The Coba Cenote

Back in 2006, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity visit the Mayan Riviera region in Mexico. What fascinated me most during my trip wasn't so much the resort life, rather being able to visit the local scenery. I felt a deep connection to visiting ancient artifact sites such as the Ruins and also had a breath-taking experience of climbing an ancient pyramid located in the Coba village. During this excursion, we were able to visit a cenote. This story is based on what I experienced when visiting the cenote and how I learned that overcoming (any) fears that hold us back can lead to amazing experiences.

Cenote

a deep natural well or sinkhole, especially in Central America, formed by the collapse of surface limestone that exposes ground water underneath

The Coba Cenote

I'm at the entrace of the cenote. It has an old wooden stairway that descends in a spiral like fashion into the darkness of the sinkhole. I'm in a line of people who are descending the stairway step-by-step. Each step I take takes me further away from the bright sun hovering directly over the entrance. At first I can't see a thing as I'm immersing into the dark. There's an artificial light that's been installed inside the sinkhole so that people can make their way around. My eyes eventually adjust and I can start to make out the inner features of the cenote. It's beautiful! As I'm descending, I'm fascinated by the way the inside of the cenote is naturally formed: jagged spikes of rock on the ceilings and walls, a pool of crystal clear water at the bottom.

As I'm making my way down the stairway, I notice that there's a deliberate opening in a section of the railing revealing a small ledge. It appears to be a jump off point that one could plummet into the depths of the waters below. I take note of how high the ledge is from the bottom. "There's no way I'm jumping off that", I say to myself. I descend further down, I notice there's a second opening in the railing revealing another ledge. This one is closer to the water, yet still quite a jump. Ahead of me, a young man, probably about my age takes the plunge. I watch as I see his body crash into the depths of the water. He emerges from underwater unscratched and unscathed. "Maybe...", I say to myself.

I finally reach the bottom of the cenote. There's a sitting area where people have left their belongings before taking a dip into the underground pool. "Absolutely beautiful!", I think to myself. I set down my towel and underwater camera by the sitting area, and prepare myself to take a swim. I walk toward the edge, where the water meets the surface. I stick my foot in the water to check the temperature. "Man, it's cold!", I shout. I figure I should just to get it over with, and jump straight into the pool. My entire body instantly chills all over as I'm underwater. My head eventually pops back up above the water at which point I start to enjoy my time in the water that I hardly notice the chills I felt when I first jumped in.

Soon after, Sarah jumps in the water and swims about gracefully. Talley dips his foot into the water and shouts, "Whoa, that's cold dude!". He gradually dips his entire body into the water and hovers closely by the edge with a big smile on his face. Naika decided to take a pass on swimming in the cenote, but she watches from the edge, standing by taking pictures. She's having just as much fun as the swimmers.

As I'm treading water, I hear a few crashing sounds at the other side of the sinkhole. I realize that a few people have jumped into the water from the ledges. It intrigues me and I begin to feel something deep inside of me. It's a slight feeling and I ignore it temporarily. I watch as I see another fellow on the ledge leap into the water. CRASH! Wow, that was cool!

An Englishman who we had met earlier on the tour approaches me. He was watching the same fellow when he jumped.

"You're young! You should be jumping off of that!", he says. "What about you? You should do it!", I reply.

"I'm too old! If I were younger then maybe I would. But you have no excuse, you're young! You should do it!", he says with enthusiasm.

At that moment, Sarah swims up next to me. Her eyes are fixated on the lower ledge above us. She was watching a few of the other people jumping from the ledges as well.

"Do you wanna do it?", she asks.

"I don't know.", I answer, but part of me wants to. I can't ignore the feeling anymore. It creeps up on my entire being as soon as Sarah asks me that question. I don't have many words for this feeling. I can only describe it as an inner calling, an inner desire to conquer something.

"I'll do it if you do it.", she says.

I hesitate and try to think about it logically, but in that instant my logic is overtaken by that urge inside of me. Before I know it, I reply "Ok, let's do it!", and we're both walking up the stairway toward the lower ledge. "Who said that?", I think to myself. Was I momentarily possessed by some unseen force? No, it's me. It feels like an uncontrollable instinct. Part of me worries, but the other part of me craves the adventure and needs to do this.

Sarah trails close behind me as we walk step-by-step, closer and closer to the lower ledge. I reach the lower ledge and place both feet on it. I look down at the crystal clear water below. "Whoa, this is quite high!” I think to myself. I stop myself from saying it out loud; doing so would only scare me and Sarah out of taking the leap. Enough thinking about it, do it. I take the plunge and I'm falling. My body crashes into the water, and I open my eyes to see what the surroundings are like underwater. All I see is a blurry blue colour. Beautiful, nevertheless! I float back up and swim to the edge, pulling myself out of the water. Just then I hear a crash behind me; Sarah's jumped.

I help pull Sarah out of the water, and we're expressing how exhilarating that experience just was. We walk back toward our original spot, where Talley and Naika are congratulating us as we approach. We enter the water again and continue swimming around, treading water as we were before. Although that last jump satisfied the feeling burning inside of me, I notice that it hasn't gone away. CRASH!!! An even bigger crash than before. "What was that?", I think. I peek over the other side of the cenote again. A fellow arises from underwater screaming, "WHOOOO!". I see him look upwards, waving at someone to come down; or jump rather. I look up toward the lower ledge, the one I had just leapt from; no one's there. I look about ten or more feet higher from the lower ledge, and see there's another fellow standing at the highest ledge. His friend from the bottom is calling for him to jump. He seems hesitant; it looks like fear is kicking in. But after a few moments of contemplation, he leaps. Falling...Falling...CRASH!!! He comes up from underwater and swims over to his friend who was urging him to jump. High 5!

"Ok everyone, the bus will be leaving in a bit so we'll meet back in the front.", Marisa, our tour guide announces.

I look up toward the empty ledge at the very top. The feeling inside me burns full force. "Should I do it?", I ask myself.

Talley notices that I'm concentrating at the top ledge.

"Dude, are you gonna do it?", he asks.

"I think I'm gonna do it.", I answer.

"Guy, you're nuts! That's crazy!", he says.

"Just do it. I can tell that you really wanna do it.", says Naika joining in on the conversation.

I turn toward Sarah hoping that she's with me on this one. She anticipates what I'm gonna ask and immediately replies, "I'm not doing that!".

I pull myself out of the water, and keep staring at the top ledge. Thoughts race through my head. This is my only chance. The bus is leaving soon. If I don't do it now, will I regret it? I'm here, right now, what's stopping me? Fear? Fear of what? Others went before me and survived without a scratch. So what is it then?

I'm walking up the stairway, step-by-step toward the lower ledge. I stop by the lower ledge and pause to take a look at it. "I've already conquered this.", I think to myself. I look ahead of me at the ascending steps and continue forward. I'm getting higher and higher. It's funny how it never felt this high when I was up here at the beginning. I see the second ledge getting closer and closer. My heart's racing. It's beating faster and faster and it feels like it's gonna pop out of my chest. I approach the ledge and stand with both feet, looking down at the water below. The water looks dark from up here. I'm afraid of heights but for some reason I'm able to look down from where I am without feeling vertigo.

"Oh boy!", I say out loud.

"Go Rob! Woohoo!", screams Naika.

"You can do it Rob!", yells Sarah.

"Robbydoo! You can do it!", says Talley in his Rob Schneider impersonation.

I have to do this. I'm already here, I've made the effort to come this far. I can't just back out and walk back down. There's only one way down and it involves getting wet. No regrets! I need to conquer my fear! I need to conquer my fear! I need to jump! And so I jump.

Thoughts race through my head the moment I jump as I'm plummeting down toward the water.

Oh my God! This is too high! I'm scared! I'm gonna die! What have I done?! What did I get myself into?!

At that moment, I realize that I can't turn back time. I can't change the fact that I've jumped. I can only let go, let myself be, and surrender to the inevitable. CRASH!!! I'm underwater, and I've gone further below than my first jump. I open my eyes and see the beauty around me; the bright blue water, the bubbles racing to the surface, the fascinating rock shapes in the deep. If only I had my camera. So in that instant, before it's over, I decide to take a picture with my memory. Snap! Got it! I float back above water.

I swim toward the edge and pull myself out of the water. I notice a slight pinching pain on my right arm from the impact into the water at such a height; a small pain that comes with the experience, but with a payoff that can't be described in mere words.

My adrenalin is pumping! I feel rejuvenated! I feel like a man who's just conquered the unconquerable! I feel reborn! I feel so alive!

I make my way toward Sarah, Talley, and Naika.

"Wow! Let's do that again!", I think to myself.

Wise as the ol' Owl?

Hello,

My name is Sunsira Essence Peoples. I'm just getting familiar with those three names you know most of us don't identify with our middle name like it has no meaning but we will get into that another time. After reading some of the blog entries which we very intriguing I felt like this was a good place to share my experience.

The year 2007, the season spring, Texas for about a month when I would walk to the store I would see a wooden owl on top of someones roof. This owl looked so real to me from across the street I would think it was real every time I walked pass. One day I said to myself internally, " I want to see a real owl".

During this time I was excercising every morning in the field between a library and a recreation center. Outside in the field excercising which is the easiest way to meditation and connecting with the universe I spend about an hour from about 10 am to 11 am.

I must let you all know by this time I had really forgotten about even asking to see an owl. I was just living not watching much television and reading books by J. Krishnamurti. I felt in the beginning of the year really in 2006 that 2007 was going to be a important year for humanity as a whole. I also had other unique experiences in 2007.

Around 11 am I headed home exhausted from a wonderful workout. When I got in the apartment my blinds were shut I went over opened them up and seen this unusually large white bird on the fence directly in front of my window. Preoccupied by the sweat I was focused on taking a shower so I looked and then turned around and starting walking towards the bathroom.

I heard a voice in my head say " that bird is too big" so I turned back around and went back to the window. I was staring in the eyes of a snow owl in Texas at 11 am for about a minute then it flew away. I felt such a connection to this bird I was just stunned and stood there for a little while.

This was amazing I asked to see this bird which has been in my life since birth as my grandmother who is still alive had many of these ceramic animals around when I was growing up. One of those events in life one never forgets.

To all who read this Thank You for sharing this experience with me. Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this experience. I would also like to hear more of your experiences. This is such a great community looking forward to the good times.

Thank You Astral Boo Baby

This site censored? Astralboobaby.net flagged as a 'security risk'?

It has been brought to my attention that my website has been flagged as a ‘security risk’ and since this is the case and there’s no telling how many people have gotten this red flag and are not signing up or visiting my website because of it. Nevertheless, we all know that my website is all about promoting the ‘free’ sharing of information as it relates to higher consciousness, love, brother and sisterhood. Sadly, there are those of us who are very uncomfortable and threatened by such a gesture and will continue to do what has always been done and that is use ‘fear tactics’ and other forms of manipulating the general public away from this kind of energy and information. I may not like everything that’s made available on the internet but I also realize that we all have free will and in a country where our constitution states that we are entitled to free speech; I respect everyone’s lawful choice to use their domain to express them-selves respectfully. It is these reasons that we become more steadfast in not allowing this sort of trickery to deter us from the free sharing and expression of information. The most common websites barred are those that deal with so called “conspiracy theories”, “whistle-blowers”; the occult, spirituality and metaphysics. Again, we must question why are such sites that deal with these subject matters, so vigilantly targeted on a ‘free-will’ planet and ‘free-speech’ society? The latter is more rhetorical in nature. I surmise that almost all sites that are black-listed, barred or ‘flagged’ have truthful information that the puppet masters (seen and unseen) do not want the public knowing. As I’ve always stated; the only difference between us all is level of understanding (information) and once ALL have equal access to information – the playing field is truly leveled once again.

Internet censorship is control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. The legal issues are similar to offline censorship. One difference is that national borders are more permeable online: residents of a country that bans certain information can find it on websites hosted outside the country. A government can try to prevent its citizens from viewing these even if it has no control over the websites themselves. Filtering can be based on a blacklist or be dynamic. In the case of a blacklist, that list is usually not published. The list may be produced manually or automatically.

Barring total control over Internet-connected computers, such as in North Korea, total censorship of information on the Internet is very difficult (or impossible) to achieve due to the underlying distributed technology of the Internet. Pseudonymity and data havens (such as Freenet) allow unconditional free speech, as the technology guarantees that material cannot be removed and the author of any information is impossible to link to a physical identity or organization. In some cases, Internet censorship may involve deceit. In such cases the censoring authority may block content while leading the public to believe that censorship has not been applied. This may be done by having the ISP provide a fake "Not Found" error message upon the request of an Internet page that is actually found but blocked.

I would love to get you guys insight on this tactic to basically shut down freedom of speech? What do you think we be doing to stop or curtail this kind of manipulation?