More on Ashram Life

So things here are the same as they were the day I arrived. Not much changes in a place like this. The lotus flowers in the pond rise and fall, I skip meals and yoga to make sure they are painted. The sun makes it's daily march across the sky and the afternoon heat is oppressive. Nights aren't much better. Day in day out, the same routine. It's nice and makes life tranquil. Plus it's the longest I've stayed in one place since September.

A place like this is a nice place to visit, but I don't think it's a good place to stay. For the lifers here it seems to be a place to hide. A little refuge from the crazy messed up world in which we live. Hiding for a bit is fine. A little peace can help you reflect on yourself and what is good about you and what's lame about you, but if you come here and don't change and don't reflect and just be the same annoying person you were when you came in... it just defeats the whole puprose.

The place is run by a rather large man called Swami Maha-something or other. He has a rather pretentious air about him. Rumor has it, he drinks coffee in the morning. That sounds normal in your life, but here in the ashram caffine isn't allowed. It would seem best to set an example if you want people to listen to your advice. The idea is to live the way you believe. If you think one way and then do another there's no point to your thoughts or actions.

The next in charge is a doctor from South Africa called Swami - something or other. As you can tell, I really don't care about specifics. This guy is a cool cat. I like his style and he seems to believe in what he's doing. That goes a long way with me, but on the whole I don't know much about him since he's out doing things all the time.

After him are two interesting ladies. Wait, they aren't interesting at all. They are completely non-intersting. They are both about the same height, same frame, but one wears yellow, the other wears white. The white one is tough to get a read on, she doesn't interact with us peons. She just plays her bell and hides somewhere during most of the day.The one in yellow is just plain dismal. I've never seen such a permanently sour face on someone. She gives lectures at two o'clock that I stopped attending. She's one of these people that always has some negative comment. I don't jive well with those types of people.

The other day she stopped Ashlee and was asking her about massage. Ash was very friendly and told her that she was a massage therapist in the states and that led to this extremely long one sided conversation about the pain little Miss Dreary was having in her back.Since Ashlee is on the staff here, she has to attend a staff meeting every morning and wow, that sure sounds like fun. She fills me in on all the nonsense that goes on here. Like I said earlier, I assumed this place was a place to take stock of what is, but for some people it's just a place to power trip and I don't understand it. Egos abound here, but I thought that the whole reason to come here was to try and minimize the ego. I guess it all depends on who you are.