Countdown to South+East Asia

South+East Asia is coming ’round the corner!

Gentle Birth Dharma Gateway

“You have seen the path, do not fear anymore.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

May all preparations and details

leading to the departure gateway day

proceed with great ease.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the time being, moving Summer 2009 postings to:

Suroeste Dharma Journey + Isanghamahal Flickr account

Update: South+East Asia Planning

Praises to Ganesh! (Image from openbuddha.com)

Gentle Birth Journey

South+East

Suroeste Asia

Calm Ocean of the Heart

32nd Sun Dharma Gateway

Summer Solstice 2009 – August 2009

Arriving, arriving…homecoming…

Thank you Dear Friends

…for watering the wholesome seeds within me

that are allowing for this gateway journey to open.

Entering My Inner & Outer Gateways

Picture above: Manjushri’s Cave in Kathmandu, Nepal

Santi,

I realized, again, this weekend that my upcoming travels plans for a self-created South+East Asia dharma homecoming retreat are just around the corner. The last time I checked, I had eight weeks or so. Then, I saw a dear Friend yesterday who will be leaving in a couple of weeks and this made me WAKE UP and SIT UP to know that time’s working with me to get me to work it out! My Kuya has his wedding celebration at the end of the week, then my expository writing training next week, and then at the end of May 2009, we have the Deer Park + World Beat Sangha Strengthenin’ Weekend Retreat collaboration!

All this stuff goin’ on, and all this stuff to do! All this good stuff goin’ on and all this good stuff to do!

Just checked my passport renewal status and I find out, it is on its way! YAHHHOOOOOO! I’ve been checkin’ and nothing’s been coming up. And it had been several weeks already. I worried a bit, but now, all all all good! REJOICE!

Does that mean, I should finally step into the gateway of ticketing my trip…finally!? Why haven’t I gotten my ticket yet a friend asked? I made up a reason or two, which are real. Yet, I know the conditions are here. Tonight, I hope to write back here and say otherwise.

Arrived

Arrived

Home

Home

Here

Here

Touching

Happiness

- – - – - – - – - – – - -

U.S. Passport Application Status

Thank you for submitting your application for a U.S. passport book!

Your passport application locator number is XXXXXXXXX.

We have finished processing your passport, and it has been mailed to you.

You requested delivery by regular mail. Passport Agencies use Priority Mail

This means you should receive your passport on or about XXXXXXXXX.

- – - – - – - – - -

I don’t always check my mail right when I get home, so this morning when I was about to leave for work, I check the mailbox and yes yes yes!  My renewal passport is there!  Happiness!

Ticket plus passport!

Motherland Suroeste Asia, here we go!

ON THE ROAD TO 2012 POEM

the victory has been promised
the prophecy oracle has been cast
do not be afraid to give your life
for the final cause
on the road to 2012

– - – - – - – - – -

Posted with 1320 days until Winter Solstice 2012!

- – - – - – - – - -

Santi Friend,

I got my ticket tonight! Wow, wow, wow!

WOWWW! I’ve been eyeing this ticket for a bit

and tonight, I sat a bit and then sat down to

explore the ticketing details and options and patiently

entering, clicking, reading and re-entering information…

CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR TICKET HAS BEEN PURCHASED!

Om Shree Maha Ganesha Namaha!

Touching happiness for all the conditions that support me

to take this trip for myself, my past, my present and my future.

For all the Ones who have continually supported me…

For all that is being revealed, and all that will continue to be revealed…

For the communications occurring and the ones that are arising…

For the path is rising up to meet us all on this Gateway Year 2009

May you be safe

May you be healthy

May you be happy

May you be at ease…

Smiling to life…

Oh life, is to wonderful

in the present moment.

- – - – - – - – -

Dove Messages

Visited Dove today at the Controversial Bookstore, North Park.

Chatted a little bit…catching up on latest projects.

- – - – - – - – - – - -

THE FOUR GREAT TRUTHS DVD LAUNCH!

A teaching by Michael Dove

directed by Mark Newsome

DVD Screening & Celebration

MAY 3rd, 2009

3pm-6pm

Controversial Bookstore

*** film screening *** community *** refreshments

- – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Dove shared some thoughts about visiting San Cristobal! Woooohooo!

And he asked about what’s up at school? Shared a feeling that the entire program would go through a restructuring and shift. And ultimately, it would actually FREE me!? Wow!? Does that mean the work will not have the same resonance as before, if the program becomes so different than what it was initially started for? Will my preps and teaching load balance out finally? Will I have more time for other things, “things?” Smile!

No one really knows, actually, he said. There’s a feeling that no one really knows what is really going on. But, in the way that everything is undergoing a transformative restructuring, the same will occur for this program as well. Release…listen…respond

And regarding the South+East Asia trip…

Go & receive…

Will encounter my teaching training, classroom work “self” but in a completely different context. The work of “teaching in the classroom” recast amidst different conditions. A good thing! Helping others here and there to frame and understand. Activity, communication, interaction.

A hut and a cushion will emerge to greet me there…

A completely new beginning…a bussssy new beginning!

I am open to receive the entirety of the communication that commences upon taking this journey in the direction of South+East Asia.

I look forward to growing in ease with my teaching work, in order for me to be “free.”

I look forward to Entering the Gateway that I seek and the one that is also seeking me.

I receive the messages.  I receive the feelings and communications.  I receive the roles and pathways, the opening gateways that are emerging for me to see.  Emerge(N)See!

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

“You have seen the path, do not fear anymore.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Gentle hut cushion

Breathing walking sitting, yes

Yes  Buddha dharma!

Dharma Yatra ~ Pilgrimage

“Dharma Yatra (Pilgrimage) is very important for Buddhists. When we visit these sacred sites, we are reminded of the Master, Lord Buddha. It develops in us a strong sense of compassion. Ideally, one should be a better person when one returns, otherwise it is not useful, a waste of money and time.”

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

(In an exclusive interview given for the book ‘Walking With the Buddha’, co-authored by Shantum Seth)

http://www.buddhapath.com/comments.htm

Ideas ~ Suroeste Asia

Feeling a little better, but still congested today. Drinking up warm liquids, water and soups. I feel like I should just stay inside for the rest of the day, but I have some small errands to complete.

Really though, wanted to post about some “findings” and possible places to visit as I begin to make my way towards the path that leads to my Summer 2009 trip to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal.) I know it sounds like a lot, and we’ll see what progresses, but I do hope to make it to all these places! May the winds be favorable!

S.E. ASIA POSSIBILITIES

After landing in Bangkok, settling in, touristing, taking it all in…

1) Southern Thailand (Surat Thani)

Suan Mokkh, Garden of Liberation, a practice center inspired by Buddhadasa Bhikku. Ten day retreats at the beginning of the month are held here. Be there towards end of June so I’ll have me a spot for the July retreat period.

2) Head to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

3) From Cambodia, continue southbound to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and stay at Kechara House (guesthouse) hoping to listen to dharma talks by Loco Lama (H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche) and participate within the dharma activities of the organization.

4) Hoping to get the details from KH to find my way to Nepal and stay at the Kechara Lounge there, hang out around Kathmandu, visit the Boudnath Stupa and other inspired activities.

5) How about Burma? How close it it?

Head back to Bangkok?

REJOICE for the opportunity to take this inner and outer journey!

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map_of_southeast_asia.ht- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

And as I look at this map and try to roughly chart a course, how about going to Nepal earlier and then return to Bangkok through Bhutan and Burma! WOOOOWWW!

May the winds be favorable, the rains seasonable for this journey to manifest safely, easily, protected and guided on the roads and pathways of Southeast Asia.

OR…

How about starting the journey from Kuala Lumpur, then I head  northbound…

Cambodia, Surat Thani, Bangkok, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal and find my way to New Delhi and return home from India!   Wow!

NOTE:  Be realistic here.  Will that be too much of a whirlwind or what?  What about the 10 day retreat at Suan Mokkh?  Plan it out, plan it out, once I return from Suroeste Mexico.  Plan, plan, plan.

Ideas, ideas…

seed plantings…

Happiness for the conditions available to make this journey.

South+East Mexico

Been working on finding a ticket to travel

down here

to the “south+east”

mexico

to visit a friend…

and the ticket findings been its own

lil’ journey of sorts

i was suppose to give the airline a call today by 6pm

but somehow, with after school meetin’s and

going to get groceries (which i usually do on sundays!?)

i arrived home by 5pm, and it would be 6pm in mexico city

so it was already passed my deadline…

BUT

i’m going to try again, in a bit here

and see what happens…

all good praktis for me

as i also make the effort and put energy

towards finding a good ticket as well

for motherland south+east asia trip this summer

i try not to think about it too much or else i’ll get too

absorbed and forget the day to day details of things

at the house, at school/work, etc.

excitement all around though to see kalyanamitra

and check-in, communicate, vissudha chakra connections

and communications…

yes, yes, yes!

sitting here and feeling the breath enter the throat and

sensing the vibration at this place in me where my voice

and my truth becomes manifest…where my own Word

and that which has become my Truth, from here, from this

vissudha space is where it manifests in order to create and manifest in the world.

this is where non-fear, no-hiding, just Being can begin to emerge(n)see

for who I Be to Exist…

south+east+mexico

and my urge at times to write here for no other reason than to listen to my own voice, being reflected back to me…

to listen to myself through “writing and reading”

it has been its own curious journey, without me fully knowing

this curiosity is actually connected to the energetics of fifth chakra healing…

south+east+mexico

whatever happens tonight with this phone call,

whether the office is already closed and i’ll have to call again tomorrow

or the transaction is completed…

at this moment, what matters is i am sitting there

blogging and blabbing away here

and smiling inside knowing this here moment now

is actually something that is good for me…

this and the throat coat teas i got at henry’s

this afternoon: buy one get one free!

we’ll see which one is better tasting…

traditional medicinals or yogi tea!

south+east+mexico

down here

to the south&east

kalyanamitra,

see you in a bit…

Praktis ~ “Teaching” English

Maybe this is part of my family of origin contemplation ~ meditation for this Full Moon in Leo? 

(Do I consider myself an English teacher?  Or an English Language Arts teacher?  Or a critical literacy & writing teacher?  I have to say the latter…I feel like my identity of knowing English arises from that place more strongly.  BUT, that’s not to say I wouldn’t like to explore this opportunity below to teach English in India!  Wow, Motherland Southeast Asia trip planning takin’ me in all kinds of directions!)

Enough.

I’ll return to this posting later on and let it just be for right now

Breathing in, I smile…

Breathing out, I receive the gentle signs of the Friendly Universe…

May the winds be favorable…

.

.

.

Job Description
Volunteer English as a Second Language Teachers
Himachal Pradesh, India

We are seeking full-time male ESL teachers to teach monks at Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute (DKCLI), Chauntra (H.P.). The monks at the Institute are following a ten year traditional course of study in Buddhist philosophy. English has recently been added to the curriculum, along with computer skills.

Over 90 monks, aged 20 – 35, are currently enrolled in five beginner to intermediate level courses in the Institute’s English language program. The program’s five-year curriculum aims to give students a solid start in the language and includes both skills-based and grammar components. Popular Cambridge University Press course books form the basis of each class, supplemented by graded reading sets and CD-ROM based materials.

Responsibilities:
Under supervision and guidance of the principal English teacher, volunteer teachers will
•  prepare and teach  two one-hour classes per day, Monday – Friday
•  write and administer tests for each unit of study (approx two tests per month for each class)
•  record attendance and assessment details in database
•  prepare a small report on student progress in each class at the end of the work period, to assist transfer to the incoming  teacher.

Remuneration:
• Accommodation and meals are provided in the monastery; and
•  A stipend of 2,000 rps month to assist with expenses

Qualifications:
Preference will be given to people who have:
•  a teaching qualification or relevant degree, and/or
•  experience teaching English as a second language.
•  Teachers need to be native English speakers.

If you have relevant qualifications or experience, and would be interested in being involved in the English language program at DKCLI, please email Suzie Erbacher with your CV (please include two references).

Please note:  Volunteers will need to make a commitment to work with the program for at least 3 months, preferably longer. Commencement dates can be negotiated.

Useful web links:
1.    Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute –

http://www.siddharthasintent.org/Tibetan/Chauntra.htm

2.    Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Siddhartha’s Intent

http://www.siddharthasintent.org/about.htm

3.    Khyentse Foundation

http://www.khyentsefoundation.org

Full Moon in Leo (4th House)

A gentle message today about Motherland Southeast Asia explorations, especially this summer? Finding a new home with my career choice? New Joy of Being?  Talks with Makeda?  Sitting with the energy of knowing my family of origin more — what is this spiritual communication?   Look deeply.

My blood ancestors and my spiritual, energetic ancestors.  My land ancestors.  Memories and myths within to which I have an affinity.  Ancestors, I send prayers for your guidance and wisdom. I surrender and release, walking towards the gateway, taking refuge, embracing the path that has also chosen me. My family of origin, the place from where my soul has come, the memories that are arising, serving as reminders, gentle reminders of the Way to go.  Arriving, arriving, going, going Home.

Monday, Feb 9th, 2009 -– The Full Moon Eclipse in your 4th House of Roots can act as a lightning rod that attracts attention to your family of origin. Although travel isn’t necessarily indicated now, you might go somewhere far away in mind. You may want to learn about a foreign culture or become interested in your ancestral history. Remember, no grandiose gestures are needed; they’ll only distract you from the real work at hand.

(from tarot.com

Santi,

Jnaseh

.  .  .

Year of the Earth Ox ~ Eclipse in my 10th House

Well, I don’t really know all the astrologie behind today’s energy, but I do know eclipses, when present, tend to shift and transform things, sometimes not in the most favorable ways. For me, the 10th house activity with the eclipse clues me into a deep career shift that is in the works.   Last year’s layoff experience during the spring was its own praktis period of relating to transitions and letting go of my assumptions of how my teaching work would progress.  So, now, with this eclipse, and the lil’ signs  that have made their presence known, “releasing the grip” on things isn’t as challenging.  If anything, last year’s lil’ bump on the road is making any potential bumps to come, not that big of a deal!  OR SO I SAY!?

I’ve got my mind and heart and energy set to re-root and re-”initialize” myself with a coming full circle trip to Motherland Southeast Asia!  I know, I know, I’ve probably written about that soooo mannnnny times now

FROM WORDSFORTHEPEOPLE.COM

Taurus – This morning’s powerful solar eclipse conjunct Jupiter in your 10th House of career is pulling you in a new direction. Relax — you don’t have to know exactly what this new version of your public self looks like. It’s enough to be aware that the scene is shifting and make yourself available to go in the direction your spirit wants to take you. Sometimes solar eclipses close the door on an old way of life before they open the door to the new one. But this eclipse seems exceptionally positive for you, as long as you’re willing to be flexible and keep tuning in to find out who you really, really want to be in this life. Sometimes these things take a little while, but you can make the transition easier by consciously relaxing your grip on things and making time to listen to your inner voice. Also, at least one friend or colleague wants to offer you generous support — your job this week is to be open to receive.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

For the time being, let me simply say this.  Yes, to the colleague and friend who has generously been here to offer me support and guidance!  Plus, part two of all this: new ideas arising, new gateways and dharma doors opening, old doorways closing.  In and Out.  What does it all mean in the immediate?  Listening Deeply.  Looking Deeply.  At myself and my conditions.  And opening to receive the spiritual communicatiion.  Impermanence.  Birth, Death, Rebirth.  Emanations and Manifestations.  My ideas for my “work” are changing their conditions and I effort to open to the new energies, messages, prayers, blessings, openings, gateways that are welcoming me.  May I be in touch with clarity and solidity to know the good way to go.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

Torana ~ Gateway

Torana means gateway in the ancient architectural traditions of Hindu & Buddhist cultures.  A new word learned today!  Happiness for this spiritual communication through sound and images.

Very, very excited about getting a chance to visit Motherland Southeast Asia and to talk my own pictures of gateways, dharma doors, openings, invitations…

May all good things manifest to make this trip possible, wonderful, safe, smooth and abundantly supported on all levels!