Instructions For Life

Dalai Lama

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s: Respect for self- Respect for others- and Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Bicycle Zen Proverb

A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery and had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying the sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the first student, "You are a smart boy! When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over like I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path!" The teacher commended the second student, "Your eyes are open, and you see the world."

The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student replied, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all sentient beings." The teacher was pleased, and said to the fourth student, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher sat at the feet of the fifth student and said, "Ahh.... I am your student!"

Boats in the Sand

This is a funny place to find a boat but there were several of these buried in the sand near the Pyramids. The Egyptians wanted their leaders to have everything they needed in the next world.

I found a lot of things confusing to me while we were here. Some of the smaller buildings we explored had writings carved into the walls that were thousands of years old. I was able to reach out and touch them. It was perfectly acceptable to do this but we weren’t allowed to take pictures of them.

I’m sure, only seeing this small area, I didn’t get a real perspective of life here on a daily basis but I imagine it is very difficult to live in this city.

Egypt is very poor, congested, polluted, and over populated. Sanitation was horrible and life seemed quite chaotic at times. There are millions of people living in Cairo and I saw very little organization or government.

I’ve been asked many times how I think the pyramids were built and my explanation is SAND ......there’s plenty of it here. As a matter of fact….it’s about the ONLY thing here.
You can build sand ramps and slide these big stones along them for miles.

Before leaving, we took a boat along the Nile and ate lunch while on the water.
Water is everything…and without it life will cease to exist.
I wonder how long it will be before we are all fighting over it…

Life is simple here….I’ve always believed the more simple the better but there is a point where it crosses the line. Our natural resources and its ability to support the population is a line not to cross. Poverty of this kind is a breeding ground for revolution.

Camels

When you see these guys in the desert, it’s time to fun for the hills!

(Actually this is one of the good guys)

This was the tourist police and it was his job to keep the panhandlers off you as you viewed the pyramids. The panhandlers here were the most aggressive I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world.

Every Egyptian panhandler knows these three phrases….

1) Shake my hand.
2) I am your friend.
3) Pay me. Pay me.

These are the Bad Guys….

They would literally place items in your hands and want paid for them.
This is free….just for you…I am your friend.
Five minutes later it was pay me….pay me….pay me.

Those unfortunate enough to be conned into getting a picture taken sitting on their camel found out it cost 10 Egyptian Pounds..... But that was just for getting "on the camel"….it cost 20 Egyptian Pounds to get "off the camel".

When a camel stands up you could easily break a leg jumping 15 feet to the ground.

If the camel jockeys got to be too much to deal with….someone would yell for the camel police to rescue them and the camel police would get real rough with them. They would whack them with a long stick.

Some would say it was all a big game….but I don’t think so.

My personal advise is “Don’t Get on The Camels” !!

Egypt

Several years ago a bus full of Japanese and Australian tourist were murdered along the road from Alexandria to Cairo.



The terrorist's goal was to disrupt the tourist industry in Egypt and the murders had a devastating effect on the economy. I had no idea what to expect as we loaded our buses and pulled onto the busy highway. It would take almost three hours of fast driving to get to the hotel near the Pyramids.



Sitting in the air conditioned bus I noticed the Arab in the dark suit seated behind our driver. He was meticulously dressed, physically trained and disciplined, and was ready to “expect the unexpected” in any situation. His automatic weapon was hardly visible cuddled to the inside of his jacket.


As our passports were recorded with the police and security agents, we pulled onto the desert highway. Immediately, we were surrounded by small Toyota pickups full of security people. I was beginning to feel like I was riding in the presidential motorcade.
They constantly moved vehicles in and out of our path with blaring horns, flashing lights, bullhorns, and sirens screeching a warning along the highway.


They NEVER allowed us to be “bottled up” in traffic.

The three hour drive passed quickly as we sped through the desert.
It’s a part of the world where there is nothing but sand and a few palm trees.
I could understand why the Nile is worshipped here. Water is everything and the very breath of life. Other than the narrow path of the Nile, it’s totally desolate.

Today is my birthday and I would be soon standing in front of the Giza Pyramids of Egypt. I will always remember this day.