being the storm

Just got back from a whirlwind excursion to the Nepal border and back to Manali via Delhi, Shimla. 5 days or rather nights on the move. 1 night bus to Delhi from Manali. 1 night train Delhi to Gurakpur. 1, 2hr ride to the border town Sunauli where the monsoon had just broken through for the first time this year and the stories I've heard of people singing and dancing are true but also at least one fight broke out over an accident and the "victim" was strangling the poor guy in the puddles. The immigration officer decided to give me a break this day so I wouldn't get stuck in the rain in Nepal...so Lumbini will have to wait till December. After my friendly interface with the immigration officials I turned around and headed back to Gorakpur by local bus. Got the next night train to Dehli. Arrived Dehli got the next bus to Shimla. Spent the afternoon with my Ani friend Palzes who I will travel to Ladakh with as she's from Leh. She sent me to the bus depot early as it looked like rain...and fortunately I got there just as the really heavy rains broke...we all had to wade out the the bus. The bus stand of course stands on one of Delhis flood plains. I did have time to make a new friend Lama Pema (who has made great effort to help me meet Rinpoche (see below)) from Shimla who is expanding a monastery in Sikkim where I will have to visit one of these days now. Once in Shimla I took a couple nights rest and spent most of my time with my Shimla family...timing being everything I was lucky because this time the head Rinpoche of the Ningmapa sect was home...so we took a morning outing to get blessings and "mo's". Caught the 9:40pm bus to Manali...where I hoped to arrive later in the morning but got here about 5am. Headed over to Vishisht for a hot bath in the sacred pools had breakfast at about 6:30 started walking to Old Manali about 8am and got to Simones house just as the sun was getting too hot to be outside and just in time for chai and chapatis. Of course in all this activity I've discovered I left my camera in Shimla, "Tsewang being the "psychic one" kept asking me if I'd left anything", and me being the lucky one his sister is headed to Dharamsala tonight so I can pick it up from her (whoever heard of someone heading to Ladakh without a camera!)...as I am also headed there to drop off a few things perhaps register with FRO if I have time and then head to the Pathankot train station by the 3rd aug.(?) to meet Ani Palzes on her way to Jammu and home in Mulbeck. Where there will be a festival and she has arranged a car to take us to various monasteries...after which I hope to find a hole to crawl into and rest for a week before the teachings with HHDL begin. Just now Lama Pema called and mentioned he will also be in Ladakh for the teachings...and like a blessing the rain has come again. Keeping me chillin on the porch instead of rushing off to buy that bus ticket.

Ohm Manali

So after a disastrous beginning on the bus from Shimla (tire issues…Ohm Mani Manali Padme Hum) I made it safely to Old Manali. Where I’ve been now for a few days exploring the hillsides, getting into small relatively unvisited villages and buying wool socks from the knitter instead of the shop-keeper, crossing wood planked footbridges over the swelling river as monsoon has come (though not in the way it does in Delhi) enjoying the views of mountains and valleys that surely would have inspired John Muir including a few water falls, finding my way to the local hot springs in Vishist after meeting up with S. from Pengrove and Z. from Indiana. Having dahl and rice for breakfast with her old landlord who has offered me a free room in winter in exchange for english lessons during which time the family also makes time for ski trips up the same valley the guy I’m going to buy my ticket to Leh from has suggested I go paragliding over…I’ll have to think about that one.
After b-fast I found my way to the Tibetan temple I saw from across the river. A small temple but there is a photo some early Tibetan arrival who used the cave for practice and they’ve built a 4 story building to house the buddha, monks, etal. in front of it.
The biggest surprise on arrival here has been how similar the women dress to Bhutan…and now after a few days I realize that even the houses are somewhat similar…
Of course the Bhutan temple where my Ladaki friend Yobar (who I met in B.G.) grew up is very much like a Bhutan home…even the river running through town reminds me of Thimpu…but there are more trees here and it’s not being winter the air is really clean and fresh and pure. Sometime the sun is shining in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon…one can’t be sure…just try to make plans around the weather… forget it.
Today was the solar eclipse and I stayed in bed. Normally I’m going out very early in the morning for walking but today…somehow it didn’t happen…only found out about it on the news which I decided to watch today…a rare event in itself. But then I think my behavior is so influenced by the locals and I’m sure none of them went out to see it either… I heard that in Nepal everyone was advised to stay home including school kids…perhaps it was the same here. Unless they were all at the bath house which is also recommended during solar eclipse to purify the “negative effects” caused by the event.
Yesterday I had lunch with a woman from SF who is on her way through the Spiti Valley and will go to Leh afterwards. Her tour is 9 days and spits her out in Shimla. A tempting consideration. She however is moving much faster than me as she has to go back and teach in the fall so Spiti may be another time for me.
I am back to wondering how my backpack could possibly be so full considering all the years I’ve been able to travel with so little. What is it that I think I need here? Oh yeah, Khenchen Rinpoche made me promise to take my sleeping bag…but still…one little sleeping bag… a few changes of clothes…a pot to cook in…an extra pair of shoes…and it adds up…not to mention the bag of tsampa the 90y.o. ama I met gave me after a total misunderstanding about me being “like” an ani. You know no husband, no children…all the bhutanese and tibetans say it, “you’re like an ani”. Now if I could just find somewhere for that 3 yr. retreat…..
p.s. more pics on facebook

Last days Shimla

Sitting on/in an old school desk in the one room class for the tibetan refugee children down the narrow passage from the apartment... it's the kind where the desk is attached to the seat... and my knees barely fit under it...trying to find the place where we are in the Tara prayer book I've brought along. Just going at my own pace since it's the prayer that matters...We've all come together at Apa-la's (Tsewangs dad) request since Ashang-la has started a week long fast/dark/no sleep retreat. Ashang is Tsewangs uncle who is an oracle. I attended one of his chanting sessions in MCG. I was warned that some people become very afraid...I, of course, was right where I wanted to be.
So I'm happy to be sitting here knowing that there is the slightest possibility that I could be supporting him and all beings...Ahhh, here we are beginning the round. At least I know where we are in the book now...but it's the most I can do to keep up by just following my finger on the page and reading much less any sounds coming out of my mouth. And before I know it, it's Guru Rinpoche prayers and Om Mani Padme Hung...and everybody is leaving the schoolroom and I'm still sitting here doing one round of Tara in english.

More from Shimla

san jauli
i did turn this once
ama la and sister in la
shimla

San Jauli in the fog

Choepel Rinpoche

Tsewang and his dad

Tsewangs ama and ...I mean my Ama

Shimla to SanJauli

I was invited over to Shimla by one of my students Ama twice so I thought I better come over before heading up to Ladakh and missing the chance to spend quality time with a Tibetan family.
So now I have been adopted as a new granddaughter never mind that her youngest son is half my age. So life in the tibetan colony is a bit like life in the squat back in NYC so it has some familiarity to it if the language isn't. Tsumo tseyin. I can now almost read and it's so exciting! One of my monastic friends got me a tibetan english phrase book from Drepung monastery...mostly it's for tibetans as the phonetics are for english...but the tibetan words are there so I've been trying to write the sounds down. Which means my student is now my teacher and checks if I wrote it correctly so that I say it right.
Today I took a side trip on my own over to San Jauli to visit the Jonang temple there...
Having missed the stairwell up the mountain (without knowing of course). I followed the road till I could see monks running around the monastery and headed up a small trail till I could get with in earshot to say "Tashi Delek". Turns out the first person I met was the Rinpoche... who invited me to lunch. We tried in our broken dialects to communicate with each other and I got to see photos of Khakhu Rinpoche from Mongolia who is the Jonang lineage holder and turned this monastery into a Jonang monastery via the blessings of HHDL if I have the story right. Anyway it turns out I was right to read that book last year the Buddha of Dolpopa...because there he was with Kalachakra right next to him. We stopped by the office and had a chat with two monks named Namgyal both who spoke perfect english...one of them being english... the tibetan Namgyal took me on a tour over to the kalachakra retreat area (unfortunately only for monks) and up to the Palden Lamo and Nechung stupas where they celebrate the Panchen lamas birthday and also do fire pujas. This is just above the tibetan old folks home. On the way out I stopped by to say "Rinpoche la, dewoche" and he interupted his class, they are learning of course Prajnaparamita, to give me a kata. Many of the young monks here are from Mongolia and to the smiliest one of them I said "Inigiri" to tease him. My only mongolian word which means "smile". They will all soon be trilingual if not quatro- mongolian, tibetan, hindi, english. Who knows I imagine they might also speak some russian and chinese.
So they will give Arjia Rinpoche a little competition on that front.