. Bungee jump from a helicopter. (Yes, you can really do this, but you have to do your homework to find a company that offers it. If you have about $10,000 to spend and think you have what it takes, these guys will let you heli-jump into the mouth of a volcano!)

58.

59. Watch the launch of a space shuttle.

60. Spend three months to a year living in Hawaii.

61. Travel around the world for six months to a year.

62. Ride a camel. (Done)

63. See gorillas in the wild.

64. Look for sunken treasure ships.

65.

66.

67. Ride the Trans-Siberian Express across Asia.

68. Go on a cruise.

69.

70. Spend St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland.

71. Spend New Year’s Eve at New York Times Square.

72.

73.

74. Go wild in Rio during Carnival.

75. Drive the Autobahn.

76. Spend Christmas on the beach drinking mai-tais. (Done)

77. Raft through the Grand Canyon

78. Scuba dive off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

79. See the aurora borealis. (Done)

80. Kiss the Blarney Stone.

81. Go deep sea fishing in the middle of the ocean.

82. Visit a concentration camp.

83. Run to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

84. Go to Mardis Gras.

85.

86.

87. Do volunteer work in a third world country. (Done)

88. Walk the Great Wall of China.

89. See all 7 Wonders of the World.

90. See Niagara Falls.

100. Spend a night north of the Arctic Circle during summer solstice in a hot tub, watching the sun circle above the horizon, proving once and for all to myself that the world is round.

101. Para-glide off the Baba Dag in Southern Turkey.

102. Climb a palm tree and pick a coconut.

103. See the Tour de France in person.

104. Sleep in an igloo.

105. See a polar bear in the wild before they go extinct.

106. Go to Burning man.

107.

108. Visit a Buddhist monastery. (Done)

109.

110. Build/design a house. (Done)

111. Swim with dolphins. (Done)

112. Become fluent in another language and use it. (D0ne)

113. Tour the Galapagos Islands.

114. Write your life story.

THE UNCONDITIONED MIND

If you are wondering why I haven't written lately, its because I've been tied up with a Tim Miller workshop here in Edmonton. Five episodes of yoga, sutras, Sanskrit chanting and other wisdoms. I had never heard of Tim Miller. It wasn't until Harmony and Jeff from Calgary's Yoga Shala recommended I go while when we were in India.

Check out his California studio: www.ashtangayogacenter.com

"Tim Miller has been studying and teaching Ashtanga Yoga for over 25 years and was the first American certified to teach by Pattabhi Jois at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India. Tim has a thorough knowledge of this ancient system, which he imparts in a dynamic, yet compassionate and playful manner. "My goal as a teacher is to inspire a passion for practice. The practice itself, done consistently and accurately, is the real teacher." Tim teaches workshops and retreats throughout the United States and abroad."

I am so glad I went! My jaw is still on the ground after seeing his range of pose-ability! Plus all of the Sanskrit memorization/ reciting...wow. It was very reminiscent of my recent trip to the shala in Mysore this summer, or as I call it: The yoga Olympics!

One of the classes was the Asana Doctor. I had asked a question about the difference between injuries vs. openings. There were a few laughs and comments like "pain" from the other yogis. Sharath called my experience an 'opening'. When Tim said it was "...re-framing it so you are not emotionally attached to the trauma", it was brilliant! It was very helpful for me to see the body/ mind connection and not allow for it to be the self-created mental obstacle.

I practiced under Sharath for 5 weeks and an 'opening' occurred during Supta Karmasana when Saraswati and Sharath both grabbed each of my limbs and put me in the pose. When Sharath said: "Now lift up onto your hands" , I did obeying, breathing & praying. I never knew I could get my feet behind my head, never mind lift unto my hands. All I could say was "Wow".

Afterwards I was ready to crack coconuts open with my bare hands! However, later...right hamstring PAIN and it was on strike!

If the body's cells regenerate every few years, how can an injury persist? Is it the mind hanging onto the emotional trauma and continually recreating the pain/ dysfunction? Re-framing an overstretched muscle as an opening means to me that I am moving forward. If I call it an injury, its holding me back and I am living in the past...wow!

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

~Wayne Dyer

Tim says the best way to heal an overstretched muscle is to strengthen it. Resting it will make it worse, as will continuing to stretch it. Doing the things that avoid pain and it never gets better, equaling chronic weakness. We have to go through the fire to be refined and purified. "Remove a thorn with a thorn." (Indian proverb)

So I guess I will continue to work through the opening until it expands.

As Tim says, the practice is the impetus to let go into a greater reality.

PERSPIRATION NOT PERFECTION...

A group of the yogi guys went with Tim and my beloved Damian to a Native sweat after the class. A taste of aboriginal Alberta ...

More advice from Tim: True yoga begins when class ends.

HOPE FLOATS 101

For an untold number of years, boats were always made of wood. Why? Because wood floats, while materials like lead sink. By observing what floats became the measure of the elements that boats could be made from. With new discoveries, we now see that it is possible to float an infinite number of substances:

"At any depth in a fluid there is an upward force due to the effect of gravity on the fluid. This results in a pressure applied over an area. If the density of an object in the fluid is greater than the density of the fluid, the object will sink. If the density is less than that of the fluid, the object will float upward due to the buoyancy from the fluid. An object of lower density will float to the top and only be submerged by an amount according to the ratio of the densities." ~Ron Kurtus /www.school-for-champions.com

Thinking outside of the way we normally view things, boats could then be made of lead, or any other 'sinkable' item. (Except of course on Gilligan's Island...If they were to finally be rescued, there would be no humor- nor TV show!)

You can't defy certain laws. Gravity for instance. My Dad's ongoing brainteaser is: Is gravity push or pull? Regardless, there is gravity. Micheal Beckwith of the movie the 'Secret', comments that whether you are a good person or a bad person, if you fall off a building, you're going to hit the ground. But what about bungee jumping?

Thinking beyond the perceived laws we have been taught or believe, is how we become better in our simple everyday. A broad foundation, enlightenment and rising above the old ways and habits that no longer serve us, is how we become unsinkable. Ingenious and resourceful people are unlimited. After all, isn't 'necessity the mother of invention'?

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death."

~Robert Fulgham

SLOW DANCE

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital .



SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his

sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say,"Hi"

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music

Before the song is over.

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This young girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to live their life to the fullest, since she never will.

She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a family of her own.