More from Frankfurt

Went and got my train ticket to Switzerland yesterday morning and Basia came with me. Shall be first visiting Adrian for a fw day or two - someone whom Sharat and George might remember from the December workshop.

After that we spent a few hours at Basia's place. She and Wolfgang live in this really nice big house. Sitting in the dining room you look out onto this sprawling green garden, full of shrubs and trees. Squirrels scamper up and down the tree trunks and all over the garden. I made some chai for us and we nibbled on almond biscuits as we exchanged all the news. Basia spoke a lot about the desert workshop which she attended this April. This time they met in Egypt.

The theme which Samuel and Daniele proposed was Community. To see if it was possible for the thirty people who had gathered together in this desert, to live for two weeks as a close knit community and if not, why not. Apparently when they looked at the "why not" all kinds of things came up for discussion and thrashing out. Resentments, anger, grudges and so on, between the individuals present, so the time was spent really in clearing the air which was very good.

On the last day the assignment was for each person to go out alone into the desert to their favourite spot and to undertake a parting ritual. Basia said her chosen spot was a bit of a distance from camp but she decided to go anyway. Soon after they set out there was a terrific snow storm which obliterated everything. Basia says it was an elemental experience and she was terrified but somehow at the given time she managed to find her way back to the camp.

She was terribly afraid she says, but then she realised that in this case what she thought was fear was not really fear - was more like a heightening of her senses, which helped her to find her way back.

Basia was back in the evening to take back my suitcase with her and we again spent some more time together chatting and this time Sabine was there too as well as Wolfgang (Basia's husband) and Rolf- Sabine's friend. We covered Indian politics and what is happening right now between India and Pakistan, the crazy growth of human civilisation (so-called civilisation) and Basia mentioned how, in nature, there was no such thing. An organism grew up to a certain point and then when maturity was attained, the growth stabilised. The only area where this unlimited growth takes place, she said, was in cancer cells and actually this is what human civilisation has become. Cancerous. How to change the direction? Only through awareness, we decided.

Well we are going to have a late breakfast in a while (it is already 9:45 am) and I hear some faint noise from Sabine’s room which means she must be stirring to life after last night’s excesses. And... sure enough, Sabine just emerged from her room, wrapped in a towel, on her way to a shower, and says HI to everyone.