LOTUS - News
September 10, 2006:
Chiangmai, a new home?
Once again a return trip to Chiang Mai. A sabatical, a new journey, a new beginning.
I am returning to follow the path that has been laid out before me. Though my spiritial beliefs may be different than others, I believe all people who follow their heart, are following what their "GOD" has placed for them to see. I believe those paths and all religions, lead to the same GOD and we are all on a journey of self discovery because of that.Though this has been the hardest decision I have ever made, I am leaving my home and my life in Japan to follow my heart, my soul and my GOD.
Additional update:
Begining September 16, 2006, courses in Yokohama will be temporarily suspended while I return to Chiangmai, Thailand. While my stay may be long, I will be offering private tutoring and practice to anyone who wants additional help in their study of Thai Massage in the Chiangmai area. Please email me at info@lotusthaimassage.com
June 20, 2006:
Back from Thailand
Back from Thaland, a breif journey and a wonderful story.My trip was not planned except for the fact that I was returning and had my airline ticket in hand and my room reserved back at Walai Guest House. (I say my room, because the room has been christened "Shawn's room" from my previous 3 month stay there). The owners, Aun and Yo welcomed me back with open arms and had my room ready for me again (kicking out my good friend Teba the day I arrived). How long would I stay this time?? Aside from that, nothing else was reserved or expected.
After I arrived, I contacted Wat Umong and spoke to Phra (monk) Vichia. That call and future meeting is when I learned my first lesson in Buddhism... everything is impermanent. Vichai had explained I would have to find a different temple to study in as the foreign monk who teaches at Wat Umong had unexpectedly decided to disrobe and the monastery no longer had a teacher.... "everything is impermanent" he said, and calmly told me a few other places to check.
I had previously checked both of his recommendations, but found neither of them had given me any feeling of peace when I had been visiting them. Then a chance meeting on a particularly great day of my life placed me in the company of Phra Ano. A monk originally from Israel but living and practising in Thailand for 23 years. After only 15 minutes of talking with him, I was invited to stay for as long as I wanted. I entered Wat Nong Ubon Sot the following Thursday and began my practice of meditation.
During that time and since finishing at the temple, some of the most incredible and memorable experiences have led me on a path that I do not yet know where it is leading. I am still on that path and will at some future date pick up where I left off and try to find my way home.
March 20, 2006:
Going back to Thailand
A return trip to Chiang Mai, and a continuation of my
journey in
meditation. This April, I am happy to be returning to Chiang
Mai
for some additional training in Advanced Sen – Energy Lines
Therapy, but more importantly, I will continue in my quest for
understanding by returning to study more of what I tasted on my first
trip to Chiang Mai - meditation.
I have been invited to Wat (Temple) Umong in
Chiang Mai to begin study in Vipassana Meditation. It was
during
my last trip, that a chain of events led me to meet a young Monk named
Vichai, on my last day in Thailand. Originally from Cambodia,
Vichai is 23 years old and has been a practicing monk for 12 of those
years. He has been teaching Vipassana Meditation at Wat Umong
since coming to Thailand about 1 year ago. It is there that I
will begin this next journey of understanding. I have no
preconceived ideas of where this will lead. My hope is simply learn to
understand myself more, and to become a better man.
Feb
28, 2006:
*UPDATE*
The article about me and my motorcycle in BMW BIKES Magazine is out.
For anyone who
wishes to read a direct translated (English) copy, please download the
2 page
pdf file of my BMW
Bike Story. I have tried to make it look similar to the
actual magazine, but the English translation takes up a bit more space
on the page - thus, the typeset is a little small. Sorry if
you
have to use a magnifying glass. - Translation
compliments of Masami Ohori -
My BMW - a brief report
My long time hobby
and part time job has recently been noticed by a
national magazine in Japan. Please check "BMW BIKES"
March 15,2006
issue (although the site and magazine are written only in Japanese).
After
returning from my trip to Thailand at the end of
January, I was surprised to get an email from the editors of BMW BIKES
Magazine.
During the time I was away studying, photos of my
motorcycle
rebuild project were passed from my friend Atsushi Manabe to his
friends at a local BMW dealership. From there, they were
passed
around
from one BMW bike dealer to another and another and another.
Somewhere
along that line one of the dealerships
notified the magazine of my
project and shortly thereafter, they began searching for me.I have owned my BMW motorcycle for almost 4 years now. It is a fairly old bike built in 1989 and imported into Japan on June 12th of that year. The original owner was my father-in-law who gave it to me in rather poor condition, when he stopped riding.
I decided after riding my bike for nearly 3 years, that I needed to rebuild it before it began to deteriorate any further. Once I had saved some money, it was time to tear it down and bring some much needed life back into this bike. Most of my friends did not believe me when I told them what I was about to do, and when completed in less than one month, they were shocked. This is one of the reasons BMW BIKES Magazine was so interested. I think the main reason BMW BIKES was interested though, was to show their readers that you do not have to be old and rich to own a BMW. They wanted to show that the "average guy" could have a nice looking and well tuned BMW bike if he or she took the time necessary to do most of the work him/herself. The magazine shows this to the readers in the March 15/2006 edition and I also have included my BMW Journal in pdf format if you are interested in looking through it and following along with the work I did, just download it here BMW Bike Journal.
I will be including a couple of
pages of photos in the Gallery
section of this site as well. I hope
to have them ready in the not to distant future but can only work on
those as time permits now.
Live life fully, love with all your heart.