Traveling Cargopants

Posted By Hargobind on June 6, 2010

I recently had the good fortune of getting to house sit for a friend who was out of town for a few weeks. This has been especially nice since it has given me a sense of “home” for a bit, a place to recharge my batteries and take care of all those minor things that are hard to deal with while traveling so much.

Getting to spend some time alone is great for the soul when you create the intention of using the time to take care of yourself. I’ve spent a lot of quiet time doing yoga and meditating, taking walks in nature, and soaking in nearby hot springs. It’s so easy when traveling to focus your awareness on the outside world and neglect the inner being. So these activities have brought my attention back to the “self” where I’m now getting to feel all the tiny (or large) pains and imbalances in my physical body and stretch or heal them, hear the subtle voice of the heart and give it the attention it needs, and have time to reflect and integrate on all the recent changes (growth) in my life during the last few months of my travels.

Every day I’ve been reading or listening to the Sikh prayer of Japji: The Song of the Soul. This poem was written by Guru Nanak Dev, the first of the ten Sikh Gurus, and encompasses his entire philosophy and teachings. More than any other thing that I’ve been doing lately, these daily recitations have brought a deep sense of peace, calm and sweetness to my life, and is perhaps the most significant inspiration for my recent desire to do yoga and meditation again (something I’ve been resisting for a very long time).

Listen to Japji Sahib by Chardhi Kala Jatha (19:47 minutes)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Japji Sahib opens with a hymn called the Mool Mantra which is said to be the first composition uttered by Guru Nanak Dev upon enlightenment at the age of about 30. This hymn perfectly describes the infinite nature of God which exists beyond time and space and transcends any religious association (or perhaps is universal to all religions). SikhDharma.org has a brief description of the Mool Mantra with a line-by-line translation and various audio recordings, or you can also read a deeply philosophical breakdown of this hymn at SikhiWiki.org.

“Give because God gives to you. Love because that is your purpose in life. Shine because it is important. Share because it is demanded of you. How can you do it? In Japji, Guru Nanak gave you guidance, telling you the way he found liberation, ‘In the ambrosial hour, meditate on the True Identity. Your karma will be covered and you will see the door of liberation.’”
- Yogi Bhajan, May 2, 2000

Category: Journey | No Comments »
Tags: Sikh, soul, yoga and meditation

Posted By Hargobind on May 21, 2010

I was recently presented with a very difficult situation where a friend of mine was detained from crossing the border from Juarez, Mexico into El Paso. Her short trip from the airport to the border was delayed by over an hour due to traffic. And when she finally reached immigration, she had to wait another 3 hours in line only to be interrogated and denied access to coming over. Not only that, but the locals who I had talked with in El Paso earlier that night had filled my head with stories about how dangerous it was in Juarez, and I began fearing for my friend’s life.

It was interesting to watch the crazy trip that my mind went through… the worry, angst, and fear that I experienced. And finally remembering to chant a prayer of protection and meditate on serenity and project a good outcome of the situation. Ultimately the lesson that I “remembered” in this experience is that I need to be grounded and maintain a meditative, neutral mind no matter what.

Another example of this is when I was 14 years old and my dad and I were driving back home from Boy Scouts one night. We were sitting at a stop light at a quiet intersection waiting for the light to change, when I looked up and saw two cars smash head on into each other. Whoa! I’d never seen anything like that, and I remember feeling totally in shock. My dad looked over at me and asked if I was alright. I mumbled, “Yeah, I guess so…” He said, “I need to go help these people. Are you ok here until I get back?” I replied, “Yeah, I’m fine. Go help them.” He got out of the car and went to check on each person and make sure they were OK. I watched as he totally handled the situation with a sense of authority and calm until the police and ambulance got there and took over. When he came back to the car and got in, I just looked wide-eyed at him and said, “How did you do that?” “Do what?”, he replied. “Just be so calm and know exactly what to do and how to help those people.” He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said, “Meditation, my son.” Ever since then I’ve tried to make meditation a daily part of my life… sometimes I take the time to do a full meditation with posture and chanting, etc. And some days it’s just repeating a simple prayer in my head or focusing on my breath or whatever. Regardless of how you do it, the goal is getting to that point inside where YOU are in control of your mind, not the other way around.

Later that night as I was getting ready for bed tonight and thinking about my friend in Mexico, I decided to play a prayer on my iPod to keep the vibration of peace and protection throughout the night. I looked at my collection of the the Sikh prayers, and used my intuition to find one that felt right. The one that felt the strongest was Sukhmani Sahib. I didn’t know what this prayer was for until I looked it up later… of course, it was perfect! The word Sukhmani is rendered into English as “consoler of the mind.” Other common translations are “Jewel of peace”, “Psalm of peace” or “Song of peace”, signifying the soothing effect it has on the mind of the reader/listener. Depending on the person reading or speaking, this bani (psalm) takes approximately 60-90 minutes to complete. You can listen to a beautiful recitation of Sukhmani by Prof. Satnam Singh Sethi in two parts:

Sukhmani Sahib Part 1 (37:50 minutes)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sukhmani Sahib Part 2 (35:25 minutes)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You can find other Sikh prayers and music at www.sikhnet.com/gurbani

Category: Journey | 2 Comments »
Tags: fear, meditation, mind, prayer

Posted By Hargobind on May 21, 2010

A friend sent me to a link of some incredible still-motion videos (including one of the volcano in Iceland). This guy has a really cool technique where his camera seems to crawl across the ground while capturing still-motion frames. Based on how clear the pictures are, I’m fairly certain he runs his film through some sort processing tool that renders the frames using something like the HDR technique which allows you to see all ranges of lighting and color side by side in a photograph or film (normal cameras usually tend to focus on either the light or dark objects but not both).

The soundtrack to one of his videos contained two songs by a band named Thrice who I’m totally digging on right now. One thing I really respect about them is that they have such variety in their music — everything from chill and melodic to alt rock to metal. Since they live somewhere in California, I’m definitely going to make it a point to see them in concert while I’m traveling the west coast.

I’m still listening to their stuff, but so far here are a few of my favorites. These songs are from the albums The Alchemy Index Vol. 1 & 2 and Vheissu.

Category: Music, Random Fun | No Comments »
Tags: photography, rock

Posted By Hargobind on May 17, 2010

After passing through the town of Glenwood Springs, we stopped for the night in Grand Junction where we couch surfed with Jana (and her cats). What a fun and welcoming experience into a home filled with so much love, laughter, eastern philosophy and meditation (…and the list goes on). Although we only had a couple hours with her that night and the next morning, we had a great time hanging out and sharing stories, especially about the fascinating history of great hippie activists in the SouthWest.

Our next destination was to Moab, Utah, and Jana had the great suggestion of heading south to take the less traveled route through Ridgway before heading west into Utah. Although the first hour of the drive through the Uncompahgre Valley is a little boring, the views get much better south of Montrose where you start seeing Mesa cliffs and mountains off in the distance. And we were fortunate enough to catch the full moon just as it was rising above the eastern mountains.

[View Slideshow]

About 5 minutes south of Highway 62 (leading to Ridgway), there’s a small pulloff for Orvis Hot Springs. For anyone traveling around western Colorado, visiting Orvis is a MUST! This is one of the nicest natural hot springs places I’ve ever been to. Don’t let it put you off that the property is surrounded by cow farms… the entire soaking area is fenced in, and once you’re bathing in the hot mineral waters, everything else dissolves away. They’ve got 4 outdoor hot springs pools averaging 100-107°, including the Lobster Pot which ranges 108-114°. They also have a 100° indoor pool (for kids?) and a private indoor tub which is first-come-first-serve. The entire outdoor area is clothing optional which is particularly wonderful considering the mountainous landscape and minimal human presence in the surrounding areas have the effect of putting you in a natural and primitive mood.

One of the coolest things I saw at Orvis was a tiny cat named “Meat” who is apparently a resident of the springs. She was originally a stray that was adopted by the owners after they saw her rummaging through their garbage eating old pieces of meat. I was told that she is over 20 years old which I’m sure is due to the fact that she drinks from the spring water and even loves to go swimming in the pools.

After soaking for a couple hours that night, we retired to our tent where we slept in warm, cozy sleeping bags while the temperature dropped into the mid 20’s. I woke up the next morning to find icicles in my beard and a layer of frost covering everything inside the tent. The eastern horizon in that area is all mountains, so the valley tends to be filled with light for at least an hour before the sun comes up over the horizon. It was a pretty awesome experience soaking in the pools that morning and watching the line of the sun slide down the western hills and across the valley as it slowly filled the entire area with daylight. We soaked for a couple hours more that morning, had some brunch, and then hopped back in the car for the next destination.

Category: Journey | 2 Comments »
Tags: hot springs, sunrise

Posted By Hargobind on May 8, 2010

Near the western exit of Glenwood Canyon lies the town of Glenwood Springs. It’s about 3 hours drive from Denver, 1 hour from Grand Junction, and 45 minutes north of Aspen. The town was founded late in the 1800’s as an outpost settlement to serve as a transportation hub between other cities in the area, and for transportation of the natural resources harvested from mineral and metal mining operations further south. Initially the town mainly contained saloons, brothels and other sordid activities, but it gradually grew into a more pleasant place due in part to the geographic features of the surrounding land. The town resides at the confluence of two major rivers, the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers, in a large, naturally beautiful valley that was able to sustain the growth of local and outlying populations with plenty of farming and hunting.

The town is also famous for the Yampah Hot Springs Vapor Caves, historic underground steam baths with an average temperature of 110° F. The caves have been used by the Ute Indians for over 100 years as a source of rejuvenation and healing. There’s also the Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge and Pool which is the worlds largest pool filled by natural hot springs water to a cozy 90° F. Many famous people have lived or stayed in the town including President Teddy Roosevelt, Doc Holiday, and Ted Bundy was imprisoned (and escaped) from there.

[View Slideshow]

12►

Category: Journey | 1 Comment »
Tags: colorado, hot springs

Posted By Hargobind on March 18, 2010

While listening to some internet radio the other day, I found this mesmerizing drum & bass song that has beautiful vocals, ambient melodies, and is just sweet as sugar. The artist is Ben Sage and vocals are by Savvy. You can find a few more tracks of his to listen to at Last.fm and FilesTube.com.

Category: Music | 1 Comment »
Tags: drum & bass, vocal