This memorial day we decided to go experience the Zen/ Buddhist life - even if for a few hours that is - at the footsteps of Tinsel Town (LA) no less.
Our journey included two spots that are known for its meditation inducing qualities and attract variety of stressed out citizenry mostly from the Los Angeles area and some from further away.
We started on a Sat and returned on the following Monday traveling around 700 miles altogether but feeling refreshed, somewhat amused yet inspired by what we witnessed.
Left the Bay Area on Sat morning and drove straight into a retreat for the erstwhile hippy crowd now a Yoga destination - in central California called Ojai (pron Oh Hi). Right!
Even the once famous native of southern India, J Krishnamurthi (philosopher and writer) made his home and later expired in this tranquil valley.
Ojai is a village in the valley at the foothill of the Santa Ynez mountains, and gets its cool mists from the Pacific only few miles away retaining the moisture along with a dose of sunshine year round to make it ideal for people to escape their hustle. It is close enough to LA (about an hour and a half drive) to be reachable but far away to forget the worries of day to day.
After checking out the local art scene of which there is a lot on each corner and some of the old Spanish style architecture put in place by a former Glass Making baron 100 years ago we strolled the town and found a good cup of froyo (forzen yogurt for the uninformed). After cooling off and doing some more window shopping
we headed out to relax in the hot tub that waited for us at the hotel in a coastal town close by.
Next morning after doing some beach walking we headed to check out 'Hsi Lai'; one of Buddhisms famous stateside establishments in the hills east of the city of angels. About an hour out you climb in to a hillside which nestles at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. Here about five decades ago a Chinese monk established an institution to spread the word of the Buddha and aptly found a following from the valley's distraught and disillusioned elite along with the Asian believers.
It is as a monastery would be - a quiet and lush space that allows for meditation, reflection, prayer and all the while making you feel that you really do not need a lot to chill out.
After attending a morning prayer which including a monotonous yet soothing humming that I could not translate (I can relate to some non Indian fellows trying to make something of a Hindu priest chanting at an Indian temple) we lit some incense and asked that the planet arrange itself in such a way that we would beat the LA rush on our travels over the weekend. Our prayers were answered. It was relatively mild traffic on all the highways (and I counted 10 of them) that we traveresed as we visited several other points of interest in our trip this time south.
One stop was to check out some desi food in a street that can only be described as an Indian food court crammed with jewelry stores. Its in a town called Artesia, another burb south of LA. Here we sampled everything from Udipi food to Madras Coffee to Mango Lassi to Mutton Puffs, to some really awesome Bengali Mithai (uniquely sweet milk concoctions) all within a matter of an hour.
After navigating our way out of the food heaven we then went and relaxed on the beaches of Malibu for a while till the sun went out..
Our journey included two spots that are known for its meditation inducing qualities and attract variety of stressed out citizenry mostly from the Los Angeles area and some from further away.
We started on a Sat and returned on the following Monday traveling around 700 miles altogether but feeling refreshed, somewhat amused yet inspired by what we witnessed.
Left the Bay Area on Sat morning and drove straight into a retreat for the erstwhile hippy crowd now a Yoga destination - in central California called Ojai (pron Oh Hi). Right!
Even the once famous native of southern India, J Krishnamurthi (philosopher and writer) made his home and later expired in this tranquil valley.
Ojai is a village in the valley at the foothill of the Santa Ynez mountains, and gets its cool mists from the Pacific only few miles away retaining the moisture along with a dose of sunshine year round to make it ideal for people to escape their hustle. It is close enough to LA (about an hour and a half drive) to be reachable but far away to forget the worries of day to day.
After checking out the local art scene of which there is a lot on each corner and some of the old Spanish style architecture put in place by a former Glass Making baron 100 years ago we strolled the town and found a good cup of froyo (forzen yogurt for the uninformed). After cooling off and doing some more window shopping
Next morning after doing some beach walking we headed to check out 'Hsi Lai'; one of Buddhisms famous stateside establishments in the hills east of the city of angels. About an hour out you climb in to a hillside which nestles at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. Here about five decades ago a Chinese monk established an institution to spread the word of the Buddha and aptly found a following from the valley's distraught and disillusioned elite along with the Asian believers.
It is as a monastery would be - a quiet and lush space that allows for meditation, reflection, prayer and all the while making you feel that you really do not need a lot to chill out.
One stop was to check out some desi food in a street that can only be described as an Indian food court crammed with jewelry stores. Its in a town called Artesia, another burb south of LA. Here we sampled everything from Udipi food to Madras Coffee to Mango Lassi to Mutton Puffs, to some really awesome Bengali Mithai (uniquely sweet milk concoctions) all within a matter of an hour.
Appears heavenly..
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