Shake it off

Well, I picked up a cold in Malaysia. It could have been the 2am flight Friday night, or going from a non air-conditioned life to an air-conditioned life , or from no drinking to having champagne in the executive lounge at sissy's hotel. Regardless, I pushed the limit somewhere along the way, and am now sniffling my way back to health. Side note: I just had a fabulous bowl of chick pea soup that helped the whole process along. Last night I went to listen to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speak to his devotees here in Chennai (not be mistaken with the Sittar player). He started by asking if we were happy, and the thousands of us in the audience half shouted half mumbled, "Yes". Then he told us he wanted us to be so happy that are faces were like blosoming flowers, with big smiles on them. He continued..."A dog goes into the water and when he comes out of the water, what does he do? He shakes off the water. But the mind doesn't shake it off. The mind stays stagnent, holds on, and stays in a state of inertia." This teaching reminds me of why I went on this trip in the first place, to get out of my comfort zone and awaken all the nerve endings of my literal and spirtual bodies. No matter what, the allure of the comfort zone will always be there. And what's more resentment, bitterness, depression, disease will continue to fester and grow as long as there is a lack of movement. So the way to clear the mental slate of endless doodling, is to shake it free. How do I practice this today? Chennai has become my comfort zone, I know where to get a decent latte, where to grochery shop, where to have lunch, where the temples are, and how to get home on a rig-shaw, finally. So tonight I leave again the framilar life of Chennai for an unframilar life in Kochi. Kochi is a port town in Kerala, on the West Coast of India. What will I find there, I don't know? But to break the cycle my daily routine is what will skake my mind free so it may settle more elegantly into the moment. May we lose our minds to find them again.