September 16/17 Fate smiled on me when I scheduled my visits to Tulsa and Little Rock for early September, and arrived at my mother's home for a nine-day visit on September 10. It being her wont to watch the televised morning news, she & I were staring at the fire in the first tower when the second plane hit - after which there was nothing to do for the rest of the morning but be swept up in the national distress. How tragic it is that the Taleban, and Osama bin Laden himself, are actually offspring of the USA, products of our proxy state Pakistan, fighters we thought we could "use" to afflict the Soviet Union. How appalling that we showered Saddam Hussein with money, arms, and advisors during the Iran-Iraq war, and that we support repressive regimes around the world even now. How disappointing that we continue to search for a military solution to wars that cannot be won militarily. How sad that there is truth in the quip, "the reason they hate us so much is that we have no idea why they hate us so much."

Our world is changed now, and with change comes opportunity. The best way for us to guarantee a terrorist-free future is to take advantage of this moment to lay the foundation for a more equitable world. May it be so!

September 1/2 The last two weeks of August found me in Utah, at an elevation of 9300', at the Inner Harmony Retreat Center. The first of these two weeks was a retreat that I co-led with Krishna Das, a disciple of Neem Karoli Baba who relishes singing the praises of the divine. A fine time was had by all that week, as also the next week, when I was student rather than teacher, studying yoga with John Friend. One day of each week was dedicated to hikes in the spectacular Zion National Park. Week One I walked up the steep path to Angel's Landing, whose peak offers a panoramic view of the valley (including the Park Service shuttle bus that selected that day and time to burst into flames and burn to the ground). Week Two I hiked The Narrows, the slender canyon of the Virgin River, a far cooler trek than that to Angel's Landing, given that for much of the length of The Narrows the actual walking is done in the river's bed. After each hike the hot springs beckoned, the springs snuggled up against the Virgin, the hot water cascading into its chilly torrent. Add to this the giant double rainbow that graced the sky one late Inner Harmony afternoon, the electrical storm that literally had my hair standing on end, the nearby hikes (especially to the ponderosa pines of the Twisted Forest), and the result was a uniquely satisfying experience. Jai Bajarangabali!