LESS EGO / MORE SOUL

Just wanted to share this here for those of you who are interested in following my musical career… This was my first radio show Tomer Rozenblum on 106.2FM in Tel-Aviv. In addition to choosing the playlist, I got to play some of my own songs live with some incredibly talented musicians – Ohad Bar (vocals) and Asaf Rachimof on lead guitar. So far this is all I have online but I am looking at professionally recording a few tracks later this year. If you like what you hear, please show your support by liking my Facebook page! Enjoy!

Original Link: https://soundcloud.com/jiveny/keep-moving-with-jiveny-tel

Set List:

Thrill – Jiveny

Smoking Gun – Lady of The Sunshine

Cold…Shivering – Jiveny

Wasted – Mazzy Star

Why Do You – Ohad Bar & Asaf Rachimoff

Restless Sinner – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Jet Plane (Cover) – Captain Generous

Wolves – Jiveny

Another Blue Lady – Winter Moon

The Fragility Of Intimacy – Jiveny

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Update: A New version of my single, Cold…Shivering (The Piano Sessions) is now available on Soundcloud for download. You can also find it on YouTube here. Sharing is the currency of the internet, so if you like, please share it with your friends. 

ayahuasca experience

Finally a moment to break this writing hiatus…

As you can imagine, a lot has been going on in my life. Its crazy to think that only three weeks ago I was living deep in the Amazonian jungle, doing dieta with a shipibo shaman called Aquellis. This was the most intense and revealing experience of my life and I am dedicating the next several posts to sharing the experience with you in detail.

For those of you who don’t know, a dieta is an ancient shamanic initiation in the Amazon which involves dedicating oneself to a non-psycho active “master plant” for a set period of time. During this time, contact with the outside world is minimized, often causing subjects to retreat like hermits into the deep jungle.

By eating a very bland diet, without the use of any sugar, salt, spices or other stimulants, the body is weakened, allowing the spirit of the plants to transpose itself into the human body. Thus a relationship is formed and a mutual exchange of alternative experiences between plant and man is shared.

Traditionally shamanic apprentices would do a dieta with a particular plant for 1-2 years. These days however, subjects are able to do dieta from anywhere between a week to a year. During this time Ayahuasca is traditionally taken 2-3 times a week (or more) and works as the translator or mediator between the master plant and the initiate.

This time, I chose to diet a master plant called Bobinsana, which happened to be the first plant that caught my eye when I first arrived in Peru. I took it as a sign and Aquilles later confirmed that B. had indeed invited me.

Bobinsana grows by the waterside with beautiful white/pink blossoms. To me, her spirit is a winged siren – a gorgeous (sometimes sharp toothed) mermaid with a fiercely protective mother energy. This is contrasted with the friendly playfulness of some childlike fairy creature. She works deeply with ones emotions and opening up the communication channels with the precision of a hummingbird.

This being my second trip to Peru, I found the dieta to be a very interesting and rewarding way to deepen my relationship with Ayahuasca. In particular, I found that my journeys felt much more focused on healing and letting go of past traumas and my visions were much clearer.

Finding the right shaman was essential of course, and I was lucky to have had a lot of the searching done for me by my good friend Aster who had arrived in the jungle a month prior. Considering the amount of Ayahuasca tourism that goes on in the Amazon these days, it can be difficult to find a legitimate shaman of pure intentions.

Our shaman, Aquilles, was a kind hearted man in his mid forties. He lives in the small town of Yarina Cocha with his wife, children, two daughters in law, grandchildren and a couple of young orphans they adopted from the streets. Altogether there is 21 of them, who share the dirt floor of their humble four-bedroom home.

What instantly struck me about him was his authentic generosity as he kindly opened his home and heart to us. Unlike many of the other shamans competing in the area, he encouraged us to pay him by donation after covering the expenses of our trip. This is unique considering how many mouths he has to feed and how money hungry the society is out there. Amidst pollution and overpopulation there is a lot of struggle to make ends meet in the “city”.

I first met Aquilles in a feverish state after arriving in Yarina from Cusco. The cold of the mountains had taken its toll on my immune system and I had contracted some parasites which left me in a cold sweating fever for three days. During this time he and his wife visited me day and night with medicinal plants and with their aid I recovered quickly.

Before heading out for our dieta, we spent a week with his family in town as Aster and I organized what was needed for our trip. This included finding land, transportation and gathering enough food and plant medicines (including Tobacco, Ayahuasca and Chiddy Sanagoe) for the duration of our stay. During this time we’d often go over to his home for dinner and his children and grand children would always greet us warmly, running towards us with hugs.

We celebrated his birthday that week and it was brilliant to see how similar things were to my own life back home. Family members gathered at his house to eat, drink and be merry. Speeches were made and children laughed and played chasy in the background. Despite the differences, it was humbling to recognize the cultural similarities of a family coming together to celebrate the life of a loved one.

…To be continued…Part Two coming soon…

People often ask me how I manage to travel so much, so here’s eleven tips to make it happen for you.

1. Save. As you already know, to travel, you need to get good at saving. I have a separate travel-savings account and essentially put all of my discrepancy income in there as soon as I get paid. And once it goes in, it doesn’t come out until I’m actually booking my trip. On top of that I have a regular transfer set up of $14/week inspired by Chris Guillebeau’s comment: “most people don’t realize that if they just put $2 aside each day, they could go on an international trip every 2-3 years”. This brings me to my second tip…
   
   
2. Don’t buy dumb shit. I try to lead a minimalist lifestyle and when I am in a frivolous mood I browse op-shops (it’s always more fun than regular shopping). I also buy all my food, fresh and organic form the local farmers markets for less than $50 a week and keep eating out to a minimum (I prefer my own food more most of the time anyway). It might seem painfully obvious, but I watch so many people around me buying crap they don’t need on a regular basis.  Listen up: it’s about quality over quantity. My own personal mantra is live simply so that you may simply live.
   
   
3. Learn to Share. Following on from my last point, sharing at home is a great way to save and ensure an abundant and luxurious lifestyle without the financial debt. If fashion is your vice, organize to swap and share clothes with your friends. If you’re looking at getting a new thing (e.g. surfboard, kitchen appliance or whatever else) at least consider the option of sharing the costs with your housemates. In terms of on the road, share your everything– your food, you’re clothing – whatever you have, and watch it manifest three fold.
   
   
4. Travel light. I once met an inspiring man who traveled with little more than the clothes on his back. I’ll never forget what he told me “the more you own, the more you are owned”. This is an invaluable reminder. When I travel, I take no more than three carry on size bags, and I can usually get away with taking it all on board with me when I travel domestically. This also allows me to save a little on airfares. I promise I’ll do a more in depth post on this in the future, but for now, its suffice to say that less really is more. Thoroughly consider what you take with you. You want to be prepared but not over prepared as this will only weigh you down.
   
   
5. Learn to detach. We all love souvenirs, so in the vein of traveling light, it can be nice to shed belongings as you go. I have a loose rule; whenever I buy something I give something away. Its cool to know that there are parts of me scattered all over the world with the people who have bought light to my journey. This can also be an extra kind of currency and keeps things fresh and interesting. As the streets put it “I came to this world with nothing / and I live with nothing but love / everything here is just borrowed.”
   
   
6. Travel hack. Do your research. Sign up for email alerts on upcoming travel specials. If you’re traveling domestically – book your own flights. If you’re going international, talk to multiple travel agents to get a good deal and don’t be shy to ask for a better price. Once you arrive, talk to the locals to find out where the best cheap eats are, along with any other conveniences like free internet.
   
   
7. Network. Couchsurfing.org is such an amazing resource for the savvy traveler. My own experiences have only been positive. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Couch Surfing (CS) connects travelers with potential hosts, encouraging a worldwide network of avid explorers. It’s a great way to save on accommodation expenses and meet amazing people!
   
   
8. Develop a talent. Busking is a great way to support your travel habit as you go. Whether it’s making music, dancing, performing or making art, do not be afraid to put yourself out there. I know it might seem daunting, and believe me, if you told me I’d be busking eight months ago, I’d tell you you’re dreaming. But honestly, I’ve found that it really adds to the travel experience on so many levels. Firstly, you get to recoup some of your travel costs – I’ve made up to $365 on a good night, and funded most of my Tasmania trip on just a few hours of jamming. Secondly, it’s a really fun way to meet people – I enjoy it more than clubbing. Thirdly, it’s just a really cool way to share your art with the world. Ultimately you want to develop a skill that is portable, cheap and most importantly enjoyable.
   
   
9. Volunteer. Festivals are so much fun, but they are also a lot of work to organize in order to run smoothly. More often than not, event-hosts will offer workers discounted tickets and food for a half-days work, so it can be really worthwhile enquiring. Make sure you get in touch with the organizers early on though as such opportunities tend to go fast.
   
   
10. Make travel an educational investment. When one travels personal growth is inevitable, sure, but are you making the most of the opportunities? Travel can be a great way to pick up a new language or unique skill that could well inspire your future livelihood. There are plenty of NGO’s around the world that offer unique learning experiences – often including accommodation and food for little or no charge.  WOOFING is a great example of this, as travelers are offered free food and accommodation in exchange for working just four hours a day on organic farms. Plus, it’s a great way to learn about gardening and sustainability.
    
    
11. Be spontaneous. There is an old Huna proverb that states “Energy flows where attention goes.” When I hear about a festival or a nearby town that sounds like a place worth visiting, I simply make the choice to go there. I don’t worry too much about the details – just book a flight and let the rest fall into place. In terms of budgeting, I usually base it on my usual spending + and extra $50 per week. This budget generally covers my food and transport and the odd local attraction. In the words of Nike: Just do it.

Today I planned to make some pesto for my lunch using fresh herbs, oil, lemon, salt, pepper, garlic, sunflower seeds, and steevia extract to sweeten. Turns out I put in far too much steevia in and ruined the pesto. Yet, I tried my best to salvage it – adding more oil, more herbs, more this and more that.

Mid way through this excercise I realised something I’d like to share with you. Something true of pesto and I think also true of life in general.

I realised that rather than adding more to the pesto what it needed was less, though wanting not to waste what had already been gathered I ignored this instinct, adding more.

And I feel that as humans, we are often adding more to our lives, acquiring more and collecting more in the vain hope that all this extra stuff will make our lives richer and more delicious. Only, I’ve found the reality to be that we tend to get lost in the more we consume and distracted from the true essence of our being.

In the last 24 hours this message has been illustrated in more ways then one.

Last night I watched the pixar movie UP and seeing the old man, so attached to his house and all that was within it, that he actually dragged it behind him almost wherever he went. Doing so, it seems he missed a lot of the beautiful things that life was offering him throughout his journey.

I’ve since come to the conclusion that one of the true gifts of being human is our memory, in which we can carry mementos of our all our dear experiences allowing  us to travel lightly in physicality.

Unfortunately though, we feel as westerners that the memory of something is rarely enough. We don’t trust our memories and so we gather ‘tangible proof’ and are sold souvineers to remind us.

I do not mean to sound negative about this; I too croon over many dear possessions, but I do feel if we could just be comfortable, carrying with us the cherished memories of our lifetime, we would find ourselves much freer, with much less to carry, less to watch over and less to physically risk.

In line with this thinking, heres a link to an interesting website: six items or less, which challenges you to select  six items only (not including socks, undies, workout clothes, swimsuits, and the like) to wear for an entire month. Another variation is to choose only 100 items to live with, including your house, car, bed etc. Feedback from everyone involved so far has found it to be a very liberating experience  as they let go of a great deal of material clutter that we tend to mindlessly hoard in our rooms.

I enjoy life and its many pleasures without guilt.

I surrender to pleasure.

I am present in this moment.
Now. Here. NOWHERE.

I can live with the uncertain, be spontaneous and surrender to the unknown. In this way I invite in the magick of life.

I realise the perfection in enough. I am satisfied with less. I enjoy all things in moderation.

I let go of my obsessions, the stories of my past.

I am present. I am interested in you. I am here to hear your story.

I laugh, I smile, I live, I love, I spread peace, love and light contagiously.

I am generous, whether you appreciate it or not.

I am the master of my mind, the conductor of my body, the friend of my soul.

I accept myself. I forgive myself. I love myself.

I am a passionate lover. I sing and I dance unashamedly as I express my joy.

I see through the maya, letting go of unnecessary thoughts.

I travel lightly, I tread lightly on this earth, honouring the source with each step.

I am open to all teachings of the collective wisdom of the universe.

I recognise failure as an illusion.

I am honest.

I am that.
I am I.
I am also you, he, she and it.
We are all one.

LESS HUMAN / MORE BEING

LESS EGO /  MORE SOUL

NAMASTE

Traveling in a Different Way – taken from Paulo Coelho’s Blog

When I was very young I discovered that, for me, a journey is the best way to learn. I still have this pilgrim’s soul to this day, and have decided to relate some of the lessons I have learned, in the hope that they will be useful to other like-minded pilgrims.

1] Avoid museums. This advice may seem absurd, but let us reflect a little together: if you are in a foreign city, isn’t it far more interesting to seek out the present, than the past? Usually, people feel obliged to go to museums, because ever since they were small they have been told that traveling is a search for this type of culture. Of course museums are important, but they require time and objectivity – you need to know what it is you want to see there, otherwise you will come away with the impression that you saw several things which are fundamental to your life, but cannot remember what they were.

2] Frequent bars. Unlike museums, this is where the life of the city can be found. Bars are not discotheques, but places where the people gather to have a drink, pass the time, and are always willing to chat. Buy a newspaper and observe the bustle of people coming and going. If someone speaks to you, strike up a conversation, however banal: one cannot judge the beauty of a path merely by looking at its entrance.

3] Be open and forward. The best tourist guide is someone who lives there, knows everything, but doesn’t work at a travel agency. Go out into the street, choose someone you wish to speak to, and ask him or her for directions (where is such-and-such a cathedral? Where is the post office?) If this bears no fruit, try someone else – I guarantee that in the end you will find excellent company.

4] Try and travel alone, or – if you are married – with your spouse. It will be harder work, no one will be looking after you, but this is the only way of truly leaving your country. Group travel is just a disguised way of pretending to go abroad, where you speak your own language, obey the leader of the pack, and concern yourself more with the internal gossip of the group than with the place you are visiting.

5] Don’t compare. Don’t compare anything – not prices, nor cleanliness, nor quality of life, nor means of transport, nothing! You are not traveling in order to prove you live better than others – your search, in fact, is to find out how others live, what they have to teach, how they view reality and the extraordinary things in life.

6] Understand that everyone understands you. Even if you don’t speak the language, don’t be afraid: I have been in many places in which there was no way of communicating with words, and I always found support, guidance, important suggestions, even girlfriends. Some people think that if you travel alone, you will go out into the street and be lost forever. All you need is the hotel card in your pocket, and – should you find yourself in extreme circumstances – take a taxi and show it to the driver.

7] Don’t buy much. Spend your money on things which you won’t have to carry: good theater, restaurants, walks. Nowadays, with the global market and the Internet, you can have everything you want without having to pay for excess baggage.

8] Don’t try and see the world in a month. It is better to stay in one city for four or five days, that visit five cities in a week. A city is like a capricious woman, who needs time to be seduced and reveal herself completely.

9] A journey is an adventure. Henry Miller said that it is far more important to discover a church no one has heard of, than go to Rome and feel obliged to visit the Sistine Chapel, with two hundred thousand tourists shouting all around you. Go to the Sistine Chapel, but also get lost in the streets, wander down alleyways, feel free to look for something, without knowing what it is. I swear you will find it and that it will change your life.

Copyright © 2010 Paulo Coelho

“Other cultures are not failed attempts at being ‘western’. Rather, they are an imaginative response to the age-old question: what does it mean to be alive?“

 - Wade Davis

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Traveling has made me realize that time is not endless.

I am having to become very comfortable in making new friends and then letting them go.

But as people come and go it’s important to recognize that the length of time they stay in your life is by no means an indication of the impact and importance of their role in your life.

I want to meet a million, billion great people in this lifetime, and share just as many god-awesome experiences with them.

Because life is long enough – truly.
It really just comes down to what you make of it. You get what you put in!

The best part about exploring the world on my own like this is that I am the only person around to paint the picture of who I am…

I am free. To choose and to change, who I am and who I would like to be.

Something I was reminded of when flicking through last years travel journals…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gagR2_Yi8wE&w=560&h=349]

You can go to Peru to find yourself through an Ayahuasca ceremony led by a local shaman.

It is said to be an incredibly enlightening ceremony, allowing a human to move beyond their own conditioning, acomodadors, inhibitions, psychological limitations, depressions, fears, addictions and pain.

But, be warned, it is a trip which often involves going into the darkness of your psyche.

If they haven’t spent much time exploring your own internal landscape, many participants describe themselves as surrounded by infinite fear and dark satanic creatures, alone in an unfamiliar realm that even your worst nightmare would even fail to emulate.

So whats the attraction?

Enlightenment.

Healing. Self-development.

A new perspective on life.

Freedom.

This article by National Geographic sheds some pretty awesome insight on the experience.

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NB: this post was written before ever having tried Ayahuasca. In my experience, I have found grandmother Aya to be a very reasonable and loving teacher, who has led me to expand and understand myself in so many beautiful ways. You can read about some of my experiences here.

For a more diverse exploration check out these articles on Reality Sandwich.

If you are interested in travelling to Peru for healing and self exploration, might I recommend the Temple of the Way of Light.

There’s this short story I read…ages ago…yet it’s still stuck on my mind…I’m trying to hunt it down…with no such luck…so here’s my rendition:

It’s a parable about a stray calf running though a forest – the forest between two neighboring towns.

It runs a wild, irradicate path,bushbashing its way by bushes and branches.

The following day two men on horses ride through the forest. They follow the calf’s path because it’s easier than forging their own path.

They don’t realise a rogue calf forged the path.
They think it was forged with reason, purpose and intent.

One week later a traveling salesman follows the path with his horse and wagon. He follows the iradicate path of the calf without question. Little does he know it leads him the long way round, adding 45 minutes to his journey.

Soon enough the path becomes the main road to the next village – for the path was well worn by that stage. And no one ever though to stray from the path.

Despite all its twists and turns.

It became a case of tradition over functionality, fuelled by the fear of forging one’s own path.

Greece was it. A place of life. Real life. Where you go to connect with it; the freedom, the energy that drives you.

It taught me to follow my heart and my instincts and to satisfy my urges unashamedly. From skinny dipping (absolutely naked) to finding passion with another soul, I was liberated. Away from all the judging eyes of people who think they know you.

They know nothing really.

A home is protected – governed by society. There are expectations. There is order.

I want havoc. I want uncertainty. I want to understand my ability to choose. Not feel I should do what others think is best for me – they have no idea.

This is my life and I intend to make the most of it. Reality is what you choose to remember; your life as you decide it to be. Fact.

I’m young, I’m restless and unashamedly relentless. The world is mine. Just as it is yours. But do you have it in you to explore it on you own? To push the limits of your being and realize your full potential?

Act now, apologize later.

I’M GOING TO SUCK THIS OYSTER DRY.

Family, remember that I love you and I am so grateful for all that you have given me.

Reader, you may take me as you wish. I am a bird. I am free. At the end of the day if there is one think that I have learnt about life, it is this:

EVERYTHING IS NOTHING. EVERYTHING IS REPLACEABLE. NOTHING REALLY MATTERS, SO GO YOUR HARDEST!