Here's the first ring a ding coming from the eerie word: "Asian Expert" - if I hear someone of good standing and reputation calling himself this: an "Asian Expert", I fall into a kow-tau in reverence, into shuddering awe, respect - highest respect - whether the person stands in front of me or not. I've uncovered many eerie travel secrets on my blog http://eerietravelsecrets.com - one of them being to spend endless holidays in luxury at bargain prices - but due to my job - even the one previous to Global Resorts Network marketing, {I've been in Asian countries a lot and even lived there for some years , and still am not even 25% near at being an Asian-Expert.}
Definitely there is Bert Brecht to blame (a German author - should you never have heard of him) who countered all flings into hype and superficial knowledge cracks and remarks some people utter when discovering {unusual things they don't actually fathom - with his sentence : "I give everything up to wondering awe and astounding, even the most blatant and familiar things." So did I. }
In a cave in the North of Kashmir I spent some weeks with Sharma, a Sadhu, who had left his family "to seek". That was just his simple way to put it . He ate, begged, and meditated. Not ever did he feel the urge to justify or question his decision. He left me with the most precious gift one person can give to another: the gift to experience conscious happiness, and having it created all by myself.
{ Once at dusk we sat at the entrance of his cave. Warm rain was falling, a small fire was burning, and the Sanyasin was saying }:"a long time ago here in these mountains there was a folk, who were for ever suppressed, perennial losers, never victorious. Many years later they discovered, so the legend has it, the secret behind this eternal failure and bankruptcy: {was a misconception in their language - a single, one-syllable word was missing in their language. It was the word "NO", as declaration of own will, self-reliability and self respect."}
{That's the time and place just where I should refer to the story of Hermann Hesse, (another German author of world renown - should you never have noticed who proclaimed, in his vocabulary, there was no place for this other one syllable word}: "yes". "Yes" as the expression of giving yourself up to something else completely, yes as the word of trust. Exactly his reasoning for him - the European - to go to Asia, to seek the secret, {release of [escape from] the state of the ever mistrusting European analyzing mind, a man who could never let [himself] go, whose utmost }fear consisted of losing control, who was afraid of nothing more than giving himself up to a few hours of senseless joy. You'll have to read Hermann Hesse himself to learn if he found it, fact is, he, too, never claimed to be an Asian Expert.
When once booking a seminar at a Japanese Zen-Monastery, I had the privilege to speak with the Roshi-the highest priest- for 30 minutes every Saturday. But it never came off. No doubt my questions were so hilariously funny, that the Roshi fell into a belly clutching laughter every time, unable to utter a word. I wanted to know unimaginable things: "is there life after death?" or "what's the sense of living?" or - this was the worst: "where do we come from?" When the Master had finished laughing, he sent me away. I finally discovered that absurd questions will meet with absurd answers - or - laughter. So if I have learnt something over time it was perhaps that: live and enjoy the moment and endure the fact, that some questions remain without answers - for ever! There is a more ugly interpretation to this experience, which may lurk in the back of your mind, but I've yet to get confirmation that Japanese zen monks are greedy money clutchers. So far, I have gotten none;
Years later I ran into a Guru in India. And frankly - he really gave me the rest: The type greeted me with words that were the knock-out: "I'm here to irritate you and lead you completely astray!" he said - this sentence- I think - I'll whisper on my deathbed still. That's how targeted this Guru spoke about Asia!!
Well, talk about targeting, and realizing that we cannot always dive to the depth of it all, you'll find a very clear message on a blog on how you can travel the world at bargain prices, make your life an endless holiday, and in this, I'm indeed an expert and can train you to be one, too. Try me!
