First let me share a quote that I absolutely love.
“ The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is whether you are alive before death” -OSHO
After hearing and enjoying Tim’s podcast today I took the liberty to share a bit of my personal story, in the hope that it might slightly inspire somebody in some form or other.
And it goes like this…
2014
After a process of inner search and reading various enlightened masters i decided that it was time for me to make meditation it my own experience and head to what it turned out to be my favorite place in the world.
Before taking the decision its worth to note that life was going very smoothly for me, i wasn’t running away from anything in particular (or at least that’s what i thought at the time) and i didn’t have any particular expectations either (or at least that’s what i thought at the time).
After arranging my affairs to take this trip that was meant to last a couple of months, and after having met resistance from family and friends i had everything ready and took of to India, Pune specifically.
I arrived to Pune after an excruciating 3 day trip that took me to China in between, all i wanted was a shower and a good night of sleep. It was Thursday morning.
Once i was settled in and ready to rest (a couple of hours later) i slept deeply for almost a day. I woke up fully rested around 4:00 pm next day and decided that it was time to take a tour around this beautiful majestic place surrounded by nature and fellows dressed in maroon robes.
Perhaps luckily and thanks to the late Master’s life approach i wasn’t eaten by bugs nor slept in the floor; Au contraire the place was almost luxurious and clean and felt almost magical with a very special atmosphere. Every night there was an event to conclude with the day’s activities, that night turned out to be dancing night; which mainly consisted in a live DJ (yes a live DJ and modern music) being played in the central plaza with people enjoying and dancing as they pleased for about 2 hours.
I remember being standing on the side of the dance floor looking around without focus, just taking in ALL the experience when i suddenly saw Her…
The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life (seriously) dancing around girlishly, gracefully in a pair of smurf blue cowboy boots, denim shorts and a simple T-shirt.
And i thought “What a gorgeous woman” in a seemingly aloof way -Chasing women was certainly not the purpose of this trip right?
After hanging around for a little while without anything worth noting i decided that it was time to rest and get ready for this new and exciting experience so i called it a night and went to bed.
A couple of days passed and while I was getting aquatinted with the dynamics of the place, and loving them more and more; seeing this girl here and there gave my days a special feeling, a sort of color and enjoyment for the pure sake of admiring her beauty, which transcended the physical.
One day during one of the meditations i noticed her absence, -She used to sit a couple of feet ahead of me and i enjoyed seeing her jumping around graciously while the music was playing- when that happened i immediately recognized that I’ve felt that kind of longing before, the kind that one feels when his or her school crush fails to show up in the classroom and i felt really baffled, why? I hadn’t even spoken to this woman before, and this wasn’t really the purpose of me flying across continents, the question remained unanswered.
A couple more days passed and i used to support the events staff with their daily happenings, that night i was rearranging some furniture and unplugging the audio system with the help of a friend, whose casually used to have occasional conversations with the woman in question. And then… out of the blue we saw her walking almost cluelessly (it was late) towards the plaza, we had plans to go out so i immediately urged my friend to invite her to join us, to which he looked at me in both amazement and offense; nevertheless he agreed and talked to her, for some reason or another she accepted and off we went.
That was the night that my life changed completely…
I’ll spare you the details preceding our first kiss but i can tell you (for those who haven’t experienced it yet) and i hope you will… All the clichés about the butterflies in the stomach and the undoubtedly certainty that chick flicks go on and on about are true!
One kiss and i knew that it didn’t matter if i didn’t see this woman ever again, i needed to look no more, i wanted no more, i was immensely grateful; ecstatic!
That was the beginning of our story, and its been quite the ride ever since. She was politically engaged at the time and though i didn’t know back then, she belonged to a very afluente and powerful family in her country of origin, you can imagine the turmoil around that, after what resembles more a fictitious romantic comedy / drama than reality she chose to give away money, prestige, power and financial stability to be with me.
That is something that i hope im lucky enough as to have the opportunity to give her my very best every present for the rest of my life. We’ve been together ever since in this roller coaster called life, closer than ever, walking hand in hand towards our aims and goals and appreciating every step of this ever lasting process.
If these lines can inspire anybody to trust Existence and live Life according to their own terms, take the leap and start! The only moment is now, always now; here-now.
As a friendly good bye another quote that i love:
“You better like your present, you will live in it for the rest of your life”
-Facundo Cabral
Love, Milan P.