Perspective

My room sits on the 3rd floor of the Shedra. From my window I see the old Lakhong (temple) on the left, with the shell of construction of the new Lakhong to the right. Below me pass the Anis from the school, Shedra and Trasang going about their daily routines.

In the distance between the buildings is the city of Kathmandu. Around 8 kilometers into the city, as the crow flies, is Tribhuvan International Airport where people begin and end their Nepali adventures. Most days, the Monastery is in the flight pattern. From my window I can see planes leave the ground, turn, and circle directly over us here in Chobhar one after the other. Sometimes I picture the people feeling a little nervous, the angle and lift of takeoff pushing them into their seats. I sometimes take a moment to wish them safe travels.

Once every morning and afternoon I sit on my bed with this scene spread out before me for meditation practice. In the early morning and late evening the lights of Kathmandu fill the scene. One morning I saw most of the lights disappear in a blackout along with the lights of my lamp in my room. Each morning I follow the instructions given to me to settle my mind and body and generate a compassionate and an unbiased attitude, to let go of fear and hope to just “let it be”. This doesn’t mean that I have no thoughts or that strong emotions never arise in me. Meditation is a practice fraught with paradox. While it includes effort, it is aimed at effortlessness. Rather than chasing thoughts away, the instructions are to let them settle until they are like passing ships or clouds that don’t require tending.

Meditation isn’t perfect (or should I say, I’m not a perfect practitioner). Somedays my mind is very busy or disturbed, in anticipation or in fear. But the practice reminds me to “let it be”. There were times when I wondered, “What’s the point of all this sitting and doing nothing? I could be out getting things done.” But despite my doubts I have persisted, coming back every day. In the long run I have found that this “nothing” has brought more peace and made me more equipped to deal with impermanence and the unexpected. At the same time, it has helped me appreciate the “good things” in my life; family, friends, good conversation, food and drink and such.

I believe that Mind is everything. By that I mean that we (no one else) are the masters our experience – our perspective. Obviously, we aren’t always in control of our circumstances. I’ve written quite a lot about how my circumstances here in Nepal are dynamic and sometimes difficult. My mind, my perspective on this roller coaster of life determines in turn how I respond/react; my emotions and my thoughts about it. When Buddhist talk about purifying Karma (a topic that often is misconstrued), they are talking about confronting and releasing old habits of mind, taking a new perspective; one that is based on compassion for oneself AND others. Ultimately we work to respond with more insight and skill. So, the “goal” of meditation is to develop a new perspective. I encourage you to try it. I’ll spare you the full quote, but the Buddha was clear in saying that one should not just accept that a practice (like meditation) is worthwhile but one should try it and determine if it has merit. It can be done in the spirit of whatever religion or non-religious perspective you might have.

Speaking of challenges and perspective… I now have my computer up and running again; in a fashion. That grey box that you see connected to the computer is now the brains of the computer. Using the hard drive delivered from the US and some random flash drives that I brought with me, I spent the week diagnosing and fashioning a system that works. It is pretty or convenient but it works.

As promised in my last post, I will now set to work on the photos that I took during my trip to Pokhara and Muktinath.

Sitting on top of the world. Peace – out.

Impermanence

It has been quite some time since my last post. The problem is that my computer died soon after our return from Muktinath making it more difficult to find access to write and post. After much testing and a slight hope that some magic tricks would bring it back to life, the dreaded folder with a question mark remained on my screen at startup. If you ever see this, 


…it’s time install a new hard drive.

The good news is that my friend Jim Easton was scheduled to come to Nepal for trekking so I ordered a new drive on line (something I’ve done for clients many times) and Jim graciously agree to pick it up at my house in Glenwood Springs and deliver it to Kathmandu. I’m happy to report that Jim and his friends (Nancy and Charlie) and family (Sister Susan) arrived yesterday. We met him at his Hotel in Boudha, visited and had a nice dinner. Afterward we dropped by his Hotel and took a taxi back to our place in Chobhar.

 

While I have successfully installed and formatted the disk, verifying it’s viability, I am now required to install an operating system. This would be an easier task at home where I have plenty of tools and computers at my finger tips.


Impermanence is an important remembrance within the teachings of the Buddha. One day we are happy and the next we are disappointed. One day we are alive and the next we have perished. One day we are healthy and the next we are sick. Each day, each moment is a fleeting thought in time. Things improve, things disintegrate, things are created and then destroyed. This is the meaning in the creation and dissolution of the great sand Mandalas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. While we all know this, we resist and, understandably, do our best to avoid these realities. This is why a good backup is not only a good idea but a requirement. Only time stands between a new computer and a recycled one. So I am reminded.

Anyway, I intend to be up and running in the next few days with more tales of my travels. Please stay tuned.

Gargon Ling Nunnery – Puja

Right now I am on the plane, leaving Pokhara, Nepal to return to Kathmandu. It has been great to be out of Kathmandu for 10 days of travel; with 5 days in Pokhara (previous post) and then 5 days attending Puja at the Gargon Ling Nunnery with Tsoknyi Rimpoche and the nuns living there. The nunnery is about a 20 minute walk from the town of Ranipauwa where Joni and I stayed at the Hotel Grand Potala, a grand name for a 2 star hotel 🙂

I was very fortunate to be granted permission by Rimpoche to take photos and video of the ceremonies. My process and pace were in stark contrast to the pace on “Demonstration Day” at the school that I shared earlier. Rather than jumping from small classroom to classroom, positioning myself, adjusting my light settings and dancing around Rimpoche and the young Ani’s movements, I had hours and days to contemplate my shots during the 5 days of Puja; sitting, watching and observing the ceremony.
The Puja (a devotional practice for requesting blessings) consisted of around 60 hours of chanting, punctuated by drums, symbols, bells, horns and damarus (small hand drums). While I didn’t fully understand the Tibetan chants and was totally confused by the activities at the beginning, the feeling and meaning was evident on a visceral level when I managed to relax into the moment. My bit of familiarity with Tibetan practices and a few Tibetan words also helped as did my study of Buddhism in general and my faith in Rimpoche’s authority to convey it. The result was feeling bathed in blessings and aspirations for all beings to be free of suffering, attachment and aversion.
Anyone witnessing such a ceremony would have respect and appreciation for the care it requires. Rimpoche and the Anis moved through the text before them; sitting mostly still, bringing forth the intentions handed down from the Buddha (over 2,500 years ago). The physical act of sitting there and “singing” for 60 hours is itself a feat. Only practice and devotion could allow a person to accomplish it. I hope the photos convey the concentration as well as the variety of activities they performed.
I, on the other hand, fidgeted and adjusted my position to deal with the pain that is inevitable with sitting so long. I began each morning on a cushion on the floor sitting cross legged but retreated to one of 3 chairs in the room when I could no longer stand to sit 🙂 Rinpoche kindly encourage us to take time out from the ceremonies to explore the beauty of Muktinath and the surrounding hills. These hikes definitely helped shake out some kinks in our bodies and refresh our minds.

With permission to move about at will to take photographs I had another outlet for my untrained body and mind. On many levels I appreciate the privilege and the responsibility for being allowed to take photographs. At the same time I was careful not to disrupt or disrespect the Puja, so I was very hesitant to move much in the beginning. I also wanted to maintain my presence of mind and practice. Photography can be likened to a banquet dinner, especially in a colorful and rich environment like the Lakhong where we sat. It is easy to get pulled and distracted into all the activities and colorful artifacts – grasping at one after another. Such a state of mind isn’t conducive to receiving blessings. The blessings can only be received with an open, attentive, relaxed and settled mind. And so, I moved in and out of picture mode and into open awareness at various intervals.
Oct 14
Now I have returned to my, albeit temporary, home in Chobhar, Kathmandu with a camera full of photos to process and share. I wish I could make them all available to you immediately but I’m going to take time before I post them. Meanwhile here are a select few for you to enjoy.
As I post this appreciation of the tradition of Rinpoche and the Nuns, I can’t help but remember the people in Las Vegas who lost their lives in a senseless and violent manner. While these events are very distant from the people of Nepal in space, it is hasn’t escaped their awareness. Many times I heard Americans and others mention the tragedy, wondering how it could happen and how it could have been prevented. News in of America (and the world in general) is of great interest in Asia, but such high profile events bring special concerns.
The violence in Las Vegas sits in stark contrast to my experience at the school in Chobhar and the Gargon Ling Nunnery. These nuns have committed themselves to improving themselves; training their minds to a level of awareness that is not only non-violent, but aware of their minute by minute contribution (or lack) to the generation of benefit and happiness for all beings. While I believe that we as a Nation need to regulate gun ownership (we regulate motor vehicles for God sake), we certainly need to develop and improve our individual consciousness as well. What does this mean? It means spending money on the prevention and support of people with mental illness, promoting non-violent communication in our schools and organizations, and promoting the idea of personal responsibility for our thoughts and feelings. This is a shift from a ME orientation to a WE orientation. WE will only survive or perish together. WE are all unique and important. WE need to take care of ALL children first. The paradox of taking care of US is that the result is greater happiness for ME. That’s US in a world sense not just an American-US context.     …end of soapbox

Dream Travel

Joni and I are enjoying some time away from Kathmandu, traveling to Pokhara during the Dashain Holiday. While Dashain is a Hindu, not Buddhist holiday, our school is closed for a couple weeks. It seems that everything in Nepal is on the Dashain schedule during these 2 weeks. It feels a little like Christmas Holidays with people going home to be with family and friends, buying special gifts and giving thanks for what they have.
When we return, we will begin a new term. While we have only just begun our work, it is great to have time to experience another aspect of Nepal. There are many similarities between Pokhara and Kathmandu, but we are enjoying some stark differences. Most striking is that the traffic is 100 times more tolerable. Pokhara doesn’t have the jams and break neck passing and weaving that is constant in Kathmandu. The result is that I feel safe to walk down a side walk (they actually have sidewalks) and cross the street without taking my life in my own hands. The side street that we are staying on is even more relaxed – so much so that Joni and stroll down the middle of the street on occasion. One of the things that helps the pace and consistency of traffic is that the streets aren’t filled with potholes (and outright pits) so cars don’t have to navigate around things. I must admit that we are staying in a particularly touristy area of Pokhara (in the Lakeside area) so I can’t attest to the pace in other areas of Pokhara. Pokhara is definitely a large and busy city (Nepal’s second largest). It’s size was made real to us this morning when we climbed above the city to enjoy the Peace Pagoda.
It is hard to believe that we have been in Nepal almost 6 weeks now and “on the road” from Colorado for 2 months. In this time we’ve experienced an incredible amount of diversity and variation; people, language, landscape, accommodations, climate to name a few. There’s been variation from our routines in Colorado and an added level of variation between the places we visited since. There has been so much diversity that last night we both commented about how dreamlike this experience feels. You may have heard the expression “dream travel” or the “dream vacation”. I don’t think this is what those expressions are meant to convey but they certainly are apt for our current experience. Travel has put us in a state of mind that is akin to dreaming.
Traveling in our own culture, moving from place to place, meeting new people, negotiating unusual situations and environments can bring on this state of mind. Traveling in Europe increases another level. But when we were in England we had our language (most of it) in common with the people around us. The organization of services were also fairly familiar. While life there was a little surreal, traveling in Asia takes us to an even more ephemeral level.
 
Dreaming in sleep takes us into a realm where scenes changes rapidly and unexpectedly. Unless you are a skilled “lucid dreamer” you have no control over the experience. At the mercy of the stream of consciousness and the manifestations that appear, our emotions are on a roller coaster. While there are obvious differences between sleep and my “travel dream”, the extent and pace of novelty during travel significantly stretches my sense of reality. For example… In a matter of 72 hours I have been transported across Kathmandu by a former Tibetan Buddhist monk, passed through an area of town that I’ve never seen, stood in front of the Tribhuvan Airport drinking coffee while watching and listening to travelers from around the world, squeezed through airport security (that wasn’t all that secure), figured out how to negotiate my baggage and secure a seat on my plane, squeezed through another airport security portal (a little more secure), sat in a waiting room that felt more like a bus station than an airport boarding area, rode a bus across the tarmac to my flight, flew past the Himalayas and into Pokhara, found my hotel taxi driver (who thankfully had Joni’s name on a piece of cardboard), settled into new sleeping quarters, and negotiated my way around a new town to eat, shop, and visit local attractions (I’ll spare you some details).
In the lobby of our hotel where I am writing, there are 5 clocks showing the time in Germany, England, US, China and Nepal. It is 1:47 here in Pokhara. 11:20 in the US (must be Eastern Standard Time). In Colorado it is 2:00 am. Given that it’s the middle of the night in Glenwood Springs, perhaps I am just dreaming 🙂
Click on the link to view the Pokhara Album in Google Photos: