india: "no.8"

I just received an email from my Sivananda ashram.... they tell me i am number 8 on the waiting list.

me and madras at the Regent Park after about 23 hours travelling from canada

footage from my first night in Chennai (i prefer the name "Madras" but they changed it to Chennai, i don't know why. Madras suites it so much better, and sounds better. i think that madras is reminiscent of the seaside fishing village it probably once was, while Chennai reflects its more modern identity with business and technology. needless to say, i got no sleep during my first night here.... as you can see from the dazed look in my eyes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PiuQi4XqKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y62il8aqiT0
crazy technology!!!
never thought i would be so technologically advanced in my correspondence. Big change from those first letters i sent from France, back in the early nineties!!

ashram crew

we all headed up river to a couple significant sacred spots. One of them was this cave here, where this picture was taken. Traditionally many sages and saints secluded themselves in caves in the Himalayas to meditate undisturbed. The cave stays warm and dry all year round. (cool in summer). It is a nice cave with very nice vibrations, due to the occupants continuous meditation there over the years and attainment of samadhi, the ultimate and final state of peaceful self-realization. Beautiful energy there.