Rolling Stones

This month has been an interesting one to say the least. While I’ve been ‘off the grid’ with regards to the e-world, I’ve been very much ‘on the grid’ in terms of the real world. Along with my good friends Sundara and Vicaru, we embarked on a month-long project to share the ancient wisdom literature of the Vedas with as many people as possible. The rough route - London - Norwich - Birmingham - Manchester - Sheffield - Nottingham - Leicester - Northampton - London. We clocked around 1600 miles in just over 3 weeks (that’s the distance to Moscow, Russia!)

Although the temperatures were cold (-10 at one point), the wonderful experiences and interactions with different individuals warmed my heart. The purpose was to share wisdom with others, but at the end of each day I felt as though it was me who was learning so much from them! Even though many of them had not read into the Vedas, their insights, personalities and ways of living were so reminiscent of those teachings. The opportunity to travel to far-flung places and meet so many interesting individuals from diverse backgrounds is undoubtedly a priceless one.

One of the best perks of being a monk is this freedom to “keep the wheels turning”. In fact, ancient scriptures enjoin it as the duty of renunciates to keep traveling, lest they become attached and entangled in temporal situations. To this day, itinerants in India are careful not to even sleep under the same tree for two nights in a row. We come into this world empty, we leave empty, and in the middle we must be cautious to remain unattached. This world, after all, is just like an airport transit lounge... and baggage restrictions are extremely strict.

Speaking of airports, on Tuesday I fly to India for a month of reflection, introspection and spiritual retreat. The travels continue. As they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss...