I’m sitting in the Café at Omega at around 6PM. While Diane takes a second yoga class for the day. We did one together this morning at 7 which was really nice

 

There’s a long line in front of me waiting to get Deepak Chopra’s signature on the armful of books this guy writes.   The book store here is absolutely packed with books he’s written.. more than 30 if my count is right..

nd even so.. the two I wanted.. The Return  of Merlin .. and  The Way of the  Wizard   are no longer in print.. I have no idea what they are about.. but I’m drawn to their titles as I search for my own internal wizard. I ordered them online.. but  Dr. Chopra signed a piece of paper for me to stick in them when they arrived.. that will do. I also gave him a SamStone. He’s a very, very cool guy. I’m certain he’ll do soemthing good with it.

 

At this point I’ve been listening to him for about 10 hours and I really have come to respect him.. I never knew what to make of him.. … I’ve always thought of him as a pop icon of sorts..  . I never realized how learned, articulate and funny he is. He’s obviously read widely and deeply from all the major religions.. Listening to him is such a pleasure.. he has such a diverse background in science, and religion.  His message is a synthesis of all three. He was raised a Hindu, went to Catholic schools, wrote a book on the Jewish Kabala, just  published a Book on the Buddha and is writing one now on the teachings of Jesus.   One thing I took from his talk today is that all the worlds religions are speaking to the same truths.. Yet.. I got the feeling that he also  thought that organized religions put unnecessary limits and bounds on personal choices about spirituality. He talked  about the wisdom of insecurity  and the need to embrace uncertainty.  ,, a lesson that has been driven home to us deeply by Sam’s passing.   

 

Note that Chopra is considerably smaller than Diane’s head !

Diane’s very pretty back.. I spent several hours contemplating it today.

The Man has the secrets of the universe on his Lap Top

The building we’re in today

The day passed very peacefully.. it was beautiful weather and we managed to get a nice 4 mile run in during lunch. I really love being here with Diane. It’s like going away to summer camp for us. We’ve been on such a journey in these past 9 months.. Our love for each other has made it possible for me to survive.   We are truly soul mates in every sense of the word.  

 

The food has been amazing on this trip.. quite a bit better than the last time we were here.. and it’s all vegetarian..   We took some great walks around the campus today. My favorite spot was the meditation center.. We put a SamStone in the wall there…  and wrote his name in gravel

 

The meditation sanctuary

The face rings a bell

Speaking of SamStones, we noticed that the one we put in the Japanese garden was no longer there…  which actually makes me happy. Our intent is for people to pick them up and spread them around. We put another one there on the Buddha for the next finder.

 

We even found a wise looking Zen Woodchuck

It’s now about 100 PM.. we had a great dinner then went in to watch a movie that Chopra made of  his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success..    While I really liked the book, I did not care very much for the movie.. which seemed to me to concentrate on the success part of the title. It was a bunch of vignettes describing how various business people had found success and meaning . I recall the book doing a better job of describing the main ideas of finding the possibility posed by every situation.. good or bad. .. the need to give of yourself freely.. the need to be able to receive graciously, the  need to pay your karmic depts.  and the need to find your true purpose or dharma  .. Finding and aligning with your Dharma  he said,  allows you to accomplish almost anything with little effort.     I know that ease that comes from doing what you love and what you think is right.

 

Before the movie,the  guy from the audience entertained us again with an impromptu concert on a Peruvian clay flute  and a didgeridoo. It  was really amazing.

The Oaca ?

 

The Diggery-dude

Ok.. that’s all for tonight..   We’re going to go out and look for meteors from the Persied shower.. It’s supposed to peak tonight and tomorrow .. it’s a bit overcast.. but with luck we’ll see some.. and think of Sam..  More tomorrow

 -me

 ps.. I want to apologize if any of the bumper sticker photos I posted yesterday offended anyone.. the sticker do not (all) represent the views of the managment :-). On second reading.. some of them might have appeared hurtful. That was never my intent.  .. I was just including them to let folks get a feel for the local politics.