Thursday 13th May 2010
10pm
My single room at the monastery
India
This morning I woke up and did my laundry around 7am which had all dried by 7pm. I enjoy hand washing my clothes even if many stains don't really come out. At least the clothes smell fresh. Everyone should hand wash things when they come to India.
Washing things by hand sounds like, and has looked in the past, something hard and a real chore; these tasks bring with them a certain therapy though.
I drank some tea in the dining room here afterwards, well while my laundry was soaking in soapy water, and met a German girl who has been here 6 weeks doing some translation work and a Japanese guy who recently arrived to begin an internship in Bangalore for IBM.
Afterwards I went to buy a paper, but had to settle for the inferior Hindustani Times, as all the copies of the Times of India had gone; what kind of newspaper doesn't have a crossword or cartoon page??? A rubbish one. So now I've arranged to have a copy of the Times of India put aside for me each morning.
I paid the 15Rs I owed to the coffee shop. They were surprised/grateful!
Then I plodded down to the Tibetan Government Complex's library and registered to use their reading room for one month and spent the rest of the day there, form around 11am to 4.30pm. It only costs 50Rs to access their resources.
I got stuck into a couple of books I'd come across in Lumbini and read them. I have question marks about the depth of the material they have available.
I ate a nice piece of Tibetan bread on the way to the library.
The government complex is 20 minutes walk down a hill, so it proves a sweaty but healthy climb back up to the town.
I hope to get lots of reading and learning done. The more I can pick up and comprehend the better. I want to understand everything I can about Buddhist doctrine and philosophy and find a practical application for it, as well as just enjoying reading.
At lunch in the canteen the government complex I had a cheese chapati and a milk tea.
I've seen courses in Tai Chi advertised.
I didn't get to meet the Indian guys for dinner, if I bump onto one of them I'll tell them truth, that A: I didn't really comfortable or really want to eat with them, and B: I was to tired to walk to their village and walking back from the library.
Instead I bought 12 momos, steamed (veg and potato) and ate them back at the monastery in my room. I cut open and dissected each of them individually. Yum. I ate some biscuits and sweets afterwards and I am now on the last chapter of The Last Mughal.
I may buy something from the Bookworm book store that I browsed in earlier.
So a relatively quiet day compared to the Triund hike but still I got plenty of exercise.
The dining room here is manned constantly by the cook. When I returned today I went inside for a cup of tea but not before he questioned me with his eyes and rose to his feet as I entered. He can relax. It would be easier for him if there were communal washing up facilities but alas he must deal with everything himself.
Tomorrow I'll meet Tensing, the Tibetan guy, at 10am for a tea. We may go and play table tennis after I've seen his latest writing. Otherwise I may head to the library again or a small local museum that has a photo exhibition going on.
Spent some time looking at the bus options from here for when I decide to move on.
Some aspects of Buddhist teaching regarding 'the self' need a lot of attention before I can come to terms with them, however tonight after reading back over my notes things seem clearer than they previously felt.
I don't see any Tibetans begging. The community here is very strong people seem to support each other well.
I haven't gone outside at night yet to specifically admire them but you can see a lot of stars in the sky here.
Tonight is very windy and there were a couple of short sharp showers earlier.