Road To Mysore

The past few days, I've started the process of preparing to leave. Since I can only get 10,000 rupees a day from the cash machine, I've been going there everyday. I'm going to have to dish out over $2,600 to hold on to my apartment for the whole year. I've been debating back and forth on whether I should sublease it or not. Part of me does not want to because I've spent so much in it. I'm not sure if the people subleasing my place would take care of it. The other part of me knows that if I can sublease it for a few months, it can help pay for part of my plane ticket coming back. Finding someone who I can trust is also going to be another pain in the butt.

I've also started going through my closet and sorting out the things I'm taking back to LA and the things I'm leaving behind. I can't believe I brought so much crap I never used. I need to start learning how to be a good traveller. I always bring more than I need. In the next few days I'm going to need to get a few storage chest for the things I'm leaving behind. The good thing is that I'm leaving with a lot less than when I first arrived. Most of the things I brought from LA were things I was planning to leave in Mysore. I've done a lot of shopping here but mostly for my apartment.

Last night, I had the option of going to the concert at Kev Inn or staying home and watching a movie. I was not in the mood to socialize so I chose to stay home. I've been wanting to watch "Mangal Panday" with Amir Khan for a long time. One of my Indian friends told me that it was like a Rambo movie so I've been a bit hesitant. To my surprise, I thought it was a great movie. Almost as good as "Lagaan". I guess I'm an easy person to please.

This morning, I logged on to westsiderentals.com. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know I'm getting ahead of myself. I still need to decide on whether I'm living in the Westside or in Silverlake when I get back. I just wanted to get a feel of what's out there. Well, this is what I found out. I can't get a studio in the Westside for $800 but I can get a one bedroom in the Silverlake area for less than $800. The question is...do I want to drive 50 minutes everyday to get to work?

Yesterday, I had lunch with J. This was the first time we've had lunch together. We have both very strong opinions about things. I've slowly learned to keep my opinions to myself but when she asked me about some of them I tend to blurt it out. We talked about the various certified teacher in the US and she suggested that I practice with the man from Colorado. I told her that the man from New York was at the top of my list and that the man in Colorado was not on my list. I've heard a lot of good things about the man in Colorado but I don't have any interest in him. She went at me for saying that...blah, blah, blah...I'm being close minded...blah, blah, blah...I won't go into details because this could be a touchy subject. I think the bottomline is that we gravitate to the people we respect and admire. I like the path in which the man from New York took and I would like to follow in his footsteps. N took a similar path too. I think the good thing was that at the end lunch she respected my opinion and I respected hers. It's easy to get into discussions like these in Mysore and most of the time they are a waste of time. I don't need to be told which teachers I should practice with. I am very clear in my mind which ones I gravitate too.

I can't believe how time has flown by so quickly. I've been wanting to blog all week but I haven't had the time to catch my breath. I'm normally never this busy. Most of it are social engagements though. So many close friends have been leaving since Sharath left last Friday and more are leaving for the holidays...including me.

Last Wednesday, I paid Guruji my shala fees for the next two weeks. I spoke to Sharath briefly as I walked out of the office. I wanted to get an idea of what the 2006 schedule would be. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I haven't left yet and I'm already planning on coming back. Anyway he said that the shala will be open until the end of February and then they would do the tour in March and April...and for the New Yorkers, they cancelled Florida and will be in New York for one week. The shala will open in May, June and July. Sometime in August, the family tours again in Europe until the end of September. The shala will be open in October for the rest of the year. Sharath will be travelling to Australian and New Zealand in November and his usual two weeks in Goa in December. I couldn't get exact dates because he was teaching the afternoon class for the locals. I am not particularly happy with the 2006 schedule. Ideally, September to December are the months that suit me. It gives me about 7 to 8 months to save the money to come back and the weather is much better at this time of the year. May is when the monsoon season starts and will probably still be a little hot.

The past few days I've been thinking about the 2006 schedule and what I should do. I originally thought about leaving LA in September and maybe travel to Thailand, Singapore and around India before the shala opens in October. Then I can spend 3 months in Mysore (from October to December). The only problem is Sharath will be gone most of November and December. So I've decided that the most logically time to back is from May till the shala closes in August. Which means I have less than 4 months (from January to April) to earn enough money to come back. Which also means I'll have to do about 50 to 55 hours/week during tax season. Shit!!!...the things we have to do to come back to Mysore. I can't believe I'm going to have a full-on tax season. I thought those days were over. I hope I can find the drive to work 10 hour days again. I couldn't do it last tax season. Maybe if I mentally prepare myself now, it might happen. To a lot of people, I must be sounding pretty crazy...oh well.

Earlier this year I was told that the family was trying to figure out ways to limit the number of people coming to Mysore. There are now too many students coming. One suggestion thrown out was to limit students to 3 months per year/visit. I'm beginning to believe that the world tours is their way of limiting the number of students coming to Mysore.

I finally got the latest copy of Namarupa. Jorgen brought about 50 copies from the US and now it's all sold out. It's got a picture of Guruji and BKS Iyengar on the cover. Iyengar was invited to Mysore for Guruji's 90th birthday but he couldn't make it. He arrived a few days after Guruji's birthday. I was here when it happen but found out the day after. Only a selected few were invited to witness this event...no, I was not one of them. It had been 65 years since their last meeting and maybe the last time they will see each other again. I'm going to give A a hard time for not telling me about it. Anyway there is a great article in the issue and some good pictures of the two of them together. There is also a really good interview with Sharath which I think every ashtangi would benefit by reading it. There are so many ashtangis who come to Mysore expecting/wanting this and that. Maybe if they read the interview they could get a better perpective of what is expected of them instead. I'm sorry, I had to write this. I'm so tired of hearing all the complains...it gets old really quickly.

This mornings practice was good. There was a shift in energy in the shala today. A number of people who I have been accustomed to practicing with have left...J on my right and few people on the row behind me. The room was half full when the door opened. Guruji told a lot of the other students to start coming at 5AM. With Sharath gone, traffic in the shala moves much slower. Guruji though is much more animated when Sharath is gone. He tends to sit back and watch when Sharath is in the shala. It's actually amusing to hear Guruji when his running the floor. He seems to have more energy. I had to wait a long time for Saraswati to help me out in Mari C...I'll skip assistance with Mari C tomorrow. There are too many people in the shala for both of them. Sharath normally helps me with Mari C and she helps me with dropbacks.

The past few days I've been busy shopping and running errands. I hate shopping for other people. I can't believe the number of things I need to do before I leave...8 days to go. I still have one gift to buy. I'm not even going to worry about buying something for my father. He is one of those people who are difficult to buy for. I've started sorting out the things I'm leaving in Mysore and started packing the things I'm bringing back with me. I think I'm going to need two more metal chests to store some of my stuff. I've already paid my landlady a huge chunk of my annual rent...very painful. I still need to pay her about 26,000 rupees plus one year of internet fees at about 900 rupees/month. I also just purchased a new geezer/water heater for the smaller bathroom attached to my bedroom. So now, both bathrooms will have a water heater. It's really important during the winter when you take a bath at 4 in the morning. Money is moving in one direction too quickly. I may end up begging in Santa Monica. I know that in the end it will be all worth it. When I come back next year, I won't have to worry about much when I arrive. My apartment will be all set-up.

Today I hosted another Bollywood movie. We watched the Indian version of the Helen Keller Story called "Black" with Rani Mukajeer and Amitah Bachan. It was a good movie and some great acting but too heavy for me. It was a little depressing. I'm not sure if I would recommend it.

Tomorrow I have another full day. I have my usual practice at 5AM. I then host Monday Night Football which shows here at 7:30AM on Tuesday, giving a massage at 11:30AM, lunch at Sandia's at 1:30PM, more errands in the city (pick up pictures, have my camera checked and visit my Kashmiri friends), chanting at 4:30PM and hopefully I will be home by 6:30. It's now past 9PM...way past my bedtime. I'm not sleepy yet. I've been drinking too much chai. I think I'm going to be a chai addict when I leave. That's all we do here after practice.

The past few days I've had a lot on my mind. I was talking to Fred one day and my mind was all over the place. Fred said, "You seem very ungrounded." Yes, I am very ungrounded. I think it's because my heart is still in Mysore but part of my mind is already in LA.

One of the things which has been bothering me is my apartment situation. As much as possible, I only want to sublease my place to somebody I already know and somebody who will take good care of it. I've had a few friends who were considering it but it was either too big, too expensive, they wanted a second floor apartment or they needed a place immediately. I was tempted to put it out there and even ask Shiva to find someone for me but I'm not comfortable with having a stranger in my place. I've heard too many horror stories.

Yesterday morning, Fred came up to me and said, "I have good news. I'm moving into your place." I was like...yes, yes, yes!!! Fred has a one bedroom apartment on the second floor of my building and he needed more space. He also has a key to my apartment because we share the internet connection. In a way his like my roommate. The good thing about having him in my apartment is that I don't have to pack much except for my clothes and some personal belonging. I don't need to pack any of my kitchen stuff or electronic equipment. I can leave most of my things the way it is. I felt a little more grounded after knowing this. At least now I can focus my energy on other things.

Yesterday I emailed the tax director of the Brentwood accounting firm I worked for last tax season. When I left LA last July, he asked me if I was coming back in January. I told him I won't decide until December. So it's December now and I've decided to work in the same firm. I'm too lazy to go for interviews and I'm comfortable with the managers and partners I worked for. I also don't need to learn new software and office procedures. I got an email from him and he said he still had a spot for me. I was hoping to know when exactly I can start. He said we would discuss it when I arrive in LA. At least I know I'm no longer unemployed and don't have to go through the whole process of interviewing. I know I still tend to think a lot about the future and I tend to anticipate some of the things I need to get done in advance. I'm much better now but I know I need a lot more improvement in that department.

Last night was J's goodbye dinner. We were supposed to be only around 10 people. I was expecting a relatively small intimate dinner at the M. We started with about 4 tables connected to each other. Slowly more and more people arrived. Another table was added. We kept squeezing in to let more people in. We kept moving and adding another table. It was getting really irritating having to move, squeeze in and rearranging the tables. We ended having 6 tables connected and over 25 people. A few of us were feeling annoyed by the fact that there were too many people. Some of them we barely knew. Yeah, we can be a very unfriendly bunch. The food was also coming out really slowly which made the evening a little more frustrating...hungry yogi, not a good thing. I have come to realize that I don't particularly enjoy huge groups. At this point in my trip, I'm also not interested in going through the usual basic conversations...where are you from, when did you arrive, how long are you staying, how do you like Mysore, who are you practicing with and etc... At one point that evening, a new guy was trying to be friendly with me. I don't remember what I said but I was not in the mood to chat and just walked away. I don't remember what I said or didn't say but I was such in a crappy mood, I'm assuming I was rude...oh well. I'm normally not that bad. I'm usually gracious in my exits but the evening was not going well. He seemed like a nice guy but his timing was really crappy. I haven't seen him since so I haven't had the chance to apologize.

I'm feeling more grounded today. I'm trying not to think about the future and live in the moment. I have a full social schedule until I leave. I'm trying to spend time with people I'm very close to.

This morning I headed to the Kashmir Arts Palace and hung out with Purvis and Mudashir. I'm not sure if I spelled they're names right. They've been convincing me to visit Kashmir. I've decided to go when the shala closes in August next year. Mary said she's coming with me too. I love hanging out with them because they just love to talk and don't pressure anyone to buy anything. Most of the stores here are so in your face. I rarely buy anything and they always serve us chai. I did get some of my Christmas gifts from them this past week. They have the best pashmina and silk shawls and other Kashmiri stuff.
I think I'm all set as far as Christmas gifts go. Thank God...I hate to shop for other people.

I headed to Tina's this morning to say goodbye to Alex M. He leaves for Hong Kong today. He was the one who arranged for Guruji and BKS Iyengar to meet. He also did the interview with Sharath, Prashant Iyengar (BKS son) and Kaustub Desikachar (T.K. son). I gave him a hard time for not telling me that BKS Iyengar was coming to town. He said, I was not the only one who gave him a hard time. They wanted to keep it as private as possible. I asked him if it would happen again. He said that it probably would. According to him the two legends seemed to be two long lost buddies. I told him that a lot of people want to get a hold of the Namarupa issue but it's out of stock. He said he had no control over that. It's all up to New York. Murti said that they should be getting more copies in the next two weeks. A few people have come over my place just to read it and some asked if they could photocopy it. I refuse to lend it out. I may start charging 50 rupees for those who want to read it. I assured him that I would not make photo copies of it. He was pleased with that.

I recently read the interview with Prashant Iyengar and Kausthab Desikachar in Namarupa. I intially didn't care about what they had to say so I never bothered reading it. I was only interested in what Sharath had to say. I was bored one day and decided to read it. I can't believe how narrow minded I can be. I'm really happy I read both interviews. I was particularly impressed with what Prashant said. He definitely has a deep understanding of what yoga is all about. After reading all three interviews, I've come to the conclusion that the western world doesn't seem to have a clue of what yoga is about. I can almost feel them laughing quietly at the west.

I have less than 48 hours, 2 practices and a gazellion things to do before I leave Mysore. I can't keep my mind still. I'm constantly thinking ahead. Anticipating the next thing/errand I need to do. I just got back from the city doing some last minute Christmas gifts and having pictures moved to a CD. I just checked the CD and f@#k they gave me a CD full of Tibetan monks...just what I needed...the wrong CD. I haven't been to Bylakuppe lately. I'm going to have to scoot back and get it corrected...just what I needed.

Last Friday night I attended Annie's kirtan. We sang the Vande Gurunam (Opening prayer) and after that Annie told us a little Mysore trivia. On her first trip to Mysore about 16 years ago, she attended one of her first classes. It was the first batch around 4:30AM and Guruji was still doing his pooja. She set her mat and started singing the opening prayer. At that time Guruji didn't chant the opening prayer everyday and probably rarely did it. Sharath heard her singing and told her, "Not correct." She looked back and asked, "How?" He went out to call Guruji. Guruji came out and showed Annie how to do the chant. Because of Annie's "blunder" (those are her words), Guruji does the opening prayer before he starts class. She also convinced him to do the closing prayer. On Fridays during led class, Guruji always chants the closing prayer. So Annie told us never to sing the opening prayer in the shala but it's OK to do it during kirtans.

OK...I think I'm ready to head back to the city and correct the CD blunder. I'm a little short of patience...needed to let some steam out. The last thing I want to do is head back to the city but I need to get this corrected as soon as possible. The sooner I get things done, the less stress I'll be under when I finally leave. I have a full schedule tomorrow. I shouldn't be thinking about that now.

I'm all packed but I'm not ready to go. I could easily stay another month. There still so much unfinished business. My only consolation is that I will be back in May. The car picks us up in less than 3 hours. I get to share the car with Henrik (from Norway) and Fiona (another English, there are a lot here. it's like a second invasion).

I woke up around 2AM. There's so much in my mind. I haven't slept well the past three days. I got a little sleep around 3AM but had to get ready for practice around 4AM. Practice was good considering my lack of sleep and wandering mind. I'm not beating myself up for that. I'm happy to have stayed here for 5 months but I'm greedy by nature...I want more. I hope I don't ever satisfy my desire to want more.

There's something special about being in Mysore and practicing with Guruji and family. I can feel it but I can't explain it. Many of us here call it "Mysore Magic". Maybe one day I can find words to describe it. The whole trick about this "Mysore Magic" business is that you cannot come here and find it...it has to find you. The only thing you can do is open your heart with no expectations.

This trip has been a totally different trip from the first trip. It's been more an internal journey. I'm finding out a lot of things about myself I never knew was there. I'm "unlearning" a lot of things and learning new things. I'm doing things or plan to do things I would have never thought I would have done or would do. I'm letting go of a lot of things I hold dear to me. A good example of what I'm talking about is travelling up north to Delhi and Varanasi. If you asked me a year ago if I was going up there. I would have said, "hell no!!!". I was quite content in living in my "ivory tower". Nowadays I'm a little more open/flexible about certain things. I'm still not ready to let go of some of my "maharaja ways" but in time I'll peel through the layers. I'm beginning to believe that this practice is not only about getting the next asana but about how you live/change your life. I'm still stuck in Mari C and midway through my trip almost got it. Somewhere along the road I lost it. I know I will eventually get it. When...it doesn't really matter. What matters more is practicing everyday and slowly peeling off the layers.

After dropbacks this morning, Saraswati asked me if it was my last day. I said, "Yes". I told her I would come back around 8 to say goodbye to Guruji and her. They were to busy assisting people I didn't want to bother them. I went for my last chai after practice and said goodbye to a lot of my shala mates. I headed back to the shala around 8:30 but Guruji had already gone upstairs. I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to say goodbye to Guruji but I did chat with Saraswati for a few minutes. I hope Saraswati was able to tell him for me.

My flight doesn't leave Bangalore until 12:30AM tomorrow. We hope to get to Bangalore around 7:30PM and have dinner at the Leela Palace. I'm looking forward to having a good dinner before heading to the airport.

Adios Mysore :(

The ride from Mysore to Bangalore yesterday was surreal. We were moving forward but Henrik and I were constantly looking back. We were not ready to go. When I left last year I was ready. I tried to slowly prepare myself the last 3 weeks. I limited my social circle to a few people and stayed home a lot. It didn’t work. I miss Mysore already. I recently realized that in the last 16 months, I’ve spent 9 of those months in Mysore. I also noticed in this trip I said less “goodbyes� and more “see you next year or the year after�. I guess I was naturally drawn to people who were coming to Mysore on a regular basis. I felt that spending time with people who you would never see again was very ungrounding. I’m sure many of those people are great people but I’m not that grounded yet. Maybe one day it won’t bother me as much.

We got to Bangalore around 8PM and headed straight to the Leela Palace. We wanted to have a good last dinner before heading to the airport. The Leela Palace is 5 star hotel, which is popular amongst yoga students because it’s about 6 minutes from the airport. It’s not only very convenient but also very posh. The food was great and the ambience was even better. At around 9:30, we headed to the airport and continued our journey back home.

My plane to Kuala Lumpur left at around 12:30AM and arrived at 7:30AM (KL time and about 5AM Mysore time). I didn’t get much sleep on the plane because they were serving dinner until around 2AM. I took 2 valerian capsules but they didn’t help. I think I’m having a chai hangover. I haven’t had very good sleep for the past 4 days.

After getting my check in luggage and storing it in the airport, I took the KL express train to the city. It was a very fast and comfortable 28 minute ride. I was told that a taxi would have taken 50 minutes and twice the rate. I check in my hotel and attempted to take a nap…didn’t work. I have this bad feeling that in the next few days I’m just going to crash. I’m running on adrenalin and I should running out soon.

I am really impressed with this city. The infrastructure is modern and well planned. On the train ride from the airport to the city, I didn’t see any slum areas. I was pleasantly surprised. I checked in the hotel, grabbed breakfast and spent the day exploring the city. It as fun exploring but late in the afternoon I decided to head back and rest. I still haven’t had much sleep. I slept well that night.

I called my parents last Thursday and our conversation was something like this:

Me “Hey mom, what’s up?�
Mom “We’re fine. Where are you?�
Me “I’m still in Mysore.�
Mom “When do you leave?�
Me “I leave January 5th and arrive in LA on January 7th.�
Mom “Are you coming home to Cebu before going to LA?�
Me “No, I don’t have time and can’t afford.�
My dad picks up the other line and joins in the conversation.
Dad “Can’t you just come for a couple of weeks on your way back to LA?�
Me “I’m almost broke. It’s about $400. If you pay for it, I’ll go.�
Dad “You can easily earn that when you’re in the States.�
Me “Well if you pray hard enough, I might find the money.�

This conversation was going on and on. It wasn’t going anywhere. My dad gets frustrated and decides to say goodbye. I tell my mom goodbye too because I don’t like staying on the phone for very long.

Thirty minutes later, I walk in the house and into my mom’s room. "SURPRISE!!! Your Christmas gift has arrived 3 days early.� My mom is totally shocked. She can’t believe she’s seeing me. I told her I was picked by in the airport by my friend, Ronald. I was calling her on the way to the house. I wanted to make sure they were both home before I came over. None of my sisters or brothers knew I was coming. After I kissed my mom, I went downstairs where my dad was playing poker with his buddies.

I opened the door and said, “Hey dad, have you been praying hard enough?� ha, ha, ha!!! I wish I could describe the expression on his face. Just thirty minutes ago he was angry with me for not wanting to come home. I couldn’t tell him I was on the way to the house. It was supposed to be a surprise.

So I’ve been in Cebu for the past few days. None of my friends expect for Ronald and his wife Lorelei knew. I’m only going to be here for a two weeks so I’ve been busy hanging out with my parents, sisters and a lot of friends and relatives. I haven’t spent Christmas in the Philippines since 1994. I left for the US in February 1995 and have been home two other times but never for Christmas. It’s going to be fun and interesting.

Oh by the way...Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

I know I’m no longer in Mysore but I’ve wanted to write this blog entry for sometime. I think it would be helpful to those who arrive in Mysore for the first time. There are a lot of things you’re not told when you first arrive and you tend to figure it out the hard way. Sometimes knowing how the shala works can make or break you Mysore experience depending on you personality and where you are in your practice. If you understand the direction in which the river is flowing you can either go with the flow or go against the flow. Either way, it helps to be aware of what you’re doing right or wrong. Here is a list of “unwritten rules/protocol� which may come in handy.

1. The queuing in the shala is on a “first in, first out� basis. If you have just arrived and it’s your first practice, make sure you let everyone one in before you enter the shala. If you sit and observe, you’ll sometimes hear Sharath tell someone entering the practice area, “No, old students first. You go back.� After a while, you’ll know who arrived ahead of you and who arrived after you. So give the students who arrived ahead of you the courtesy of entering the shala before you when Guruji, Sharath and Saraswati shout, “One more.� Sometimes Sharath or Saraswati will call people who have just arrived to come in before those who have been in Mysore longer. That’s because that student is an old student and has been coming to Mysore for many years. So don’t be surprised it that happens.
2. From Monday to Thursday are Mysore classes. On Fridays there are two led primary series classes. The first led class is at 5AM for those who start practicing at 5AM and the second led primary class starts after 6AM or when the first led class is finished. The second led primary class is for those who practice after 6AM. On Sundays, there is only one led primary class, which starts at 5AM, and one intermediate class after the led primary class. Don’t go to the intermediate class unless you’re told by Sharath to go to that class.

3. Led classes can be very full depending on the time of the year. As a general rule, if you mat is more than one inch away from the next person’s mat, that means your too far apart. Let another student squeeze in. Don’t wait for Sharath to tell you to move. If your not used to practicing so close together, then get used to it. The shala will only get fuller and fuller in the coming years.

4. If you plan on practicing with Sharath and Saraswati, ask them directly. Don’t make the mistake of going to Guruji and tell him you want to practice with Sharath or Saraswati.

5. If you’ve never practice ashtanga before and don’t know the sequence, practice with Saraswati first. When you learn the sequence you might want to ask Saraswati if you can move to the main shala. There are a number of people who come to Mysore who have never practiced ashtanga and register with Guruji. They are eventually told to go to class at 8AM with Saraswati because she can talk you through the series. The main shala is too full for someone who doesn’t know the sequence. You will get minimum attention at the main shala and you will be stopped right away. Saraswati is very generous about giving you posture, while Sharath isn’t. If you practice with Saraswati you also won’t have to pay the registration fee. This entry might sound stupid but there are a lot of students who come to Mysore who have never practiced ashtanga.

6. This next entry could be a very touchy subject to a lot of people. I don’t want to go into great detail and am not interested in going into a discussion/argument. If you are staying for more than one month, you may eventually get moved to the 5AM slot. If you want to flow with the river, I suggest that you either find a mat space in the back two rows or find an empty space and ask your neighbor if someone is practicing there before placing your mat. That person would know whom they practice with everyday. If you want to ruffle somebody’s feathers, the best way to do that is to find a spot on the right side of the front row…satisfaction guaranteed.

7. My teacher once said, “When you’re in Mysore, you are all beginners.� I think that was one of the best advices I got. Don’t get too attached to your asanas. Sharath will stop you even if he knows you can do the next asana. There is more to this practice than getting the next asana.

I’m sure there is more things I can add but at the moment this is all I can think of. I hope some of these tips might be helpful to first-timers or those who are planning to go. Anyway, have a great Mysore experience.