A respite

Manny Muros: On our last morning with the Tibetan family Mark and I tried to express our appreciation for all their warmth and hospitality given to us. Deep emotion and tears came to Sonam's eyes as she wanted to express thru us the gratitude she has to the "American people" who have helped them so …

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Mangalore

Manny says "another noisy city, where you can't walk and breathe at the same time"… and he is right. From 8.30am to 7.00pm, Mangalore presents the same toxic blend of autorickshaws, interstate and local busses, private passenger cars and Jeep lookalikes, bicycles and trucks and pedestrians; you breathe only shallowly, and return to your sleeping …

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Undercurrent

The external beauties and (as often as not) challenges are easy to write about, but the inner work is not. Still, I am rising at 5:30 for yoga, each day feeling stronger, more limber, and somehow "cleaner"; I am sitting when I can in meditation — really delighting in being close to the ground, and …

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A day of rest

Dressed in her hospital uniform, Sonam insisted on calling in an autorickshaw for us, arguing with the driver (who wanted to keep his price open — to anything, apparently), riding us all the way to the bus station, and seeing us safely onto the Mangalore bus before bidding us farewell… we were not outside of …

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Tibet in India

Now I know how ginger grows. When we lived on our little farm in Brazil, we had something called gangibre falsa, "false ginger", which was apparently a relative of the real thing. The root, when I dug it up, had neither the appearance or the smell I was looking for, and somehow during our seven-plus years …

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The Traveler’s Journey

Manny Muros: I find myself at yet another internet cafe, grounding my energy as I connect with life back home…. Today, Mark and I are completely surrounded by Tibetan monks as we are within the monastery campus. With the pace of our travels, every few days we seem to enter totally different realities. From the …

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Monks and Families

Yesterday we began our ride from Mysore with a driver who spoke good English, but he traded out with another (who spoke no English whatsoever) when it became clear that we would be driving through the other's home town of Honsur. Manny and I entertained ourselves during the three hour trip, over very rough roads …

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Ah, India…

Manny and I left Auroville yesterday with great good-byes, good feelings, and with an amazingly full experience drawn inside of us — only seven days in the place, but in terms of new thoughts, faces and experience…. timeless. I rose every morning at 5:30 for yoga, 6:00 for meditation, 7:00 for an hour reading Savitri,Sri Aurobindo's …

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On the road

Manny Muros: We are on the road again after a very wonderful week in Auroville…. We will travel all night by bus and arrive at Bangalore tomorrow morning. We will then take a 2nd bus for 3 more hours to Mysore. Hope to settle there by noon tomorrow. Lets see what gifts that part of …

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Matrimandir

I can't leave Auroville without making mention of its spiritual and physical heart, the Matrimandir… though at the same time I feel there is almost nothing I can say that does any justice to the vision behind it, the experience of the area around it, or the power of insight and meditation it brings one. …

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Aspiration

Most of the communities that exist in Auroville — as semi-autonomous communities, that is, with their own social structure and goals, texture and color — were founded by a few energetic people who wished to manifest the vision of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in a particular and personal way. Some are recent, some have …

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Vérité

I have hesitated to begin this post. The dimensions of Auroville, the height and depth and breadth of the place in physical, spiritual, and social terms is so large, and each day filled with so many insights and meetings, that it is difficult to know where to start. Or better, there is so much new …

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