April 1st - Seven of us sat down in a circle. Seven - an appropriate number to start with - just like the logo above.

We had been to the site before. The Civic Center Plaza is a focal point. When the second Gulf War was recently looming large, San Francisco became the hot spot - a starting point for many of the anti-war rallies around the world. Marchers began at the Embarcadero and ended up converging at the Civic Center Plaza. Hundreds of thousands. Spirits were high. People were happy. All the colors of the rainbow, all ages, and all the nationalities of Earth were represented there. It was a true celebration of diversity and humanity, of a desire to live in a harmonious and peaceful world.

And as world events unfolded, the Civic Center Plaza continued to be a focal point and meeting place for all types of political action.

Originally, we were going to sit at Golden Gate Park, but the Civic Center Plaza was the natural point of gravitation. Just like when a house has a natural comfort zone or area where people tend to gather, like the kitchen for instance - one can try to host a party in a different room, like the den, but there is no use; people are going to end up in the kitchen anyway. So we chose the Civic Center Plaza because this is where it was going to happen.

We met there on the Saturday before. Seven of us - a slightly different group of seven, but seven. We picked a spot to sit - right at the very center - and began to meditate on this very hot day. Just then, patriotic music began blasting. This Saturday was the meeting point of yet another rally - a pro war one. This music also came from the heart. Love of country. A desire to protect and defend what is loved. They waved flags and cried out for support of the troops. Pro-war, anti-war, on both sides, there was lots of love.

But then the rally started, and something other than love quickly came to the surface. There was a young Asian man holding a sign with the true bloodied faces of our troops. He was trying to show the ugly reality of war. In seconds he was chased out, pushed, and his sign was ripped into pieces. Under slightly different circumstances, they would have probably killed him.

And it was clear why we were here. So much hatred. So much tension. So much misunderstanding. Over in Iraq, the blood was flowing. Hatred was elevating all around the world. Silly humanity - so far out of balance.

Our job then was to bring an uncommon level of love and peace to this world drama. Since none of us are perfect saints, this would have to take the form of a journey, an honest look within for that place of true peace, of real love, of divinity. Only by finding it within could we ever hope to offer it as a solution.

So in that spirit, there we were on April 1st. Seven of us. On a sincere quest to find the peace that was needed in the world.

What we hadn't anticipated was how cold it would be. Man! Brrrr...

And then Bhuvanesh showed up, with a beautiful poem... and we were eight.