saga con'd.

So I had just fallen...and...well, I had to have help to get up.
It was the night after Dewali and it seems that my karma had caught up with me but who knows the workings of karma after all it's one of those mysterious things that even the Buddha said don't try to understand the workings of because you might go "mad".
It wasn't like I wasn't prepared for the "fall." I was paying attention. I was remembering last year the night after Dewali when I fell into a 4' deep concrete trench which fortunately for me had 1/2" of sludge in it which was probably why I wasn't more injured than bruised. It happened on my way home from picking up my passport from the Indian visa agency the day after Dewali...because the day before was Dewali...and when I got there they were closed which was why on the 2nd attempt I decided to ride my bike which was why it was dark when I got off the ferry because I missed the earlier one by 5 minutes which was why I was paying attention this year because I didn't want to have a repeat experience because what I took away from the first one was to pay attention to where I was walking in India in case of potholes, etc.
After all the treking around in Ladakh and Spiti and even walking on the "sidewalks" of Mcloud Ganj (which is a very noisy place, not peaceful like you'd expect the town that the Dalai Lama lives in to be), after all this hiking throughout the Himalayas, after all this, you wouldn't expect, I wouldn't expect to fall, simply going to my room after dinner on a little marlbe step.
And why you ask didn't I have my flashlight? Because I was being stubborn. I can tell you I didn't want to be bothered by a phone call I new I might get so I decided not to take my new phone with the flashlight attatched so conveniently with me.
I had come back to the Gonpa from the upper village where I was invited to stay with my friend Meenu and her family...I was there on Dewali and we lit candles and danced (at least I danced, Meenu still had a cast on). We ate sweet things. I had the thought, "I should be careful because I fell last year at this time." Her father the local priest was pretty insistent that I stay another night but I did really have to get back to my suitcase because not only did I need a change of clothes what I also needed was a tampon. So now here I was back in the main village of Rewalsar showered and clean and "stuffed" and being stubborn and somehow at the moment, the critical moment of going down a few little marble steps in the dark I missed my footing and everything went into slow motion but not slow enough for me to right myself and in the next moment it had happened. Searing pain in my foot. Pain that made me cry out. Later I would wonder that my friend Claire had sprained both her ankles at the Drukpa Kinley (the "mad/naughty monk of Bhutan") place and somehow I hadn't even noticed. How was it that I was such a baby! I mean compared to her. I was crying out, "OUCH, OUCH, OUCH, OUCH!" and no one was seeming to notice. But then a kind family who had been turning the gonpas prayer wheels came over and at the same time one of the local guys who sits at the gate everyday came and he had some personal experience with sprains and so they all helped me get to my room and the "guy w/ the personal experience" came to my humble room with a tub of warm water and rubbed my foot, "OUCH!" and rubbed some sort of tumeric mixture on it and wrapped it in some toilet paper before putting my sock back on (my foot was yellow for weeks). The sweet ladies from Lahaul who had helped me up to my room also checked to help me to the toilet before they retired for the night and then came to check the next morning. At least I could sort of slide my foot across the floor as I went to toilet....I remembered helping my friend in Bhutan and how trecherous a few few feet could be but I didn't have anybody to go buy me a plastic cup thingy...and though the ladies were nice, communication with all the folks who were trying to help me was minimal at best. Fortunately for me "the Blue Cave" restaurant was just around the other side of the building (I was on the 2nd floor) and I could call down to Nyma from the balcony to deliver me some lunch. After her initial suprise of being "called from above" she came with hot water and food and her cell number so I could order without leaving my bed. Which she generously did daily till I was able to hobble downstairs and across the street. As it turned out she was the best cook in Tso Pema (Rewalsar) and I miss her everyday since she went on pilgrimage to practice in Bodhgaya for the winter. Since she left it's Veg. Thukpa (noodles) everyday for me...that or momo's. Both of which are good...but I'll just say I'm starting to miss having my own kitchen.

Saga at Tso Pema

So it's been an interesting month here in Tso Pema...the place where Guru Rinpoche eloped(?) with Princess Mansarovar and when her father found out he imprisoned her (the main road in Mandi is still called Jail rd.) and then attempted to burn Guru Rinpoche to death...which of course didn't happen as the lake formed around him the more fuel they put, the king repented that he hadn't realized what an accomplished yogi G.R. was. O.k that's the short version for all who don't know the story so I don't bore those who do. One thing about this pilgrimage is that Guru Rinpoche plays a major role...seeing how he was also in Bhutan...that big cave up on the mountain we visited called Tigers Nest...lots of Guru Rinpoche places in Ladakh as well and the whole kora around Tso Pema...and my long intention to visit Bodinath in Nepal...yep he was there too in his previous incarnation as the womans son...who helped build it...So now when the foot heals enough to get up to Lama Wangdors statue gonpa (see photo)... I have been invited to help paint the interior...I'm only just starting to shake in my shoes...can I possibly do this...well I can at least just put up the base coat...and maybe some decorations...I'm sure I'm nowhere near ready to paint a life size mural of any buddha or tara or vajrayogin...and it terrifies me that I might be asked to...but all things in time will appear as they will. ( Tashi the sculpture who invited me to help paint if I have time.)
So on arrival here back when I could still trapse about one of the local attractions is the visit the cave where G.R. and Mansarovar spent their time in meditation, etc. so I went up the mountain for a visit and met the nuns who live all round about the place...which is preserved with help from Lama Wangdor who visited SRMC during the 2 mo retreat back when I was there...anyway it was a lovely quiet place and the village on top of the hill is maybe one of the sweetest I've seen maybe ever...instead of taking the bus back to town or the direct stairs I decided to have a walk about the lake I had seen...there used to be 7 lakes here and they fit into the Hindu cosmology so there is a big statue of the monkey king Hanuman near one of them...this walk took me away from the road and behind the hill with the village...I saw no one except one sheep herder yelling at his goats...so it was the quietest place I've been in India ever...astonishingly quiet...for a sunny 3 hour walk cool in the shade, occasional bird noises and lizards hiding under bushes.
This walk turned into an adventure when I got back where the road meets the path near the 1st lake and I tried to hitch a ride on a scooter but there were already 2...so I thought I could walk or wait, so I walked a few paces down the road and discovered a stone stairway of sorts down the mountain and started to skip hop down not knowing where this path would go but knowing down was at least the right way for now...at one point through the tops of the trees I spotted a temple that looked intriguing...for the lack of much else around...I mean there are temples everywhere so why this one looked so intriguing I can't say, something about seeing it through the trees like that, I just had to try to find it...of course the thing about being in a forest is that at some point you can't see the tops anymore...so I kept my bearing and eventually found that I had skirted my destination and had to back track a bit...but finally success. As I reached the place a young woman and elderly man on a porch noticed me approaching and came around from the back of the temple when I noticed that the girl was on crutches....and she was very pretty. (theres a pic of her at the top of the page.) Meenu is her name and her father has been building the temple for as many years as she's been alive...work has slowed in the last years due to his health and the cost of materials needed to finish...but what is so astounding is that this temple that he built is to Tara of all the Hindu deities...and they told me many fascinating stories about the construction...and I became friends with Meenu who is herself a dancer...and the cast is from an unfortunate accident on a bus...hmmm...and she speaks perfect english...which in this small village suddenly surprised me. We had a lovely afternoon and they fed me lunch which I needed after all the walking and not a shop anywhere...till the late afternoon when I felt I needed to find the rest of the way back to town which turned out to be not so far away...which meant that I revisited my friends again a couple times...before...well...I fell.

NO News

Wow. What a long time it's been. One thing about using this is that I can tell when I haven't been near a puker for awhile...So after getting unstuck from Leh...I made it down to Spiti (fotos coming to a f.b. near you), kinnaur and back to Shimla...once in shimla my friends in the refugee camp wouldn't hear of me getting ripped off as high season was upon the hotels...and if you could find a room the price (by India standards) was unreasonable...so once again I stayed in the alley. Then I discovered that the Rinpoche (he is the head Ngima lama) that I had met on my way to Ladakh had just returned from travels so I was able the meet him again on my way back from Ladakh...this time he asked who I was and from where..."Ameriga ne in", I said. Ahhh he said and pushed my head closer to the floor after dropping a blessing cord in my outreached hand. So now in Tso Pema for the last few weeks for those of you with out F.B. I have been recupperating from a bad sprained ankle which is almost better now so hopefully soon I will be back on the move to Dharamsala and beyond. Pics just finished uploading so I better get back to that.