Cacao Ceremony!! Today I woke with a wonderful energy and just as the sun came through the window of our room I felt the need to arise. I received a very special email from my sister lastnight and this morning I got the opportunity to email her and the rest of my family. Today there is no classes but I decided to go and do some meditation and yoga and see if I could follow my own routine without the teacher. The meditation was brilliant and although I drifted in and out of association with the mind I found a great deal of calm and awareness arising. The most amazing thing happened near the end of my session - a cat came up and sat on my left leg. My left leg had been hurting and I felt as if the cat had come to help me realize the impermanence of what I was feeling and the joy of silence. The cat stayed with me as I made my way into my yoga session - even though my eyes were closed I felt the presence of the cat at the top of my mat and realized what a great zen teacher a cat could be and so I shall call my new friend Zen. The yoga session was wonderful and I went through our warm-up and was able to remember and echo our teacher Jennifer's words. Quite often I think I have to write everything down to remember but the truth is what is important and relevant to me is already there and will come about. As I continued with my yoga poses I lost track of time and at one point the cat returned and layed on my stomach - signaling it was time for relaxation. During relaxation I observed the cat and realized how perfect its actions where; with no concept of time it viewed the world in the present- a dogs bark (danger) to a birds chirp (dinner) it was not caught in the past nor the future and was ever present in the moment - what a great zen teacher a cat can be. At the dismay of the cat I had to get back to matters of urgency which is a funny way of saying I have no idea what but it was nearing midday and a group of us had organized to go to the famous cacao ceremony of San Marcos. Keith was our Sharman and would lead the ceremony and what a charismatic and interesting character he was. With little food in our stomachs (not a good idea to eat big before ceremony) we each took a glass of hot cacao - raw cacao made right here at Keith's house. We had the option of mixing it with Panela (cane sugar), chili or a natural green juice from vegetables. The cacao was very bitter and strong and I felt its impact immediately and instead of drinking it quickly took a few hours to drink it observing its affects. After 30 minutes I found my mind very calm and was able to meditate with ease, I had wonderful thoughts, could sympathies and associate with everything the chocolate shaman was saying. The session started with an explanation of why cacao as an agent for bringing about calm in the minds and connecting us to a higher power and then lead into why we were here and our purpose in this world. The ceremony had about twenty people come and go and the group energy was very powerful- questions were directed at individuals, questions arised, people cried, people laughed and magic was made. At one point Keith signaled me out and I explained I felt quite ill in the stomach which followed with a very interesting occurrence: one of the girls who was a nurse came and held my hands and I was able to expel all that energy that was building up inside me. I realized the energy was of the ego and something I thought I had rid of was still hiding in me, I felt a complete lightness after the experience and at even more peace. The ceremony lasted around 7 hours and the topics and conversations that came up answered so many questions I had been asking myself. The ceremonies happen twice a week so I will definitely be back for the next one on Wednesday. After the ceremony I got together with all the housemates and we had a beautiful night of sharing and listening to all the positive changes and experiences that are occurring in one another's life's. There is something really special about San Marcos and the safeness and lack of judgement here allows ones true nature to appear. I realize now what compassion and love are - seeing yourself in others, excepting what is and realizing the perfection in every moment, every person and every thing.

OBSERVATION
- Meditation - with the Zen cat
- Cacao ceremony with Keith the chocolate Shaman