finding at least one of the themes of this trip

so this is an excerpt from my journal today... i had just watched a video on you tube the night before from r.dawkins which both impressed and also shock me up a bit... mostly because of one person's strong reactivity.... but over all i liked it..but it of course always makes me reflect back on where i am now... i am now in ChiangMai, about a year and 3months into my travels...i have had a lot of down time in the last few weeks which i felt i needed to reflect, plan, and also get some of my body problems back in line (through this intensive khmer body massage, which by the way is painful!).. before returning to the USA

here is the excerpt:

.....but even though I am left a little groundless and confused by r.dawkins and buddies I am grateful to them for helping spread more light on things... and giving me a new perspective to consider... after all it's my life... and this trip has very much been about looking at my choice Buddhism from diff directions and perspectives.. as examples...on the road with spiritually questioning theists and Christians walking the ancient catholic pilgrimage (from Italy, through France and Spain) ...in Muslim countries (Morocco, Tunisia, to lesser degree Malaysia) ... in Hindu dominant environments (Rishikesh India).. so theistic people and their views (including the Yoga teachers and retreats of Agama Yoga., which i also did in thailand for ten days) in parallel to new age-ism (hippies and alternatives i meet on the road)... Tibetan-Varjayana Buddhism as from the Theravada side (being in Thailand and doing Vipassana retreat here) and finally secular humanist or atheist side of scientific people (Richard Dawkins and his book 'God delusion' and his videos on you tube)... again this is a fortunate effect of karma (if one can believe in such, hehe).to live in a time where this kind of questioning and choice can take place... I had no idea, in a way, that this would be an aspect of my trip (The themes of my trip seem to work out retrospectively, haha)....

and of course interestingly enough it is punctuated by not one, but two Kalachakra empowerments (one of the most valued empowerments in tibetan vajrayana tradition, which even children can attend for the benefits of the blessing but is also is one of the highest yoga tantra empowerment) .. the first was right after the big-deal Camino, attended it in Paris...and now again...in temporary-summary of my year abroad and return to home for while..the second being in Washington DC …. and the trip is not over yet... how will it morph and evolve I wonder?-not just in the present moment but in my head over time...Of course there are other themes as well... but this was amongst other things a spiritual journey...

another thought about the Kalachakra empowerment.. i am taking both in big urban cities in the west, Paris and Wash. DC...so not in its original container, tibet and presumably india.... bringing the east back into western culture...also Kalachakra empowerments are suppose to help bring peace were they are preformed, so there have been preformed in politically unstable places (i heard of them being performed in Israel and S. Africa as per request of local buddhist converts), in most of the major continents and also importantly in big urban centers that hold a lot of political power... this i think ties in with traveling the world.. wanting it to have peace and participating in events that are suppose to help ...true or not, it is poetic...and from Buddhism... your reality is what your mind thinks it is...so if my mind is more at peace-may the cause be real or imagined, my interactions with others will reflect that with others.. and if it is true that we mirror each other more than we realize ...perhaps it can create subtle chains of cause and effect...here is hoping!