My inspiration - East meets West...

Here are my top three inspirational people.  All three have passed on (in fact two were way before my time) but they are legendary in their own way.  I am inspired by them because they sought knowledge in the East, they were explorers, seekers, gentle and strong.

First up is George Harrison.  He made friends with Ravi Shankar and learned the sitar, had a spiritual awakening in India and embodied all the qualities of a gentle soul on a mission that I admire.  Plus, who can resist the long hair, beard and moustache... or is that just me who likes that?!

George and Ravi...

The seeker...

A quiet soul who was in the most famous rock band in the world, what a conundrum that must have been for him...

I'm trying to learn one of his songs on the guitar, I fluff about buzzing strings and mis-firing on the chords but one day I will get there...

Next up is Ekai Kawaguchi (born 1866, died 1945).  This one is a little more obscure.  Kawaguchi was a Japanese monk who made several journeys to Nepal and Tibet.  He was so taken with Tibetan Buddhism that he entered Tibet in disguise (at great risk) in order to complete his pilgrimage.  I had read the book on his life and when I was in Nepal, I happened across his old house in Marpha on the Annapurna Circuit.  Imagine my delight in finding this place - nobody was home but I had a little peek around the courtyard...

I didn't know I was on Kawaguchi's trail at the time, imagine my delight when I saw the sign!

So happy!  I knew he had been in this region but didn't think for a minute I would trek right past his door!

Kawaguchi's courtyard - following in my hero's footsteps!

Finally, we come to Alexandra David-Neel, perhaps more widely known than Kawaguchi (coincidentally they knew each other).  Alexandra was the first western woman explorer to make it to Lhasa, Tibet in 1924.  She was French by birth, but Tibetan by nature!  She was beautiful and strong and brave.  Who can imagine how it was for her to travel to Tibet at that time.  I'm inspired by her in so many ways... 

Dressed for exploration in local clothes

Life as an explorer...

I know its not the same (because clearly she had two horses and I have one....!) but here is me in Tibet with Mr Tara and horse we hired to carry our food and water (that's not all our stuff on the horse, some was for a nomad family further up the valley)...

So there you go - three people who have inspired me to look East for knowledge, to take the road less travelled, and to adopt another culture (well I adopted many but that's another story...).  This is probably why I have ended up working as a Henna Artist with a nice collection of stamps in my passport!

 

I will leave you with George singing one of my all time favourite songs at the concert for Bangladesh in 1971... I'm not sure how many times I have watched this video...!

 

George Harrison My Sweet Lord (for those viewing on an ipad)

 

Tara x

Note: pictures of George, Ekai and Alexandra via Google Images & Tumblr.  All other pictures are my own...