Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


	S.P. Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 11/1 Soi 3 Bamrungburi Rd., T. Prasingh, A. Muang., Chiang Mai 50200 Tel. 053 - 814 455-6 Fax. 053 - 814 457 E-mail: guidelin@loxinfo.co.th

The Odyssey of Knowledge

Text : Richard Bowman
Images : Apirak

Neville Powis; both pensive and jubilant-natured, flicking through the pages of his life’s “ongoing journey of self-knowledge.”

A repeatedly bookmarked, fundamental truth surfaces: “Life is about consciousness, awareness, waking up while we are in our body. This is quite clear about what the purpose of life is to me. There is a kind of synchronicity that all human beings have something in common, that there is a greater plan or pattern behind everything, that we just can’t see.”

Chiang Mai - “a beautiful place that isn’t too small or too big” – continues being Neville’s “oasis,” while observing what is transpiring throughout the rest of a seemingly troubled, “topsy-turvy world.”

As though seeking a pot filled with wisdom located at the base of his “inner-truth” rainbow, the peace Neville is experiencing here continues to be rooted in binding the sections of a life-long, diligent “thirst for knowledge.”

Chapters 1 and 1.5: Feeling isolated while living his adolescence amid what he deems as the “grayness and authoritarian bubble” of the U.K., Neville’s heart palpitated upon the “anticipation of books. Knowledge!” Feeling fragmented and in “psychic pain,” he “wanted to crack the code that was built into my childhood memories” via “self-integration and self-acceptance.”

Neville’s journey into his cameo amongst the international community was launched around the impressionable age of 21, while bobbing amid the seas of life as a cruise ship photographer.

“I remember lying on the deck, and for the first time seeing a sky with no light pollution. The stars and galaxies blew my mind, and I started to comprehend the scale of the universe. I had this passion for knowledge, and at the same time a very deep confusion about the meaning of life. I was running away from my own past, as one does.”

Chapter Two was penned in the 1970s after landing in Amsterdam, a then “free place” and “hippie city” bubbling with psychedelic cafes and thriving art, theatre and transient-travel scenes

“It was a magnet that attracted all kinds of people. I love this feeling. I love meeting the young, weird and wonderful.

“I rented a little room and found that I could start self-exploration, basically. ‘Who am I? What can I do? What do I want to do?’” while “Getting a better understanding of my true nature, which is what I am naturally when relaxed.”

He was thoroughly influenced by New Age philosophies related to “a spiritual renaissance on the way,” and “Amsterdam somehow represented this new age of consciousness.” Beyond exploring these sometimes rocky roads, Neville bathed in various sub-culture communities related to the performing Arts, where he cultivated his “in-board talent to play a role.”

Eventually penetrating the mass media profession, he evolved into being a radio personality and producer for ‘Radio Holland,’ which beamed his inner-voice worldwide. He recalls how this media journey first led him to Chiang Mai about 10 years ago when it “was a very different place...sleepy and not as developed.

“I felt very free here, similar to Amsterdam but for different reasons,” intuiting that Chiang Mai was potentially the location for drafting his third, major life-chapter. “It had a local quality that I liked, and a sense of excitement. It felt kind of like a new-age place, but I didn’t quite know how.”

Although after over 20 years in Amsterdam (and world travel) had rendered him positioned on a career summit, “there was really nothing for me to stay for. Deep-down, I felt there was something missing. And in Asia, I could find this before getting too old.”

Where?

“Cambodia: not really; Laos: too small; Burma: forget it. I haven’t been to the Philippines yet. Where else is there? Thailand is the obvious choice. It’s the center of South-East Asia...the easiest place to get around in terms of infrastructure and being relatively well-off.”

So, why does he love Chiang Mai?

“It’s the ideal location, really...a breath of fresh air,” where he can “be open and directly communicate with people. There’s always a surprise around the corner. People from all over the world come here, with all kinds of backgrounds. And the weather creates an outdoor life. I feel relaxed.”

***

Settling in Chiang Mai eight years ago involved establishing a media department for an NGO producing video documentaries focusing on poverty-related issues such as drugs and HIV/AIDS. However, the hourglass on this life season had also released its concluding grain.

Although Neville still produces videos, Chapter Four is involving the storyline of a more rooted character forecasting that the finish line of his outward venture has been attained – a returning home, in a sense.

“I am coming back to a spiritual approach to life...aware that the inner-journey is much more important than the outer-journey.” This is why he’s refraining from drafting any definitive outlines to his life-blueprint.

“I don’t think life works this way. It’s a matter of surrendering myself and being ready for an opportunity when it comes. If I am here (in Chiang Mai), than this is what’s meant to be...I don’t envy anyone living in any other part of the world at this moment.”

He will remain physically dwelling within the margins of “a small place where I can be quiet with myself and see this as, ‘Wow! What an opportunity I have here to get closer to the truths I have been working on understanding better.’”

Advancing onward while making use of the metaphor, “Beware that you don’t end up like a donkey with a pile of books on your back,” Neville admits that, “The answer doesn’t lie in books; it lies within myself.

“And I know my path will only open up once I open up to myself, not (just) by getting into an airplane and going somewhere...”