February 16, 2004
Planet Rabbit Hole, California, USA10:07pm. Last night I went to Satsang with Haridas, a 22-year-old yogi I met at a Mother Mary channeling, and hooked up with again at the Conscious-life expo. During the drive he shared his experience at an ashram called the Yoga farm. Haridas lived there over a year, Monk-style in community, each day doing four hours of self-less service--- "letting go of the results of your actions," as he put it. "It's the only place I miss living," he said.
We arrived to a tasty free Krishna community feed, where we were served cafeteria-style foodline, and then sat on carpets in a well-lit basement listening to lively music as we ate. Krishna folk know how to cook--it was sooo rich! A man played a harmonium (a small box organ with hand controlled billow) and sang "Hari Krishna, Hari Krishna, Hari Hari, Krishna Krishna. Hari Rama, Hari Rama, Rama Rama, Krishna Krishna..." and another man played a hand drum. A young lady in a green and gold Sari shining brilliant with white a smile sang joyously and played cymbals with a uplifting rhythm, making the whole room bop and sway. It was my best cultural experience so far in LA.
Satsang started with a half hour of silent meditation, then chanting songs with rattling tambourines. The Swami asked for a topic and was asked to speak about liberation, which he did while weaving in and out of stories for a half hour, and then Haridas passed around a bowl of grapes communion style.
Tonight I attended an astropsychology lecture by Dr. Louis Turi at Re-evolution that was taped by the Discovery Channel. He used the zodiac to predict the occupation of each person in the audience and was correct almost every time. I can't understand how it works, but there's something to it.
I'm quoted in today's Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper, talking about couch surfing:
Surf this couch
A new Web site introduces you to people who want you to crash at their place
by EMILY MATHIEUSeeking an alternative to chugging cheap beer and eating sand-encrusted sandwiches at Daytona this spring break? Interested in touring exotic global locations with your own personal tour guide?
Sure, you'd like to travel, and you've got money for airfare: All you need is a place to crash. Nothing fancy, just a couch, would do, right? I mean, you're not going anywhere to catch up on your sleep ...
Which is why you should check out www.couchsurfing.com, the creation of a 25-year-old self-taught computer programmer Casey Fenton.
The site features profiles of people from around the world — and couches they're offering up for any traveller to crash on for free. Essentially, the site allows fellow nomads-at-heart to help each other out.
Fenton's Web site features personal profiles of each member of the couch surfing community as well as a physical description, travel tales, personal philosophies and details on the couch they have available. Photos of the couches, as well as their owners, are encouraged.
A global mapping system allows members to pick a destination city and connects them with available couches in over 40 countries.
Here's how it works: Someone wishing to travel searches the Web site for members in the area — let's say Los Angeles. Then that person writes to anyone offering up a couch in L.A.
If you're the one with a couch to spare in Los Angeles, it's up to you whether you extend an invite to the person asking for a place to crash. If you do, you write back, and work out an arrangement.
And that's it! Simplicity itself. The only other caveat is that in the true spirit of couchsurfing, the site urges travellers making use of other people's couches to help out however they can: by doing the dishes, for example.
The project started four years ago with an impromptu vacation away from Fenton's hectic dot.com company.
"I somehow ended up with this cheap ticket to Iceland," says Fenton, who's from New Hampshire, but now lives in Anchorage, Alaska. "I was leaving in three days but had nowhere to stay once I got there."
A search online for hotels and hostels turned up few results. "It felt sort of clueless," he says. "There had to be a better way."
The hunt for hospitable locals led Fenton to the University of Iceland Web site. A mass e-mail to the student body led to what Fenton described as an overwhelming response. "I got over a hundred responses of people saying, `Yes, come and stay and hang out with me.'"
Several of Fenton's would-be hosts sent him photos but it was a tabloid shot from a singer in Iceland that caught his eye. Fenton's hostess picked him up at the airport and he spent three days with her, and her friends, seeing the sites.
"It made such an impression on me," he says. "I said that this is how I want to travel. I want to surf couches all over the world."
Fenton sold his dot.com company and Couchsurfing.com was born.
In the interest of protecting members Fenton and his "agents" are creating a verification system to ensure that the personal information offered by people willing to fold out their sofa beds for strangers is correct.
The site also contains a "friends" section where members can vouch for the manners of fellow surfers.
Since its official release into cyberspace in December, 2003, more than 500 people have signed up and the numbers are growing. The site got a recent boost when Yahoo! listed it as its "site of the day."
Cory Richardson, from Saint John, N.B., says Couchsurfing.com is a perfect fit for anyone enjoying a nomadic lifestyle.
"Best couch surfing experience," Richardson says. "I was kayaking down the central coast of California, crashed at a $2 million mansion, ate gourmet meals and was served white wine in the hot tub."
Aldo Golja, a 27-year-old living in the Netherlands, describes his couch as " a fine example of Danish design that offers luxurious seating for two."
"Just bring a sleeping bag," he says. "I've got the rest covered. Grab a beer from the fridge and surf!"
Golja's favourite surfing experiences took him to Philadelphia and New York. He has yet to experience the pleasure of crashing on a Canadian couch but is ready for Canucks to come to him.
Michele Clarke, a 30-year-old Toronto resident signed up on Couchsurfing.com earlier this month.
She's offering travellers a chance to crash on what she describes as "the couch of her dreams."
Clarke found her well-loved vintage couch at bargain hunter's headquarters, Value Village.
After a skilful re-covering job by a friend, Clarke is ready to welcome international travellers into her home.
Clarke works at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto as a health promoter for Toronto's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender community. She was attracted to what she describes as an interesting way to make connections around the world.
"I really like the idea of seeing a different place though the eyes of the people that live there, getting their take on what their city has to offer."
Clarke's younger brother is the only one who has crashed on her couch to date, but she is prepared to show a new visitor the Toronto sites.
"If it was winter, I would take them skating at Harbourfront or tobogganing in Christie Pits park," she says. "We could go to Kensington Market."
"I would definitely take them to a film festival," she adds. "We would also have to get a latte at Jet Fuel."
"I think that Toronto is a really cool travel destination," Clarke says. "There really is a little bit of everything here."
While getting this close and personal with strangers in a strange land may not be for everyone, Couchsurfing.com is set up and ready to provide thousands of people with a new, highly accessible and affordable way to travel the globe.
"Life is, ideally, a string of diverse experiences," says Fenton."
"That is really what Couchsurfing.com is all about."
Ahhh, yay! It's so amazing to experience satsaung, you are very lucky, and sounds like you're opening to a bright and shining path. Some say that you can always be emmersed by satsaung as long as you keep good company. I guess for the past month, that's been a reality here, with folks who are very elevated, so dedicated and putting knowledge into action. I would love to meet up with you the 19th or 20th, but my timing if iffy. I know for sure I have a dentist appointment on Friday morning. And I'm staying with my Dad Thursday night, which is real special cause we never get time to catch up. It seems like lunch on Thursday or Friday would be good. I'll know better tomorrow or the next day. I really want to meet up. HOpe my scatteredness doesn't come across the wrong way, birthing back into babylon is a little traumatic. Take care and Take heart dear brother,
Namaskar,
Pramitii
Beautiful person reading my journal... I need your help!
Please adopt a dragonfly!
I've worked thousands of hours to create this web site and it is yours free to enjoy. That wasn't a profitable thing for me to do, but it was my calling and it has been very successful at providing inspiration and information to many people all over the world.
If you'd like to see this project continue, I need your help right now. I'm working hard to set up shows in the LA prison system and get a TV deal, but at this time I'm a starving artist.
Dragonfly adoption is $30 plus shipping. Send me an email and we'll work it out. Get one for a friend or lover. I'll send it special delivery. Put it on a hat or house plant-- it is attractive anywhere.
If you'd like to give birth to your own dragonfly, I've made a web page to show you how. They are a simple and relaxing meditation tool, that take approximately two hours.
If you just want to show your support for this project with a few bucks, click this, I'll be stoked!
I'm open to any ideas or suggestions... so talk to me: MAX@solomax.com
