Why Travel The World For What You Already Have?

Why India? Why go all the way around the world just to sit in silence with my eyes closed? What am I going to find in India that I couldn't find anywhere else?

These are some questions that a lot of people have asked me lately. I imagine them to be commonly asked of any spiritual traveler.

Well, my story might be a bit different from others... It starts with frequent flier miles. I earned enough miles for an international ticket, and my miles were set to expire in March of 2010. I wasn't about to let them go.

So I had the first ingredient: a free ticket.

Another thing worth noting is that many of the meditation centers in India and Asia are run entirely on donation. The California Vipassana Center, and some other centers in the US are also run on donation, but many of them charge too. Not to mention, a donation in India goes a lot farther than it does here. And, when I'm not at a meditation center, my costs will be much cheaper for daily room and board.

So, free ticket, free meditation centers... this is looking pretty cost effective so far.

Then, of course, we can throw in the fact that: I will meet many other international pilgrims also on their spiritual journey's; I can visit the historical sites that I've read about in the Buddha's life; I can meditate in the same places where thousands (if not millions) of Buddhist followers have sat and meditated before; I can visit the land of origin of Buddhist thought (not to mention so many other spiritual traditions too), etc.

And, to top it all off I was in search of a place where I could do some serious meditation long term with highly qualified instructors. These were my two biggest challenges with the S.N. Goenka center that I recently stayed at: retreats were limited to 10 days max, and there was very little personal instruction.

So from one perspective, I'm off for a pilgrimage to the holy land in hopes to find the eternal Truth of all human existence by studying with the great enlightened masters and surrendering into the sacred spaces of India's ancient country. From the other perspective, it just seemed like a fun way to not have to go back to work.

Will I find my soul in a fresh cooked Samosa? We'll just have to wait to find out.

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney