Yesterday was a moon day. I needed the day off. I haven't heard from the immigration office yet. I should get a letter this week informing me that my oath taking will either be next week or next month. Either way I have to be prepared. I already got my passport pictures (2 for the passport & 2 for the Indian visa). I made a call to an Indian travel agent and she quoted me about $1,800. For some reason I expected it to be much higher. I had a conservative budget of about $3,000 but I'm not complaining. Since I'm flying with Cathy Pacific, my flight plan looks like this – LAX to Hong Kong to Cebu, Cebu to Hong Kong to Bangalore or Bombay, then Bangalore to Hong Kong to LAX. It would be much easier and cheaper to go straight to Bangalore from LAX but going to the Philippines will break up the travel time. The travel agent said I could get it cheaper if I travel after August 20, something I'm considering. If I do my oath taking this week, then I'll stick with my July 15 target date. Otherwise, I'll leave after August 20. I also need to start preparing my to do list and what I need to bring list, maybe this weekend.
I finally got a call from the private massage client that wants a 2-hour massage every week. I see him tonight. Yesterday, I was in the Santa Monica area and I walked past his condominium unit off Ocean Ave. It was sweet. Sometimes, I wish I quoted him higher but I didn't want to get greedy. Lets see what happens tonight.
I just found out that Noah & Kimberly are back from Mysore. I hope to drop by next weekend. I haven't practice there for a while. I need to ask them a few questions about Mysore.
Someone shared the following with Tom Case and he shared it at Esalen:
For me, the balance between doing and just being is the most important and dangerous question. If I am quilted or lured into achieving too much and lose the stillness at my center, then it takes me along time to regain it, and I do violence to myself or those I love because of fatigue and pressure. I have had to give up "winning big" because I love my life when I am connected to it and I hate it when it and I get caught in competition and deadlines. Then I have an overriding sense of impatience... my foot taps... I swallow food whole, I bump into things, I burn myself on the stove... I rip, and wrench, and tear. There is a violence that takes over every act and shrieks orders at me. I am finding that it takes a lot of time to be a person, to have a feeling of space and breath, a chance to sink into myself... as long as I take time every morning to light a candle to my life, it remains my life. But if I hurry into work without that small moment of quiet, then I've already lost myself, and the day. The task for me, is to care, daily, for myself and my life... to love and to nurture, within myself, moment by moment, the quality of quiet presence, quietly being present to my life, which sanctifies it... to live as if the candle is lighted.
I decided to put this in my blog for no particular reason. I like reading this when I feel stressed out. It help me look at life in a different perpective.