Cao Dai Temple & Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam

I finally posted the last of the pictures from my trip to Vietnam. Paulina, Doug & I took a trip to the Cao Dai Temple and the Cuchi Tunnels. It was a very interesting day. The temple and the Cao Dai philosophy was nothing like I expected. It is always amazing to see how different cultures discover and experience the divine. The Cu Chi Tunnels are a monument to the resourcefulness of the Vietnamese people, but it was sad to reflect on the fact that just a couple of decades ago these were killing fields. To visit the photoblog click here. Enjoy!

One weekend please, fully loaded

It has been an eventful weekend, with lots of things going on. Friday night was a crazy and fun night at Fiesta Azteca with Jesica, Adam, Jeremy & Barry; Carey was spinning on the back deck. Sunday morning, I loaded and hauled a pickup truck full of trash out to the city dump. David Lavy & I got a little lost trying to find it. I then spent that afternoon with Heather and her 2 year old nephew Thaddeus, he is an adorable handful. I also did two loads of laundry - I am really not sure how I fit that in.

Dinner was a pleasant time with my Sufi brothers and sisters. We had a magnificent meal at Anatolia, a Turkish venue with the best Baklava in Nashville. The group then proceeded to Muhammad Jamal & Jamila’s home, were we did zikr. In Sufi devotions, zikr (or Remembrance) represents both a solemn ritual and a spiritual state of mind or heart, in which the devotee seeks to realize the presence of God. We ended the night with a delightful sharing of damiana tea which a friend, new to the group, had brought. We also had the unexpected blessing of screening a 1989 video of Pir Vilayat’s trip to India. Our Pir is such a character, so full light and humor.

Sunday morning, I cooked breakfast for Barry and Carey. Jim had some food too. We decided to go to Shelby Park to enjoy the morning air and the magnificent sun. We had a grand conversation and a revitalizing walk. Today was the day for Circle at my home, so after some time at the park we headed back to the house. The Circle of Spiritual Friends has been meeting at my home since its inception (about 3 months now) and I feel very blessed by the process/sharing we go through together. Today we had a slightly smaller group than usual. A few of our members are out of town and a several are getting ready to leave for their summer vacations. Jamal & Jamila with be going to Europe with Claire, while Caleb & Heather are headed to Australia. I see lots of adventure and stories to look forward to when they back. Meanwhile, the group here will continue to work on the exploration of inner space; the seldom charted, and sometimes even uncharted spaces of the soul.

Barry, Jim & I ended the day with a screening of “Being Julia.” Set in Great Britain, the movie had very good acting and a creative story line. A good movie all around, I enjoyed the surprise ending. I highly recommend it.

inFUSion by DJ Carey James

Last Tuesday, my friend Carey hosted a party at Bar Twenty3. I stopped in and had a nice time. Aside from Carey's unique blend of ethnic fusion, we also had the pleasure of watching Linda and Elina's world class belly dancing. There are more pictures on my Nashville page.

New Blog added - Buddhist Temple, Saigon - April 2005

I have finally uploaded the pictures to my photo blog of the Buddhist Temple I visited in Vietnam. This temple was a wonderful site. It was close to Paulina's home, which was our base in Saigon.

HTML

Setting up these pages has been an interesting and challenging process. I am use to using NetObjects Fusion and Microsoft FrontPage when setting up websites. I have not used HMTL in over 4 years, but I find that I am having to relearn it to get the templates for my blogs just the way I want them. These pages may change over the next few days as I make adjustments to the code.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I just got done watching "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." It was an interesting movie. As my roommate Barry puts it, almost like "Big Fish." I did enjoy "Big Fish." Movies that deal with the afterlife in this manner always make me think about the Sufi concept of the afterlife. In my humble opinion, a movie that most closely approximates the first part of this journey is "What Dreams May Come."

This past weekend was a good one. I had the pleasure of reconnecting with lost friends. I have not been in touch with Joan, Bovi, Yves & Simone in over 5 years. Last week I found the Swiss White Pages on the Internet and put a call into Bovi & Joan. I left a message on their answering machine. Early Friday I was ecstatic when Joan called me back. She didnt get my message immediately because she was in New York (they left for Zurich today). It was great to hear her voice. Hopefully, a trip to Zurich is not too far away. Joan has decided not to tell Yves & Simone that we have been reconnected. Instead we are planning a surprise. This will also give me the opportunity to see my goddaughter, Pascal. A few years back, the group took a trip to Amsterdam for Yves birthday and I flew in from Florida to surprise him. We all had a wonderful time. During that trip, we also spent some time in their beautiful villa in northern Italy after a quick visit to the Cinque Terre. I spent a month in Europe that time, also visiting Paris, Pisa, Florence, Venice, Salzburg, Geneva, Munich for Octoberfest and a few towns in Switzerland.

Yesterday, I had a mothers day barbecue at my home. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!! Several good friends were here. Unfortunately, there were no mothers in the group... well, actually two may qualify for the title, but don’t have kids of their own yet. It was a perfect day for a barbecue. The weather here in Nashville has been amazing.

Welcome to SONICOCEAN.COM!

I've been doing lots of blogging lately and I really enjoy it. I am not sure if this is going to be just a phase. Its been fun learning all the tricks. Blogging has made it really easy for me to post all the pictures from my recent trip to South East Asia. You can reach my blogs by clicking on the About Me link. I will be updating a few of these over the next few days. Two of the blogs are still empty. Hopefully, I will have the time to upload the picture for those blogs this week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!!