On our last trip we docked near a small village in upper Egypt and went into the town (this is one of the advantages to sailing on a private dahabeya) where we ran across a wedding celebration. The local woman were dancing in the streets and they just spontaneously invited us to join them. It [...]
Continue reading HD Video: Wedding Celebration, Egyptian Village near Kom Ombo
What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What’s the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?
-Buddha Shakyamuni
Just before this last Christmas I flew from Los Angeles to Seattle to spend the holiday with my family. A sudden snowstorm closed the airport in Seattle and forced our diversion to Spokane, which ironically was itself sitting under 3 and half feet of snow, but where the airport was at least open.
The scene at the airport was a kind of panicked chaos. It was now well past midnight and the tiny airport was overwhelmed with rerouted travelers from up and down the West coast. There were no facilities, no food, not much information, and many unhappy people.
Continue reading Lessons from the Road: Hipless in Seattle
I’ve been recently reminded again of the great genius that is constantly at work behind the everyday events that seem, at first blush, to be accidental.
I’ve just returned from leading a group to Egypt and during our visit to the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, I left the group of forty with my Egyptian [...]
Continue reading Happenstance, Coincidence and the Divine Mind
During our last tour, with Houston Baptist University, I ran into my friend Robert Bauval over breakfast at the Mena House and he reminded about a spectacular phenomenon: the “solar rebirth” at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor which occurs at dawn on the morning of the winter solstice. I was familiar with this, but [...]
Continue reading Karnak Temple at Dawn Near the Winter Solstice
A quick googling of “Spirit Guides” returns well over a million results. Just about every spiritual tradition on the planet embraces the idea of some form of spirit guide: whether they’re called angels, devas or ascended masters. And I have to say that I’ve had my share of experiences with these “non-embodied” helpers. But that’s not what I’m talking about here.
I’m referring to the real-life, flesh-and-blood, currently incarnated kind of “spirit” guides without whom meaningful experience, if not useful access, at sacred sites would be a lot harder to come by. All over the world I have consistently found myself dependent upon, and deeply blessed by, the kindness of strangers who would become friends.
Continue reading Spirit Guides: Bali, Egypt and Europe