…Last evening Richard and I went exploring in the Sufi Neighborhood near our hotel here in Delhi. Suffice to say: It was amazing…truly amazing…The streets were absolutely alive…it was an India that I remember from over 30 years ago…the grit…the guts of it all. Afterwards we had a delicious meal at Karim's…such a delight…afterwards we headed back to meet our driver on the busy avenue…We were surrounded by rickshaw drivers and hagglers vying for our attention. A man asked me in good English: "Where are you from"? I replied that we were from Mexico….he said "O Good, but you sound American"….Richard told him that we had been born in the US but now live in Mexico…He asked if we had ever visited India before…Richard declared that it was his first time and told him that I had lived here before…he asked me where and I told him Pune….he said, "Osho"? I said, "Yes, I knew him"…he looked at me in disbelieving wonder and said, "Really'? I said yes, I had known him…and then my heart filled with tears of remembrance, just like now as I type…and the memory of that meeting and years spent with that man beckons me home to the Source of my Being…and I remember…not something from the past…but a cellular memory of "What is"…I do not make this up or feel any sentimentality…just a remembrance…a return…a return to the Source…I am a lucky man…
Chapel of Jimmy Ray Blog
India…Delhi First Day
Rainy yet absolutely good to be here…we are tooling around the backstreets of Hauz Khas Village…checking things out…I found a 1.5 foot plastic cast yellow Ganesh Statue…had to buy it…we seem pretty rested…maybe it will hit us later…so glad to be here with Richard…we travel well together…our hotel is comfortable..India is so different than 30 years ago…yet still the same…In a restaurant now…lots of Indian hipsters on Macs nursing Caronas and Lattes…cows in the street…rickshaws everywhere…ahhhhh…India
Attention Seeking Disorder: The Perils and Preoccupations of ASD…
…I have been in therapy for a number of years. I have been blessed with a most benevolent and insightful therapist. He practices what he calls Buddhist Psychology. Basically what he has emparted to me is that I lovingly revel and struggle in a "Disorder" known as ASD: Attention Seeking Disorder. He continues to remind me that when I put myself "out there" (like now)…many opinions, accusations, adulations and such will be reflected back. He once jokingly told me that his therapy will be complete when I show up for an appointment in a business suit…Yesterday my friend Carol Jackson brought me back another treasure from her visits to thrift shops in the Deep South of the US…..it is like a major pimp coat taken to the next level…perfect for me: The Art Pimp…but ya know…even I wondered if I could pull this off in public…so I put on the coat and headed to town…when pulling into the parking lot in San Miguel, who should I spy? My therapist getting into his car…and after all these years of therapy…I hid..Why? I don't know…maybe I wanted him to believe that I am on the road to "recovery"…I guess I just have to marvel at the Creature I have created…there are pluses and minuses…I love to adorn…my art and myself…but sometimes the attention is too much and I want to flee to a cave in Tibet…so…ASD has its high points and its perils…..I ride the wave…Life is like a Big Wave…when you catch it…your Sitting on top of the world…if you miss it…time to bury your head in the sand…so the Middle Way is my horizon line…..searching, seeking and questing for the ultimate ride on a perfectly imperfect wave…..
A New Year…A New Dawn…
…35 years ago this morning…after a night of dancing….I walked out of 12West on the far west side of Manhattan Island…I felt a confused exhilaration and a lonesome connection while experiencing a descent from some extremely righteous acid…I meandered out to the end of one of the abandoned piers…knelt down above the water…and embraced the dawn…now all these years later I feel so blessed for these extended dawns…all continues to be revealed… I am grateful for this relationship with Richard and my work…still connecting the dots…Blessings on this Year!
Some of the Truth…From My Line of Sight
The other day San Miguel de Allende was voted the top travel destination by Conde Nast Magazine. I look at this news with both pride and a heavy heart. This will bring lots more tourism to the area and tourists mean pesos and dollars to spend. That is good for everyone….myself included. This is a beautiful spot…we still marvel at the magic of this vortex. Special serendipitous energy abounds. The Mexican Culture is still magnificent as it lumbers into the 21st Century. Ex-pats have brought all kinds of great restaurants and cultural events to perk up the night life. My thing about a heavy heart is this…with all this infusion of wealth and interest comes more crime. Over the last twelve years I have seen more and more crime…some of it quite violent. As long as there is this extreme have/have not equation it is only going to escalate….there is not enough water in the underground aquafers to sustain rising populations…where is the water going to come from? It seems that there is really no Big Picture in the plan. And from my line of sight…I just take in a deep breath…have another hit of coffee and watch……this is Life!
Views from the Winds…
…it has been awhile since I last posted. It has been a busy time with the Opening at the Gallery in early August and commision work which brought us to Puerto Vallarta for two weeks. I am glad to be home even though Richard is now up in the States for two weeks…I am settling back in to life here at Casa de Las Ranas…reflecting…wondering…doodling and such. I am reminded lately of my roots and how deep they venture giving me levarage…to experience the wind…to gather in the heights…to follow the Muse…to allow the Mystery…to make breakfast…and feed the animals….these roots are sacred…they should be honored and revered…I just need to remind myself again and again…Rumi once said, "Even though you have broken your vows a thousand times…come come yet come again"…..So it is a time to allow the levarage…activate and soar…and trust in the winds….Glad to be home…..