 Julianna and CJ's ~ Follow Your Bliss
PAST NEWS 2014
--- December 25th 2014
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015!!!
Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee 2015!!!
It is that time of year again, Christmas has come and with it comes CJ's birthday the day after! How exciting!
We wish you all a Joyous Christmas and an amazing New Year 2015! Julianna made a nice holiday card for you all and we trust it will bring smiles to your faces. We are thinking of you from afar and may you know that you are always in our hearts and we are always with you in spirit regardless of the time and space between us.
For Sai Baba's birthday on November 23rd, the ashram attracted thousands of Indians. For Christmas, there are not only Indians but also there are many thousands of visitors from all over the world coming together here to celebrate this sacred season. It's so great to see everyone living in peace and harmony despite cultural differences or religious beliefs. We have never been at Sai Baba's ashram for the holidays and thus far, it has been such a fun experience to be here not only for his birthday, but also for Christmas. Yesterday, for Christmas Eve, we joined close to 10,000 people in the main darshan hall to sing classic Christmas Carols and to be united together in love and joy. The international Christmas choir included men and women from over 24 nations. They presented an hour long concert, offering 18 hymns, a bouquet of Carols. It was an amazing time. Tonight, in the main hall, we will be hearing the children's choir.
The entire ashram ground is very beautifully decorated for the holiday season and we even have Santa Claus and Frosty despite the 88 degree temperatures. The western canteen where we eat most meals has been full of devotees and has been offering a variety of amazing dishes from all over the world. Everything we eat and try is delicious!
For CJ's birthday, we will be going to our friend's house Manu here in Puttaparthi. His mom is in town for the holidays and has invited us for lunch. We also found out that our good Nepalese friends from Colorado Ajay and Sabina will be in Kathmandu Nepal while we are there. They have been giving us a lot of tips and info on what to see and do during our stay and have generously invited us to their nephew's coming of age party in Kathmandu. We are so blessed by all the advice they have given us and we are so so excited to be meeting them and their family while in Nepal.
Additionnaly, in the last 3 weeks, we've uploaded more pics of the Camino de Santiago for you to enjoy. We have also added two new pages from our bicycling touring adventure along the Eurovelo 6, one for our journey through Austria, and one for our journey through Slovakia. All our pictures and commentaries have been added to these two pages. CJ's also created a movie of the sunrise over the Mediterranean sea shot this summer while camping by the sea at Argeles-sur-Mer, France. We trust you enjoy all of these goodies and we keep on working on posting more and more pictures of all our adventures.
With Love and may all live in peace and harmony,
CJ and Julianna
--- December 4th 2014
Nepal Exploring, Vipassana Transforming, Ashram Living
Hello beautiful friends and family!!! We are ever so happy to be able to connect with you and send our love from Puttaparthi, India. As you may have guessed, we are residing at Sai Baba's ashram, enjoying relaxing after many months of traveling around Europe. We are staying here til the beginning of January and then we are traveling to a new country, Nepal!!! Wooohooo! For the last couple of weeks we have looked into different places to adventure and explore, and right now Nepal and the Himalayas seems like the perfect new uncharted territory for us. So once Christmas and New Year's pass, that's where we are setting our sails.
Since our last update, we flew into Bangalore to attend a 10 day Vipassana meditation course. The course was simply amazing for the both of us. It is the catalyst for transformation in our lives. So simple yet so profound. Vipassana is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. This ancient meditation technique was re-discovered by Gotama the Buddha 2,500 years ago and taught by him as a universal remedy for the suffering of man kind. Since then, it has been passed down from teacher to teacher in its purity. Vipassana is a Pali word that means "insight", seeing things as they really are. Now, popular all over the world, Vipassana is a practical method, not religious in nature, and it can be practiced by anyone of average intelligence. Its goal is to purify the mind, to eliminate tensions and negatives that make us miserable. The method has you focusing on your breath, your body and the sensations within the framework of your body. You simply sit and observe your breath, as it is, and sit and observe the sensations within your body as they are right now, in that instant. This creates within the person a sharp mind, strong awarness, and equanimity. You observe any sensations, understand their nature and objectively stay equanimous, not reacting to any of them. As you slowly gain understanding and develop the ability to stay equanimous, profound peace, harmony, and calmness emerge within you and your ability to be with the present moment as it is grows. This technique teaches you not to react to the outside world but instead act with the outside world, flow with it and find peace within and without. It helps to dissolve ones past conditioning and habitual patterns thus purifying the mind of the mental factors that cause distress and pain. With regular practice it gradually purifies the mind, eliminating all forms of attachment. After 10 days we felt rejuvinated, so natural, so peaceful, and so equanimous. We are so grateful to have discovered such a great practice to keep this peace of mind alive within us and in our life while traveling to unknown countries. We would both recommend a 10 day Vipassana course to anyone crossing our path looking for some peace and wisdom. We are so pleased and delighted to be able to share this meditation technique with you, our family and friends. Also, all courses are run on a donation basis. So, if you get something out of it you can donate whatever pleases you and works with your budget once the course is over. How awesome is that?! You don't have to pay thousands of dollars or euros. That for us was appreciated! So if you can take 10 days off from your life, dedicated to you and your spiritual growth, then here is the website for more information: https://www.dhamma.org/en/about/vipassana. Check it out! 10 day Vipassana courses as taught by S.N. Goenka are held all over the world all year long. Sweetness!! We are attending another 10 day course at the end of March located in Nepal nestled among the Himalayas.
We are loving being in India, practicing our new meditation technique, and doing research on Nepal. We also have some time for the website so we're uploading photos from our adventure on the Camino de Santiago in a day by day sequence. We have the intention of finishing posting our pictures of the Eurovelo 6 bicycle touring adventure across Austria, Hungaria, Slovakia, and Romania. We'll also eventually post videos of our summer vacation along the Mediterranean and videos of the Camino as well.
We are happy to be spending Christmas, CJ's birthday, and New Years here in Puttaparthi. We are staying inside the ashram where the atmosphere is peaceful, quiet, safe, and easy to live. Everything is in very close proximity to our simple room. The main Hall for bajhans, darshan, and arathi is a 2 minute walk. The ice cream, coconut, snack, juice, and water stands are a 30 seconds walk away and the shopping complex for all our everyday needs is down the street as well. Also, there is great food at the Indian and Western canteens for only 1 to 3 dollars per meal for the both of us. The ashram streets are very clean and surrounded by lush tropical foliage which makes it enjoyable for evening walks and Julianna can feed all the dogs she wants as there is always one roaming here and there. The hustle and bustle of the main center of town is full of shops and restaurants when we choose to venture out.
May we all be happy, live in peace and harmony.
With Love,
Julianna and CJ
--- October 28th, 2014
Onward and Upward We Go...Mother India Calls Our Hearts Again.
But, before we start updating you with our future endeavors, we'll catch you all up with our adventures since August.
We recently completed The Camino de Santiago aka The way of St. James or Les Chemins de Compostelle. As the last update mentioned, we started our ascent at the Pyrenees mountains from St Jean Pied de Port, France on August 26th and we arrived in Santiago de Compostella, Spain on October 4th. It took us 40 days and nearly 500 miles (800 km) to traverse from the Pyrenees in France to the cathedral of Santiago, Spain where the remains of the apostle St. James are buried. What an exhilarating, indescribable journey it was!
We ventured on the path never knowing what to expect. With faith in our hearts and fire in our spirits, we walked with peace and power, up and down the winding paths, by ancient Roman ruins, through rustic villages, into glorious churches, and past stunning landscapes. We walked approx. 7 hours each day with an average of 20 km per day. On a typical day, we would rise in the early morning (5am) and start our walk before dawn. We would walk till early afternoon (1-2pm) and stop at one of the many pilgrims albergues (or hostals) along the way for some much needed food, rest, supper, and sleep. The Camino path is extremely well marked by yellow arrows along the way and the scallop shell symbol which both directed us to our destination. Never did we lose our way, even while walking in early dark hours of the morning. The so ever reliable shell symbols or arrows were always there to guide us on our journey safely and surely. September is one of the most popular months to walk the Camino, and along our path there were always other pilgrims to our fronts and our backs, passing by and wishing us a 'Buen Camino' which means 'good path/good way'. Most felt like sisters and brothers to us, pilgrims are full of heart, soul, care and sweetness. What pleasure and delight it was daily, to be living and walking on such an amazing journey with conscious and soul minded humans day after day, step by step. Truly, the pilgrims themselves make the Camino a very special experience. The whole way, we were also blessed by beautiful weather and beautiful sunrises. Furthermore, many cities along the trail, make the Camino a very special experience as well. During our 40 day pilgrimage, we took a total of 6 days off to explore a few beautiful cities such as Logroño, Burgos, Leon and of course, to heal our aching muscles and blisters. As we arrived to Santiago, we decided to treat ourselves to luxury and booked a hotel for 3 nights. We hardcore relaxed, slept til 10am and explored the lovely medieval city. There, we recieved our pilgrims certificates, attented the pilgrims mass at the Cathedral and got to witness the famous Botafumeiro, the massive swinging incense burner in all its glory. Then, we ventured by bus to Finisterre, a fishing village that lies off the coast of the Atlantic. In Roman times, before America was discovered, Finisterre was believed to be the end of the known world. Cape Finisterre is the final destination after reaching the Cathedral of Santiago for many pilgrims on the Way of St James. While there, we hiked to the famous lighthouse, had amazing fish soup by the bay, collected shells along the shore, and witnessed a breathtaking sunset over the ocean. What a magical way to end our sacred journey.
We have been rejuvenating here in Aix-les-bains, France at CJ's mom's place which has been very nice and cozy. It's always wonderful to reconnect with family and to savor their delicious homemade cooking again. Tomorrow, evening we take the train to the airport in Geneva, Switzerland and fly off to India. On November 5th, in Bangalore, we are attending a 10 day meditation retreat known as Vipassana. We will be in complete silence, no gestures, or eye contact for the duration of our stay and meditate for 10 hours per day. Its purpose is to bring deeper awareness and presence into your life and connect you with your essence. After that, we will go on to Puttaparthi and spend the holidays in Sai Baba's ashram. Our early 2015 plans are to spend more time in India visiting new cities/ashrams and we also are talking about an easy trek through Nepal, and possibly, maybe Thailand or maybe Cambodia and or even Bangladesh could be on our agenda, we don't really know at this point.
All of our recent photos were shot with our brand new high end Sony camera so the quality is superior. We know you will enjoy. We also shot daily videos with our new action camera and are so thrilled to be able to share with you glimpses into our Camino trip. One day in the not so distant future, we will post our videos onto this site.
We are so delighted to be sharing this trip with you through updates, pics and videos and we are doing our best to upload everything to our site when time and place permits. We have taken over 3000 pics and close to 150 short videos of the Camino. We will continue uploading the pictures on the website and we will work on a video montage to be uploaded here as well. It does take time though to go through all the pics and videos. The most important is to have internet and a good fast reliable connection to be able to update the site. That is not always easy to encounter on the road and especially when we will be in India were wifi is sporadic. But always know we have you in our hearts and minds and we can't wait to be sharing all of this with you!!!
May you all live in the space of spontaneity and be ever present to the magic of the mystery.
Buen Camino...
With Love,
CJ and Julianna
--- August 21st, 2014
​Taking adventure to new levels of fun and discovery.
We are about to embark onto our next adventure and pilgrimage, backpacking the famous path of the Camino de Santiago through Spain.
We are leaving Perpignan on Monday the 25th of August and will be on the Camino on the 26th. This journey of 867 km, we will be trekking all the way to Finistere in Spain which adds 67km to the usual Camino de Santiago of 800 km. It is a pilgrimage that has been walked by millions of human beings over the centuries. We are delighted to be starting such an amazing journey thoughout Spain. We are planning on completing our journey within a month and a half.
In July, we had a blissful time camping along the Mediterranean sea in Argeles-Sur-Mer in the South of France! We loved visiting the coast and some of its beautiful cities as Collioure. The pictures above and aside speak for themselves. We enjoyed seeing CJ's family (grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins) and appreciated bathing in the salty, rejunivating sea.
As we walk through Spain and discover more of this amazing planet of ours, we are keeping you all in our hearts and prayers. We are taking pictures along the way with our new camera and are uploading them whenever we are able. May you enjoy them all and may you continue following our journey through life and our dreams.
Loving and Thinking Of You All,
CJ and Julianna
--- June 24th, 2014
​We are enjoying being alive and experiencing the bliss of being on earth.
It has indeed been far too long since we've posted an update though what can we say, other than that we've been loving life and enjoying our ever evolving journey every step of the way.
Eveyday is new, everyday is different, every breath is new, every breath gives us life, life continues living its course, our hearts keep on beating and pumping blood and we are blessed to have made the jump of quitting everything to be living and following our dreams now. We listened to our hearts, we listened to what seemed right to us and without a doubt we made the correct choice for us.
At this point, we have grown beyond all measures and the peace that we've found within throughout our travels is revealing to be priceless and boundless. No words can express what has been experienced while in India for 6 months and most of the time this peace can only be found in silence, in the present moment and in deep contemplation of whom one truly is. Here is the update that I, CJ posted on my Facebook account on May 26th as I was leaving India and going back to France: "After spending the last 6 months in India devoting my time to "God" within and without, today I say goodbye with much love, peace, serenity and enthusiasm for what is and what is about to come on all levels of my being. I am ready to merge back into "western" civilization feeling whole and complete at one with God in my heart. I appreciate India, a magical and incomprehensible country at times for its teachings and radical ways of cleansing deep within. I am appreciative to all guides that have came along the way and for being able to stand in Love at all times. Oneness is available to the one who is deeply seeking and ready to give it all up and stand naked in the nectar of Love, in turns the feet of God. Anything is possible for the ardent sadhaka (spiritual aspirant). It takes faith, love and strong commitment to sadhana (spiritual practice)".
Now, it is time to begin another chapter and we are getting and living a totally different experience here in France. We have been at CJ's mom's apartment for about a month now, merging back into the western life while deeply rooted in Presence, Love and Peace. After a nice month of rest in Savoie (French Region), tomorrow, we are heading South to CJ's birth town Perpignan where her grandma lives. We will be staying with her by the Mediterranean sea. The playa, sea, sun and hot sand will now be our ambiance and as always, we will be enjoying every minute of it. On the 19th of July we will take our bicycles and ride to a camping spot on the coast for 3 weeks near the border of Spain. After that Julianna and I will walk the El Camino de Santiago, an 800km pilgrimage through France and Spain walked my millions of pilgrims over centuries. But these stories are to come and we will be updating on this as it comes.
For now, we are throwing our hats in the air, aurevoir the Alps and bonjour The Mediterranean.
We are thinking of you always, you are in our hearts and therefore, you are part of us no matter how far. Our Love for you is never ending...as is our Love for All that Is and all that exists, Our Love for this Universe.
All is One, may you follow your bliss, may you follow your dreams.
Thank you for all of your love and support.
With Love,
CJ and Julianna
