Cycling The Silk Road In China – A perfect start for the day

There is nothing like starting the day with a visit to a luxurious Spa.

Some people on the spiritual path, love austerities.
They sleep on a hard bed and believe that a sense of deprivation, can help them overcome the pull of the material body… the weight of illusions…

But NOT ME!

I LOVE luxury and feel at home in beautiful clean modernly designed places.
I love creative food beautifully plated, clean line elegant clothes, fast technology and good gear.

This morning, the Spa at our hotel, had an invitingly empty pool with cozy water temperature, simulating the warm waters of the tropics.

There were lush robes, extra large towels, mini bottled water, a great hot tub, and the best of all… Nobody was around.

I put on my red bathing suite and swam in the pool, forgetting the whole world….. Feeling total equanimity and bliss…

It is funny how easy it is to feel calm, loving and accepting, when life is so pleasant inside and out….

It is a little less so when you are in a pickle… Or when life is not as leisurely and smooth….. Or when you encounter difficult people and difficult situations…

But then I reflected back on my own life….and I had to admit that most of the dramas I have encountered in life…. Were self created, and I attracted them to me, because of the lower consciousness that I carried around, and the people I befriended.

As I learnt to create my life better, and more in alignment with what I WANTED to see unfold in my life, situations and experiences became easier, more fun, more filled with light…

But in the pool today, I forgot all this…. I simply swam and felt the quiet, weightlessness and it made me feel soft inside….

In Asia, I encountered some of the softest looking individuals I ever saw in my life…
It went beyond appearance…..
It was something in their soft looking skin, facial expressions, soft mouths and tender eyes….. They looked like babies….
Granted, grown in bodies, but somehow, they were able to maintain the sweet innocence and tenderness of spirit.

It looked as if they never known self-anger, never knew rage or experienced severe discontent….
They looked so tender…and kind… Towards themselves and towards the world….

I view them as my ‘Walking Buddhas”….. Teaching me compassion and kindness, simply by who they are.