A VERY SPECIAL FULL MOON 20 OCTOBER 2021

 It has been raining with accompanying thunder in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The State of Kerala in India is inundated floods. SriRacha, Chon Buri in Thailand has gusty winds and cloudy skies.

None of my friends from these places could send me a photo of the full moon. 

My brother has been celebrating the birthday of his twin daughters, so he sent me photos of the dinner he prepared. Seeing their faces would be like seeing the moon rise.

I was supposed to leave for Israel this weekend but unfortunately I have to postpone as the Covid restrictions are still in place. 

The first photo to arrive of the moon was from Tehran, Iran, a country which is very close to my heart, ever since I can remember.

Iranians make good friends and most of my Iranian friends live in Iran, even though there are large Iranian populations in Europe, Australia and USA/Canada.

Someone left their house, so that I can once again see the skies of Tehran and the full moon. 

To my friends in Iran, I will sing a poem from Forug Farrakhzad

I am thinking of a moon

A word in a poem

I am thinking of a spring

A phantasm in the earth

The wheat fields' lush smell

Bread's fairy tale

Innocent games and a narrow long alley lavished with acacia perfume 

I am thinking of the bitter awakening after the games, the bewilderment after the alley's end,

the lingering emptiness after the acacia perfume.

so many dreams are brewing in such different parts of the world..another night of unfulfilled dreams but with full moon for company..

Communications arrived from Haifa, Brussels, Mexico,Colombia, even Madagascar all related to the full moon from people whose faces lighted up like the moon in the sky of my heart.

I expect more photos of the moon tonight.. will add them on as they come. 

In the meantime, a word of advice from Hafez.. No educated Iranian is without the words of Hafez .. Even I look to Hafez for adivination. One of the ways the poetry of Iran developed from common folk lore into the royal court, the second was SAGHI, the dispenser of wine became the object of erotic hyperbole. Many people wonder how the muslim culture of Iran gave birth to such beautiful, passionate, erotic and debauched with wine poetry (long before the current generation of religious ones put an end to it, they do not realize that the people just do not become less passionate overnight)

here is a piece from Hafez:

O that a breath of a wind

would bring me the scented dust

from the road of my friend

would blow away the sorrows from my heart

and bring me news of the one who possesses it 

relay those uplifting words

that come from the mouth of my beloved

bring me tidings from the secret world.

and so that i might perfume my senses

with teh gentleness of your breeze

bring me a waft of my beloved's breath..

Hafez 1315/16 - 1389/90

If you have read much latin american poetry, you may find a whiff of Hafez in them, centuries removed and continents away

Love

Because of you, in gardens of blossoming
Flowers I ache from the perfumes of spring.
I have forgotten your face, I no longer
Remember your hands; how did your lips
Feel on mine?

Because of you, I love the white statues
Drowsing in the parks, the white statues that
Have neither voice nor sight.

I have forgotten your voice, your happy voice;
I have forgotten your eyes.

Like a flower to its perfume, I am bound to
My vague memory of you. I live with pain
That is like a wound; if you touch me, you will
Make to me an irreparable harm.

Your caresses enfold me, like climbing
Vines on melancholy walls.

I have forgotten your love, yet I seem to
Glimpse you in every window.

Because of you, the heady perfumes of
Summer pain me; because of you, I again
Seek out the signs that precipitate desires:
Shooting stars, falling objects.

 WHO ELSE? PABLO NERUDA ..

Tonight as the sun is going down the horizon in Miami, I would tune in to listen to Sadhguru talking about VAYUS.. the five different type of vayus. He indulges in a wide variety of philosophical thought and at times challenging and at times entertaining and also thought provoking.

The last three weeks have been very special in that life had to move from one direction to the other and an immense calm descending to the heart. Tonight is the last of the spiritual healing sessions in Cuba for me and I have felt deeply their effects.

I will prepare myself for the FULL MOON...

(add photos as they come in)

645 pm the sun is slowly setting in Miami 

Very powerful messages from Sadhguru on this Full Moon 

Sadhguru takes you one step deeper or more depending upon yourself on the path you had wanted to, listened to many erudite people in your life, but he makes it clear to understand.

In answer to a question: what should be done in this complicated world or the world as it is , he had this to say.

There is nothing wrong with the world, the sun will rise tomorrow and set on schedule tomorrow. The wrong is in the person perceiving 

He emphasizes the self, to be clean inside to face the outside world and expects the person to take responsibility for enlightening themselves., dealing with emotions such as Jealousy or Envy. People who find comfort in the Nationality (of their countries) create divisions within themselves and make their outlook very narrow.

In the future, when professions would become loosely defined, it was good to hear Sadhguru’s affirmation that any profession you do has value.

When an American says that he lives in the greatest country, I would like to gently remind him that America is only one of the greatest countries on earth, for him it might be the greatest but I have met people who live in isolated places who are very very happy.

In the West there is widely held perception that Yoga is much like a work out of the body, like jogging or going to the gym but Hatha Yoga is not only about Asanas but also to cleanse the mind and body of blemishes, to clean the body inside and outside.

Many things he said had a note of Native Indigenous wisdom to it. 

Keep away from people who bring ill feelings to you. Native Indians say: If you come across bad people, dont confront them, just go around them.  Bits and pieces (of yourself, or improving them) do not constitute the whole . Native Indians would say, four quarters do not make ONE.

Before fixing the world, if you want to experience the beauty of the world, fix yourself first.

Something he said are well known: if you are passionate about something, you will become devoted to it. Another sentence reminded me of a Sioux Prayer before entering the Inipi lodge: Be careful about what you wish for, it may come true !

Yoga means union and metaphorically if you are feeling of separation, Yoga can help you. When he said that he was not meaning personal relationships. 

Tonight's talk had special meaning for me: my passion for my work with Native People, to cleanse myself to cleanse the pain of those whom I serve, that I must go back to. 

Feeling very good at the end of the talk, I walked out of the house to catch a glimpse of the full moon.

Many friends had written, the above from Wild coast of Washington State, it is cloudy.. But all of us have one thing in common 

The full moon , this one tonight in Miami.

A special evening, felt so connected to my friends all over the world, at least some of them. 

Some philosophers, like the poets Neruda, Pessoa, Mireilles come to stay in your heart.. like one of them said: they leave a vacuum that cannot be filled. Also there are philosophers, that accompany you, like Jiddu Krishnamurty, someone I carry in my mind. here is a passage to end this wonderful day and wonderful 21 days of healing.

Thank You.

My sister in Cuba who is a Spiritual Healer wanted to see a photo of me, to decide for herself how my outer and inner selves were feeling

SOMEHOW GENE THIN ELK CAME INTO MY THOUGHTS THIS AFTERNOON.. HE IS AN INSTITUTION IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY

 I had the opportunity to work with a Native Psychologist from the University of South Dakota in the USA and one day he invited me to come to Vermillion where he introduced me to Gene Thin Elk who was going to conduct an INIPI ceremony as the sun was going down across the grassy plains.

From then on, any time I was on that road to somewhere west, I would stop by and greet Gene. He was well known in that part of the world as a teacher, mentor, healer and a medicine man. He was the originator of the Red Road and was very successful in bringing to the attention of the European descendants living in the USA the power and meaning of the universe of the Indian healing 

Many of the things he taught me came in very handy in my healing career, as I worked only with Native Indians in the USA.

we are spirits on a physical journey through Grandmother Earth's realm

we are made from basic essences: spirit mind body and emotion

emotion is an indicator for the condition of the other three essences

we are spiritual essence in thought belief and interaction with creation  ( this is what is UNIVERSE)

our individual growth is measured by our inner sense of well being

It was nice to think of my friend and teacher Gene Thin Elk today

SHABBAT SHALOM FROM MIAMI.. WHEN YOU PRAY, PLEASE KEEP MY NAME IN YOUR PRAYERS, SAID MY FRIEND FROM SUDAN

 There are some people whose presence in your life is mutually joyous, we bring joy to each other. I feel happy whenever I see you, said Avi, born in Khartoum, Sudan, grew up in Israel and then migrated to Venezuela and then USA. We met accidentally (does such a thing exist?) and since then have run into each other.

This afternoon I had a desire to see him and wish him Shabbat Shalom, so drove to the plaza where he has a shop. For the next couple of hours we were talking, mainly matters touching the Kabbala and its universal nature. 

Explaining the work I do, I said it is my way of Tikkun Olam, healing the world, he would quote a passage from Kabbalah to affirm that precept. the whole gist of the conversation was about how we, he sudan/iraq/egypt/israel/venezuela and I would spend a very agreeable time together 

We walked over to an Israeli Arab restaurant, Alladin and had a small bite.

reminding our gut microbiomes of our ancestral food, regardless of our current and recent geographical transgressions.

He has a more religious upbringing and could quote philosophy of the sages far easier. But it was gratifying that what he said referring to the Kabbala had immediate resonance as if my work is a Lived in Kabbala!!

As we walked back, I wished him Shabbat Shalom and told him I have candles for tonight , he said 

when you say the prayers tonight, please do not forget to include my name 

we both felt good having seen each other and spent a little bit of time together . A human connection and also transaction of symbols which I use a lot in my healing among the Indigenous people. We were both manipulating symbols which is common to both of us 

In the end we both were happy.

LANGUOROUS TROPICAL AFTERNOON.. AND A NICE PERUVIAN LUNCH..

 Not too far from the city of Miami, lies the erstwhile agricultural district of Redlands. It is such a change in scenery, physical and emotional leaving the cuban-heavy Miami ambiance for a place which might evoke an old Florida feeling.

I enjoy a slow drive through the open fields, neat farms, lots of plants and flowers (commercially grown) as well as a plethora of fruits and vegetables. The demography also changes, more Central Americans and northern south Americans are found here, so dont be surprised to find Mexican or Venezuelan or Colombian cuisine along the trails of the farms. 

I had gone to visit a friend, as I had many a times in the past who owns (ed) a Finca in the district and more than once enjoyed staying overnight with only bright stars to lit the night. 

with lunchtime approaching, I remembered the Peruvian Restaurant nearby, which I had passed by on numerous occasions. 

It was a good feeling to drive into the farm at the top of which was the Peruvian Restaurant. KUSA.

I would say it is a hidden gem, worth the drive from Kendall where I stay in Miami during my visits just 20 minutes away. 

I nodded at the Peruvian flag struggling to flutter. The last time I had been in the Peruvian territory was in 2019, once in Iquitos and many other times in Santa Rosa Island in the Amazon River a short ride away from Leticia in Colombia. I was with my Ticuna indian friends when I was there last.

The architecture and the set up of the restaurant would not have been out of place on a road to Barranquilla for example, little touches of decoration bordering on the exotic.

I arrived early for Lunch.

I was lucky in that the young lady in attendance, a peruvian-american, university student whose family owns the restaurant, who could explain some of the items in the menu i did not understand. 

Causa which I wanted to try is organized like a sandwich but it is sandwiched between maize and I chose the grilled octopus on olive sauce. 

It was the perfect size for a bite for me, as I am not used to large american portion sizes of food.

I recommend this place to my friends in Miami, if you do not know Peruvian cuisine or have friends who do not know, take them there and enjoy something very different so close to the concrete jungle that is Miami.

I said good bye to Ms N and the other person and drove into the steamy tropical afternoon of Miami, with an outside temperature of 31 degrees C... 

These languorous tropical afternoons always remind me of the distant time, when at the age of 19, armed with a degree from a prestigious college I was visiting Borneo. I had been infatuated with Somerset Maugham and his writing at that time and those afternoons did look never ending . I would leave the house in the heat of the day , to escape from the heat, follow the trail to the river that divided Brunei and Sarawak at Kuala Belait. Perhaps that memory so vivid in my mind I carry to all tropical destinations and I am undoubtedly a tropical person, I feel my best chasing butterflies in a tropical afternoon.

It was many years later that I heard what Anais Nin (born in France to Cuban parents, grew up in France and Spain, lived in USA for many years, her liaison with Henry Miller is well known) had said about tropical nights..

As I was slowly re entering the concrete jungle, the heavens opened up and the typical afternoon downpour graced the earth.

A lazy distant afternoon in Kuala Belait in Borneo and a satisfactory Peruvian lunch in the agricultural district nearby may not have anything to do with each other, but I felt the strange relationship.. at least for me.

I felt happy listening to the heavy rains..

EMOTIONAL LINKS TO WORK AMIDST THE PANDEMIC ISOLATION

 I enjoy my drive to work, a leisurely drive, and on reasonably deserted road, not too far from the town where I am staying.

I never get tired of looking at the scenery, no mountains but plenty of changing clouds and of course the water in the canal with its own mind of flowing.

The place where I consult has extremely strict measures in place, All the workers are vaccinated. For the eligible patients to be seen, they have to be fully vaccinated plus a negative covid test in the recent past. They have been successful in keeping the numbers of the infections down and none of the workers or patients have been infected at the workplace.

I take delight in chatting with the patients and of course examining them and explaining them, have this face to face respectful contact. It vanished with the arrival of the Virus.

From an absolutely qualitative style of clinical medicine my practice had become very quantitative in which reviewing investigations done elsewhere and contact through the telephone has become the norm. I do not like it at all.

I decided that starting next week, I will drive the 100 mile length of this road, dropping in on the homes of the patients on the way and back. May not catch all the patients in one day but in the course of one month I probably see many, the consultations taking place in the open air in the common space. 

The thunder spirits announced the arrival of rain and winds. On this stretch of land there is always very heavy rains and squalls and I made a quick exit.

I could not escape the wrath of the celestial spirits. The visibility was minimal, the rain torrential but I know this road so i drove out carefully. 

As the storm passed through, the skies cleared and then blue once again and sent calm and peace to the earth.

After every storm, look for that wonderful, all embracing, warm celestial smiles..

THINKING OF ERWIN FRENKEL , WHAT ALL WILL HAPPEN IN THE COURSE OF A DAY

 While growing up, one of the more interesting person, a truly erudite person, that I met was Erwin F. I do not remember meeting him more than two or three times, usually in the architectural offices of a friend of his.

This morning I woke up looking at the scenery around which was brighter than my normal morning coffee sojourn.

In these days of isolation, one is always reminded of nostalgic moments and the sun just shining over the clouds and coconut trees reminded me much of a visit to Cochin in Kerala in October 2019, and pleasant encounters with two special individuals.

I went outside, barefoot on the grass to feel the young sun on my face. I did a few deep breathing exercises. 

What all happens in the course of the day ? that poem from Neruda..

Then I remember, smile, you never know what all can happen today?

The words were spoken by Erwin Frenkel. He had such a good command of the English language even though he was born in Europe during the dark gloomy dangerous days of Nazism and had to flee to Australia.

You will never know who you will meet today and what unexpected pleasures come your way..

Jose ( and his wife) with whom I share this townhouse in Miami during this isolation, informed me that the electrician would arrive and be prepared for all the apparatus to be shut down.

as if in compensation, Jose prepared Calaloo (a pan caribbean dish from Baracoa in Cuba down to Trinidad with varying ingredients) which was nothing short of delicious.

Juan the electrician soon arrived, he had the look of a Peruvian bandido, but turned out to be from Cuba.

Initially we put each other in our worlds. He is from Miramar, a nice suburb in Havana. We talked pleasantly about our lives in Cuba. Because the American Embassy has been closed by the republican government, he has not been able to process the paperwork for his wife to join him .. we have been having a lovely conversation about what we both like about our island ..I wish him well for a rapid reunion with his wife ..

I realize that while reducing Cuba (its politics, its economics, its society) to few well trodden cliches, we deny people like Juan his Cuban identity and the future he wants to build in this country for him and his wife.

We exchanged pleasant moments, two of us from such widely different backgrounds (it does not matter at all) but we could share something very beautiful, which included human relationships.

I am an Australian, that is not what defines me. During my university days i decided to free myself of all connections, starting with the easiest and to the most difficult in the end .

One moment I can give my friends and lovers, a whiff of Australia, at another my passion as a doctor to the indigenous people, or my devotion to my devotion... Of all the things, believe it or not , the easiest thing to free myself was the clutches of family and then choose my own..

It is noon and the skies are grey as they are during the waning days of the Hurricane Season..

As Erwin Frenkel would have said: what else is in store? Messages of love and affection, as it is normal, has been arriving from various parts of the world.. to all of you, thank you..

SURVIVAL DURING THE PASSAGE OF TIME THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

Survival during the passage of time

I look forward to the monthly FULL moon Satsang with Sadhguru the mystic from South India.

Tonight was the full moon

20 September 2021

I realized that last Satsang on 23 august 2021 felt like it was yesterday 

Normally from one month to the next I could count on experiences and encounters out of the ordinary or routine.

Before Covid 19 related isolation, I did about 10 days of medically related travel in which I was able to help or offer assistance to the indigenous people, another 10 days of travel, would be devoted to anthropologically oriented, in many cases which is of use to my work among the Indigenous people.

The rest I would use to travel, it does not mean that a visit to the Easter Island would be without some medical consultations or assistance, but in general, it would be to places where my mind derived lots of pleasure because of the ambiance and relationships: Quiberon in France, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Siem Reap in Cambodia and Doha in Qatar.

All that came to a halt in March 2020,, 19 months ago.

The excitement of organizing a vagabond life, booking and searching for airfares (comfortable rather than cheapest) and also hotels and returning to places with familiar places. All that  ended up  on the back-burner..

Two full moons appearing so close to one another , made me think. This is the survival mode. At one time there were only certain parts of the world  in Survival mode, but now the entire world is on survival mode.

That has created, magnified in my case, a chasm between the social life I would like to lead  and the comfortable life that was afforded me generously here in Miami.

I do not want this certainty, I like a little bit of chaos and little bit of adventure. Also share a little bit of my life with friends scattered around the world.  My life has been a good collection of various experiences, always tinged with culture (needless to say food and people)

Routine lifestyle gives you a sense of being busy but it is inactive to the mind, as the Nobel Prize winning author said VS Naipaul, you need a little conflict to be creative and added, when you do not have a project in your life, you become old.

I have heard more talk about death and getting old and getting sick in the last two years than in other years of my medical career. It is as if people are tired and feeling helpless and willing to accept whatever is coming their way. They have lost their proactive desire..to be engaged

With that comes unhappiness, a sense of resentment and also a lethargy.

I do not want this frame of mind. Many people in Miami get offended when I say, I rather be somewhere else. It is very difficult for people to accept the fact that their country is only one of the many better places to be and there are millions of people living in many countries, some of them rather content with their lots.

In the last year, I have made only three trips, one to Cuba my beloved island, I wish I could be right there now, and two trips to France and Spain. I enjoyed the sensation of flying and movement and new scenery and the fact that the world is not static .

As we learn to live with this virus, I plan to go back to my previous life. I am so so grateful for the people who gave me shelter and many who gave me food and of course  a place where I could continue to work.

I wish you an exciting year ahead.. don't wait till the end of the year to celebrate

The Champagne is on me, did you know that there is a southern Champagne region two hour away from Paris where they place much more importance on terroir and also use a philosophical approach to the agriculture .. such as respecting Full Moon, so that its connection with the land is respected.

Such is this wonderful life, my brothers and sisters ..

How to feel the freedom and continue to live the life of passion  during these times (hopefully ending in one year) of meaninglessness that pervades the world now. Only absolute idiots will fall into the trap of the Evangelical preacher of Brasil whose video went viral when he preached that the Covid 19 is not a Catholic?  Sadhguru the Indian mystic, Thich Nhat Hanh the Vietnamese monk all remind us that we are here and now .

When you are work with the indigenous people, as I have been in the past years, you become aware that Chaos is the normal state and absurdity is not too far fetched. I had my fair share of surrealism in Cuba, as well.

I have noticed that at critical moments in my life, new authors or philosophers or old ones laying dormant in the brain arrive to help me out of the situation . Today it was Albert Camus 

Born in Oran in Algeria, this French philosopher, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957  (The Plague, The Stranger are his better known works).

The Myth of Sisyphus .. what image is evoked in your mind ?

Once Sisyphus is aware of the futile nature of his punishment and task, he finds a freedom and even becomes attached to it. Freedom in the awareness of the absurd. 

France has given me many things, I will always be grateful for its writers and philosophers.  Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Claude Levi-Strauss, Marcel Mauss, Giles de Leuze, Michel Foucault.... and I stand in awe of the great masters of Clinical Medicine a century and a bit ago, in France .. Dupuytren, Babinski, Pierre Marie, Charcot,  hundreds more..

and here is Albert Camus: