Some memorable moments and extraordinary people.
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My return to India coincided auspiciously with the national Festival of Ganesha, and it taught me a few life lessons. Here they are…
To step through the maroon and gold-plated entrance of Udayagiri Ayurvedic Retreat Centre in Wayanad, Kerala, is to step into another world. A dreamlike haven of peace and stillness, harmoniously constructed with minimal disruption to the forest that surrounds it…
When dark Balinese spirits come out to play…
It’s 3:30am January 10th, 2018 and I’m wide awake. I’ve been lying in bed absolutely wired since a little after midnight, and this is not normal for me. My normal is: once my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light. On rare occasions when I have trouble falling asleep, it’s because I drank coffee after 1pm, but today I didn’t drink any coffee. ..
I didn’t come to Bali with plans to become a connoisseur of Balinese healers – it just kind of happened.
The word “healer” has always had a seductive appeal for me, and you put “Balinese” in front of anything and it becomes doubly enticing, but I didn’t go looking for Balinese healers...
A climb up 724 stairs takes you to the top of Mt. Tapyas, in Coron, Palawan, on one of the Philippines' most picturesque islands. (A great workout!) I was told it was nice, so I went, without high expectations. I got to the top, looked out at this view and...
There are angels all around us, there’s no doubt about it. Maybe they sometimes masquerade as humans, or maybe they whisper in the ears of real humans, or both, I don’t know. However they operate, they are definitely here. How can I be so sure?, you might wonder...
It’s 2:30pm on August 9, 2017 in Haryana, India. I’m in a quiet, peaceful place: a large room with white walls, an octagonal vaulted ceiling and beige meditation cushions placed in evenly-spaced rows across the floor, but at the moment I feel nothing that remotely resembles peace. I’m glaring at the meditation cushion in front of me as if it were a torture device...
A little after 8:30am the Dalai Lama entered, surrounded and supported by his security detail. As he walked slowly through the pathway among the seated crowds, stopping to smile at people, shake their hands, sometimes talk with them, something unexpected happened...
There are times in life when you just need to get your hands dirty. And that’s why one fine September evening found me on a plane, descending into a picturesque scene of cotton candy clouds …