Greetings

Since I last checked in, I have remained in the same area of North India, called Mcleod Ganj. It is a delightful mountainous area whereI have been practicing Buddhist meditation.

I spent 10 days doing a meditation retreat called Vipassana, an ancient meditation technique taught by the Buddha. The course required total silence, eyes cast downward, and 10 hours of meditation daily. My mind went from a fast moving machine to clear and slow. I noticed the subtle light on pine trees and was not dwelling in the future or present. A band of 20 monkeys would migrate to the retreat every day around lunch time. As the sun was setting on our 4th day of silence we left the meditation hall to find 20 monkeys in a tree staring back at us. Our minds were quiet and for a moment there was a strong connection between humans and our close ancestors.

I plan to head soon to Great Himalayan National Park, and then back to Dehli, and onto Singapore in Southeast Asia.

Thanks

Namaste from India. Since the last report I have made a journey into the northern part of the state of Uttarakhand  in northern India. This area is known for its soaring Himalayans peaks which divide it from China (formerly Tibet).

Greetings from Rishikesh, India. My exact coordinates are http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30.13765,78.32016&ll=30.13765,78.32016&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
So far I have spent most of my time in Rishikesh, which sits on the banks of the gray, cold Ganges River surrounded by dry foothills of the Himalaya.

Ok, we've been good so far in writing clean and neat reports of the places and travel, but this time we can  do it a little different.