While the whole of Tiruvannamalai was preparing for its largest annual festival, Deepam, John David decided to travel northwards. Aaron and Alice stayed behind in Tiruvannamalai and Mary chose to travel with John David. After a lovely taxi ride through the heart of South India we reached Bangalore in the early evening just in time to board the overnight sleeper bus to Goa. Waking up with the sunrise the bus was entering the tropical splendour which is Goa - an abundance of palm trees and lush tropical undergrowth.

We chose to stay at Candolim Beach at Shanu's Guest House. This beach is known as Buddha beach because for many years Osho sanyasins have come down from Pune to relax on the golden sands of Goa. Either side of this precious section there are the trappings of a huge package holiday business. It wasn't long before John David was meeting with old friends from many years before and satsang was happening spontaneously in the beach cafes.

Each day seemed to melt into the next. Long walks on the beach particularly at sunset and lazy hours sipping ice cold fruit juice while gazing out into the blue. The guest houses in this section are manned by friendly warm Goan people who understand their spiritual friends. After a few days the owner of our guest house offered to build a meditation/satsang hut on the beach. Before any commitment could be made the building was almost finished!

John David took a two-day trip up to north Goa to Arunbol, a small fishing village. Many years of visits had left an indelible delight in this place - an exquisite powerful nature, two beaches separated by a rocky promontory and a fresh water lake dammed by the second beach with a ancient jungle coming down to meet the lake. Returning since many years John David found that young travellers had discovered this place in droves. It had a thriving satsang scene with three contrasting satsangs being offered daily. John David stayed the night in one satsang compound. An old friend of fifteen years who was now offering satsang.

On his return John David met up with Mary at the Arjuna Flea Market. A colourful mixture of old hippies and the thriving tourist stalls.

As the moon moved towards fullness we bade Goa farewell and took another sleeper bus up through the mountains to Pune. Here, twenty-five years before, John David had begun his spiritual journey. This was to take a typically yuppie architect on the greatest adventure.

PUNE

Directly from the bus we found ourselves sitting in the German Bakery on a cold winters morning, our bags proclaiming we needed a place to stay. From those first moments existence brought us into a powerful and beautiful flow. A man sat down next to us and he turned out to be the person who we had been told in Goa could arrange some beautiful rooms. Sure enough we found ourselves in a quiet building with glass sliding doors onto the slow moving majestic river with its abundance of birds.

After only a few days we had shifted into our own house set in a beautiful jungley garden. Satsang could start immediately. Almost in that moment Aaron and Alice passed by on their way back to Australia. Each afternoon new friends arrived and we shared satsang together in the beautiful living room looking out onto the dense foliage with the sun filtering through.

On Osho's birthday, John David found himself in the Osho Ashram, which is now called a meditation resort. He visited Osho's samadhi which some fifteen years before he had helped to construct. Only a few days later the ashram authorities called him aside and told him he was no longer welcome. Offering satsang was reason enough to be banned.

There is a thriving alternative spiritual scene taking place in Koregeon Park. Entering Prem's Restaurant, an old sanyasin haunt now filled with young middle class Indians chattering on their mobile phones, John David recognised an old sanyasin friend, Taro. She was sitting with two young people. Joining them, we soon discovered that we were all offering our own satsangs. There are a number of old Indian sanyasins offering regular satsang meetings and a steady flow of western awakened teachers making guest appearances. There are many people who now visit Pune for this thriving alternative scene rather than for the Osho Ashram.

Our living room soon became full to overflowing and we moved the satsang meetings further down the road to the Pyramids and sat close to the peacefully flowing river with its abundance of unusual birds. The Pune sangha was a wonderful melange of mature experience and ardent youth - those who still believed in answers and those who had no more questions.

While staying in Goa, John David had a premonition that he had some unfinished business with Osho. This was intriguing because for about ten years it had seemed his journey with Osho, which had lasted some sixteen years, was now complete. After surrendering to Papaji, John David had returned to Pune and made a heartful farewell. Now returning to Pune after some ten years he found himself becoming immersed again in Osho. Day by day he found Osho stories and teachings appearing in the satsang. It was easy to embrace this as the sanyasins coming to satsang were so delightfully open.

Such a sense of presence. The leela of celebration. The heart dancing. Beyond the clouds to the open sky. Poised on the knife-edge. A willingness to be vulnerable. Staying at heart. Courageous honesty. A fine sensibility.

After two weeks, our time in Pune was concluded and we set out yet again on the Indian railways bound for Tiruvannamalai. Back here since just a few days we have had two beautiful satsangs on a roof in the shadow of Arunachala. Surrender, devotion, staying at source. Delightful meetings with those deeply loving Ramana Maharshi. In just a few days we will have our two week long satsang retreat.

From mid-January through to April, John David will be travelling to different sacred places in India and invites you to join him in this living of satsang day to day, moment to moment. A fine leela.