Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Originally posted by point
Has anyone out there read "I AM THAT" by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj?

Yes, it's one of the classics of Advaita. Have you gone through the whole thing? There is also a video out on Nisargadatta, by Mystic Fire Video, I think, showing him teaching in the last few years of his life. He was one of the 20th century giants of Eastern teachings.

Originally posted by Metamorphosis
Yes, it's one of the classics of Advaita. Have you gone through the whole thing? There is also a video out on Nisargadatta, by Mystic Fire Video, I think, showing him teaching in the last few years of his life. He was one of the 20th century giants of Eastern teachings.

Yes, I just finished it last night. I had started reading it over a year ago and make it about 99% of the way through and just picked it back up again recently. I'll have to check out that video.

Originally posted by Metamorphosis
Yes, it's one of the classics of Advaita. Have you gone through the whole thing? There is also a video out on Nisargadatta, by Mystic Fire Video, I think, showing him teaching in the last few years of his life. He was one of the 20th century giants of Eastern teachings.

Hi Meta, how long have you lived in Nepal? I had a friend who
bought a hotel there from money he made when we were both
working in Thailand, often wondered how he made out. He went there
in about '73.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Hi Meta, how long have you lived in Nepal? I had a friend who
bought a hotel there from money he made when we were both
working in Thailand, often wondered how he made out. He went there
in about '73.

Hi sonhouse. I have stayed in Nepal more than once, but am not currently there. I am in western Canada (and am Canadian by birth). I use the Nepali flag because in some ways I identify with that country more. Also, many of my spiritual influences are Himalayan (Tibetan Buddhist, and Hindu). I spent considerable time with my main spiritual teacher in Katmandhu, Nepal, as far back as the mid-1980s. Some of my closer friendships I made in Nepal.

Katmandhu is a very unique town, a kind of Asian version of Amsterdam, full of exotic art, dope, and wandering spirits of every possible nationality. It's also a very poor country, relying almost totally on tourism. Apart from having my passport and wallet once ripped off in Durbar Square in central Katmandhu, I only had positive experiences there... 😉

Originally posted by Metamorphosis
Hi sonhouse. I have stayed in Nepal more than once, but am not currently there. I am in western Canada (and am Canadian by birth). I use the Nepali flag because in some ways I identify with that country more. Also, many of my spiritual influences are Himalayan (Tibetan Buddhist, and Hindu). I spent considerable time with my main spiritual teacher in Ka ...[text shortened]... ce ripped off in Durbar Square in central Katmandhu, I only had positive experiences there... 😉

Wow, did you get totally ripped off, like how do you replace a stolen
passport in Katmandu? Is there a Canadian embassy there?
Did you have plastic or currency? travelers checks? I used to live in
Thailand upcountry and had an american girlfriend and she took
a taxi in Changmai and the driver pulled a knife on her and took
some bucks. She had a nice camera in a camera bag but it had a
bunch of paperbacks on top of it and he shuffled through a couple of
layers of books and gave it back. I guess she was lucky.
A buddy of mine, american, was caught by the thai cops with a joint,
they "arrested" him, drove him to within about 2 blocks of the station
and said well here we are, you want to go to the station or how much money do you have? I have 20 bucks. That sounds good to me.
He handed the dude 20 bucks and the cop let him go.
Money seems to talk in Thailand thats for sure. My girlfriend did not
have a work visa like me and every 90 days had to go across the border into Takek, a town across the Mekong in Laos, she would get
stamped out of Thailand, get a boat across the Mekong, go to the
guard there, get a Lao stamp, go back to the Thai side, get another
stamp and she was good for another 3 months. At first the guard
wanted a buck or two for the stamps but then the price started going
up, got to the point he wanted a case of whisky or such to allow her
to go across. We had to find another border crossing, not many on
the side of a river!

I had a nice time in Takek myself, wasn't supposed to go to a
supposedly communist country but I wasn't going to let that bother me. I was a civilian so the american military couldn't really do anything
about it. So I finds this guard, gives him 5 bucks, a nice sum for him
20 Baht to a dollar back then so that was 100 baht, enough to feed
his family for a couple of weeks or more. He takes off his apulet,
now he's a civilian, we both take a boat across the mekong, he gives
a buck to the Lao guard who takes charge of my passport, I go and
see the sights in Takek, nice town, French architecture. Did some
petty ante gambling, these dice, about 5 or 6 dice in a dome shaped
glass they cover with cloth, wiggle it around and plop it down and they
all look at the numbers and win and lose, etc. Saw some fighting
angel fish, they put them in quart jars and make bets, the angel fish
are bred to fight so they spin around each other and take little nips
and there are some arcane rules about just how many nips is
considered a win. Went back to the Lao guard at 5 PM, he was true
to his word, had my passport, took off HIS amulet, now HE's a
civilian, went across on a boat with about 20 people on board.
In the middle of the Mekong, the boat conks out and we started
drifiting towards Vietnam, not a good thing in 1972...
So the Thai's noticed the boat drifting downriver and sent a rescue
boat and we crossed over on the choppy muddy waters of the
Mekong, hoping I wouldn't fall overboard....
Yep, did have some interesting times there.
I never got robbed though, that was my girlfriends job🙂

Originally posted by sonhouse
Wow, did you get totally ripped off, like how do you replace a stolen
passport in Katmandu? Is there a Canadian embassy there?
Did you have plastic or currency? travelers checks? I used to live in
Thailand upcountry and had an american girlfriend and she took
a taxi in Changmai and the driver pulled a knife on her and took
some bucks. She had a nice ca ...[text shortened]... did have some interesting times there.
I never got robbed though, that was my girlfriends job🙂

There is a Canadian embassy in Katmandhu now, but there wasn't one 20 years ago, so I had to undergo a several hour grilling from Nepali border officials (selling passports is big business on the black market there). I eventually was allowed to leave and made my way to New Delhi, where I got a replacement. Plastic was lost with wallet, but TCs I had in my money belt...and my return airticket.

Interesting Thailand story. I've been there once before, briefly.

There's certainly crime in Asia but generally speaking people are very easy-going, especially in India (except for Kashmiri Muslims, who incline toward being very aggressive). In a way it's reflective of their ancient spiritual traditions, and the intensely introspective spirit this has engendered. India has been invaded many times over the centuries but can't be accused of imperialism, to be sure.

Buddha, by the way, was actually born in southern Nepal, not India, as is sometimes assumed...