Beginnings

Welcome! I am excited to share with you my adventures and experience on this much awaited and anticipated adventure. I will be traveling throughout Beijing and South India on a three part expedition which includes friends, business school, and yoga.

The seeds for this trip sprouted in the middle of September when I saw a flyer on campus for a winter interim course in India from December 2-12. The course will cover Social Entrepreneurship and Global Business. I have tacked on 11 days beforehand to visit China and visit a friend, and 17 days in the last third to study yoga, Vedic chanting, and see the yoga sites in southern India.

In my excitement I have dug out my Lonely Planet guide book to India that I bought six years ago, and realize that the seeds for this trip were planted a long time ago. I have been amazed at how effortless and easy the planning and preparations for this trip have been. It reminds me of a very sacred Sanskrit prayer called the Sri Mrityunjaya Mantra. This is a very powerful healing mantra, and to translate it simply, it asks for healing to mind, body, and spirit in a way that is easeful-- as easy as an apple falling off a tree. In a way, I feel like an observer watching as this trip has just fallen into place. So I will use this mantra to frame my travel blog. The mantra has nine words, and I will use a word a week for the next nine to paint the story of my adventures.


OM— ॐ

As with many mantras, the first word of the Sri Mrityunjaya Mantra is OM. OM is a sacred sound because it contains all the sounds of the universe. When saying OM the sound starts in the back of the throat and travels across the roof of the mouth and ends with the lips, containing all the sounds the mouth can make. It is all encompassing, filled with beginnings, endings, and everything in between.

My voyage will be christened with a weekend in San Francisco to attend the wedding of my second cousin, wondrous beginnings. It is also greeted with the death of my 92 year-old Great Aunt, which is a sad and wondrous end.