Tuesday 18th May 2010
9.45pm
My bed at the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj
India
Today. Woke up around 7am. Bought paper, previously angry seller was back to his more affable self. Bought 6 eclairs and one piece of bread. Rain in the air.
Had a tea on the way to the library, I found a quiet tea shop half way down the hill.
I read until lunchtime, 1pm, then marched half way back up the hill to the tea shop for another tea. The library closes for one hour at lunchtime everyday so we're all chucked out then. The tea shop, which is on a road side next to a motorbike garage and basically a small hut does basic food.
After lunch I marched back down the hill to the library again, along the winding roads spiraling and weaving downward and stayed at the library until 3.30pm.
As I was walking back down the hill out of the blue I bumped into an Indian man who I had randomly got talking to a week before up in the main square. To be honest I tried to put him off me with my general apathy, but for what it is worth I'll meet him for a drink tomorrow afternoon. I'm not sure why he really wants to, but I'm sure I'll find out. I confess I forgotten his name.
Ate 2 samosas, 2 chapatis, a packet of biscuits, some curd, a few eclairs and a bottle of Pepsi for dinner. Again did the Sudoku and made a pretty passable effort at the crossword. It's amazing when you realise that everything is interconnected in a crossword so much more pops out at you, a little concentration and time is all you need. This reminds me of the Buddhist teaching on dependent origination and right mindfulness.
(edit: here is a link Dependent Origination - Cause and effect)
I read some good stuff in the library today and made lots of notes. I don't know why I wrote so many notes, it feels good to write them, I can lay down things in a way I can more easily and comfortable interpret. They give me a clearer understanding.
On the front page of the paper today was the news that some men involved in the gang rape of a Japanese tourist in Bodhgaya earlier this year have been sentenced to life in prison.
The resonates with me because I was in Bodhgaya on the day it happened and 2 store owners told me all about it, so to see it reported in the newspaper and justice served is interesting.
It has rained on and off for the past few days, tonight though it has rained heavily and it was monsoon-like. Storm clouds of all shades of grey and black linger in the air from the left of the valley that my monastery sits in and are above the Dalai Lama's residence; they stretch all the way across the sky and horizon to the right where among the trees I can see St. John's Church.
In the UK the thunder and lightning we get is tame compared to here and the far east.
I used the internet today. I prepared some grammar tips for Tensing and organised one or two things ahead of going home. Also I proofread some more of Tensings poems.
For some reason tonight there was not a momo seller insight in the town and I looked in all the usual places.
I finished reading The Wisdom of Forgiveness today, a really great book. In fact I've been lucky to here to read several great books while living at my own pace in my own environment. I hope it's something I can maintain back home.
I do like curd. I'm going to buy lots of it from now on. Only 10Rps for 200g.
A job in a cinema, bookstore or cafe, that sounds nice. A CELTA along the way. That'll do between between getting home and the new year.
I'll probably have different ideas tomorrow, but the above, at its heart, would I hope with right living environment help me to keep and maintain the relative peace which I have here.
Where will I settle, I don't know.
I'm going to do some more reading now and then sleep.
It's very quiet here aside from the occasional person opening and closing their doors.
In India there are guys in the street who fix shoes.
They spend all day looking at peoples feet to try and pick out potential customers.
One of my shoes needed a little stitching, so a young guy carrying his thread and insoles approached me today. It was a little painful.
My mind was on dinner not my shoes. I didn't get them fixed, but engaged in the small talk that the guy initiated, he seemed fidgety, he wanted me to buy him food and promise him I'd meet him the next day so he could fix my shoe. Maybe...
It's funny, I've read and learn't a lot of things about Buddhism over the past few months that resonated deeply with me.
There are thoughts, actions, ideas and inclinations I've had in the past which I look at now that fit into Buddhism and its teachings, they click with it. I can recognise now that in many ways my natural feelings were leading me, albeit loosely towards Buddhism. After being exposed to Buddhism more directly I feel those original feelings being being harnessed and cultivated in a more concentrated way.
Mindfulness, self-view, compassion, wisdom, suffering, dependent origination, emptiness...all are very interesting things, which after taking some time to let sink in and truly acknowledge now feel to me like they make a lot of sense.
I can hear the rain falling outside and thunder roaring, it will be a wet night.
If I feel I need to get away next year then maybe I'll back to India or Nepal.
There are many avenues open and options to choose between, perhaps one choice is to choose none of them.
I do like curd. I'm going to buy lots of it from now on. Only 10Rps for 200g.
A job in a cinema, bookstore or cafe, that sounds nice. A CELTA along the way. That'll do between between getting home and the new year.
I'll probably have different ideas tomorrow, but the above, at its heart, would I hope with right living environment help me to keep and maintain the relative peace which I have here.
Where will I settle, I don't know.
I'm going to do some more reading now and then sleep.
It's very quiet here aside from the occasional person opening and closing their doors.
In India there are guys in the street who fix shoes.
They spend all day looking at peoples feet to try and pick out potential customers.
One of my shoes needed a little stitching, so a young guy carrying his thread and insoles approached me today. It was a little painful.
My mind was on dinner not my shoes. I didn't get them fixed, but engaged in the small talk that the guy initiated, he seemed fidgety, he wanted me to buy him food and promise him I'd meet him the next day so he could fix my shoe. Maybe...
It's funny, I've read and learn't a lot of things about Buddhism over the past few months that resonated deeply with me.
There are thoughts, actions, ideas and inclinations I've had in the past which I look at now that fit into Buddhism and its teachings, they click with it. I can recognise now that in many ways my natural feelings were leading me, albeit loosely towards Buddhism. After being exposed to Buddhism more directly I feel those original feelings being being harnessed and cultivated in a more concentrated way.
Mindfulness, self-view, compassion, wisdom, suffering, dependent origination, emptiness...all are very interesting things, which after taking some time to let sink in and truly acknowledge now feel to me like they make a lot of sense.
I can hear the rain falling outside and thunder roaring, it will be a wet night.
If I feel I need to get away next year then maybe I'll back to India or Nepal.
There are many avenues open and options to choose between, perhaps one choice is to choose none of them.