salt lake city....

mormon temple...


we spent the last 3 days at Salt lake City. our temporary home was at lagoon campgrounds …not the best of campgrounds but served our purpose as it was close to the city that we wanted to visit.

While at Salt Lake City, we visited the Mormon Church which looks magnificent and beautiful from outside…too bad that they don’t allow non-Mormons to view the temple from inside. Interestingly, we met a few people who were volunteering in the church..they spoke very passionately about their religion and asked us questions about our religion and beliefs…one of the young girl even challenged us about seeking the Truth through Mormonism.
I did not relate very well with the beliefs that they mentioned to us but I surely do respect their immense Faith ….the Faith that helped the early settlers to cross miles to find a place not inhabited by anybody else and then making that place so prosperous…the Faith that helped them build this huge and beautiful temple in 1847…it is said that the stones that were used for the constructions of the temple were from cottoncreek canyon and it took them 3 to 4 days to get each stone to the temple site. ….it took them 40 years to make the temple.

for papa...

papa's old home at salt lake city..

two idle days in Moab...

we have been camping in Moab, Utah (about 5 miles away from Arches national park)for the last two days and surprisingly, we have not done a lot of site-seeing….Amit is trying to catch up with his photo essay that he had planned and I am enjoying reading. We have been spending most of our time in library and cafes and have met some very interesting and kind people. It is fun to be in a new place…with no agenda…no plans…no destination….just be there…every moment.




we did go for a short 3 mile hike to see the delicate arch. It was a fun-filled hike especially towards the end when it started raining….the rain and the smell of the rainand earth reminded me of the monsoons in india and brought back a lot of wonderful childhood memories!! Life is beautiful :-)

"one less act of violence"

came across an article by Cheri huber - "One less act of violence"

it is about making people aware of the other way of living i.e. being a vegeterian. apart from the usual argument about kindness to animals, it had some compelling facts as follows -

- One lifelong vegetarian saves the lives of more than 1000 animals
- Livestock production consumes more than half of all water used for all purposes in the US
- It takes 55 square feet of Latin American land to produce enough grazing area for a single meat patty.
-Hundreds of millions of tons of the world's grain harvest are fed to animals. Less than 5 million tons of grain could feed all the children who starve to death each year.
- Over half a million newborn male chicks are thrown away every day because they are not useful for food.
- The same amount of land can feed one meat-eater or 20 vegeterians.


*** please don't think that i am advocating being a vegeterian over a non-vegeterian. what i am saying is that make an AWARE choice.

capturing moments....

we were driving back to our campsite in monument valley when we saw a spectacular sunset…the sun was just about to set …the sky was glowing red and the red sandstone looked redder and brighter….it was a beautiful moment that is etched into our memories….there were a lot of people already present at that place…and almost all of them had a camera in their hand and were busy clicking pictures…something felt very odd to me and amit…and we wondered if they are enjoying the sunset at that moment or if they were capturing it to enjoy it at some other time and space?!
*** incidentally, amit decided to do a day without camera :-)

idle thoughts in the laundry room (glen national park)

there is a laundry room in the campground where we are staying and we have decided to take full advantage of it…we have washed about two loads of clothes and while the machine is working on our clothes, we are catching up with our writing …life is great!! :-)

*** there is a lot of beauty that we are seeing around us and a lot of inspiring and beautiful quotes/books that we are reading…it is time to cultivate the beauty within…by practicing…by not being afraid of situations where we would require to practice..or maybe by going towards a direction where we can practice the cultivation of what we cerebrally understand. Yes, beauty outside inspires the beauty within….

horse shoe bend (glen national park)

a very awe inspiring sight…there is a quarter of a mile hike to reach this bend and what you see simply cannot be put in words or captured by a camera..it is one of earth's natural wonders…you see the colorado river snaking it's path and it is difficult to imagine that this is the river that has carved so much of beauty while finding a path for itself….the giant rock or mountain in the middle (which is probably 240 million years old) stands proudly ..defying all natural forces that have tried to bring it down. we sat there and meditated in the beauty of this place watching the sun go down….there was absolute silence…the kind of silence that either scares you or inspires you…a large crow flew past where we were sitting…and we could hear the flapping of the wings…reminded me of the movie “winged migration”.

Amit was in a dilemma here…whether to sit and absorb the beauty or to capture it with his camera…he eventually decided to do both.

afternoon at monument national park...

we are at monument valley national park. it is breathtakingly beautiful!! we had planned on spending half a day here. instead we have decided to camp for the night.

it is the middle of the afternoon here and is extremely hot. we have just finished putting our tent but it is too hot for hiking or site seeing. Amit decided to sleep on a picnic table (with a shade) and i decided to catch up with some reading.

*** some interesting quotes from the book - “with one heart, bowing to the city of ten thousand buddhas”

“wisdom is practiced, not discussed”

“wisdom awaits discovery within our nature, but we have to cultivate it, uncover it, operate it”

“the past is dead, the future is blind, where is now? As soon as they say “now is now”, it’s already gone.”

“Changing bad habits is hard work. Attachments have momentum, they feel comfortable. Change required constant, steady pressure on the sore point, applying good dharma-medicine with patient courage until new, proper view replaces the old way of being. Lift the bandages too soon or leave the habit alone, and the illness returns.”

sunset crater volcano

this place is an example of life’s resilience...the volcano (erupted sometime in 1260s) destroyed everything around it...all vegetation, plants, soil etc...what was left was inorganic rocks with no life. today, we see half the mountain alive with pine trees that have adapted themselves to grow in such a soil condition...you also see some flowers standing proudly amongst the black cinders. where there is no other life, you still see lichens growing on the black inorganic charred rocks...lichens are algae and fungus growing together in a symbiotic relation....in turn, they help converting these inorganic rocks to organic soil..helping new life to spur. isn't it amazing and wonderful!!

right path ....

signs (on west fork trail) to indicate that we are on the right track i.e. on the right trail....

i was wondering if life gives us signs to tell us that we are on the right path....or is there a right path?!!

sedona...

we spent the day at sedona …we hiked at the west fork trail…it is the most beautiful hike that I have ever done and I recommend it to anybody who is planning to visit sedona. The hike is by the side of the oak creek river…the river bed is made of smooth red rocks and you can wade in the cool and clear water of the creek…we heard sounds of a lot of different birds…though we could not spot any :-(….needless to say - amit went berserk with clicking pictures of this place…

journey to sedona...

06/17/2005
Destination – Sedona (from Casa Grande)
Estimated time as per AAA guide – 3 hours
Time taken by us to reach sedona – 7 hrs !!

we left casa grande at about 8:00am as scheduled. amit had this strong urge to eat Indian food and he was very sure to find a good Indian restaurant in phoenix…on reaching phoenix (at around 930 am), we were able to find a couple of Indian places (amit called a college time friend who had studied in university of California to help him find a good place) only to realize that lunch is not served till 11:30 am!! With long faces and empty stomach, we decided to head forward….and had no choice but to stick to our cereal and bread diet … we reached sedona at around 3:00pm….it was a Friday… we did not have any reservation since we did not expect the place to be very popular ….we headed for the oak creek campground about which we had read quite a lot and we had made up our mind to camp beside the creek…this is a campsite 20 miles north of sedona…on reaching there we found out that not only was this camp site full but all the campsites around sedona were full. The only one available was at lake mary, which is around 40 miles from sedona. Needless to say that we were disappointed…amit a little more than I was…. We had no choice but to drive to lake mary…the drive was beautiful but in our disappointment we did not see the immense beauty that was in front of us…the lake was perfect in every way but our minds were so attached to the oak creek campsite and an evening in sedona that we failed to notice the wonder that was in front of us. we got the campsite and rested a little … we felt disturbed not because of what had happened but because of the awareness of our reaction…. we had failed to appreciate what was given to us just because we got attached to an idea. So in the spirit of enjoying what we have we went to the lake to enjoy the sunset…it was nothing but wonderful!!

*** Incidentally, that very day I read a very pertinent passage from the book “that which you are seeking is causing you to seek”, which goes as follows ...

“In spiritual practice it’s good to be disturbed. We want to be disturbed as long as we can be disturbed. When you are not disturbed it’s only because you are not disturbed, not because nothing is disturbing. It is true that nothing is intrinsically disturbing, but as long as you can be disturbed, you can’t know that. So if you want to wake up, if we want to see how we create disturbance and suffering within ourselves, we will want to continue to be disturbed and to pay very close attention to being disturbed for as long as we are disturbed!!"

Hope that is not too disturbing !! :-)

journey to arizona...

we went to sri yogananda's self realization fellowship temple in encinitas. the temple was closed but the garden and the hermitage was open. these are beautiful gardens right on the side of the ocean and have a very beautiful view of the ocean. we could feel a lot of positive energy in that place...amit and i meditated in the gardens for sometime and it was very rejuvenating.

***while meditating i realized that when i was experiencing being in the moment and if i started putting it in words in my mind, the experience would just vanish.

during our visit to srf gardens, i read a passage from “present moment wonderful moment” by Thich Nhat Nanh. it was about practicing mindfulness by using “gathas” (“gathas” are short verses which can be recited during dialy activities to practice indfulness) i read the gatha for getting up in the morning which is as follows –

“waking up this morning, i smile.
twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
i vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”

after reading it, i closed my eyes to be mindful at that moment and when i opened my eyes, i saw this very young girl (about 4 yrs) who was looking at the marble bench on which i was sitting with wonder and twinkle in her eyes. she called her mom and asked her to feel the smoothness and the coolness of the marble bench with her hand. right there she gave me an example of mindfulness and how that can keep you in awe of simple things of life...

after srf, we went to la jolle beach. amit really wanted to snorkel and i wanted to go kayaking but unfortunetaly, we were quite late and also the weather was not the best for these activities. instead, we just decided to swim and enjoy the beautiful waves of the ocean. even though it was quite cloudy and windy, the water was not that cold and it was simply great to be hitting the waves.

now, we are driving to casa grande, arizona and are almost about to reach. i am writing this while amit is driving and listening to music. for most part of the journey, i was driving and amit was planning the next few days at sedona. i loved the drive--reflecting on the last few days and listening to some great music (thanks to all of you out there who not only gifted the ipod to us but also loaded it with beautiful music...you guys are the best!!)...while driving eastward away from the ocean, i felt a little sad because we were moving away from the ocean...i realized that i really love the ocean …i think it is very reflective in a lot of ways...i also love the vibrancy that is associated with the ocean...i love the smile the ocean brings on so many faces…ocean also invariable gives me a very surreal feeling and i find it so much easier to be in the moment when i get that feeling J

*** lesson of the day is to practice mindfulness.

*** i was thinking about service and compassion and acceptance and i realized that most of the time it is easier to practice acceptance with strangers...it is easier to forgive and forget their rudeness or rowdiness or ingratitude and be equanimous. but it is difficult to stay equanimous in such situations with your friends and relatives...i think it is because when you interact and form a relationship, you start expecting a certain behavior...a certain set of reactions..and it is your expectations that stop you from being equitable or forgiving or accepting their mistakes. once again --the key is to be aware and practice acceptance.

---- we camped at campgrounds Buena Tierra…it was extremely hot and the campgrounds were absolutely barren and we literally slept on gravel. But to my surprise, the camp ground had a wireless internet connection, had excellent bathrooms and showers and also had cable tv hook up connections (though I couldn’t understand as to why would anybody come for camping and watch tv!!)

san diego...

amit really wanted to visit the san diego zoo...but then we do not support the idea of caging the animals so in the spirit of being the change we wish to see in the world, we gave up the idea of going to the zoo. instead, we decided to check out the san diego wild animal park. we left the san diego motel at around 11:00am...stopped at a very cool cafe to check our emails. the cafe had some very beautiful pictures...amit took some photos of the pictures (which he will be uploading shortly). Anyway, we headed for the wild animal park (where the animals are kept in the open) a little north east of san diego. the park has some very exotic animals that are kept in the open habitat and it seems that the park authorities collaborate with a lot of countries to save some of the endangered species. needless to say amit’s third eye (his camera !) was constantly at work at the park. there was nothing that could be missed by his third eye. so look out for some cool pictures. some of the attractions of the park were the elephant and the frequent flier shows. the elephants and the birds are trained to do some small antics. the antics were really cool and their trainer seemed to be very kind. but while watching the show i was not sure how right it is to take out these animals from their natural habitat and then train them for human beings pleasure!!

my favorite animals were the giraffe and flamingoes. the giraffes simply looked majestic....and the flamingoes were so pretty. did you know that the pink color that flamingoes have is due to the food that they eat i.e. algae and shrimps. If you have ever wondered as to why they stand on one leg..well, for the same reason as to why we snuggle inside our blankets - to keep warm !

we wanted to camp so we went to the nearest available campsites i.e dixon reservoir in escondido. the ranger helped us finding a campsite with a view and on his recommendation the campsite we chose had the city view on one side and the lake view on the other. even though city view did not sound very exciting, the camp site was very beautiful and so was the city view....the lake view was like a one big dark hole in the night but you could feel the cool moist breeze. we loved it...

*** while having lunch at panda express, i made an eye contact with a middle aged man and a very interesting thought came to my mind ---i do not know anything about that guy...where he comes from…where he is headed..etc and he also does not know anything about me but our paths are crossed today because we both exist in the universe in this time and space and we both chose to have a meal at panda express (panda express is a funny connection). the thought made me smile and the man smiled back :-)

torta in mexico...

we found that people in mexico to be quite friendly and polite. there was one shop that we went to have tortas (Mexican sandwich) and we had a tough time explaining to them that we don't want meat. after explaining to 3 different people, we still got a torta with meat. We, then showed them what was it in the sandwich that we did not want they made a new torta for us with an amused look on their face. infact, we stood right next to the chef just to make sure that he does not add any non-veg stuff in the torta. the 2nd torta came out to be great but what was greater was the smile with which it was made and served.

All the while when amit was in mexico, he kept trying to speak Spanish..he thinks that anthing that ends with a "ion" becomes Spanish. so that is how talked to me for two days :-) (when amit heard ashish interact with sadie in gujrati, amit started speaking gujarati with sadie and according to amit gujratti is anything that ends with a "che")..

adventure in mexico...

as soon as we entered mexico and parked our car, amit realized that he has left the car key inside!! this was our little adventure on 13th june...amit is writing more details about this incident on his blog. here you can see the smile on amit's face when the door to our car was opened and the key found!!

road trip -- 06/10/2005

day 1 - 06/10/2005
we said our goodbyes to shalini and gaurav and headed for stanford university to meet Tristan, who was going to be spending the first day of our road trip with us. he had planned a hike for us at bigsur. we met Tristan at about 2pm and started heading towards bigsur. while in the car, amit and i tried our level best to synch the ipod with the radio but as expected both of us couldn’t get the damn thing to work :-) we plan to call for tech support albeit gauri or dada when ever we get a chance to get their expert opinion.

believe it or not but we took 7 hours to reach bigsur. as per tristan's calculations, we should have been there within 2 hours but somehow; it just took forever to reach to our desired destination. we all were not sure as to what was the reason for us being so late...we were so engrossed in our conversation that we just didn't notice the traffic that was barely moving....then we overshot Salinas and lost about an hour in that...and of course, amit's third eye twitched at every vista point for a photo :-) i was a little skeptical that tristan might not like our attitude but he seemed to be enjoying himself. by the time we reached bigsur, it was too late and dark. amit and i thought about our favorite campsite - julia Pfeiffer burns and decided to camp there....we barely managed to find the site (did i tell you that by this time, our oil tank was almost empty and that there was no gas station around...so it added to the uncertainty). but we found out that the site was already reserved. since it was too late we decided to find some flat ground and camp there...even though it was not allowed (we were encouraged by some people who were camping right next to the "no camping" signboard). we did manage to find a flat ground (very close to the stinking bathrooms). we pitched our tents happily and went off to sleep in our not-so cozy sleeping bags...

breakfast at bigsur

breakfast at bigsur...