Manny Muros:

It is 4:30 am and I am at the Bangalore airport, tired, red-eyed, and feeling both completed and exhausted…. My heart is full of gratitude…. I had spent the previous night in a sleeper bus (12 hours) traveling from Goa to Bangalore….. I can feel my breath slow and calm, deep in my belly. There is very little energy/tension in my being.

There is a European woman sitting next to me holding a book from Sri Baba avatar. Her eyes remain close for quite some time as she listened to a CD. When she opened her eyes and made contact with me I asked her if she had been at Sri Baba’s ashram. She answered that she had just completed 13 days there and then asked, Who are you? …. She went on to tell me that as I walked over to sit down next to her, she felt my vibration engulf the room and she saw a vision of Shiva dancing as her eyes closed in contemplation… and then she asked again, Who are you?… What a gift to be acknowledged in such an unexpected manner!!!

Manny Muros:

I had been looking forward to my time alone but I’ve had quite a bit of apprehension about it. I have never spent this much time on my own. The four weeks journeying with Mark have been amazingly special. It was great to share the intensity of the travel and the constant humorous unknowns. We were always there to cover each other and a good complement for one another….. Now I have begun another more inner journey….

Manny Muros:

I have always had a lot of faith and trust in the goodness of the Universe… A believe that things will always work out for the best. The desire to simply see clearly what is in front of me.

Traveling thru India we have had lots of practice on moving toward a general certain direction and allowing the experience to unfold as it wants to… We’ve been entering one unknown situation after another and yet always feeling a guiding wind move us to our destination. There is always the smiling face that directs us. The intuition to go right instead of left… sometimes it has been to turn back! 

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 much…. There was so much love and gratitude for the Nobel Prize received by their “God” the Dalai Lama. For the temples and settlements supported by the many donations coming from America…. The three of us were holding tears back….. I get upset at our country’s foreign policy and by the rampant capitalization we create but it was so beautiful to also see how much good has been done in helping this nation of individuals create a new life on a foreign country.

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 hustle of big cities to meditating in caves, the Matrimandir, and in Tibetan monasteries. We have stayed at fancy hotels and are presently staying at a Tibetan’s family farm house. We have eaten with our hands on an Ashram’s temple floor and had a beer on a rooftop cafe overlooking the lit-up Mysore Palace. Let’s just say we have had a full range of bathroom experiences!

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 India has in store for us.

We have met so many inspiring folks in Auroville. People who believe in a dream and have put all of their energy and resources to make that dream manifest. It is amazing what they have accomplished. There is a generosity in their spirit that is contagious. I can see friendships that will blossom even more beautifully over time.

Manny Muros:

Today we climbed the mountain located behind the ashram. In 1900 a 16 year old local seeker climbed that mountain and stayed for 17 years in a cave. Then moved to a second cave for 6 more years. When he came down his followers created what is now the ashram where we are staying…. Ramana Maharshi had found out that he was not “this body” and achieved freedom from life as he had know it.

My body is adjusting to the time shift and my mind to the reality shift…. We are in the middle of a “village” where the ashram is located. The senses are maxed out interpreting this new/old world.

Meals are served on the floor and the plates are made of sewn leaves, monkeys and peacocks roam the ashram, we walk around barefoot on the dirt compound and there are constant activities of prayer and devotion…. It all has a natural flow and we are becoming included in that flow.

Manny Muros:

It’s hard to believe that we have only been here 30 + hours…. It feels like we have had a week worth of experience already! The intensity of Bangalore was hard to digest with out taking short breaks in the sanctuary of our hotel….

This morning we boarded a bus to Tiru… It took us about 1/2 an hour to find the bus in the terminal. This is controlled chaos :)

Manny Muros:

Our journey is becoming real after many months of planning and preparations. Tickets bought, visas received, shots taken, and the empty back-pack is sitting in my room. My time has become measured as every minute here has increased in value.

The time spent with my sons this weekend has had an extra sweetness in its quality… I know I will spend 6 weeks without seeing them and its a long time….