Road To Mysore

I spent the last few days checking for the best airline ticket I could get from my trip to Jaipur. In previous years, I would just go to Air Deccan's website and book it online. I tired to get it from them again this year since they had the best price but the website would just freeze. I finally spoke to Ganesh and he told me that Air Deccan is no longer allowing anyone with a foreign Visa or Mastercard purchase a ticket. It's their way of telling foreigners that we have to go to the travel agent and pay more...that sucks. I was hoping to get a ticket for under 8,000 rupees but the best price on-line was on Air Deccan for 9,000 rupees. I called the travel agent and they told me that their best price was 10,000 rupees. That's just great...I have to pay an extra 1,000 rupees for being a foreigner.

I spent most of the day trying to decide on whether I should still go to Rajasthan or maybe some place closer. It's peak season in Rajasthan at the moment so I expect the hotels to be more expensive too. The fact that the dollar is so weak has not helped me. I thought about doing a Vipassana in Mumbai instead. A couple of friends were just there and they loved it. The flights to Mumbai are much cheaper too and the Vipassana is by donation. Kerela was another option too. I even thought about taking the train instead but I don't think I'd enjoy sitting on a train for two days. In the end I gave in and paid the 10,000 rupees for the ticket to Jaipur...ouch!!!

A few days ago the memory of a little girl came up. In begining, I couldn't figure out why I even thought about her. I must have been around 4 or 5 years old when I knew her. She was my neighbor and according to my parents we played together. I don't have any memory of us playing together but I remember seeing a picture of the two of us together years later. I remember being told that she was my beautiful "girlfriend"...for God's sake, I was only 4 or 5 years old. The only other memory I have of her is that one day I was told that she drowned in swimming pool in their house and died. At that age I didn't even know what death was all about.

I've been trying to maintain my daily meditation practice. I've only miss one morning practice and one evening practice since our last class. There are days when doing the 20 minutes or more is easy and there are days when I barely make it...oh well. My mind is a lot more quiet now than when I first start. Various thoughts and memories are slowly starting to surface. Being left alone with my thoughts is not so bad. I've been spending a lot of time alone too. It's also helped me be more focus during my asana practice. I don't know where this meditation practice will lead to but I hope to keep it.

I've come to realize that my perception of was is beautiful was planted in my mind at a very very young age. I wonder what other memories would surface...