"The Mongolian steppes stretch as far as the eye can see ? right to the edge of the sky: hard-packed dirt and shale punctuated by small shrubs and feathergrass. Here and there, a lone ger ? the round nomadic tent ? with dung smoke rising through its roof hole toward a pale sun!"

• A Spiritual Odyssey Through Mongolia : Chidananda Burke, of the Sri Chinmoy Centre, recounts a recent visit to Mongolia.

"My heart-rate drops almost instantly, but jolts on hearing the dulcet tones of 50 Cent, which a kindly school boy at the back is treating his fellow travellers to. Too much of a coward to ask him to lower the volume, I realise this is the perfect test of my meditation techniques.."

• Commuting Meditation Meditation on your daily commute at Sumangali.org

"One evening, Shyama Charan Lahiri was roaming at the foot of the Himalayas while on a short visit to the area, when he heard a voice saying,