Believing The Impossible Before Breakfast

In mid-September, I traveled to Brasil and spent two weeks at the Osheanic Festival. It was a wonderful experience. I got to make some new musician friends and also see some beloved older ones from previous incarnations such as Bodhigita, Nivedano, and Ashara.

My responsibilities were such I had ample time to relax in the hammock outside my room. I also had time to enjoy the beautifully-landscaped gardens and ideal weather conditions. The Center is aesthetic, a tropical paradise, and just a stone’s throw from the beach. There are even mangos! Sound like heaven?

It is no small undertaking to organize any kind of festival, especially one a whole month long. Congratulations to Talib, Shoba, and the whole Osheanic team on a great festival and for receiving the constant flow of participants with grace and making everyone feel welcome.

From Brasil, I returned to America and immediately began the USA tour. Every year is different, impossible to compare. And yet I have to say it: Things were just a little more special this year without me really knowing why.

I loved the music. We had Ashik as a guest soloist in New York along with Sharabo. In Chicago, we had Gill with her lovely voice and presence; also Orpheus on guitar. In Dallas, we were treated to Lee on saxophone and Shiva Das on drums. Also the divine mother-daughter duo, Suriya and Shanti, singing and playing.

I also enjoyed the driving. Chandira helped me with a lot with it. We spent many hours cruising down the highway listening to Keith Jarrett albums. Then having lively discussions about his style and the art of improvisation. Not to mention some great Starbuck’s stops along the way.

The last and longest drive was the one I made alone from Texas to Virginia: two twelve-hour days behind the wheel. Not even Keth Jarrett could keep me company the whole way. So I found myself, for better or worse, listening to a lot of the pre-election commentary. The debate got a litte conservative driving through the Bible Belt. But I survived. It was entertaining to say the least. I was happy to finally reach Virginia and my Blue Ridge Mountains. And just in time for the autumn color peak. Beautiful!

I started the New Year at the temple gates. Existence has in a sense brought me back to them full circle. Maybe not the physical ones of earlier this year in Japan. But to the temple gates of myself.
How could I have possibly imagined that wintry day January 1st, standing at those ancient gates with the blank canvas of my life in hand, the year would become what you see in these recent photo updates — so many colorful and joyful adventures around the world? As I type these words, my eyes drift to the woods outside my window. The tall, grey trees stand tall and bare against the late November sky. I wonder if they also can imagine now that Spring will come again and fill their branches with thousands of new leaves dancing in the wind? There is such mystery in not-knowing.

Osho has a book titled, Believing The Impossible Before Breakfast. I don’t know where he got this phrase from. If he heard or read it somewhere? Or simply coined it himself. It doesn’t matter. I have always liked it. Something about it resonates in me because every tour (and this year marks twenty years I have been doing them) starts exactly like this: with believing the impossible before breakfast. If I based my decision to do the tours only on the practical considerations and how things look on paper in the planning stages you would think I am crazy for even taking the first step, let alone the risk. Yet, experience has shown me time and again things always work out. True, some years are a little more of a stretch than others. But what looks impossible in the beginning each time turns out to be a miracle. This year is no exception.

So I am reminded often of this phrase of Osho’s. However, I want to change it slightly from today to “celebrating the impossible before breakfast”. This is closer to reality and the photos in these updates a testament to it. The tours remain my greatest teacher, a life-lesson in trust. I no longer believe the impossible before for breakfast. I know it happens. Better yet, I celebrate it.

The Osheanic Festival, Fortaleza, Brasil

New York