NO ROAD NOT TAKEN
A young man who came to our last retreat had been an intern at a hospital in Baltimore, USA, when he received what he felt was a "spiritual calling." He left his wife and young baby daughter and traveled to India where he met many gurus, including one who insisted he fast and then eat only a strict Ayurvedic diet and donate what was left of his savings to the guru. One day while fasting, he realized his guru was false, but felt moved to take a lifetime vow of silence. Luckily it did not keep him from from the internet, so he "chatted" incessantly online with other seekers. Our retreat owner saw him giving a concert at a New Age music emporium that specialized in Tibetan Bowls, and invited him to attend a silent retreat on the land where I am caretaker. A few months ago, he wrote everyone who had attended that retreat that the lesson he learned was that his life in the city with his family and all the hectic craziness of the hospital was as spiritual as his life