Angkor Wat – Cambodia: April 1-4

Angkor Wat – Cambodia
“A Country’s story of Courage and Renewal”

Here’s the story of our profound visit to Cambodia and the ruins at Angkor Wat.

Arrival to Siem Riep
We arrive in Siem Riep, Cambodia, the home of Angkor Wat, in the late afternoon expecting blistering heat. We’ve heard that April is the hottest month in Cambodia reaching temperatures of 1100F. Instead, today it is cool and breezy, and we’re glad of that. I remember arriving in Bangkok in the middle of the night it had felt like a sauna. We wondered if it would be worse here, but we are pleasantly surprised. We pull the baby card at customs and are helped by a very nice customs official to get through the airport quickly.

We hope to find help with getting a room because we didn’t book a motel in advance. Surprisingly, there are no phones at the airport and no tourist desk to assist us. Since we had heard there were no ATM machines in Cambodia, we are surprised to see there is one at the airport. As it turns out, we don’t see another ATM during our stay. Amazing to us, they do not use their own currency, the riel. People use American dollars or other currencies, and they all return US dollars when giving change. Their money is only used to break a $1 bill when they will give 1000 riel that equals 25 cents.
We go outside and book a taxi and when asked where to go we tell him we don’t have a hotel booked. I mention the name of one I had seen on the internet that sounded nice. He tells us it’s far away from town and doesn’t have a pool. He offers to take us to a place he knows of. When we arrive there it is perfect for us, modest in price, very nice, and has a pool. We pay him extra for his gracious help. Everything for us has been so smooth and easy in coming to Cambodia as opposed to our experience in Thailand where there was so much difficulty. We had all been sick in Thailand and that made it very difficult, especially in Chiang Mai where the air was so toxic with pollution. This quick jaunt from Thailand to Cambodia is a true blessing for our family in many ways.

Sweet Welcome
I didn’t know what kind of welcome we would receive in Cambodia, but it feels good to be here. Their country is quite beautiful. The landscape is lovely and inviting with lush trees and forests, meandering rivers and the moats surrounding the ancient temples.
I remember the US bombings in Cambodia back in the Vietnam era, to allegedly take out North Vietnamese bases. I have also heard about the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge but when I ask people about it, there is discomfort and I receive very explanation. Nonetheless, the people have been so kind to us, and we are so struck by how joyful they seem after so many years of war and terror.

We have come to see Angkor Wat, described as the world’s largest religious monument ever built. Because of the wars and unrest, this place had been closed for many years. Only in the last 10 years or so has the border of Cambodia been open to tourists again. I have wondered about Angkor Wat for years, and now we are on the doorstep of seeing it in person.

The Young Ones Street Play
When we return from dinner at a local restaurant in the evening we notice a group of young people around ages16 playing a game on the sidewalk. They are fully engaged, laughing and carrying on. We stand to watch them a little bit. I’m reflecting about how they come together and play and engage with each other instead of watching TV or standing around drinking, or complaining, or talking about how there’s nothing to do. They are throwing little stone like objects, like large flat chestnuts at a layout of the same objects placed on the ground. I see a girl hit the center object and she groans. I find out that the object of the game is to hit the outer objects, but to avoid the center one. She has hit the center one and that means she will receive a little wop or hit on the knee from 2 of the same objects held in a cupped hand of her opponent. Her teammates will also receive the same treatment. One of the girls sees me and welcomingly asks if I’d like to join the game. I join in for a little while, without any luck – meaning I didn’t hit anything, but soon their attention is on Elijah, our little ambassador. This is the usual, people just go wild with eagerness to meet him, coo and play with him, as he is so responsive to their expressions of love and attention.
When we pass by this area the following evening they are playing a different game, still together, still engaged, still having fun.

The Temples

We see the ruins the following day. In a few days one can see only a little bit of what is here. The Khmer builders back in the 8th to the 13th centuries were master builders. For a very long time, the Khmer people were a coherent kingdom with advanced irrigation systems and building knowledge. It was the irrigation systems that allowed this huge empire to become established. Most of this knowledge is lost today. All that’s left are some of the moats, which are quite impressive. The moat around Angkor is 200 yards wide around each side and stretches for almost a mile on each side.
The religion of the Khmer kingdom started as a Hindu, then changed to Buddhism in the 12th century or so, then became Hindu again. Today the country is mostly Buddhist. It was odd to see the Buddha-statue faces defaced; this was done when the Hindus took back the temples. The struggle between Buddhism and Hinduism seems odd for such seemingly peaceful religions.

It is such a strange feeling to be standing in the temples of Angkor Wat, I marvel at the way they were able to build these amazing temples. I wish I could go back in a time machine and see how they lived when these grounds were populated by the people who built them. I can only wonder at how, and reflect about how they prayed in here and what they were really built for: for a king’s ego fancy, or for the good of the people, for praise to the creator, their God, or as a place of learning or initiation.


The place that strikes both Icasiana and me the most on the first day is Ta Prohm. This temple is much smaller than the gargantuan Angkor Wat. While many of the sites have had extensive reconstruction, Ta Prohm has not. It is very much in the condition that all the temples were in when they were rediscovered by the French in the 1800s after centuries of neglect. For the last 500 years or so, strangler fig trees and spung trees have grown up around the temples, seeded by birds from the mountains where these trees normally grow. As they’ve grown, they have wedged into the stone crevices and pushed apart the buildings. At this point, many of the trees cannot be removed or else the structure will collapse. We were told that the movie “Tomb Raider”, was shot at these ominous places where the trees have taken over the stones.

Talented Artist
We happened to meet a very interesting Cambodian artist at the west entrance of Ta Prohm who drew exquisite drawings and paintings using watercolor, ink and charcoal. At 20 and only studying art for one year, he was a very accomplished as an artist. He also seemed to have an excellent flair for business and marketing. We were happy to assist him by selecting a lovely watercolor painting of Angkor Wat.

Victims of Land Mines

We also saw in this same area a group of men playing music who were victims of land mines. They had formed a band to raise money for all victims of land mines and to help themselves. We listened to them play, and they carried on with such joy even though they were missing legs, blinded and maimed in other ways. We marveled at their courage and good spirits. This attitude and light was seen throughout Cambodia. Throughout all the tragedies and travesties, the spirit of the people, their light, has come through and they share this love so freely with us.

Temples at Sunrise – Magical Light
The following day, Icasiana and I (and Elijah of course) got up at sunrise to see the temples in the early morning light. Kate and Matt did not volunteer to accompany us, I don’t think they find it as interesting as we do, and they had probably had enough the day before. We arrived at Angkor a little later than we had hoped and saw a squadron of people leaving the temple having gotten their perfect sunrise picture. Well, I don’t care; I got an absolutely magical picture of the sunrise over the moat of Angkor Wat that I’m going to publish in National Geographic. Well that’s if they like it as much as I do. If they don’t, I’m sure my mom will like it. (Anyway, Elijah thinks I’m funny, he’s laughing right now.)

After Angkor we go to Ta Prohm again to get some early morning, magical light photos. We try to find one of the special places again, but hunger has overtaken Icasiana and we must seek refuge in food immediately. There is a chamber at Ta Prohm that when you thump on your chest over your heart, it echoes deeply and strongly. It doesn’t respond this way with voices or thumping anywhere else on your body, just over your heart. Something about the resonance of the heart is attuned to this chamber. But as I was saying, we can’t find it again and finally just go and eat.

A Welcomed Surprise
After breakfast, we go to a temple called Preah Khan. We hadn’t planned on going to this site, but our tuk tuk (motorcycle taxi) driver, Mr. Chuon suggested it to us. Icasiana and I had just mentioned to each other that as magnificent as the buildings were, we hadn’t felt an “energetic charge” from any of them. We were wondering why not and speaking about sacred sites of the world where I had experienced something special, and what did it mean that we didn’t feel it here. When we got to Preah Khan that all changes - we both feel a magnetism, me in my hands and feet and Icasiana at her forehead and crown. Now we can wonder about why we felt it here and not the other temples.

Energy Charge at Angkor
Ironically, the next morning all of us got up early at sunrise to visit Angkor Wat again. I walk up the steep steps to the top alone as no one else wants to make the climb and go up again. This time, without carrying the baby, without being tired from the heat, and without others calling for my attention, I was able to feel that sacred hum. I drop down into a still place and feel a huge energy field at this place. I let it fill me. Then I wonder what else have I been missing?

Touched by Mr. Chuon

Mr. Chuon, our driver from the day before, was someone who made a powerful impression on us. He had such a wonderful way of taking care of us. Beyond his kind and caring actions though there was something about him that touched not only Icasiana and I, but the kids as well. We all felt something special in meeting him. Every time we came back to the tuk tuk, he would rearrange the seat covering for us and primp the cab for us. We felt so honored to be riding with him. Icasiana and I rode alone with him in the morning while the kids stayed in. In the afternoon he came back for us and took us all, including the kids. The kids immediately felt an affinity towards him without us ever saying anything to them about him. We noticed how Kate and Matt became so animated and playful when we drove around in Mr. Chuon’s open tuk tuk.
As dusk approached in the evening and it was time to leave the temples, he stopped at a wonderful place for us to see the sunset. That’s when Matt noticed that one of his legs was not real. We hadn’t noticed this before. As this realization sunk in, we looked at each other with wonder and awe. It made us feel even more appreciative of his good will and kindness. In the midst of a tragic event of losing his leg, which we suspected was from a land mine, he maintained such a joyful spirit and caring attitude.


Memoirs of a Tragic Time
I’m reading a book called “First They Killed My Father,” a person telling the story of her childhood when the Khmer Rouge came and began their reign of terror in Cambodia in 1979. I want to understand better what happened here during this time. We are marveling at the resiliency of the people here. Just one point. The people of Cambodia are the Khmer people and they speak the Khmer language. The Khmer Rouge were the Communist fanatics who waged a civil war with the military government that had overthrown the monarchy in 1970. After the Khmer Rouge won the civil war, they began a program of genocide against their own people, killing nearly 2 million people. When the Vietnamese came in and defeated the Khmer Rouge, they retreated to the mountains and maintained a stronghold where they were able to continue terrorizing even though they weren’t in power anymore. Peace did not come until 1995. And still today, many of the land mines that they had planted remain and continue to cripple the Cambodian people.

We are Grateful
In leaving Cambodia after such a short stay, we feel so grateful to have seen a little window into the spirit of these people who have endured such tragedy with such courage. The kids were so moved by it that one evening as we drove home they waved hello to all the people passing by. Could these be the same kids that started out this journey not willing to reach out to anyone they didn’t know? It was a magical moment for all of us to experience their joy.

Soon we will be in the Philippines, the home of Icasiana’s mother and her family.

Thailand: Musings, Moaning &Music- March 12-April 9

Musings, Moaning and Music from Thailand

The Klongs of Bangkok
We arrive in Bangkok, Thailand at midnight on the 12th of March. It’s hot and muggy, like a sauna even in the middle of the night. We get a taxi to our motel and the next morning we hook up with our friend from Santa Cruz Michael Honack. He has waited in Bangkok to meet us here and has planned something special for us. He has rented a long boat for us to travel along the klongs (the canal-waterways) of Bangkok. Historically, commerce and travel in Bangkok was done on these klongs. In recent years most of them have been paved over and have become roads. There are still some left and that’s where we are this day. We go to a zoo and see an amazing show with poisonous snakes, meet some very friendly monkeys, and I am entranced by the sight of a rare Bengalese tiger. We also visit a Buddhist temple this day. This day is our highlight in Thailand as Michael graciously hosted us through the waterways of Bangkok. The next 2 days we would be recovering from fever and diarrhea before we could finally get out of Bangkok and go to Chiang Mai.

Bitter Medicine
Sometimes you get bruised and battered. In Thailand we’ve been bruised and battered – all for the greater good of course. When you’re in the middle of it, we forget sometimes how it might be serving a greater purpose.

After both Icasiana and I got fevers in Bangkok and then diarrhea followed, we went to Chiang Mai and dealt with sickness again. This is so unexpected because Icasiana hardly ever gets sick. She’s been expressing symptoms more in this last month than in her last 20 years.

We were helped in Chiang Mai by Natan Siegel. He is the rabbi that helped to marry us at our wedding in Aptos. He spends part of the year in Chiang Mai, and lucky for us he was here now. He took us to a local hot springs place on our first day and that was a nice respite from the heat and traveling. We also met his daughter Zoe and her friend Liz, and Natan’s brother Joseph. Natan exuberantly moves through this world with amazing passion and playfulness. He has a unique perspective of life and we feel grateful to be so welcomed into his exciting world. We are touched also by his brother Joseph
who has been confined to a wheelchair for the last 18 years after a car accident. He lost nerve connections on one side of his body and he is presently working toward being able to walk again. Icasiana and I were able to do some healing work with him, releasing some of the tension and stiffness in his body. He was so grateful and we were both overjoyed to help him in this small way. In the meantime, during these years, he learned to draw with his non-dominant hand and does beautiful artwork which he shared with all of us. What made such a lasting impression for Icasiana and I is his love of life and his appreciation of his life as it is. He sees God’s gifts everywhere and he has transformed his hardship and into a sweet appreciation for life’s riches of the spirit.


Cookin’ it Up
Icasiana and I did get to take a class in Thai cooking while in Chiang Mai that was so good. Thai food is my favorite cuisine, and the class was so well organized that we were able to learn how to make nearly 10 dishes in one day. Now after all these years of enjoying Thai food but having no idea how it was made, I understand it a little bit now and will be able to prepare some when we return home. Speaking of Thai food, the normal way of cooking in this area is so spicy and hot it is hard to take. I actually enjoy the Americanized versions more I sheepishly have to admit.

Kids Visit Chiang Mai Orphanage
We met Dahlia, a friend of Rabbi Natan who is from the UK and saves her money up for a few months and then travels to Thailand to volunteer in different areas of the country. One of her works of kindness is visiting the children in the local orphanage. When we met her, Icasiana asked her if Kate and Matt could go to the orphanage with her. The kids went the following day and it was a profound experience for both of them. Kate and Matt have both written about their experience in their journal. They couldn’t believe how appreciative and loving these kids were who were either abandoned by their parents or they lost both their parents. These kids had so little and so little attachment to what they had. The clothes and shoes they wore were not theirs, rather they picked what they would wear each day from the community bin. This was a revelation for both of them. They spoke about how these kids had so little in material goods, yet they experienced such joy in just being held. They found that just by sitting and holding these kids, it fed them more than any thing they could buy or get. They knew that just being with these kids had made such a difference for them, and they felt really good about themselves. For many days afterwards they talked about the different children that they had met there, played with, and held.


Pai - Elijah Builds his Immunity
Elijah also had his first experience of a health challenge in Chiang Mai. Elijah developed a very nasty cough in his chest. We were quite concerned. He would wake up in the middle of the night coughing, and stay up coughing. We believe it was caused by the toxic air of Chiang Mai. The city is surrounded by mountains and a combination of this topography, the intense heat, the industrial waste, the automobiles, and the burning of rice fields all contributed to an air quality that was by far the worst I have ever experienced.
We soon went to the town of Pai to escape the polluted air. Pai is up in the foothills of the mountains, and has become a town that many westerners visit and spend time in. There are lots of classes, live music, health food restaurants, and trekking opportunities. Some of the trekking opportunities include trips to visit the indigenous villages in the local area that consist of tribes that are maintaining their native lifestyles. We were unable to visit them in their environments unfortunately because we weren’t well enough. We ended up staying in the town of Pai for 10 days. It was a time for healing, especially for Elijah. It took time but little by little he got better until his cough sounded worse and worse, meaning that the congestion was finally breaking up and coming out. Then he would expel the mucous and debris. We were so happy to see him with the strength to defend himself in this way and develop his immunity. As I said, we were concerned, but through all this, he was very strong and alert and in very good spirits. He had the strength and capacity to recover and responded to his first challenge. May he continue to develop his immunity.

Hot Springs and Elephants

We had a couple of wonderful experiences in Pai. The place we stayed at had natural hot springs so we did get to soak in the waters every day, and Elijah loved that too. He really has grown to be totally comfortable in water and continues to learn to swim.

We also got to take a ride with the elephants. That was a great experience. Icasiana and I rode on one elephant and the kids rode on the other. Icasiana had a comfortable seat on the neck and I rode on the back with Elijah and was very uncomfortable. It was a bit comical because our elephant was quite a bit smaller than the other one and seemed to strain to carry the two of us, especially up the hills where she would stop frequently and not want to go further. I solved the problem by getting off and walking most of the way which was a lot more comfortable for me. I just loved being around them anyway. When we got to the river the kids had a great time with the elephants throwing them in the water and spraying them with water. Matt said it was one of the most fun things he’s ever done. Oh did I forget to mention how the elephant threw me into the water also. I guess I forgot to mention that. We have a video of it and I do look ridiculous. As the kids say, “Gabriel didn’t even try to hang on to the elephant, and he actually just slid off the elephant.” I told them that I was just following “the energy of the elephant,” and the rest of the family thought that was just so silly!
The place we stayed at – Thapai was just a short stroll from a number of elephant camps nearby. Almost every day we would walk over and spend time with them feeding them bananas and stroking their trunks. They are the kindest and gentlest creatures, and there is such a soul presence that comes through their eyes.

Koh Samui – The Sanctuary
Before we left Thailand to go to the Philippines, we went to the south of Thailand, to the island of Samui. We get on a ferry from Samui and visited our friend Robert Farland at a place called “The Sanctuary” on a nearby island. The place is very unique in that the bungalows are built around the stones and trees; there are many kinds of classes: yoga, meditation, chakra healing – new age kind of stuff. Anyway, after being kept up all night with biting mosquitoes and heat the first night, Icasiana comes down with a horrific heat/allergic reaction. There are huge welts all over her body and she is suffering terribly from the itching and later the swelling and pain. As this is happening to her I come down with a stomach virus with diarrhea and spend the day horizontal in bed. As soon as we are able to, after a second intensely uncomfortable night for Icasiana, we leave the island on the ferry and head to an air conditioned place on the beach in Mae Nam, in Samui. She makes a stunning recuperation after 1 day. All in all, she is healthier in certain ways after this very difficult month of many symptoms than she has been in many many years. Call it bitter medicine. It’s part of our life philosophy of letting the body express the symptoms it needs to and allow healing to occur. When symptoms are suppressed, the body cannot generate the momentum to organize at a higher level of health, and will keep cycling through similar symptoms or drive the imbalance deeper.

This Baby Likes to Sing
One other very special thing happened at The Sanctuary. They had an open mic the first night we were there. I got up and played a couple of my songs on Robert’s keyboard. I also played a song written by Kenny Loggins called, “Danny’s Song”. It’s a song about his joy in having a new son and family. Robert and Kate are up with me on stage, and Kate has brought Elijah in her arms. So I’m singing the song and Elijah is singing along with us, and he doesn’t need a microphone. All right he wasn’t really on key, but he was definitely singing along with us, and he seemed to know what he was doing. I’m laughing as I’m playing, it is so hilarious. People in the audience were quite amazed by his performance. I definitely think it’s the beginning of something special, he’s just a natural.

Matt and Kate can bring it on too
Soon after that song, Kate gets up and sings “Hey Jude” with Robert and I accompanying her. I was so proud of her to stretch herself like that. Matt even got up later and told a joke on stage which was a big stretch for him too. He said later that he was so nervous his legs were shaking vigorously. They’re both learning about going through fear. Big steps on this big journey.

Traveling as a Family
We’ve realized our travel is more about finding a few nice places and staying there and getting to know the people and the place a bit, instead of traveling to many places. With 2 kids and a baby, it’s very different than my days as a single traveling with a backpack covering a lot of ground on a shoestring budget.
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We’re in the Philippines now. We’ll post our experiences at Angkor Wat in Cambodia in a week. Thanks for joining with us.

Gracious Hearts of Bali- March 11, 2006

Dear family and friends,
We’re sorry about the inconvenience of our web site not being online for a while. We have a temporary address until we get our old one back:
www.gabriel-icasiana.com


Gracious Hearts of Bali

After we fly into Bali and come outside of the airport from customs, it’s almost midnight and it’s very hot and muggy. We’d enjoyed the very mild climate of New Zealand. We’ve actually flown here from Singapore after a few days layover there. Could two countries be any more different? Singapore is so orderly and organized, but frighteningly authoritarian. We’d heard about the canings and hangings that offenders of the law received there. We felt strangely safe in this place as few dare to break the law.

Things run extremely well in Singapore, systems are set up ingeniously. When waiting at a crosswalk for a light to change from red to green, it counts the time down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and then the light changes so you know exactly when to cross and exactly when the light will change. When we were helped by an attendant to exit the airport, she was very efficient at getting us a ride and facilitating our luggage getting to the van, but never looked at us as we parted after she had fulfilled her duty.

In Bali, we felt such warmth and caring from the people we met, way beyond the courteousness of people who might be serving us out of duty. The pace of life in Bali is slow and unhurried. There is a flow, a graciousness, a magic here. There is an order in Bali, not of commerce or business, but an order of the heart. A culture whose lifestyle is so attuned to the soul. We were inconvenienced at times from the lack of organization in the infrastructure, but reveled in the generosity of people whose lives are so attuned to spirit and who treated us as extended family.

Making Offerings – the rhythm of life, the Way of Bali

If there is one thing that you must know about to understand anything about Bali, you must know about their way of making offerings to God. Everywhere we go, I mean everywhere – there are offerings to be seen. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere – at all times of the day, every day. Life in Bali centers around making offerings. They are seen everywhere, fresh ones, old ones, and the old, old ones floating down the open sewers. It is the rhythm of life here – giving offerings and giving thanks to the gods.

Our friend who showed our family how to make the baskets they use for the offerings, Kadek, told us that she makes 50 offering baskets a day, and it takes an hour to create them. They are made out of palm leaves and stitched together with thin strips of bamboo. Every day she gets up at 6 am and works for an hour to make the baskets for offerings. She fills the baskets with whatever she has cooked or made, and places it in the basket as the offering.

She will put in some of the food that she is preparing for the day. There will be rice of course, to remind their family of what sustains them. There will be fruits and candies and cookies to remind them of god’s sweetness. There will be flowers to show their beauty. And there will be incense to create a fragrant environment. Sometimes she’ll even put in a little money as a sign of abundance. Then she walks to the places where the offerings are placed with short intentional steps, dressed in a sarong and sash, her temple clothes. There are many areas to place the offerings: at the shrine in their home, at the entrance to the door, on the street, in the family temple, and at the village temple. They also place them on their car, or their motorbike, on their bicycle, or just anyplace where they show they are grateful for what they have. And the offerings are made a few times each day in some places.

When the offering is made, it is a beautiful prayer. The offering is placed down and then prayers are made, and holy water is sprinkled on the offering with a flower. In watching them perform this ritual, there was such a presence, a sacred intention in the prayer. I didn’t see anytime where it looked like someone was just trying to get it done, or rushing through it as rote. Sprinkling the holy water is like a dance, a dance of prayers. And the movement of their hand when blessing the offering with the holy water looks like the strokes of a painter on a canvas of God’s heart.

One day as we made our way through the street we witnessed a procession of offerings being made. As we passed place after place it seemed, a woman was walking to place her offering, or she was in the middle of making her offering, or she was finishing her prayers. And the whole way there was the smell of fragrant incense.

What a gift to pass on to the children, a ritual everyday that reminds them of their ancestral lineage, their cultural heritage, and a way to pass on their family prayers of gratitude. They do the same or similar ritual almost everyday, except at certain intervals that special offerings are made, and yet, it is of such impermanence because everyday is the need to make new baskets and new offerings.

The Soul of Bali
I want to quote what my friend Michael Honack wrote in an e-mail to me about Bali. It seems to describe so vividly the essence of Bali that I wanted to share it with you.
“Bali is truly magical … find out when the ceremonies are happening. Bali, among all countries in the world, is [a place where they are] still living [a life where their] spiritual connection is reflected in their daily life and in their art. I have often found it amusing that, for the traveler, walking about glazed and amazed by all the splendid art, it all seems like nice art. For the Balinese it is the outpouring from their full spiritual vessel, of the rituals and ceremonies that encompass their lives. A man my age spends half of his time planning for and participating in spiritual ceremonies. Now, that's powerful!!”


A Slice of Bali Life
As I drive down the road on my motor scooter on the dusk of one evening, I am fascinated by what I see. Passing along I see many buildings in the simple and beautiful Balinese architectural style. There is one business with clumps of grass bundled together that will be used for roofing material, another one has tiles for a roofing material business, another one has concrete cornices and sculptured pieces also for roofs or decorative pieces for buildings and temples. As I continue I see a shop with a man carving a large lizard, and a Buddha behind that, and a carving of Ganesh next to that. Further along is a gallery with magnificent carvings of Hindu lore and mythical gods. I see all kinds of materials available to the local economy that are made right there and available in the small shops. As I continue putt-putting along I notice that there is a canal for the water to flow alongside the road. This is the water that flows throughout this village, with a rice-paddy irrigation system set up from long ago. It is managed by the village for the common good of all. As the water flows to the rice fields that I see as I travel along this road, I notice a quilt work of fields in different stages of their cycle. There are ingeniously laid out irrigation systems all over Bali built centuries ago.

I also notice many people walking along this road. People walk along this road, they live along this road, they work along this road, there will be ceremonies along this road, and they will make offerings along this road every day. They live and work along this road and they’ll tell stories along this road. Village life is still very alive here. There is a rhythm here, a sweet symphony of life that is the most harmonic living landscape of people I have ever witnessed.

Oh yeah, the speed limit on this road is 60 km or about 35 mph. There is hardly any road in Bali where speeds exceed 60 km a clear indication of the speed of life. Almost all the roads are not bigger than 1 lane going each way, and many of the roads we will travel on will be just one lane, yet a lot of those roads are also two way, making it more interesting maneuver with oncoming traffic. There are some cars on the road, but most of the vehicles are motor scooters. When we first got here, we didn’t know how they could drive the way they do. It seemed so chaotic and dangerous, people passing every which way and driving all over the road, and as mentioned, on very narrow roads. At any time there could be a car and three scooters traveling the same direction using the whole road onto oncoming traffic. As we’ve been here longer we’ve discovered that it all works because they are moving at a fairly slow pace, and more importantly, they are all watching out for each other and cooperating. When someone passes another they will honk their horn, a very brief sound to let you know they are coming, or that it’s safe around the bend. In the U.S. many people honk their horn to say get out of my way or to let you know they’re pissed off. Here the horn says, I’m letting you know that I’m coming to pass you so we can both be safe. Amidst all this chaos is a sense of cooperation and harmony, no yelling, just smiles and goodwill.

As a matter of fact, I watched a group of young people playing a soccer game one day. They were running and playing hard, and they were laughing and having a good time. I brought Matt over to see the game and pointed out to him how good natured the contest was, when someone made a good play, they all acknowledged it. I had seen Matt play in soccer games where the kids were so serious, they would get easily angry or upset with each other over small mistakes. This game the players were just having so much fun and sharing the game in camaraderie.

Staying in Ubud for a while
We found a place to stay in the town of Ubud while in Bali. Ubud is called the spiritual and cultural center of Bali. It certainly is the center of culture for tourists and thrives with a vitality of spirit and art. There are many dance performances in the evening, there is a profusion of crafts, especially of the woodcarving that is of most interest to me. There are classes here and many expatriates live here because of these kinds of features. Ubud can make foreigners feel welcomed and cater to their needs, but the soul of their culture is not lost, it remains strong and intact. Anyway, the house we stayed in has 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room/living room, with a veranda to sit in upstairs overlooking the rice fields. It is just south of Ubud in a small village called Nyuh Kuning, a very sweet spot to sink into village life for a while. We could get to Ubud by going on a motor scooter path that crossed through the monkey forest. There is a corner store 50 meters from our front door, and the football (soccer) field is right across from that. There is a lane that leads back to the larger road that I love driving on or walking on. People are perched on their porches and simple integral buildings line this lane. The Balinese architecture has such depth of soul and it just sings a beautiful song of what it is. There are many temples along this lane because this road is like most village roads in Bali. Usually a family lives in a compound with a stone or concrete wall around it. Inside there are buildings for living and cooking and also a family temple. Because of this there are many many temples in Bali.

All the buildings are constructed low to the ground except one hotel in the city of Sanur, in a concentrated tourist area. After that hotel was built, we were told they passed a law that no other high rise building would be allowed to be built in Bali. There is one “large” city, Denpasar, the capital, and a few other small cities. Most of Bali seems to be villages linked by rice fields.

A Fascinating View of Children

We didn’t see many babies in Bali. They keep their babies at home; they don’t even let their precious little feet touch the ground until they’re 6 months old. People were a bit shocked to see us traveling with one so young; they might not travel with their baby for 2-3 years, and then it most likely is just to another village (hardly traveling outside the country). Babies are viewed as gods for the first 6 months or so of life (that is until their first tooth appears). After that, they are treated as kings until about 6 years old. I asked someone, “Does that mean that you give them whatever they want?” the answer, “Yes, absolutely.” From 8 to 13 years old their role is as a server, and after puberty comes, they are simply treated as friends (funny how in our culture much is written and talked about not being your child’s “friend.”). I reflected quite a bit about this information There doesn’t seem to be the type of authoritative conflicts we see so much of with teenagers in our culture, or adversarial relationships. There is such harmony in the relationships we’ve witnessed. And whether or not children might be spoiled by getting whatever they want when they’re young and kinglike, these people seem to be so well adjusted and balanced, and happy. Having created such a foundation of love and respect seems to be very successful. Giving their kids “everything” is about love, not material goods, so the kids don’t seem spoiled at all.

So everyone who sees Elijah treats him as a god, and as I’ve mentioned, they fuss over him, pray to him and continually place blessings upon him. It is as if they recognize his true godliness, he is a kind reminder for all of us to remember our very own godliness. Elijah responds very well to this rapt attention and we view him as the godly emissary of light, and continue changing his diapers. As for Kate and Matt, they are nearing the end of their serving phase (from 8-12 years old), but we’re not sure they’ve fully mastered this role, especially since we were not aware and they did not understand this was their path. We are considering extending this server phase extensively. But seriously, the young are very reverent, respectful, loving, and responsible. At young ages, we see them driving motor scooters and bringing their younger brothers and sisters along with them, and taking care of them.

Like Extended Family

In meeting people, we feel received as extended family. Some people we have just met have extended such hospitality to us. We were interested in learning about how to make the offerings, and Kadek and her family opened their hearts to us and taught us how to so graciously. We were able to say thank you by making a photo collage of several pictures for them. We will post that collage on the web site so you can see some of our new extended family members.

Gunung Kawi
A very funny thing happened a couple of days ago. We had read a book by a local author entitled, The Painted Alphabet, by Diana Darling. It’s a wonderful story about Balinese culture and folklore. Actually, it is an ancient Balinese tale that she distilled into a condensed and contemporary version, a riveting story. The hero of the story journeys to a holy man’s monastery to leave behind the world, and study the world of spirit. The place where the holy man lives is called Gunung Kawi in the story. It is described as high up in the mountains. When I heard this place existed not far from where we are staying we made it a destination to go to. It turns out it’s not at all in the mountains, but in a place you walk down over 200 steps – it’s very hot there, but it is an ancient site of tremendous power and presence. There are ancient caves carved into the rock of the hills there where monks and holy men prayed and meditated, and much more recently constructed temples. In one of the enclosures we walked into, I immediately went into a deep trance state, feeling a very powerful sacred presence here. Then other tourists came in and I snapped out of trance. This special jewel of a place we found just by accident. It wasn’t at all the mountain refuge we’d read about, but something very special indeed.

Ironically, later that day we went to the oldest temple in Bali, the mother temple called Besakih. It was built originally in the 8th century, and then added to in the 11th century. It has been rebuilt many times to the original design. I did not feel the same power there at all that I had felt at Kawi, and the mother temple was a site I was expecting to be very special and transformative. It was beautiful, and sits within the sphere of the largest mountain in Bali, Mt. Agung at about 10,000 ft, but I did not receive a transmission there at all.

Cremation Ceremony
We had the opportunity to witness a cremation ceremony on March 1st. We were going to take the kids to a batik class while we attended the ceremony; they weren’t very enthusiastic about attending. When I took them to the class though, the teacher there told us that not only didn’t they allow kids in the class because of the hot wax, but also because of the cremation ceremony, they would be a part of the ceremony and would not be holding the class. The man proceeded to tell me that it would be good for the kids to see the cremation. “In the West, the kids don’t see death, it’s removed from them, here in Bali, death is a part of life.” I had to agree with him and laughed at how spirit had set it up for them to come and see it.

The cremation ceremony is quite a spectacle. There were 2 members of the royal family being cremated today. Funerals are so expensive in Bali that when someone dies, they will be buried temporarily for as long as 5 years until there are a number of family members to pool together and pay for the ceremony. In this case, both of the women were part of the royal family and had both died just a couple of weeks earlier.

There were 4 pavilions made. One pavilion each for the 2 women who were to be cremated to be carried to the cemetery in. In front of each of these pavilions were 2 huge black bulls, one for each of them to be transferred into when they arrived at the cemetery, and then cremated in. The black bull denotes what caste system they belong to, in this case, the black bull signified they were part of the royal family, or part of the 2nd highest caste system. The procession consisted of one bull followed by the pavilion with the first member, and then another bull followed by the 2nd bull. These pavilions were all huge in size and were carried by about 50 men each running along holding the sides of a latticed bamboo platform that they rested on. Everyone walked the 500 meters from the starting place of the palace temple to the cemetery. Once the body is transferred to the black bull, family members and friends will bring gifts and blessings for the deceased. They will kneel and pray and burn incense. After the body is prepared, the bull is set on fire, first with a wood fire below it, and then with blow torches to raise the heat. As the bull burns around the body, the people attending start to see a glimpse of the body, and then the body is in full view. The belief is that it is important for everyone to see the body as it is making its transition from the physical world into the spiritual world. We were told after the ceremony that all remaining bones that had not turned to ashes, are carried to the family home and all family members will grind the bones by hand until they become powder.

The Dance
We’ve attended a number of dance performances. I love soaking up the gifts of their artistry. The dancers perform to the musicians playing the gamelan and chanting. I do not know how to describe what a gamelan is. It’s like an orchestra of xylophones, cymbals, flutes, drums, each playing very different parts. The scale they use has only 5 instead of the 7 tones we have in ours. They use no printed music. The sound is strange and powerful, and induces trance states for the dancers, musicians, and even the audience. I like attending these ceremonies to be filled with the juice of their culture. They have been playing these songs and dances for many centuries, it is a ritual that connects them to their ancestors and to the gods.

Woodcarving Wizardry

One day as I returned to our house in Nyuh Kuning, I stopped at a woodcarving shop and asked the master there, Ary, if he would be willing to offer us a class in woodcarving. He readily agreed and we made plans to begin working with him the following day. Matt had been interested in taking a class of this kind. As it turned out Matt, Kate and I, ended up going to his shop/gallery almost every day for about 8 days for more than a couple of hours each day to learn woodcarving wizardry.

Ary works sitting on the ground, holding the wood with his feet. His tools are a hatchet, 20 carving chisels, and a carving knife. That’s it. There are no clamps, benches, machines or any of the sophisticated woodworking tools that I used when I did woodworking. In the simplest way, he and his fellow woodcarvers of Bali, produce the most phenomenal work. Wordworking for them is such a wonderful expression of their god-given gifts and skills. When Icasiana asked Ary about his inspiration for different pieces, he simply pointed to the heavens and we knew he was grateful his skill was all from God.

He helped us learn about his ways by showing us something and then letting us try to apply it. We each made something small, Matt carved an elephant, a mask, and a monkey. Kate made a turtle and a frog. I worked on a mask that I didn’t come close to completing but that was okay for me because I learned a lot. I would love to go back in the future and study for at a few months. We shall see.

What happened as we worked with Ary is that we became friends and he showered us with gifts, not only of his time, but his own carvings. He wouldn’t accept money for the classes anymore after a certain point because it was a gift he wanted to give us once we were friends. I also made a collage with him and our family and a few pieces of his woodcarving (that will also be on the web site when it is returned to working status).

We also became friends with the man who drove us to a number of places we visited. His name is Ketut. Ketut, it turns out, is from the village we were staying at, but we met him through Icasiana’s brother James who had traveled to Bali several years before and had hired Ketut as their driver. He was so kind to us and formed a wonderful bond with Elijah. We had so much more freedom to explore as Ketut would hold Elijah, sing him to sleep with sweet Balinese lullabies and carry him just about everywhere we went.

I’ll mention a few other places we visited such as getting up at 3:30 am to climb up Mt. Batur so we could arrive at the peak at sunrise. We spent a few days at a water palace named Tirta Gangga that was revived and renovated by our friend, previously mentioned Michael Honack and his wife Wendy Grace. Elijah loved learning to swim in these pristine spring waters. Our breath was taken away by the beauty of this place when we first walked into the walled grounds. We visited temples at Uluwatu and Tanah Lot, as well as the previously mentioned Besakih and Gunung Kawi. We visited the monkeys in the monkey forest. We participated in a ceremony that Rob Cohen, the director of the movies Stealth and Fast and Furious hosted at his place on the ocean near Tirta Gangga. Our new friend Emerald is directing the construction for a beautiful project there with some innovative systems such as grey water from septic tanks used to fertilize a garden. He’s also working on creating opportunities for kids to pursue their dreams in study and developing careers. And the day before we left, we went to a very well known and respected healer named Tjokorda Rai who worked on both of us. I have never felt such pain and could not wait for him to be finished. My wife thought it was terribly funny until it was her turn.

We were very sad to leave Bali because we were so touched and inspired by the people. It was such a profound example of how a people can live a magical lifestyle in our world today. They have integrated western style things, but have retained their soul and their customs, they have not been lost in the process. They use modern transportation and machines, and they have a special day’s ceremony giving thanks for these gifts in their lives. There is not a full scale rush to develop and get more and more. There is still a sweet innocence. I saw young ones with hearts pure, and teenagers still full of wonder. We felt so welcomed and acknowledged as kindred spirits. And in Bali we discovered there are many ways to create a life rich in the spirit. We have been forever touched by this demonstration of how to live life rich in and led by the divine.

On to Thailand!

Feb 6 - Leaving NZ and Heading to Bali

Feb. 6-leaving New Zealand and going to Bali soon
Hot Water Beach Coromandel, New Zealand-January 22nd, 2006
"The magic is here!" This was an exclamation from one of the kids. One
of my hopes for the kids when we began this trip, was for them to discover
the magic of this world, that nature's mysteries would awaken their passion
for life, and dissolve a seemingly learned negativity and cynicism.

The magic continued as both Kate and Matt would exclaim, "look at how the
curl of the wave is making that pattern as it comes across the ocean. Wow!
And look how the water is disintegrating in the sand as the water goes back
into the ocean. And that water was so hot, it felt cold, did you notice
that? And did you see how the water bubbled up as that old man put the
shovel in?"

We had just come from hot water beach where there is a natural hot mineral
spring that bubbles right out of the sand and emerges in the low tide.
People come here and dig holes in the sand around the hot water as it
comes up and fills up the holes. You can't get too close to the hot water
and sand because it is burning hot as it bubbles out of the earth. The
kids were fascinated by this phenomenon, and were digging and building
walls and learning simple engineering principles just in their fun. They
were bubbling with excitement and giddy with energy in this special place
we had found.

When the tide came back up and started blasting through the walls of sand
that had been built, the ocean regained it place among the sand and
replaced our hot tubs with the cold ocean water again. As we left the
beach, the sky was enlivened with splendid colors, and as we walked back
to the car at the other end of the beach, that's when we all were filled
with fun and wonder, and activated with excitement, as I heard Matt
exclaim, "The magic is here!"

We had been in the town of Coromandel for a few days. This is a very
vibrant area with many creative people. There is one place we had visited
called Waiau Waterworks. The guy who built it must have just tinkered and
played for years. He had created all kinds of fanciful things: making
bicycles that shoot out water, all kinds of water wheels that show how
power can be created from the force of water, zip lines where the kids
could hang from and fly through the air, and on and on. The guy must have
just started building these things until they must have attracted people to
come and see and eventually it became a business --- a very interesting
fellow.

On another outing, we met a British fellow who started building a
railway on his property 27 years ago, a 60 acre tract of very hilly land
that had been denuded of all native trees. He started replanting the land
with 25,000 trees and building a railway that many said could not be built.
A very eccentric fellow, but another example of what a person can do with
simple desire and belief in oneself.

I thought about how these places could not be built in America anymore,
"too dangerous" and not able to pass code or insurance regulations. We had
quite a conversation, he had mentioned that America didn't seem to be much
of a free country anymore, and I could only agree.

Political commentary
Let me take a moment from my journal writings for some political
commentary that I want to express before I return to magical musings.
Icasiana and I had another conversation with a woman in her health store
who remarked to us, "The American people are so isolated from the rest of
the world they don't seem to realize how suppressed they are." I thought
about how other people in the world look at the United States and see how
controlled and restricted our people are, and the politicians and media
sing its lies and propaganda about what a free country we live in. To me
it seems we have been taken over by a foreign entity in the clothes of the
US government. I suspect most of the world is appalled at the policies of
the US, and at this time the US is still occupying Iraq, especially after
the pretense for beginning the war was a lie.
The Avian Bird Hoax
Meanwhile, there is the same propaganda machine out here in these parts.
I read an article in the newspaper here in New Zealand trumpeting the
dangers of the avian flu and how devastating it could be if an epidemic
arises. Then I read an article in an Australian alternative magazine
called "New Dawn" that was challenging the cry for help to combat the
avian flu. As far as I'm concerned, this avian flu scare is a bunch of
rubbish, manufactured by the government/corporations who will profit when
people are placed in fear and can be manipulated. When they are afraid
they will not question why the American government will waste money on
stockpiling $7 billion worth of worthless Tamiflu drugs. The only ones who
will be helped by this will be the profits gained by certain corporations
and individuals, such as Donald Rumsfeld who owns stock in the company who
has the patent for this drug. The newspapers write that officials are
estimating that millions of people could die if this epidemic starts to
develop the way they project and blah blah blah. This is nonsense. The
avian flu has only infected people who have come in contact with sick
birds. It has never been shown to be transmitted from human to human.
What's really going on here?
I feel very angry at times when I see the world through these eyes, and
see such injustice perpetrated by the government of the country I am a
citizen in. Fortunately these are not the only eyes I have, especially
with a precious new born who knows none of these things. Elijah is tuned
into the vibrations of love and sees through the eyes of love. What a joy
it is to be in his presence and be able to carry him through this world. I
feel such joy and appreciation for that, and to be with my whole family.

Rotorua, NZ
We went to Rotorua, New Zealand around the 25th of January and ended up
staying there for 8 days, for good reason as it turned out. First we
visited old friends from the Network Chiropractic community who live
there. They are building a beautiful home overlooking Lake Rotorua, a
very special place indeed. They have been serving this community in a
profound way. John Funnell began 18 years ago and when he married Margi,
they joined up forces. In a recent year there had been 1,500 babies born
in the community of Rotorua, and between them they had checked 550 of these
babies! This is astonishing to me that they are having such a huge impact
in this community. I respect so much what they have done, to have
communicated their message about chiropractic so deeply that the community
has come to understand how important it is for children to have their
spines checked and cleared, and to come to them consistently over the
years. They have many patients where the whole family comes to them for
care, and one that we heard of that had four generations of Maori family
members who come to them.

Unfortunately, our friends were in the middle of a major remodel, and
there was not much opprotunity to spend more time with them. But they
connected us with some very important people. A wonderful massage
therapist named Ripeka, and a Maori tehunga (this is someone who does
spiritual healing work and is considered a shaman of the Maori people).

Maori Culture
Rotorua is a major tourist attraction right on the edge of Lake Rotorua,
and the town has many geothermal geysers and hot mineral springs. It is
also called the spiritual center of the Maori people, who are the native
people of New Zealand. Whether or not it really is the spiritual center
of the Maori people is debatable, but it really is the tourist attraction
center of Maori performances. As for the Maori people, it genuinely is
home to the TeAwara tribe of the Maori. They've been here for centuries
and they are still here.

The 2nd night in Rotorua, we went to a performance by one of the many
troupes here in town. The kids are doing a project on Maori culture and
we thought that it would be very educational for them to experience this.
They did a welcoming ritual and some other examples of the culture, and
they performed a number of songs that were very nice.

I was hoping for more of an educational program, it was more geared for
tourists and entertainment. For what it was though, the people who hosted
us did it with a special care and spirit. They were very genuine and
endearing. I was left with wanting more of the real thing, that was to
come later. But first I must mention something funny that happened to me
and my wife.

Miss-Chief
At the Maori performance, they led the evening with a prayer and they
ended with prayer. That was special. The funny part of the evening was
when I was voted the chief for my group for the evening, and that became
part of the welcoming ritual we did later. As I was saying, I became
chief because my wife voted me the chief. According to Maori custom only
a male can be a chief, and only a woman has to choose one. Since I have
become chief Icasiana has since grown real fond of calling me "The Chief".
And that makes her Miss Chief, which suits her real well I think, and she
readily agrees, because she really is full of that.

Our hosts at the Red Rock Motel-David and Mel
Things are starting to come alive now. We're starting to connect with the
real Maori people, and going to the real villages instead of the contrived
ones of the performance centers used for entertaining tourists. The
managers of the motel we're staying at, David and Mel, are Maori and we've
connected with them in a special way, and our kids have been having a great
time playing with their kids. Anyway, they invited us to share a
traditional meal with them, called a hangi, and then go to their marae
after. The marae is the meeting house for the members of the tribe, like
a community center. The marae extends back through time. When David took
me through his home place he showed me where his koro (grandfather) is
buried and told me that's where he will be buried. I marveled at how
connected he felt to his ancestors, how clear the line from them to him
was and how this connection was such a force through his eyes and through
his being. Our time with his family, David, Mel, Wiremu and Damel was
very precious to all of us. We were sad to leave them, the kids had had
such a major fun play time on the trampoline and in the swimming pool
making up crazy and wild games. And not having to do their school work!
Overall though, they're doing a great job on their Maori culture project.

"Rongo" Our Maori Tohunga
We were also sent to Rongotipuiteata Flavell by our friends John and Margi
Funnell. This was a very important connection for us. We first went to see
Rongo to ask some questions for the film Icasiana is making. He is a
spiritual medicine man, called a tohunga. The word is similar to the
Hawaiian term Kahuna or the native American Shaman. He was very generous
with us and we had a very lively and informative conversation about native
medicinal plants, native cultures, the spiritual path, and Maori culture.

He received us as equals on the spiritual path and gave of what he knows
freely. I then asked him a personal question about myself and how I
haven't been having the feeling to do healing work since I stopped doing
chiropractic. He looked at me and told me that my energy centers or
chakras had become a bit out of balance and invited us to come back so he
could take us to the sacred waters of his community and do a cleansing on
me. Icasiana and I readily agreed and showed up at his place all bright
eyed and bushy tailed. He got in the car with all of us and we set on our
way to drive to his village, the place he grew up and still considers his
home. I asked him if this place he was taking us to was a well known place
and he told me it was very well known to his people. I joked with him and
asked him if I could find it in any of the brochures that I had piled in
the car about places to go see in Rotorua. He laughed and told me, "no,
it wouldn't be in the brochures".

He took me to the waters and went first to open the channel with spirit
before I went in. I went into the waters when he was ready and he cleared
disturbances in my system. Of course, I couldn't feel this happening for
those of you that know me. I did feel very refreshed though and felt well
afterwards. The water I went in was fed by 8 springs right by the edge of
Rotorua. It was cold and pure. Icasiana went in after me and had quite a
big healing. She has a history of trauma with swimming in the water after
almost drowning when she was 15 when her dad died trying to save her life
and the lives of 2 of her younger sisters, Patricia and Cecilia.

Being with Rongo felt very healing for me and it grew in me as I would
spend more time with him in the next few days. He also told us that this
journey that we were on now was going to be bigger than either of us could
imagine. I already thought it was going to be big, but this sounded even
bigger. My mother must have known because she didn't want us to go on
this trip at all, or at least she didn't want us to take her brand-new
grandson Elijah!

The day that we were leaving Rotorua, after 8 days, we went to see Rongo
again. We had called him the night before and told him that we were very
grateful for the healing work he had done with us and we wanted to take
him out to breakfast and say, "Thank you." He told us we would meet at 10
am because he had a funeral to go to at 11 am. There was more in store
for us than we realized. When we picked him up at his house we drove to a
nearby place to get food and then he asked me if I wanted to come hear him
play his saxophone at the funeral of his cousin. Although everyone he
knows in the Maori culture is a cousin in some way, this was his blood
cousin, the daughter of his mother's sister. I readily agreed to go to
the funeral whereupon he said he had to go back home and get his
saxophone. I was a little confused as to whether he had forgotten it or
what, but our family ate alone until he came back with his young children.

He has adopted 2 children, Tera and Michael - beautiful bright beings age 10 and 2. He also has five biological children but since they are adults now he has taken in a number of young children. Previously he had adopted 2 children, but had not signed the adoption papers, and when they were around 11 years old, the parents came
back and took them back. This time he had signed the proper papers and
was emphatic that they would never be taken back. The other "adopted"
children are now around 15 and 16 and they run away from their biological
parents from time to time to come see him.

When we got to the funeral we discovered that this was the third day of
the funeral of a woman who had died and was going to be buried after this
last part. When he had worked on us in the waters 2 days prior, at the
same time, members of the community were washing her body in the waters as
part of the funeral ritual. In the Maori culture, a funeral can last from 3-7 days. This funeral was 3 days. Rongo had been up the previous night as part of the prayers that were being offered to the deceased. Their belief is that after a person
dies, their spirit stays with the body for a few days, they are even able
to feel sensation, but cannot move or respond. So while the spirit is
still there, they honor the person and everyone who chooses will get up
and say a prayer for the person. Some of the elders will take an hour for
their prayers.

When we arrived, family and friends of the deceased were still inside the
marae, and we waited outside. When they were finished and came outside,
Rongo and two of his friends were ready and began playing their saxophones
to a piece of pre-recorded music of theirs. It was a plaintive and
beautiful song. As the mourners filed out and they carried the body, a
wave of emotion came with them. We watched as she was put into the car
and was driven away, with the mourners getting into their cars to follow
her to the cemetery. Although Icasiana and I both felt this wave and
became very emotional, it went very deep for Icasiana and lasted until
she did some work with it the next day to clear it.

Now we realized how everything had been orchestrated for us to be at the
waters when the newly deceased woman was washed and then 2 days later
when she was carried away to be buried. It was a catalyst for healing.

Later that day Rongo took us to see the original Maori settlement in
Rotorua that existed before the town itself. The more time we spent with
Rongo, the more I felt comforted by his care and protection. When we
finally left Rotorua we headed out to the western coast toward Kawhia
(pronounced Kafia) he mentioned he had friends there who would receive us.
He called us every few hours to let us know that he had tried to reach
them but they were not available. It felt like he was checking up on us
and tracking us. With each of his phone calls, I felt his concern for our
welfare and I heard his words again in my mind, "This trip (and its
mission) is going to be bigger than you ever imagined". The next time on
the phone with us I told him,"Rongo, my grandfather died over 25 years
ago, yet now I'm feeling cared for as a grandfather would care for his
grandson, you're carrying that grandfather place for me and I thank you."
What a gift his caring has been for us.

By now it is February 5th, we are back in Auckland and we will fly out to
Singapore tomorrow. More will come later from us. The trip has had
challenges and I feel we are being prepared. The kids have been great,
even though they don't believe their two new teachers have credentials to teach them! Elijah has been absolutely amazing in how he is so present and magnetic to
other people - he is a pure joy to be with.

Here is a link for you to download pictures of our trip until we can get
them onto the web site. This is over 6 MB, so allow time for delivery and download at your own risk. Just kidding.

http://r45.vresp.com/?SamadhiInc./3fb09e3ab3/502207/TEST/TEST


With love, Gabriel and the family

Matt & Kate surfing in Australia

reflections on Australia as we enter New Zealand-January 18, 2006

January 16th, 2006
Reflections on leaving Australia as we go to New Zealand
We’ll be in New Zealand for 3 weeks from January 16th, 2006 to February 6th then we fly to Singapore. On February 9th we’ll fly to Bali and stay there for a month.
We are on a flight to Auckland, New Zealand from Sydney, Australia. As we sit on the airplane, the kids love having their own TV to watch whatever they may want, or play video games, while Elijah just gushes his love of life. Now he sleeps in a bassinet hanging on the wall of the plane after being rattled to sleep with his favorite chant.
We are blessed to be flying Emirates the official airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), service and amenities that surpass the flights we have been on thus far. As we sit on the chairs we read “HELLO!” the official Middle East “People-magazine-like” magazine, filled with pictures and gossip and such. However, there is a much deeper article on the passing of the UAE Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai (a city that the whole family is looking forward to visiting in the near future). His name is Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, he passed away on January 4th at the age of 62. We heard of his passing when we were in Australia, the location that he died. We were told that in the Arab culture the body must be put to rest within 24 hours of death so his body was whisked back from the Australian sea coast to the UAE that same day. It appears from what we read of him, he was a true leader and one who had compassion and love for his country and his countryman. I felt such a grace and bigness of spirit when looking at a picture of him. In a land where there is oil and material wealth, I reflect on seeing such a generous man of spirit as I look at his eyes. I had read about one of these middle east country that is returning the wealth from the oil to their people. I don’t know if UAE is one of these countries, but I’m looking forward to going there and find out firsthand.
We had a wonderful time in Byron Bay, staying by the ocean for 5 days and swimming every day, but mostly relaxing during that time. A highlight was Shabbat at the lighthouse, the easternmost point of Australia that we shared with our friends Vinnie and Shelley and their 2 young girls. Australia was very hot, and a short time out in the sun caused sun burn. I feel we are preparing to ramp up the intensity of our journey very soon.
I was very excited to see the Sydney Opera House. Sadly we didn’t get into the theater, but seeing the building from outside was something special. What a masterpiece. We did meet someone there who was from Italy. His name was Sandro and he was very kind in recommending places to see in Tuscany, as well as special places in the Middle East. I’m excited to meet people with a different perspective than I’m used to, and who have lived in and seen different parts of the world. He was very generous with his help and I told the kids, “People all over will help you if you give them a chance, and treat them with kindness and respect.”


Sugar and the Hungry Ghost
Yesterday we were heading to a farmers market. I had a special interest in sampling a drink my friends Shelley and Vinnie had told me about, sugar cane juice with ginger. They had told me what a delicious and healthy drink it was, and that got me thinking. What happens when we change things from how they are naturally and make them into something else. When the sugar cane is processed into refined sugar, it changes dramatically. Instead of a whole and complete fruit, it is turned into a concentrated form that is without its natural enzymes and minerals, as well as missing other parts that assist us in digesting it. When we take refined sugar, our bodies must leach minerals and enzymes from our body to digest it because of what has been taken out. What also happens with refined sugar is that it creates an upward spike in the blood sugar, and then a compensating crash as the blood sugar drops below a healthy level. I’ve known people who experience a tremendous high after eating sugar, and then will go through the crash of low energy and irritable moods. Refined sugar is also well known as a substance that creates quite an addiction in many people. One aspect of addiction is an intense craving for something which than can create breakdown and a lesser life expression instead of building vitality..
I remember years ago when I traveled in Bolivia and was introduced to Coca leaves. They are indigenous to that area and are used by many of the local people to help them recover from tiredness, and stave off hunger and thirst at the high altitudes that they live in. Visitors like me would try the coca leaves to help with adapting to the high altitude. The affect of ingesting the coca was a gentle change of awareness, and the result is people are better able to carry on with hiking and working with less need for food and water. There are no big highs or lows with it. I tried it and remember how gentle it was.
Sadly, as part of our addictive culture, Coca leaves are processed into cocaine and sold through the world in the drug trade. It is highly addictive and the cause of breakdowns for many people in many ways. It gives people a feeling of euphoria, and then followed by an intense low and then an eventual crash. It then requires more and more of the substance to achieve the original high that was once experienced. Again, the coca is processed into something different than what it naturally is and then changes from something benevolent into a highly addictive and toxic substance.
I also wonder about medicines that are created from natural substances but then are processed into drugs that still have the active ingredient, but have refined out the rest of its components. Most drugs have major debilitating side affects especially with regards to their effect on the liver and kidneys. When these organs are affected it’s because they are trying to detoxify toxins. Most of the drugs are toxic in some way as proven by the number of deaths each year from prescribed drugs!

Anyway, I spoke to Matt and Kate about my thoughts on the concept of addiction and this brought up a huge conversation about the nature of addiction and the hungry ghost, as I had once heard it called. The hungry ghost is the part of us that is hungry for a feeling of connection, because intrinsically there is a disconnection in one’s connection to God. So we run and search for a feeling of connection from the outside. When the connection inside is severed, searching for it outside may come in the form of drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or name your poison. Something or anything to fill the empty hole of the hungry ghost.
They were very fascinated to discuss drugs, but especially as they brought the conversation to sexual matters, they became absolutely riveted with attention and excitement. This is their time of sexual awakening and I spoke very bluntly about the hungry ghost and how it can take over when we are not filled from within. I also spoke very frankly about sex and how I believe it is one of our greatest gifts and a way of making connection with the divine, but can also be very hurtful when we are not ready for it. This is a very exciting time for them as they speak about sex. I want them to feel safe to talk about it and feel no shame, because they have come from a place of snickering about it. This one series of talks about sex and life, I think, shifted their whole perception in a very positive way. I haven’t heard the same kind of snickering since. Consequently they seem freer since then.



A Special Performance in Byron Bay
We saw a performance the other night in Byron Bay that was absolutely brilliant. It was performed by a local troupe, with percussionists, dancers, and a newscaster broadcasting positive news that matters. On the whole the percussion stuff was lots of fun, the broadcasts were hilarious, and the dancers were good. One girl did acrobatic-type moves on a rope high up, the kind that makes my stomach fall. It looks very dangerous, one mistake and she could be seriously injured. On the whole, the sum of the parts was bigger than the individual parts. For instance, one bit was a conductor of an orchestra conducting his musicians. He is staid and proper, counting the time of the music with his baton, cueing his musicians at the right times, but as the music progresses, his body starts to dance and he brings himself back to being controlled and on top of it, pulling a stray leg back, and suppressing a propulsive movement of the beat. Finally he can’t hold it back any longer and just throws away his baton, throws all the sheets of music in the air and just rips it up on the dance floor in an ecstatic groovin’ dance.
The whole performance was so good, yet the opening piece was something I’ll remember a long time. They introduced the evening by coming out in the dark with the seven performers all playing different little instruments that mimicked the sounds of the forest. As this beautiful little orchestra played I felt transported into the forest, and the sweetness of that place. After a few minutes of this, a guy came out with a conga drum and he starts playing real loud, totally drowning out the sounds of the forest. What a simple and profound metaphor for how the dominant culture has come and obliterated the native cultures of the world, without listening, without paying any attention to the beautiful songs of the forest and the natural world, without any respect for the gifts of those in tune with their natural world. In this piece though, the loud drummer realizes his foolishness and he stops and listens. The songs of the forest emerge and he plays softly and in concert with the forest songs and adds to and becomes a part of it. Oh, if it could only be that easy to reestablish our connection with the natural world?


Arriving in New Zealand
Now we’ve arrived in Auckland, New Zealand and it’s January 17th, 2006. We’re very excited to be here, it feels so good. The air is crisp, and there is a lot of open land here yet we’re still near the airport and in this relatively big city (Auckland has a population of 1M). We can’t wait to get out and explore this beautiful country.

Now What about the Difference in the Hemispheres?
When we went to rent a car, and came back to the motel, I just couldn’t get my bearings with how to navigate around here. This is pretty funny to me. I think it has something to do with the difference of the hemispheres. You see, I was really looking forward to coming to the southern hemisphere and seeing the water go down the toilet in the opposite way from how it does back home in the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately, the toilets flush in such a way that a small amount of water gushes out and goes straight down. As a result of this water saving toilet technology, I haven’t seen the vortex phenomena of the water going down in the opposite way, as I had been told it would. This has been very disappointing to me, but I have discovered another way to appreciate the difference between the hemispheres. Back in the States when we’re traveling somewhere, my sense of direction is pretty good, but when Icasiana says, “Go left” that usually means to do the opposite. She can’t even find her way around our home town of Santa Cruz, which is a big source of hilarity between us. But here in New Zealand, when she says go left, “I go left”. I can’t tell which way to go, and she is right on the mark, every time. I guess she’s found her hemisphere. Anyway, I thought it was funny.
Back to the more serious, we’re taking the time to set a sound foundation with the kids. The foundation is about standards of respect and honor with regards to communicating and keeping our word. I don’t understand why that brings up such resistance from them. But Icasiana and I know we’re on the right track.

We’ve shut off the TV. So far all the hotels we’ve stayed in have had TV, but it has remained off, and they don’t ask for it now (that’s why they loved the TV on the plane so much). They spent almost the whole flight watching, ah yes the addictive quality of the TV. We’ve thrown away the game boys and the video games. When they say, “I’m bored”. I answer, “That’s okay, you’re allowed to feel bored, what does that feel like? And what does it make you want to do?” I don’t feel that it’s my responsibility to entertain them, and I believe we’ve come from a culture that has way too much stimulation and too little time for reflection. The last few nights they’ve been drawing and coloring and writing. As I listen to them in the other room right now, they’re singing a song. I’ve told them that I want to see them play and have fun, that playing a game with a ball and running around outside is real, it’s constructive and enlivening. Playing a video game of basketball is not real and hooks their attention in a way that I believe is deadening.
Last night as the sun set we passed by a big open field, and I told them how I used to love coming to fields like this where I could just run and run. Icasiana said, “well then let’s pull over”…So we went into the field and ran and chased each other. Good simple fun – the real stuff.

The kids are learning how to be respectful and communicate in an honoring way. It's what Icasiana and I are trying to impart, “treat all life with respect, especially one’s parents.” Things don’t change right away though, except in the movies, and this is the real thing.
Well, more about the real stuff in New Zealand next time. We’re going to the beaches of Coromandel and Hahei before we go to Rotorua, a major center of both Maori spiritual culture, and fun activities for the kids. This part of the trip is less about all the things we might see and more about learning how to get along and travel together, and also taking time to just be.
After my last blog I was told that it was very long, I’m sorry that this one is even longer, but my mother really liked it.

an act of kindness-January 17, 2006

Tuesday, January 17, 2006
The most beautiful cappuccino – Baked Heaven Café – Auckland, NZ
It’s funny that my first writing on this trip around the world is about coffee, but it struck me so much when my first cappuccino in New Zealand was so beautiful, yes, beautiful, as well as being very tasty, I was compelled to write about it. Last night after we went to eat on our first evening in New Zealand, I noticed the Baked Heaven Café on our walk back to our motel. I mentioned to my family, “Oh, this looks like a good breakfast place.” Kate and Matt agreed as they looked at the pictures through the window of the dishes they might want to order the next morning.

As I walked on, I thought to myself, I hope they have a good cappuccino. I had been so impressed with the ones I enjoyed in Australia the previous two weeks that I wanted to compare them. Now, I don’t get one every day, but when I do splurge, I like to make sure it’s good. For those of you who don’t know what a cappuccino is (like my husband), let me explain. The ones I order typically are made with whole milk and are frothy, creamy and yummy, with just the smallest amount of espresso coffee, making it less caffeinated for this lactating mother! A chocolate powder is then lightly shaken on the top. In the states, I would typically add natural sugar to sweeten them, but here, since they are so good, I just drink it without any sweetener.

I don’t know if it is because we are traveling, and ordering a cappuccino seems like a luxury, something to savor and enjoy, but I tell you, they sure taste better to me than the ones I have ever tasted in the states – Starbucks and all those coffee shops could learn something by the way the Aussies and Kiwis make and serve their coffee.

Anyway, let’s get back to why this cappuccino was so beautiful. The man who owned the restaurant worked with his family and they were from Cambodia. I had that impression before I asked his wife where she was from when we saw a beautiful painting of Angkor Watt hanging on the wall (this is one of the sacred sites we will be visiting in Cambodia on our journey). This man (I wish I got his name) took my order for a cappuccino and said it will be “straight up.” When I was given my beverage in a lovely cappuccino cup, one that was quite large (about 3.5 inches in diameter by 1.5 inches high), I was amazed by the design he had drawn on the frothy milk using chocolate. It was a simple flower that covered the entire surface of the frothy milk in the cup. I actually laughed with delight and quickly brought it back to our table to show the family. Everyone got a kick out the flower and I was touched by the thoughtfulness of this man to draw it. We were so impressed that we took a photo of it so I can post it on our website!

I reflected for a moment on how just this simple act of drawing a flower could bring such joy and delight to others. This act of kindness reminded me to take time in my day to do something special for those I am with, and it also reminded me how seemingly small and simple acts can bring joy and delight to the receiver as well as the giver. How thoughtful and ingenious we can be with simple, sweet gestures!

After we finished breakfast, I went to the counter to thank this man for what he had done and to tell him how much I appreciated it. He blushed and looked down shyly and said “you’re welcome.” I asked him if he does this to all the drinks he made, and he said “no, but I do it sometimes for tourists.” I showed him the picture we had taken and told him I was going to publish it on our family website. I had brought attention to his act of kindness, and he seemed a little embarrassed, but grateful to have been noticed.

I truly believe that the way we speak to others and how we treat each person we come into contact with will be reciprocated. It all comes back and we will receive that which we give to the world.

There’s a bumper sticker that I have seen in Santa Cruz that says, “My religion is kindness” – a truism for me and something that Gabriel and I strive to teach the kids. My friend Chuck, who is married to my cousin Nanie, said in his e-mail to us when he heard that we were going to travel around the world, “Enjoy it, make friends, be diplomats and have fun.” I clearly see that the world needs more diplomats (not politicians) and if we can do just a little of that, maybe it can be healing for the planet. Not to mention healing some of the sentiments that people in other countries feel about “those arrogant Americans.”

Speaking of acts of kindness, I want to thank all of you who have taken time to write us e-mails. Your e-mails have been inspiring and provide us with further impetus to make this trip more meaningful and sacred. God bless you!

Love,
Icasiana

The Beginning of Our Journey-January 4th, 2006

January 4th, 2006

Oh my God! We made it! We’re on the flight to Australia, the first leg of our journey around the world. Our sacred Journey. The last few days of preparations I saw how irritable and short tempered I can get. I was not proud of some of my behavior. I thought of how a rocket ship needs a booster rocket to break through the earth’s gravitational field. That’s what my family and I seemed to be going through as we worked through resistance, irritation, short tempers, and excitement.
For example, we were waiting for passports that were promised to come within 6 weeks, but they hadn’t come yet from the state department, and we needed them to be able to begin our journey. We called and were told the baby’s passport needed to be redone. So Icasiana overnighted new pictures to them along with an expedite fee, and they promised to get the passport back in days, along with Matt and Kate’s passports. Over a week later, we get the pictures mailed back to us and no passport delivered. Why did they make us overnight the pictures to them in order for them to then send them back and not send the passports? A few days later though, Elijah’s passport comes, but not Matt and Kate’s. Icasiana kept calling numerous times, and each time was given a different answer, but no apologies, and no accountability. Finally, we’re days away from our scheduled departure missing 2 passports, on the phone with the state department, who are still unapologetic and unaccountable. Finally, two days before our flight, the passports arrive. We’re so stressed at this point, we barely feel relieved, our news are frayed, but we keep praying and trying to remember our blessings.
Eventually, we get off in a good way, with everyone cooperating. As I sit on the plane, I look at my family and think, “WOW, we made it, here we go.” But I’m so tired. I look at my newborn son, and I see that my concern that he would be very uncomfortable on the plane and possibly be crying for long periods as I had seen other infants do on planes, now I see there was no need for concern. He is so at ease, he barely cried the whole trip and slept almost the whole 14 hour plane ride. He is so comfortable in himself. Such a blessing.
To get to this point of departure, my wife and I had been planning this trip for the last year, and it seemed we had been working non stop to create this opportunity that was just now at our doorstep, with this last push. The first step was to find someone to take over my chiropractic practice that had been my life’s work for the last 14 years. It took months to get our records together, put together a prospectus of the business, advertise for a potential buyer, find someone, work out all the negotiations and arrangements, and then go through the transition. That did happen after about 6 months. Now the one who took over, Omri Sitton, is a good friend of mine, and I feel so good that the people that I’ve worked with over these years are being so well taken care of.
I had been frustrated for years that I had not traveled very much, and had taken very few vacations. That was a big mistake, and a big contributor to burn out for me.
Anyway, during the selling of the practice, my wife and I were also preparing for our wedding in Santa Cruz and then a 2nd wedding celebration with my New York family.
After the wedding we prepared for the birth of our child. (On this web site we have written the story of Elijah’s birth.)
After Elijah was born, as we prepared for our sacred journey, we had to contend with what most parents of newborns must contend with, which was unbeknownst to me; sleepless nights with a baby up at night. How could I have lived this long and not known that? Even my wife hadn’t told me. And then during the day, it’s hard to get work done when you’re holding the baby, or I would start something and then you need to change a diaper or take the crying baby for a walk, and I couldn’t remember what I had been doing before, or that I even was doing something that I still needed to finish. Of course, we had the time to be with Elijah as we both weren’t working at a job, and that was such a huge blessing.

Okay, you get the idea, let’s get back to the trip. We get to Sydney, Australia, and rent a car at the airport. We’ve rented a full size car, but it’s not really a full size car as I know them, and how are we going to get our stuff in this car? Needless to say, even though the stuff wouldn’t fit, we made it fit, though the kids did complain a lot about a lack of leg room. And oh yeah, we have to drive on the opposite side of the road. I could do that, but my spatial sense of the car was distorted. Just ask the left side mirror about it.
This first day, we leave the airport and go to find a place to stay to rest and get over the long journey. I look at my records for the place to stay I had found, but not booked, and the record of it on my Palm Pilot on the computer had been erased when the computer had crashed and needed to be restarted just before we left. So I tried to find an internet access point to find a motel, and when I got access, jet lag overtook me, and for 1 ½ hours I looked and could find nothing. A broken man, I realized I needed to try another way and we got back in the car and headed to Manly, a suburb of Sydney, where a soccer friend of Kate’s family was vacationing. We eventually found a motel 20 yards from the ocean, which was great. What wasn’t great was as we found out later was that this area was where major partying happens throughout the night. That evening while we slept there was a raucous commotion of drunken young adults carrying on until about 3 a.m. in the morning.
I had told the kids that they would have some of the best times of their life on this trip. Sometimes things would be real smooth and easy, and other times they would be real uncomfortable. This was one of those days, but really just a little tiny bit. More will come I know, it’s all part of it.

January 5th, 2006
We went to the zoo today. Zoos are places that can be exciting and very sad for me. It was exciting to see the kangaroos and the koala bears, and some of the other animals, but it’s also sad to see the animals that are essentially in a prison. I will say that this zoo was beautifully designed, and the environments created for the animals were very nice. I remember once seeing the zoo in Central Park where some of the animals were in concrete enclosures. This zoo had educational writings on plaques at each site I found to be very enlightening and informative. There were important messages about how the destruction of the rain forests and other natural habitats is causing some of these animals to become endangered. I’m still very tired after the longest flight that we will have on this trip.

January 10th, 2006

We are now in a cabin in Byron Bay, right near the ocean, and we’ll be here for 5 days. A great chance to rest and recharge after months of almost non-stop preparations. We’re also here with friends of mine from the Network Chiropractic community that I haven’t seen in 7 years. I knew them separately and now they’re married with 2 beautiful young girls ages 4 and 5. They have a beautiful place near the Gold Coast of Australia, in a rural area called Advancetown. The property is 5 acres with gorgeous grasslands and 3 ponds and gorgeous gum trees and other kinds I don’t know.
We went to a local rainforest called Natural Bridge. What a great experience that was. Of the original Australian rainforest, only .3% still exists. The rest has been cut down. What effect has that had? As soon as we arrived at the rainforest, I felt a bit giddy. There is an energy, a current, an aliveness in this place that lifted me up. It felt soothing and enlivening at the same time. I had read at the zoo a few days earlier that it can take 500-1,500 years for a rain forest to form. Maybe it’s a lot longer because often times when a rain forest is cut down, as I have heard, the soil can wash away, and the rain will stop coming to the area and it can become a desert.
I was also remembering my readings by Victor Schauberger. He was challenging the forestry practices of his native Austria where a natural forest is cut down and then a monoculture of trees is planted in rows. The difference between a monoculture of trees and a natural forest is huge. In a natural forest, there is a whole ecosystem that develops with thousands of species of plants and animals and insects that develop over a period of time through a natural progression that a planting of one species of trees in rows for the purpose of fast growth for timber production can never replicate. In the natural forest there is a profusion of diversity and a vibrancy of life because of all the life forms and life force. And this is what I was feeling, this vibrancy and aliveness of the natural world.
This journey is about exploring native wisdom throughout the world. My perspective is that the native cultures arose from their connection with the natural world, and the rhythm of their lives developed from the rhythm of the natural world. Their livelihood came from being in tune with their environment and learning from the plants and animals that were their food. And their spiritual life developed from their connection with the spirits of the area. My question then is, how did the native people live in this area? What was their source of food, and how did they get it? How did they pray and how did they feel about their lives here?

Thanks to all our friends and family for your good wishes, prayers and letters. We enjoy hearing from you, and it’s such an important part of our journey that we know you are rooting for us.

More to come!

love and blessings, Gabriel, Icasiana and the family