Dear Gleb,

I was pretty young then too. This was in 1988. I lived on a Moshav near Beersheba and then was a Nanny in Tel Aviv. I really enjoyed it in Israel. I lived there almost a year. I would have stayed longer but the first Gulf War was on the horizon and they began handing out gas masks!
Thanks for saying so, and it is likely obvious to any reader of my post, but I did not relate my time with the family as the beginning of my spiritual journey - but it was.
I totally agree with your comment about discipline and courage to practise. I moved the Asia to get the full spiritual experience and indeed received alot of teachings from great masters. I stayed for 6 years. I could see my perspective changing but this was also a result of living abroad and being faced with your own pre-conceived concepts of how life is or should be. But in fact, my real, deep and lasting shift began when I started to practise every day.
As a short side note: the program I developed is fantastic for beginners but it is also very helpful for experienced meditators. I have taught some of the basics to large groups of experienced practitioners and received shocking feedback. Many learn some of the higher practices first because they seem more romantic or maybe they are believed to be the speedier path. But unless we can hold the mind steady long enough to actually look at the mind, our meditation session is filled with interruptions of random thoughts and emotions.
The first 60 days of the program works on this aspect and then we move onto insight meditation. Not beginner like at all!
What do you think?
YeShey