"may my soul bloom in love for all existence"

Well, the post I just wrote erased before I could post, so, we'll just have to start from scratch... Yesterday was a much needed day of leisure in Mumbai. Thankfully, our travel agents made the right decision to extend our stay for another night in Mumbai and moved us to the Taj Mahal hotel just in front of the Gateway of India. We finally had the chance to stroll around, head to the museum and get a not-so-touristy view of the city, which we both needed. I was a bit disappointed with the museum. Not that I was expecting the Louvre or the British Museum, they were a bit short sided on access to... Inventory. On a whole, it did bring me to another realization. At home, and many of the cities I commonly visit, museums are the houses of culture, history and the stories that have funded our lives in our ever-changing communities. Here, I have come to notice, the richness of life, tradition, culture and art have been still so prevalent in everyday life and practice, that it couldn't even be captured within a single building. I don't believe in blind faith, and am far from traditional, but the diverseness between modern changes and the livelihood of the culture are amazing to see.  At the same time, all this self-reflection and openness into spirituality and life has brought with it immense sadness. It isn't hard to understand why people still hold on so strongly to the Hindu or spiritual lifestyles here. In between the uplifting sunrises and calming sunsets, i am surrounded by an overwhelming awareness of poverty; cultural and spiritual remnants of colonization, wars, and corruptive manipulation; traditions of the beggar society such as militating infants in order to manipulate the attention of others; and most heart-breaking, (and also most inspiring), the memories of people like Mahatma Gandhi, who drove himself to starvation, and wrote letters of protest to the most horrible of men like Hitler, and still, in the face of death at the hands of a mad man, through all the torment and suffering he saw and experienced, knelt before the man who shot him and smiled, unwilling to part with anger in his heart or on his lips.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to forgive or overcome the troubles of the world at the hand of selfishness and corruption. This trip has brought me much compassion, I have shed much of my ego and self-preserving pride, I have realized, that some risks are worth taking for the sheer fact that what lies in the experience, and possibly the outcome, is far more extraordinary than anything I was willing to believe in before. But, it also highlights the weaknesses and shortcomings of others. There is also this realization that many will not do the same. Who knows if there is a larger lesson or experience to come from all of it. I don't believe time heals pain though. Memories of suffering and pain cannot be forgotten. I don't say it to be pessimistic, it is the nature of emotions, they are pure and unable to forget, but love, love will be the only thing to overcome pain. It is really the only thing that allows the pain to be bearable, because it is the belief that something more extraordinary exists. So there you have it. My time of reflection will come to a pause for now. I hope this did not make you too sad or too pensive... I think the bigger idea is that we must live boldly. We can't avoid pain, suffering, heartache or death, but we can look at those moments and remember that the only we felt the pain because something so deeply touched our souls, that we couldn't avoid being moved by it. It is there that we must let our strength and hope grow, the blessing that there are people and feelings that we are connected to beyond control.  We are headed to Goa today, a final weekend of beach fun to end our tour before heading back to Delhi. With that in mind, I think that the best I may leave you with today are reflections and highlights of the last two weeks...  Namaste.