Is there a PLAN? The Return of the 'King'

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Rewalsar, September 22^nd2022



“When you do something, if you fix your mind on the activity with some confidence, the quality of your state of mind is the activity itself. When you are concentrated on the quality of your being, you are prepared for the activity”

Shunryu Suzuki: Zen Mind Beginners Mind



“When the mind goes out to an object, it's suffering

The mind going out to an object is the arising of suffering

When the mind has no object, that's the end of suffering

Withdrawing the mind from all objects, that's the path to the end of suffering”

Pandit Bikkhu



“Everything changes, nothing remains without change”

MrGuatama (aka The Buddha)



“Plans are things that change”

Fujio Cho





I didn't plan to be exiled from India for four years. But that's a long story (and a long wait before again being granted a visa for India). Suffice to say, I have somehow filled that time with three trips to Europe .. mainly Spain, but including the French Alps, a French hospital (that too is a long story), Switzerland, and Morocco; a year being full time carer for my mother (now there's another long story... in fact 95 and still going strong); and just a few trips on a motorbike within my own country. Otherwise I have been re-establishing roots and lifestyle (an over-rated term to be sure) living back in my house in Wamberal NSW Australia.



Oh.. and did I mention the Covid Pandemic? Another long story that is still to see an end. Now that was a curve ball that side swiped many a plan for many people with plans.



To arrive back in India is a tad surreal, not the least because the last four years seem to have quickly succumbed to a sense of an evaporating memory. In one sense it feels like I was here (in India) just yesterday. But the body is a great reminder that with the passing of time, we change energy as we grow older. That and a fall down the steps doing a good deal of damage to the Achilles muscle in one leg, followed by dropping 230 kg of motorbike on the other (result: broken fibula), finds me not quite the 63 year old sprite that I was four years before.



Friends were excited for me... I finally got the visa.... and going back 'home' to India etc.. etc.. “What's the plan?” was often asked in the last month leading up to my flight. The question had this freeze affect on me. What is the plan? IS there even a plan? What am I doing again? What and why … how and where? I am so much more aware that things can hardly be planned with any certitude at all.



It is a fascinating thing to watch the mind go out to a future coming up, imagining how that is going to be and what to do to make it turn out a certain way, only to be totally caught up with a certain anxiety about it all... and then to have arrived at that moment and found a) it all happened totally differently and even unexpectedly against 'the plan' and b) whatever anxious energy was spent thinking about it was pretty useless in the end. Far better perhaps to realise that something will happen, conditions will arise beyond my control, and that my reactivity to all that is possibly going to hinder any acceptance of what is.



Specifics? The bedlam at Sydney Airport (3 hours from entering to getting to the boarding gate)... so the plane was delayed.... so the connection nearly was missed in Kuala Lumpur... so that plane was delayed.... so it was a close shave getting the last metro into New Delhi.... and finding the booked accommodation was (predictably) not straightforward.



And then I wake up on a humid New Delhi morning... go out to the street … sense the chaos that I love with the fruit and veg carts, the traffic, the noise, the colour, the smells, … and I just have to wonder “WHAT IS THIS?” … and “HOW DID I GET HERE?”



Two days later, and despite so many moments in the past four years hatching plans and worrying about how it will all be; and after simply forking out $450 for a complete overhaul with a new chain and sprocket set, new tyres, new battery, etc..etc...; I am again riding north to the Himalayas on my Royal Enfield (Gladys is the name) who has been patiently waiting in Delhi storage all this time. Even my boots and pants and jacket and helmet etc... which were stored with her are in great shape (suffice to say I just put those things straight on after four years and they were fine).



WHAT IS THIS?



So I do have a plan actually... I plan (and do) stopover in a familiar Gurudwara (Sikh temple complex) for the night... ride on to up near Dharamshala to visit a good friend for a few days, and then ride on to my very favourite stopover place (Rewalsar) for a final preparation before 'the return of the king' to my valley in District Kullu.



So there's the joke of change. Four years ago I did feel like The King... king of my domain with my bike and house and familiarity in India. King of my own destiny living the most amazing lifestyle (that word again). And WHOOSH... it all was taken away with the stroke of a pen a month later … well a sentence actually: 'Your application for a Visa has been rejected by competent authorities'. (As I said.. it's a long story).



Anyway... I am humbled enough by all that to not be The King anymore and to just cruise with whatever happens as best I can. And as for plans, I think I am of the opinion that plans are those things we make to kid ourselves that we are actually in control of stuff.



Good luck with that.



Note: Mr Lal Singh is the incredible man who, when I was unable to return to India four years ago, collected my bike, stored her, started her regularly, stored my gear, and then had the bike overhauled when I got back. All with great care and generosity. He runs an Indian bike touring company for foreigners which I would highly recommend:

https://lallisinghadventures.com/

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Photos

Good Omen
My home beach two days before leaving.

The Overhaul
Gladys gets some necessary attention after four years in storage in Delhi

Bike Puja for Safe Travel
At the bike workshop/storage shop, Mr Lal Singh organises a Puja for Gladys and my travels

Back to Glory
On the road again ... with a back to perfect condition Gladys the Wonder Bike

Rewalsar
A favourite place oft visited. Home of the Padmasambhava

From my room window...
Dawn in Rewalsar. Soon the clouds will go and the snow capped Himali will show itself again

Comments

[Kuan Yin]

So happy you are again writing...
An Episcopal priest once said to me "Man plans, God laughs." As I have gotten older, I have also found that I don't bounce as well as I used to: a fractured pelvis and minor(!) spine surgery attests to that. But for those of us blessed with the travel gene, even buying plane tickets for the next adventure is a balm for my soul. I can't wait to get back into an airport and all the promise (and chaos) that entails.

[Home and Away]

Plans...
I always have a Plan A...helps with budgeting During my recent visit to Scotland I went to Plan B on the first day. I'm not sure how many plans I went through before the end of my trip.

[D MJ Binkley]

Meditation will help
You will find your center again. The universe has presented you with several challenges and health problems. Hopefully, you can sit quietly and sort all of this out. We hope you've healed well and will continue to do those things you love.

[mahadev]

everything changes, nothing is reliable, not me not mine
Hi friends I hope I was not sounding desperate at all... Please be assured that I practice the dharma and am able to embrace, let be, cease dhukka and walk the path daily... Of course with eyes open to my foibles and crazy mind wanderings etc etc.... I can tell by your comments that we walk the same path. That is reassuring... My blogs are a space where I reflect on the 'not me not mine' a lot... and watch the ego's attempt to rule the roost. Many thanks for your comments...