As most of you know, I recently completed a road trip from Germany to Mongolia - 7803 miles to be exact and all the dirt road you could eat.
We picked up hitchhikers, camped in the dessert, drove through rivers.....even danced with Uzbeki nanis.
And somewhere between nani hopscotch and deep sea driving, I witnessed some of our spiritual teachings in action. Thought I'd share my findings:
1) You see, at my day job here, I'm the only one at our small company to do the sales....via calls/emails/candy/etc. During the 5 weeks I was gone and nobody doing this in my absence, our sales actually went UP. Proof that not only am I not the doer, I'm not even the seller.
2) Doing seva/being around people whose problems are exponentially greater than mine takes the mind away from personal memories and anxieties and into the present moment with their presence.
3) Though the one place that even Ashtavakra would agree it's ok to move your mind away from the present moment is a 3rd-world country's public bathroom.
4) People's expectations from strangers are low, but that's almost a good thing - you see, that means it's easier than it should be to bring them joy. Just by blowing bubbles and passing out soccer balls to unexpectant families, the adults' smiles along our path were even bigger than their kids'.
5) And both kids and adults alike around the world unanimously know one english word and one word only: "selfie"
6) Russia, which I imagined to be covered in a grey cloud of communism, was actually shockingly beautiful and friendly. That country just needs a better publicist.
When I asked one Russian if people in the bigger cities are just as nice as in the smaller towns, they wisely responded, "People are nice everywhere. It depends on you, not them."
7) It was easy to noticeably follow the flow of life's river when I was on a journey where every day's location and adventure were different. It'll be harder to notice the same flowing river back home where the scenery changes...less. But that's why, wherever we are, we just have to be aware of the adventure that's happening around us.
Hugs and kisses,
Mojikistan
PS in case you're interested, below are some photos:
On the way from Urgench to Bukhara (Uzbekistan), we saw some russian-looking hats on display off the roadside. Nobody was around, so we walked around back, and accidentally woke up the sleeping couple. We didn't buy anything, but these people with almost nothing offered us their single cucumber and half a piece of bread - we handed them money, but they refused to take it:
At the Kazakh/Uzbeki border, which took a little longer than forever to cross, the locals were beginning to get cranky in the heat, so we blew up a bunch of balloons for them and they wiggled with appreciation:
We had to spend 2 nights at the Russia/Mongolia customs crossing due to don't get me started, but it ended up being a huge blessing in disguise. We were stuck there with a group of Italians who've spent the past 5 years driving around the world showing movies to kids in villages who've never seen a movie before, and a German couple who are on a year-long global road trip to cook a meal for at least 1 family in every city they stop. We spent the last 10 days with both groups, and collectively agreed to split the money we'd raised for charity with the Italians for their awesomeness and shared vision to bring more smiles to the world:
And last but not least, my new best friend is this monk who I caught gossiping with his girlfriends:
