A Worthy Barter Trade.

15 more days and its time to depart for home, I’m counting my days left in Mysore.

I miss my clean nails, well-managed hair, uncracking heels, clean drinking water straight from the tap, walking the street with a little more peace of mind, clean air, the convenience of public transport, consuming ice cubes, salads & sushi without having to think about chances of getting bad tummy, dustless floor…

I am a city girl after all.

4am, what will you be doing at this time friends?

Snoozing in dreamland, maybe?

I’m standing in the bathroom, looking at my messed up  hair, half-woken face… brushing my teeth. 

4.30am, what will you doing at this time friends?

Flipping over the otherside getting into a comfortable sleeping position, maybe?

I sat down in the dining area in a quiet morning, sipping coffee in hope to widen my eyes… before heading out.

Sometimes, walking along the dim-lite street at wee hour to the shala, I thought…

“ What am I doing at this hour going for practice… it is just bizarre”

Sometime in life is like that, isn’t it?

Everyday dogs encounter in a morning walk

There is a core and all other stuff just revolves around. 

Somehow, in some way, when we set our eyes on that ONE thing…. we learn how to stop sweating over the small stuffs. 

I constantly remind myself the intention of being in Mysore— not be get suck into the whirlpool of distractions that may deviate me from my personal learning. 

For the fact that, it is not a simple decision to put aside 3 months in Mysore--- the many months before of constant preparation (just to make this trip happen) was also part of the practice. 

Mysore is not a holiday. It’s not a time that we get comfortable or an escape from our problems.

There is a skeleton of disciplined routine we frame ourselves onto--- In that space, in fact, we are digging into our personal issues one by one, laying them in front us—a self-confrontation, is a dirty job.

Along side with the daily practice (without having to worry about work schedule), we learn to figure out a way to manage… there’s just nothing else to busy about except on ourselves.

It is a worthy barter trade of temporary material comfort for lifelong invaluable knowledge. 

We take this gift of knowledge back home, and use it in reality of the world that we are living. Re-entering our world a better person than we first left off.