Travel

In the past 2 weeks I have been MIA and pretty much away from internet.  It has been awesome.  I highly recommend everyone do it at least once a year.  I try to do it at least once a year and it is a good experience esp for those who are business people or always on their phones etc.

Allow me to sum up my trip and add a little philosophical bit for everyone since that is how I like to write.

Thailand:

Beautiful place and my 2nd visit.  I spent most of my time in Koh Samui.  A beautiful island in the norther coast of Thailand.  This might very well have been one of the most gorgeous islands I have ever been to.  So after riding elephants, scuba diving, and getting a Thai massage (every day) I was able to reflect upon my adventure in Thailand.  My roommate Rian and my father were with me on this journey.  This part of the trip was much more structured since my dad arranged it.  Traveling to Thailand and meeting people in Koh Samui makes one think of how everything is westernized in today's society.  Rian became belligerent one night after drinking too much Thai wisky and drove his hand through the back of a nail (don't ask how that is possible).  Needless today a serious learning process took place.  This even turns out to be one that we laugh about in HK a week later.

Bali:

One of my clients got married at the Ritz Carlton in Bali.  It was truly an impressive wedding, on a cliff, in paradise, with fireworks to top it off.  I had an interesting experience having to heal the maid of honer, who my client was setting me up with.  My purpose was served, and we'll see if she gives me a call (haha).  Bali was more of a journey then Thailand was.  I didn't have anything planned but to surf and chill out by the beach.  I only booked my hotel for 3 days instead of the 5 that we were there for.  Excitingly enough we got free lodging with a friend that we had just met on the trip.  These two individuals who Rian and I stayed with made the Bali trip spiritual and relaxing.  Never in my life have I felt such positive energy from two people as I have from these two friends that we stayed with.

HK:

As the trip winds down we come back to HK, but not before I stopped back in Bangkok to get a tattoo.  While here in HK I met up with Terence, who proved to be a great host as usual, since he navigated me through the nights.  Now it's time to do the book release and mingle with my HK friends. 

Seeing the world through a new eyes:

This trip has taught me a lot and allowed me to grow.  My roommate/business partner, were referred to as Jesus and Buddha during the trip, and we decided to use this complement to change the world.  While in Thailand and Bali, I couldn't help but notice the negativities of western influence.  It is surprising how we won't let nature take its course.  I feel it is the western philosophy to play god, where it is the eastern philosophy to let god take us.  I'll give an example:

When tree's flowers fall to the ground it uses its flower to nurture the soil.  This happened for a reason.  What we like to do in society is to pick up this flower and throw it away because we don't wan to ruin the lawn.  Does this not seem odd to someone else? Now I don't want to say that my trip was negative, because I have to say most of it was positive.  I just noticed subtle influences that we have had on the world, and I have to say that there truly is a yin to every yang.  The people on my journey have been wonderful.  Some were locals and some were tourists.  It seemed like everyone had their own reason for something.  For example in Thailand when Rian injured his hand.  I opted to go with him to the hospital, and because I did this I met a very interesting and beautiful English woman who after a conversation with me was put at ease in her situation (which I won't discuss on a live blog out of respect for her).  Yogananda says that sometimes people are just meant to be somewhere at sometime.  This was my purpose in this journey.  Some have many legacies some have only one.  This was a part of my legacy to go to this hospital and give words of encouragement to this young lady.

My trip had a few journeys that didn't pan out as planned, and had we taken a certain path it would have changed possibly for the better.  But, we took the course that we took for a reason, and now that I am reflecting upon the decisions that I have made and the course that we have taken I realize the perfect balance of this journey.  Which brings me to my close.  During my trip I got a tattoo on my arm, and if you knew my attitudes towards tattoos this would be quite a shocker.  I am not one for something so permanent for tattoos, I used to say it was too permanent for me.  But, in Thailand, the moment seemed right, and I knew what I wanted to be on my body for the rest of my life.  My journey had brought me to a great tattoo artist, who charged me only $30US for my tattoo which would normally cost me somewhere around $200-300US in the states.  The price was a plus, but the man did amazing work, I know because he did Rian's arm.

What does my tattoo mean.  Well my tattoo is the Lens of Maya known in the Buddhist and Hindu religions.  In Christianity the lens of Maya still exists but it doesn't really get emphasized.  All religions sprung in some way shape or form from Hinduism, since it is the oldest religion.  Anyway, I can discuss this religion topic for ages.  My tattoo has a bit of a twist to the Lens of Maya because it has a dragon instead of a circle.  I used the Yin and Yang symbol to show polarity in life.  Past the Lens of Maya is no judgment and "heaven."  Where we are is where there is judgment.  The yin and yang symbol is representative of true polarity.  With every bit of negative there is a little bit of positive and with every positive there is a little bit of negative, speaking cosmically.  So let me know what you think! I'm interested to talk more about this topic, but here it is!

H