Monsoon is here, time for reflection.

After 3 months I've found myself in the middle of Monsoon time in Nepal.  It seems for the majority of the year the Nepali people wear open shoes... Its interesting for an aussie chick, being here, as its always hot and humid, you can not escape it. Compared to my home town on Phillip Island in the South of Australia where your greeted most days with a cool southerly wind coming up from Antartica over the Bass Strait.  I never realised how much you can become part of your environment in a way that climates can impact you so much.

Despite the guilt I feel, I am willing the gods to open the skies up and pour down rain to cool me down, everyday I am willing it to rain.  The worst part is the Nepali people always look the same, even wearing jumpers and long pants in the middle of this heat.  They are always looking fresh.

Watching the boys playing soccer yesterday for 2 hours in the heat was so amazing to me, barely stopping for a breather or a drink.  These guys have stamina!!! Albeit they were completely wet head to toe after that, not surprisingly so.

Yesterday as I was strolling along the Fewa Lake in Pokhara I found myself willing the rain and as I watched the sky and sat looking across the beautiful lake. I could not help wonder if the purpose of the Monsoon is to create gratitude and humbleness.  There is something about the magnitude of the wild sky grumbling, growling, rolling and rumbling before she opens up her skies and the rain falls. As she was building those grey clouds over the previous 2 hours the humidity rose to such a level that the air was so wet and sticky you could not escape it... SO by the time she opened up I was willing to stand there and have a shower with her.

The rain is heavy, creating rivers and with its volume, its not to hard to understand, why the roads here are so badly damaged and somewhat temporary in places. The water is filling up tanks, rice paddies, rivers are rushing so hard now and so big, that it is wild and dangerous just to be nearby.  Landslides are a real threat here and if you are living in the mountains it is a part of life and you could honestly wake up one morning to find half your village gone. 

Settling in to life here is of course taking time... In a culture and place so vastly different to Australia, it is a constant jolt to the senses.  Always asking you to step out of your head and into your heart. To not judge and just allow, to be an observer and try your best to blend into the way of life here.
Every day I practice a little more Nepali language and everyday I try to learn more about Hinduism.  Yesterday I was reading about Hindu and came across this:

"Hinduism is not just a faith.  It is the union of reason and Intuition that cannot be defined but is only to be experienced.  Evil and error are not ultimate.  There is no hell for that means there is a place where god is not, and there are sins which exceed his love."

Reading this was like WOW... Synchronistically I have lived with these thoughts for most of my life, there are so many things, sign posts and synchronisities flowing through my world right now confirming this experience for me.. 
Being here I am immersed and receive confirmation everyday .... I am loving this exploration of Hindu as it is an exploration of self and the universe. I am feeling more connected to my world than ever.

So many people are unaware that, nearly all spirituality and religions have evolved from hinduism.  It is a way of life here, not a religion... The more I read the more I see that Man has manipulated these beautiful scriptures and rituals and misinterpreted so much that we are a long way from the original seeds of hinduism... However like Buddhism it is an invitation to connect and live in harmony with others and the planet.  It is about being conscious, it is about creation and it is about balance, above all of the feminine and masculine and the roles and integration of these.  Especially the different manifestations of things and necessity of this.... 
I am starting to see things from a different view, eg: I read on facebook one time that there were some muslim women saying that they liked their Burkas and other aspects of being female and muslim and many people struggled to understand this.  Many people judged them. Something I have observed here is that women in Nepal are extremely capable and strong and although there are many areas which they could develop, I can appreciate certain aspects. 

In Nepal public displays of affection are not welcomed between men and women.  At first I thought this was small minded and they need to change that... However after being here for a while I am seeing the gold in this boundary.  
There is gold in keeping clear boundaries in relationships, there is gold in knowing what roles you are to play, there is a level of safety and security. What happens in the home between two people is sacred and not for public scrutiny, opinion or view.  Having separate beds or rooms can mean that  you keep some personal space and mystery.  There are many ways to view these things.  Love can be displayed to us and given to us in a myriad of ways, we just need to be open enough to receive it and not judge it.  So many of us live with expectation.  Expectation is where you meet disappointment and often can feel alone.  When we open our hearts to acceptance and allow ourselves to receive then we get to see the blessings and the gold... Im enjoying the boundaries here.  Im enjoying dressing in a way that does not make me an object of desire or for fashion or for any other reason. There is a certain freedom in this.... You can not understand a culture without living in it and learning about it. Immersion and experience is truly the only way to understand and learn in this world.
The depth here is beyond comprehension.