by Alok

living in the spiritual and ecological commune

pacha mama in the costa rican rainforest

pacha mama means mother earth

the local greeting is pura vida -

pure life

pitched my tent inside the jungle

on bank of tiny river

at night must use flashlight

to get back to my tent

walking through the jungle

down and across the river

and up again

the trees are full with parrots

the sounds of howling monkeys

make it feel as if the jungle

is full with lions

getting adjusted to

the sounds and rythm of nature

sitting at pacha mama’s satellite internet cafe

writing emails to loved ones

surrounded by trees

on top of a mountain

overlooking the jungle

and the pacific ocean

as it gets ready to swallow the sun

hard to believe that

pacha mama is less than three years old

an ecological and spiritual village

in the middle of the jungle

and it keeps growing

in total harmony with nature

good emphasis on healthy food

and it's very tasty too

beautiful beach

full with vultures

clear water

small rocky islands

sticking out half mile from the shore

lots of music and singing

mainly in portuguese

some in sanskrit

some in hebrew

love walking on new paths

by foot or on the commune's horses

seeing new views

from the mountain tops

and along the river deep in the jungle below

every day discovering more beauty

an hour and a half drive on dirt roads

leads to pacha mama

from the nearest town of santa cruz

driving through open fields

mountains

along the ocean

inside jungles

having to cross several shallow rivers

by slowly driving through them

the nearest store is half hour drive

in nosara

where once a week on friday mornings

the local bar

transforms into a bank

serving all the tiny villages

in the area

climbing up for my daily sunset meditation

such variety of sunsets

rainy sunset

cloudy sunset

sunset with fog covering the jungle

that's underneath

between me and the ocean

the whole jungle beams with reddish color

the whole commune went into

10 days of silence

150 people living

working

meditating

together

without talking

the silence ended with a gathering

the first words that came out of our mouths

were a portuguese song we sang together

tears rolling out of our eyes

found it difficult to speak again

to break the blessed silence

singing was a gentle way

to transition back into the world

of yaky-di-yak

during the silence

led several meditations including no dimension

a powerful sufi whirling meditation

was so much fun

explaining to people

without using words

the various stages of the meditation

during one morning gathering

the commune's spiritual master tyohar

was asked a question about relationships

part of his reply was a sentence

that kept rolling inside my silent head

"relationship is not a compromise

between two personalities

it is a meeting between two beings"

now that the silence is over

the commune celebrates with a festival

every day different special dinner

italian night

greek dinner

japanese dinner

spanish dinner

swiss and israeli brunches

each meal is event by itself

with the decoration, music, and clothing

from that country

the day silence was over

on top of the lord of the rings mountain

we had an outdoor movie

big screen with dvd machine

and surround sound

everybody watching shrek together

with huge bowls of fresh pop corn

and herbal ice tea

even watching a movie such as shrek

takes a different dimension

under the starry sky

surrounded with loving people

trance party into the sunset

everyone dances facing the ocean

the spiritual master tyohar

becomes trance dj tyohar

an armadillo coming out of the bushes

standing right next to me

cute being in armor

the commune's seven dogs

running free

having their own agenda

mixing beautifully with all the

kids and babies

lying in a hammock

huge iguanas climbing the gigantic

lemon trees above me

parrots and other birds

feasting on the beefy orange lemons

sprinkling on me from the fresh juice

the insects receive much respect

whether it's a giant butterfly

hairy tarantula spider

long praying mantis pretending to be

a tree branch

or a mother scorpion carrying

many babies on her back

friendly frogs hop around

rest and continue swallowing insects

after the silence retreat was over

moved my tent out of the jungle

pitched it on a mountain instead

enjoying open view

of the mountains across

with all their palm trees

realized that

living inside the jungle

near a little river

without seeing the sky

was appropriate during the silence

now it's festival time

time for being more outward

for living in open space

feeling excited and in love

with the nature here

and the vibes

so many festival events are scheduled

no way i could participate in all of them

the little prince was performed

in the outdoor theater

seats were carved into the slope of the mountain

creativity and talent flowed out of

the actors, stage design, costumes, and lighting

under the most appropriate roof for this play

a sky full with stars

sannyas celebration

everyone in white

live music

dancing

18 people being initiated with new names

including a mother and her

two month old baby

the master tyohar gives some of them

energy darshan

with his finger into the center

of their foreheads

he decides on the new name on the spot

each name so appropriate

even though tyohar doesn't really

know most of these people

or does he?

every day unfolds new magic

gentle magic

windstorm arrived

everything was flying around

winds here can get very intense

making roofs of casitas fly away

during the night felt as if my tent

was going to take off

and take me to oz

the whole commune went to the beach

to clean it up

an american man who bought

a house on the beach

thought the beach was his private property

even though costa rican law prohibits

anyone from owning a beach

the american man was upset

that other people were coming to the beach

he cut down many of the trees

to prevent people from enjoying the shade

he also came out with a gun

to scare people away

now the commune people came

together with many local people

from the village san juanillo

to clean up all the branches

made big fires to burn all the dead trees

had drumming circle and singing

making a cleaning event into a celebration

dancing with the locals

with kids and dogs

angel walk at night

two long lines of people all in white

everyone in turn

walks with eyes shut in the middle

very slowly with small steps

being touched

kissed

massaged

hugged

by everyone

been giving health lectures at the commune

feels great introducing spiritual people

to other healthy aspects of life

and nutrition

people here are thirsty for

knowledge on health

been also giving private health counseling sessions

my workspace is an open platform

with carpet and pillows

and a small low table

on the slope of a mountain

under a big tree

sitting there with my clients

finding it hard to believe that

the green mountains across from us

the blue sky

the fresh air

and a tree full with howling monkeys

function as my office

one early morning at 4:45 am

we drove with the commune's

small old american yellow school bus

to the ostional village beach

it was time for the sea turtles to lay eggs

hundreds of huge turtles making their way

out of the ocean

crawling up the sandy beach

digging holes and laying eggs

each turtle lays tens of eggs

covers the hole

and crawls back into the ocean

sunrise slowly reveals

a beach full with turtle traffic

some making their way out of the water

others crawling back to the ocean

this goes on for hours

gangs of black vultures

flying and jumping around

trickily managing to sneak their beaks

into some holes while the turtles lay the eggs

feasting on the fresh eggs

the heavy helpless turtles can hardly move

the entire village of ostional

is at the beach too

they walk around and kick with their heels

into the sand

feeling where the turtles have laid the eggs

they re-dig the holes and fill sacks with eggs

and load them onto four trucks

the turtles come to lay eggs

three mornings in a row

the ostional people collect all the eggs

during the first two mornings

and don't touch the eggs

from the third and last morning

allowing the magnificent and endangered turtle

not to become extinct

three weeks later

hundreds of tiny baby turtles

with delicate soft shells

crawl out of the eggs and sand

navigating their way to the ocean

being easy target

for the hungry vultures

the baby turtles that made it

to the water

struggle with the waves

that keep knocking them back to shore

many die during this struggle

others become food for bigger fish

small percentage makes it

to adulthood

dry season has began

becoming warmer and hotter

no rain for several months

unlike in the west where

foliage takes place when it gets cold

here trees shed their leaves

during the dry season

leaving pacha mama back to new york

from the jeep that drives me away

seeing how the naked trees

become covered with

blooming bright colorful flowers

pura vida

© 2002. All Rights Reserved.

Alok, Costa Rica, January 2002.

Formerly a staff sergeant in the Israeli army, Alok has shifted his energy from war into healing. He is a board certified Holistic Health Counselor through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP) and a member of Psi Chi, the American National Honor Society in Psychology. Alok’s first book, Stepping Onion, was published by Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, Israel in 1987. He is the primary contributor for the monthly "Alok Holistic Health Newsletter," which combines holistic health with poetry. To read more of Alok’s poetry or to subscribe to the newsletter visit www.AlokHealth.com.