I haven't had much ability to write unfortunately. And finally now am getting over Giardia. I was wondering why the medicine I had gotten in Dehra Dun wasn't working! I went to a clinic here that took most of the morning, and am now on some antiboitics. The 2 day 2 night bus ride was an experience I will probably not want to repeat. Blarring Hindi music and occasional Hindi videos would play and the bus seemed to travel at high speeds the majority of the time. Ending up of course with a couple of flat tires along the way.
Yesterday was the 25th on the Tibetan Calendar, an auspicious time to do circumambulation and mantra around the stupa. I have reconnected with my friend from Chicago here, Eric, so we are on the search for the Statue for the center. Realizing that we do not have enough money to purchase one as large as they would like. He leaves for the US on friday and it is definitely nice to see a familiar face. I am currently traveling with someone from the monastery in Dehra Dun commuicating in broken English, and attempts to teach me the Tibetan language have been somewhat futile.
I had been warned of the uncleanliness of Kathmandu but nothing compares to Delhi. Overall it has been quite an interesting experience. Off to Thamel today with Eric and Anste. Tomorrow we will be purchasing the Rupa and hopefully I will be able to meet the infamous Yogi Konchok Norbu!
Hope everyone can view the photos I posted. . .will attempt to blog again soon!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Teachings of Manjushri
Today we started the teachings. I got up and had breakfast with my host family. Turns out oddly enough that the mother of the son there is from Eastern Tibet, and her sisters live in Chicago. One of whom I know of from the Tibetan Alliance Center. Strange. . .
The family members I am staying with are related to HH Chetsang Rinpoche and I am staying next door to one of his sister's. I ventured over to the teachings and saw Meghan and Virgina. The only unfortunate thing was that they didn't receive all of the headsets that they were supposed to for the translation. So I had to get help from a group of Buddhist practitioners from Estonia, to give me a basic understanding. Hopefully we will have more tomorrow.
It is a beautiful place in the mountains. The teachings are outside under white canopies adorned with Tibetan symbols and marigolds strewn along the sidewalks and hanging down from overhead. It was quite a special day today, and am looking forward to the rest of the time here.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Meghan today that shared her stories and photographs from Lapchi on her pilgrimmage there with HE Garchen Rinpoche and others. Turned out she may have gotten Typhoid fever and mono after she returned. We walked to the Library, about 20 minutes from where I am staying and hung out there. Not a place to walk to alone at night. It is amazing to see the poor throughout the area.
I will attempt to post some photos in the next few days. I am currently at an internet site since I haven't been able to get onto a wireless signal surprise surprise. . .
Should be getting a sim card for india tonight. Many more stories to come.
Signing off for now.
The family members I am staying with are related to HH Chetsang Rinpoche and I am staying next door to one of his sister's. I ventured over to the teachings and saw Meghan and Virgina. The only unfortunate thing was that they didn't receive all of the headsets that they were supposed to for the translation. So I had to get help from a group of Buddhist practitioners from Estonia, to give me a basic understanding. Hopefully we will have more tomorrow.
It is a beautiful place in the mountains. The teachings are outside under white canopies adorned with Tibetan symbols and marigolds strewn along the sidewalks and hanging down from overhead. It was quite a special day today, and am looking forward to the rest of the time here.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Meghan today that shared her stories and photographs from Lapchi on her pilgrimmage there with HE Garchen Rinpoche and others. Turned out she may have gotten Typhoid fever and mono after she returned. We walked to the Library, about 20 minutes from where I am staying and hung out there. Not a place to walk to alone at night. It is amazing to see the poor throughout the area.
I will attempt to post some photos in the next few days. I am currently at an internet site since I haven't been able to get onto a wireless signal surprise surprise. . .
Should be getting a sim card for india tonight. Many more stories to come.
Signing off for now.
To Dehra Dun
I arrived in Dehra Dun in the middle of the night last night. After flying into Delhi late on the 9th, I was greeted by Jamten and another monk Gompo Dorje. Good thing they were there, it was Dewali festival and firecrackers were being set off all over the city. We flew in and you could see them all over. There were cabs everywhere out front and we walked to a car that they hired to drive us to Manjutilla, a Tibetan Colony that was an hour drive outside of Delhi. We drove through small streets where there seemed to be no rules or stop lights. Kids would light off firecrackers right on the road as we were driving by, and we passed what seemed like a Bollywood film, people dancing all dressed up in front of their house. When we reached our destination I was awake since the time change is opposite and I had slept most of the way on the plane. But I did notice some mosquitos in my room, wasn't too excited about that and the small cockroach in my bathroom. We talked for awhile, and then my friends had to go to another hotel since there weren't any more rooms. I of course woke up at 5am, and was thankful that I had brought a mosquito net and slept in my silk sheeting. We met for breakfast, and another Tibetan yogi came along with us. We hired another car to take us on our 6 hour journey to Dehra Dun since he needed to bring along some offerings to HH Chetsang Rinpoche for the teaching. Jigme saw us off with his girlfriend Khandro, and we piled in our car for a ride. Crazy driving here, honking constantly for people to move, not to mention the smell of exhaust pretty much constantly is enough to make anyone feel sick. I was wondering about how many packs of cigarettes I had just smoked from breathing in the fumes. We stopped on the side of the road for lunch at a destination that no one really wanted to eat at, but since our driver was being obstinate about stopping at all for us for some reason we took our chances. I could barely eat and after I did of course I wasn't feeling all that well. I only had Dahl, cooked vegetables and bread. I decided I would "sleep" it off for the rest of the time. We had another 2 hours to go.
I woke up to seeing monkeys running across the road and we finally were making it to some cleaner air up in the mountains. We got to Chang Chub Ling around 7pm, and I met my family and decided to take a shower and go to bed. They offered to make me food, but couldn't stomach it.
I woke up to seeing monkeys running across the road and we finally were making it to some cleaner air up in the mountains. We got to Chang Chub Ling around 7pm, and I met my family and decided to take a shower and go to bed. They offered to make me food, but couldn't stomach it.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Well I am leaving this Thursday November 8th 2007 for another adventure. This time I am heading off to India...flying into Delhi and staying the night and driving six hours to Dehra Dun to attend some teachings at Chang Chub Ling for two weeks. I will be staying at a Tibetan family's house near by. Keep checking in, I hope to be posting photos throughout my trip.
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