Next Stop: Ganeshpuri

We arrived in Ganeshpuri, a small village that sprouted up around a guru named Nityananda (1897? - 1961). It was said that he went there because of his arthritis and there were mineral hot springs right next to the temple. If you've been to our home in Sedona, you might have seen a large bronze statue in Marty's office. That is one of Nityananda which Marty had made on his last trip to India. Nityanada is best known as the guru of Swami Muktananda. To get a real flavor of Nityananda and who he was, read about Muktananda's The Play of Consciousness.

The small village of Ganeshpuri is now a pilgrimage site and you'll see in this video the temple, his home, and the place where he took mahasamadhi (died) in 1961. That was the place we sat and meditated after putting in our feet in the hot springs.

It's said Nityananda's mother abandoned him and he was found/adopted by a woman who worked as a servant. Even as a child, stories report that Nityananda seemed to be in an unusually advanced spiritual state, which gave rise to the belief that he was born enlightened. As a young man, he became a wandering yogi, spending time on yogic studies and practices in the Himalayas and other places.

Nityananda gained a reputation for affecting miracles and wonderful cures. He said, "Everything that happens, happens automatically by the will of god." He built an ashram in Kerala, and then wandered through the Maharastra state. In 1936 he went to Ganeshpuri, a tiny village with hotsprings and a tiny Shiva Temple (5' x 5'). The family that looked after the temple built a hut for him, the recognized him as an advaduta, (a person absorbed in the transcendental state.)

Nityananda didn't teach verbally: he was mostly silent. Some believe that he transmitted spiritual energy (shaktipat) to people. He could also be extremely fiery and intimidating in his behaviour, even to the point of throwing rocks - his way of deterring people who were not serious in their spiritual aspirations, or who came to him with ulterior motives.

Welcome to India's Rajasthan

We left Nepal,flew into Delhi and connected to Udaipur, a sweet colorful town of the state of Rajasthan. We arrived at a time of many weddings, it was an astrologically auspicious time, Friday the 13th. And the weddings here go on for days. We caught some of the fireworks one family had set off for their newlyweds. You'll see that in days to come.

India has many a palaces, this one is set amidst Lake Pichola. It was heavenly. The Lake Palace hotel has been featured in magazines and travel books and for years I had hoped that I'd visit it. Then there we were for Valentine's day. It wasn't the India I remembered from my trip in 1997, this was a fantasy India experience: clean, easy, quiet, and set to the most beautiful soundtrack of birds singing, and sitar playing.

Morning walks by the Hong Kong Harbor

It is our last day in Hong Kong. Went the Peninsula spa yesteday and we ate lunch by the pool. Video on that later. We're on our way to Kathmandu in a few hours. We're leaving the 'physical' and going to the 'spiritual' but there really isn't much difference is there? It is the integration that's important. The yoga of it all.

I called Hong Kong heaven on earth, and it wasn't because of the shopping. There is a certain harmony here between people, a respect that is universal. That is definitely a component of heaven on earth. It's a good start.

My prayer is that humans not only live in harmony with each other, but with the earth - honoring her by treating all living beings with dignity. Marty loves it.

We took a ferry then a bus to Victoria Peak, the high hills behind the towers through the marine layer on the Hong Kong side. Here are some photos of the ferry we took from Kowloon to Hong Kong, about 8 minutes.

There's a tram to the top of Victoria Peak. We took the bus up though, it is the more scenic choice, and then we had a very fast ride down on the tram. Obivously we didn't take this photo.

Hong Kong straight to the Peninsula in a Rolls

I knew we were going to stay at the famously glamorous Peninsula hotel, but I didn't have any idea what Marty had in store for us. This hotel is where East meets West perfectly, which the island of Hong Kong exemplifies. I didn't really have a big desire to come to Hong Kong, but now, I think it is one of my favorite cities. It is dramatic and international and it all seems unreal.

This is the video of our ride from the airport in the Rolls Royce. A big surprise, and a little tough to recieve. Though I did my best.

Here we are..... and then we bypass check in because we were met at the door by our private concierge and escorted to our suite (!).

This is obviously where Steve Wynn got his inspiration for the Bellagio and the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. And movie buffs might want to know that in the latest Batman movie, the helicopter lands on the roof of this hotel. More later.

Marty ended up eating that fruit - a rambutan from Malaysia. He said it wasn't as good as it looked, but the papaya was perfect.

3 am in Tokyo

3 am on Saturday, and Marty and I are wide awake. It is 11:30 Friday morning at home. My internal clock thinks that is really what time it is.

We realize now what the key is to the slender Japanese: Portion control. We went to dinner last night at the hotel's Yakatori restaurant, which means grilled meat. It was lit up like a diner, everyone sat in stools next to each other. The prix fixe for hotel guests was $60. I didn't order it, being a vegetarian and all. But Marty did. This is how he describes his meal:

"The first course was three tiny cups. One with seaweed, another with two tiny pieces of chicken and a pickled thing. Teeny."

It would not fulfill the American's idea of "Let's get an appetizer." The next course was the beginning of the Yakatori. Skewered meat or vegetables. It started with two chicken wings which he ate, or tried to eat, with chopsticks. The other eight patrons in the restaurant, dressed in black and varying shades of gray, did the same thing. All eventually ate the two wings with their fingers.

I had ordered vegetarian selections: shitake mushrooms, asparagus, and kappa makki (cucumber sushi). I got two shitake mushrooms on a skewer and one asparagus grilled and cut into bite size pieces. Before leaving the hotel room, I picked up Joseph Campbell's book and turned to a random page, Reflections on the Art of Living.

Joseph Campbell wrote, "Vegetarianism is the first turning away from life, because life lives on lives, Vegetarians are just eating something that can't run away." Food for thought as we headed to the 'restaurant floor' in the basement of the hotel in the glass elevator from the 17th floor. I ordered vegetarian anyway.

The third course of Marty's meal: He thought it was another skewer of bite-sized pieces of steak, but it turned out to be liver, and brought back memories of his mother's cooking. And thoughts of "where's the ketchup?" Also he remembered the 'Bodies' show where he found out that the liver was really a Fram Oil Filter - like in a car. And he didn't particularly enjoy that.

"The next thing that I got looked like a corndog, I enjoyed it immensely, and I didn't know what it was. The diners next to me rejected theirs - there was something wrong with it."

These meals were served by a young woman in a kimono with a very worried look on her face, and was watched by a man in a black suit - the manager. probably. The rejection of the corndog set off a series of deep bows by everyone directed toward the unpleased diners next to us.The bows didn't end until they moments later, leaving their steaming tea behind.

Next came Marty's chicken broth and rice. I was taking my time with my asparagus spear. After he finished the rice, the young girl brought over a heaping tablespoon of vanilla icecream. along with a spoon that Marty hadn't seen since he had fed his kids when they were six months' old. Seriously. She refilled our bancha tea. And we left.

Lunch yesterday was a different story. We had walked over to the Imperial Gardens, which we didn't see because they're closed on Fridays, and ate in another basement. We chose to go to the restaurant which seemed the noisiest and most popular without a hint of English on the signs or menu. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience. Especially Marty. Here's a peek.

First Morning in Tokyo

We had the greatest flight on Singapore air, the food was fabulous. I had a variety of vegetarian meals (we were on there for about 11 hours) and Marty said his filet mignon rivaled what he orders at Shugrue's in Sedona. I didn't even feel like I was on a plane, and didn't really want to get off and leave the service.


We got to Tokyo last night, making yesterday seem like the longest day of the year, that's because it was two days - February 4th melded into February 5th. We are staying at the Prince Park Tower in a park looking at a remake of the Eiffel tower. We woke up this morning, the 6th, at 2 am, 3 am, then 4 am. Then read everything we could get our hands on until we ventured out to see the city at 6 am. We went through through a park past the Zojoji Temple and gardens on our way to Starbucks. Not very adventurous I know. We'll get a little wilder later today.


Good thing I packed black, because that is the color of the city. Everyone wears it. And the black is contrasted by the white face masks everyone wears. Although the school kids wear them in a variety of colors. Marty was playing with the kids in the str4eet as they went to school. The kids were laughing with Marty. He was the only one making any noise in the hoards of people. Everyone was SILENT. No conversations, no cell phones, just a determined orderly silent walking to their destination. Perhaps that is how the Zen walking meditation - Kinhin got started.


As soon as I get the right cable to upload my photos, I will. In the meantime, here is a photo from the web:


It seems like about 1/4 of the people I have seen wear face masks outside, and I've heard it isn't because they don't want to breath in pollution (though that may be part of it), but because they're sick and don't want to spread their germs. Very conscientious I guess. That is what marks this city so far, orderly, conscientious, and lots of bowing. I like it so far....