My plan for this week is to spend my time in the desert doing nothing, absolutely nothing. I will turn off my cell phone, I will close my email program, I will turn off my instant messages services and do nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. I plan to cleanse myself of rajas. I will strip off the layers of rajas that have accumulated over the last few months. Rajas is my greatest enemy; as it slowly builds it begins to consume me. Its symptoms include an inability to sleep soundly and to concentrate. I have become “peopled out.” I can no longer face another person or family and sincerely smile at them and give them the attention they deserve. I can no longer answer another email or schedule another puja. My cup is busting full. So now I will consciously shut down and allow myself a chance to recover. Thank God we are in the Hindu month of shraddha. (Shraddha is a two week period set aside to honor ancestors. Most pujas cease at this time.) I can use this time to “cool off.” I am only going to do the minimum in the temple. I will do no apartment construction and I will spend all my time here in the desert. Oh I love this place! I love the solitude. I love the huge views and the wide open space. I love the silence. I love the night time darkness. This is my place of meditation and prayer. These next two weeks I will become still.