Phew! It's been difficult to post the past 3 weeks. In addition to being ridicuously busy/absorbed in the program, my internet time has been sucked up by course/housing registration, photo posting, and writing essays (I gave up on hand-written). And, even now, I've only got fifteen minutes before the cafe closes :(.
Well, Zen came and went. We spent three weeks meditating under the guidance of Sensei Ekai Korematsu, whose presence and awareness filled up the room every time we sat in meditation or listened to his dharma talks. He's Japanese, but went to college in the U.S. in the early 70s, was formally trained in Japan, but now has a family and teaches in Australia. He laughed a lot, which I'd never seen in a Zen teacher, and was very aware of the struggles that Westerners had in taking on Zen meditation.
I had some experience before with Zen practice, and really benefited from taking it on again in a formal context. In particular, working with the very formal sitting, bowing, and walking techniques was of great benefit. I also enjoyed multiple conversations with the teacher where I got to ask questions about Zen practice I had been wondering for years. He clarified a lot. I was also given the chance to be the bell ringer for our 24-hour Zen retreat. I can't express how grateful I am to have been given, prematurely, that responsibility. It reminded me of how much I enjoy being in a leadership role -- a spot that's somehow behind the scenes of a particular ritual/performance/project. I also got to see my mind in a new way, up against this very formal practice. There's lots more to say about Zen, but much much more not to say, so I'll leave it at that.
I've decided the topic and location of my Independent Study. Meaning, I know where I'll be in India for four weeks of November and Decemeber. I am going to Dharamsala, India -- the capital of the Tibetan Government in Exile, and the largest refugee center for Tibetans. While I'm there I will be doing a retreat in a form of Tibetan mediation focused on cultivating compassion; I'll spend a week or two interviewing monks/nuns about the practice and doing library research, and then the last week I'll write my paper. Around December 10, I head back to Bodh Gaya for one more week to view other students' presentations/projects and to present my own research paper. I am leaking with joy and gratitude to get to visit this highly significant cultural (and tourist) center. Since the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Dharamsala has served as a major place of teaching, ritual, tourist attraction, and political significance (although it's a very safe area, not as caught up in Tibet/Chinese tension as say Lhasla).
I hope you've all enjoyed the pictures (I'll try to caption them if I can).
Also, if you want to send me any mail, I'd be happy to receive it! The address is
c/o Burmese Vihar
Bodh Gaya, Bihar
INDIA 824231
Mail can take from 1-2 weeks. Don't send anything valuable or fragile!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Pictures Through Week 5
Hi, everybody! Pictures are posted! Just visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/aenkanus/India1#
After hours of commputer time and messes galore, I got a decent amount posted from my digital camera -- virus-free! I have about a thousand prefaces before viewing them:
- The sequence makes absolutely no sense at all. There are breaks and confusion in the order in at least ten different places.
- I haven't had time yet to post comments to give them context. That will require much more time. But, I hope to in the future!
- These are only half of the photos. I'll be bringing the less-telling ones home with me.
- Also, when I come back to the States I'll post them all, likely in better quality too.
- Feel free to ask questions about them on the blog or picsaweb.
- Apologies, I haven't had any time to blog the past couple weeks. Perhaps, soon I can get down an entry. Thanks for your patience!
After hours of commputer time and messes galore, I got a decent amount posted from my digital camera -- virus-free! I have about a thousand prefaces before viewing them:
- The sequence makes absolutely no sense at all. There are breaks and confusion in the order in at least ten different places.
- I haven't had time yet to post comments to give them context. That will require much more time. But, I hope to in the future!
- These are only half of the photos. I'll be bringing the less-telling ones home with me.
- Also, when I come back to the States I'll post them all, likely in better quality too.
- Feel free to ask questions about them on the blog or picsaweb.
- Apologies, I haven't had any time to blog the past couple weeks. Perhaps, soon I can get down an entry. Thanks for your patience!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Bodh Gaya - 3rd Week
Hello everybody!
I am alive, healthy, and happy, though exhausted, after my third week in Bodh Gaya. We just ended our three week session on the Theravada/Vipassana tradition. This next week we move on to study Mahayana and begin practicing Zen meditation. I just returned Sunday morning from Varanasi, India; most of this entry is about that trip.
Varanasi (or Benares) was both delightful and exhausting! Many of the students decided to take the four hour train ride west this past weekend, because we had an extended 3-day weekend. Varanasi holds deep cultural significance for Indians and Hindus for a variety of reasons, but its main focus is the series of ghats, temples/ashrams which have steps that descend into the Ganges river. I took a lot of pictures but am still figuring out how to upload them safely . . . Here are a few from google.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/india/images/varanasi/ghats2-cc-taraonholiday.jpg
http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/NorthIndia/Varanasi/VaranasiGhats08.jpg
http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/NorthIndia/Varanasi/VaranasiGhats45.jpg
Although we met up with other Antioch students there, I only tavelled with two other students: my friends Matt and Ryan. Thursday evening we squeezed on to the train - my first time on Sleeper class, the second most crammed way of traveling by train, the next being out-right no reservation seating (the ridiculously crammed trains you may have seen pictures of). It was really fun though; I got to sit on some fold down bunks with a nice family from Calcutta. On the way back, the family wasn't as hospitable. I curled up around my backpack in one of the high bunks meant for luggage and napped until seats opened up.
We stayed at a nice hotel and ate really well. Some favorites were a local bakery with amazing muesli and a Nepali-run restaurant with everything you could imagine prepared deliciously. Even at a higher-end restauraunt like this, I could eat a whole meal for the equivalent of 2-5 dollars.
The first day we toured the ghats by walking along the Ganges river and through the narrow gulleys that connect tenements, temples, shops, fruit stands, etc. They're crammed in a lovely, dirty way and were always compounded with a wide range of smells. From ghee, to oil, to perfume, to urine, to incense, to cow shit. Cows, bulls, buffalo are everywhere on the same streets as humans and can often be more civil (as with Bodh Gaya, a cow just walked past outside the window to my left). I got to sit down and drink chai with Shankarji, a really wonderful and interesting incense maker. He showed us everything from sandalwood, to lavendar, to bamboo that he (and his family) makes from scratch. I made away with some goodies there . . .
Our main objective though was to visit Manikaranika Ghat, Varanasi's main burning ghat. While the Ganges has sacred significance for many reasons, the main attraction for many is to be burned at one of the major ghats and to have one's ashes dumped into the holy river. The fires at Manikaranika are said to be 3,000 years old, begun with the death and burning of Shiva's mother. So a few of us made our way to decidedly respectful watching points, that were still only about 50-100 feet away. We sat there for a few hours, meditating on death and talking with those who approached us. I got to speak with an older man who's worked there for lord knows how long, tending to the cows that give the milk for the food stand right there on the river. Also, while talking with him, the great-grandchildren (a few men in their late twenties) of the deceased man being burned then came over and chatted with me, mostly about subjects besides death: Bodh Gaya, Indian food, Islam . . . I won't describe much more of what I saw, but if you're interested in hearing more perhaps we can talk when I return.
That night we also went to the guru puja at the main ghat, a cermony held at the river. Puja (worship) also happens in the mornings, as a group of us got to see at 4am the next morning, when we took an amazingly beautiful boatride down the Ganges at dawn. Next to be burned at the Ganges, it's considered quite auspicious to bathe in the Ganges too . . . So we got to see that - a rather regular practice for people who live in Varanasi.
In addition to a late night classical music concert and an overwhelming visit to Varanasi's major mall, most of that next day was spent at Sarnath, one of the four major pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. The Sarnath Deer Park is considered to be the place where the Buddha gave his first teaching after becoming Enlightened in Bodh Gaya. We got to meditate at and tour the beautiful park that hosts stupas containing relics of the Buddha. They also had pillars from the Asokan empire (1st CE). For me, it was especially meaningful to get to meditate there and reflect on the Buddha's teaching. The location's spiritual presence was very powerful (like the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya) and it really pushed my concentration deeper. Definitely another place I would have to talk more about in person.
On a more superficial note, I talked down a street vendor from 1600 to 850 rupees (42 rupees to the dollar) for my first Buddha statue -- a 12 inch sandstone statue where his hands form the teaching mudra, he's considered to have used in Sarnath.
Well, like I said, I'm still recovering from the trip and am quite tired, so I'll leave it at that. As for all of you back home, I hope you're doing well and that your stocks weren't completely devastated these past few weeks!
I am alive, healthy, and happy, though exhausted, after my third week in Bodh Gaya. We just ended our three week session on the Theravada/Vipassana tradition. This next week we move on to study Mahayana and begin practicing Zen meditation. I just returned Sunday morning from Varanasi, India; most of this entry is about that trip.
Varanasi (or Benares) was both delightful and exhausting! Many of the students decided to take the four hour train ride west this past weekend, because we had an extended 3-day weekend. Varanasi holds deep cultural significance for Indians and Hindus for a variety of reasons, but its main focus is the series of ghats, temples/ashrams which have steps that descend into the Ganges river. I took a lot of pictures but am still figuring out how to upload them safely . . . Here are a few from google.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/india/images/varanasi/ghats2-cc-taraonholiday.jpg
http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/NorthIndia/Varanasi/VaranasiGhats08.jpg
http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/NorthIndia/Varanasi/VaranasiGhats45.jpg
Although we met up with other Antioch students there, I only tavelled with two other students: my friends Matt and Ryan. Thursday evening we squeezed on to the train - my first time on Sleeper class, the second most crammed way of traveling by train, the next being out-right no reservation seating (the ridiculously crammed trains you may have seen pictures of). It was really fun though; I got to sit on some fold down bunks with a nice family from Calcutta. On the way back, the family wasn't as hospitable. I curled up around my backpack in one of the high bunks meant for luggage and napped until seats opened up.
We stayed at a nice hotel and ate really well. Some favorites were a local bakery with amazing muesli and a Nepali-run restaurant with everything you could imagine prepared deliciously. Even at a higher-end restauraunt like this, I could eat a whole meal for the equivalent of 2-5 dollars.
The first day we toured the ghats by walking along the Ganges river and through the narrow gulleys that connect tenements, temples, shops, fruit stands, etc. They're crammed in a lovely, dirty way and were always compounded with a wide range of smells. From ghee, to oil, to perfume, to urine, to incense, to cow shit. Cows, bulls, buffalo are everywhere on the same streets as humans and can often be more civil (as with Bodh Gaya, a cow just walked past outside the window to my left). I got to sit down and drink chai with Shankarji, a really wonderful and interesting incense maker. He showed us everything from sandalwood, to lavendar, to bamboo that he (and his family) makes from scratch. I made away with some goodies there . . .
Our main objective though was to visit Manikaranika Ghat, Varanasi's main burning ghat. While the Ganges has sacred significance for many reasons, the main attraction for many is to be burned at one of the major ghats and to have one's ashes dumped into the holy river. The fires at Manikaranika are said to be 3,000 years old, begun with the death and burning of Shiva's mother. So a few of us made our way to decidedly respectful watching points, that were still only about 50-100 feet away. We sat there for a few hours, meditating on death and talking with those who approached us. I got to speak with an older man who's worked there for lord knows how long, tending to the cows that give the milk for the food stand right there on the river. Also, while talking with him, the great-grandchildren (a few men in their late twenties) of the deceased man being burned then came over and chatted with me, mostly about subjects besides death: Bodh Gaya, Indian food, Islam . . . I won't describe much more of what I saw, but if you're interested in hearing more perhaps we can talk when I return.
That night we also went to the guru puja at the main ghat, a cermony held at the river. Puja (worship) also happens in the mornings, as a group of us got to see at 4am the next morning, when we took an amazingly beautiful boatride down the Ganges at dawn. Next to be burned at the Ganges, it's considered quite auspicious to bathe in the Ganges too . . . So we got to see that - a rather regular practice for people who live in Varanasi.
In addition to a late night classical music concert and an overwhelming visit to Varanasi's major mall, most of that next day was spent at Sarnath, one of the four major pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. The Sarnath Deer Park is considered to be the place where the Buddha gave his first teaching after becoming Enlightened in Bodh Gaya. We got to meditate at and tour the beautiful park that hosts stupas containing relics of the Buddha. They also had pillars from the Asokan empire (1st CE). For me, it was especially meaningful to get to meditate there and reflect on the Buddha's teaching. The location's spiritual presence was very powerful (like the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya) and it really pushed my concentration deeper. Definitely another place I would have to talk more about in person.
On a more superficial note, I talked down a street vendor from 1600 to 850 rupees (42 rupees to the dollar) for my first Buddha statue -- a 12 inch sandstone statue where his hands form the teaching mudra, he's considered to have used in Sarnath.
Well, like I said, I'm still recovering from the trip and am quite tired, so I'll leave it at that. As for all of you back home, I hope you're doing well and that your stocks weren't completely devastated these past few weeks!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Bodh Gaya - 2nd Week
Hello everybody,
It's the end of my second week, and I'm very happy and healthy. Thanks to everyone who has been following along my journey; I love reading your comments. A brief note: because most internet cafe computers lack anti-virus software, there's considerable risk in plugging my digital camera into them to upload pictures, and that's why I haven't managed to share them with you all just yet. Thanks for being patient. If I ever do find a safe computer, I'll do my best to post them.
Last time I left you I was about to go through temporary monastic ordination (1 week) in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist tradition. Well, I currently type from inside a humid internet cafe, adorned in my brown monastic robes and American sneakers. This is the first time I've wanted to leave the vihar since ordination; I'll definitely be getting out more after I "de-robe" on Monday and return to lay life. This experience as a temporary monk has been deeply satisfying and reflective for me. Taking on 5 additional precepts has made me reflect more on the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of my thoughts and actions, and the benefits of following the vinaya, or Buddhist monastic code. Most meaningful has been going through this with other curious American students. Every night at 7pm we (the ten monks who ordained) get to sit, sip honey-lemon tea and discuss Buddhism, philosophy, Burmese culture, ice hockey, and a whole range of topics with our Vipassana teacher Uh Lha Myint. This weekend the ordination experience ends with a 48-hour silent Vipassana retreat, which we'll spend most of in Vipassana sitting and walking meditation. Needless to say, I anticipate it with great joy. It will certainly be a challenge.
This week I also got to write and turn in my first paper . . . all hand-written! I started a week early and it took a lot of time. As many of you know, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to essays, so I had plenty of loose-leaf thrown about my room scribbled with black, red, and blue print, arrows, 'x's, and editing comments. I wrote this paper for my philosophy class on petas, or "hungry ghosts", as they are seen within the Theravadan Buddhist tradition. The idea was sparked by constant references to ghosts in Bodh Gaya, and the ubiquitous belief in ghosts among Theravadins. For them, hungry ghosts occupy one of the six major realms of being - humans occupy a higher one. I learned a lot, and have a lot to say about the subject if you're curious to talk about it. Or, you could just pack a bag of raw meat and head into the cemetary at midnight and engage them yourself. But most Buddhists don't recommend it.
The Philosophy class has been wonderful. It's taught by an alum from this program who has gone on to study in Tibet, get his masters from Naropa in Tibetan Buddhist Studies, and who is now completing his Phd at Harvard. He's ridiculously knowledgeable, but easy to talk to. His lectures are dense and trance-like, and I'm constantly impressed and appreciative of my peers' engagement and probing questions. Our professor really engages students outside of class too, so there's already a very strong back and forth between us on a whole range of topics, which seem to be pushing his understanding too.
Well, I have to be getting back to the vihar (monastery). Hopefully through these entries I can drop not only updates but also more consistent pieces of the experience so that you all can get an image of what it's like to live in Bodh Gaya.
Again, thanks for keeping track. It's always securing to have a few tethers back home.
It's the end of my second week, and I'm very happy and healthy. Thanks to everyone who has been following along my journey; I love reading your comments. A brief note: because most internet cafe computers lack anti-virus software, there's considerable risk in plugging my digital camera into them to upload pictures, and that's why I haven't managed to share them with you all just yet. Thanks for being patient. If I ever do find a safe computer, I'll do my best to post them.
Last time I left you I was about to go through temporary monastic ordination (1 week) in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist tradition. Well, I currently type from inside a humid internet cafe, adorned in my brown monastic robes and American sneakers. This is the first time I've wanted to leave the vihar since ordination; I'll definitely be getting out more after I "de-robe" on Monday and return to lay life. This experience as a temporary monk has been deeply satisfying and reflective for me. Taking on 5 additional precepts has made me reflect more on the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of my thoughts and actions, and the benefits of following the vinaya, or Buddhist monastic code. Most meaningful has been going through this with other curious American students. Every night at 7pm we (the ten monks who ordained) get to sit, sip honey-lemon tea and discuss Buddhism, philosophy, Burmese culture, ice hockey, and a whole range of topics with our Vipassana teacher Uh Lha Myint. This weekend the ordination experience ends with a 48-hour silent Vipassana retreat, which we'll spend most of in Vipassana sitting and walking meditation. Needless to say, I anticipate it with great joy. It will certainly be a challenge.
This week I also got to write and turn in my first paper . . . all hand-written! I started a week early and it took a lot of time. As many of you know, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to essays, so I had plenty of loose-leaf thrown about my room scribbled with black, red, and blue print, arrows, 'x's, and editing comments. I wrote this paper for my philosophy class on petas, or "hungry ghosts", as they are seen within the Theravadan Buddhist tradition. The idea was sparked by constant references to ghosts in Bodh Gaya, and the ubiquitous belief in ghosts among Theravadins. For them, hungry ghosts occupy one of the six major realms of being - humans occupy a higher one. I learned a lot, and have a lot to say about the subject if you're curious to talk about it. Or, you could just pack a bag of raw meat and head into the cemetary at midnight and engage them yourself. But most Buddhists don't recommend it.
The Philosophy class has been wonderful. It's taught by an alum from this program who has gone on to study in Tibet, get his masters from Naropa in Tibetan Buddhist Studies, and who is now completing his Phd at Harvard. He's ridiculously knowledgeable, but easy to talk to. His lectures are dense and trance-like, and I'm constantly impressed and appreciative of my peers' engagement and probing questions. Our professor really engages students outside of class too, so there's already a very strong back and forth between us on a whole range of topics, which seem to be pushing his understanding too.
Well, I have to be getting back to the vihar (monastery). Hopefully through these entries I can drop not only updates but also more consistent pieces of the experience so that you all can get an image of what it's like to live in Bodh Gaya.
Again, thanks for keeping track. It's always securing to have a few tethers back home.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Bodh Gaya - First Week
Namaste all,
Hello from Bodh Gaya, my home for the previous ten days. Our group arrived from Delhi and began classes last week. The moment I stepped off the bus, I knew this was the right place and the right time for me. Simply put, the spiritual vibration of Bodh Gaya is quite intense, especially around the Mahabodhi Temple - the central temple grounds around the Bodhi Tree (where the Buddha attained enlightenment). This is, of course, compounded by the regular Indian, half-modernizing, half crumbling, half-ancient, half-renovated environment. The road outside the vihar is littered with every imaginable 5-note combination squanking out of tourist buses - their horns are more like broken-trumpet ringtones than anything else, an interesting addition to our meditation practice!
The program has been wonderful in terms of accomodation: decent rooms, clean facilities, clean, nutritious food, and countless tips for staying healthy. I've had no illness so far, and, apparently, our group has been record breaking in terms of health. Hardly anyone has gotten sick: some colds and diareha, but nothing abnormal.
Some fun cultural experiences . . . Toilet adjustment has been a blast. Most toilets are fancy holes in the ground with no toilet paper. But squatting has turned out to be a nice leg stretch, and water is more effective than you'd think for anal cleanliness!
Generally (but not absolutely) speaking, Indians have a much more liberal sense of personal space, are friendlier and looser, are crude in conversation with each other but very gentle with Westerners (unless they want your money), and they have no problem staring at you for 5-10 minutes straight. Long eye-to-eye glares aren't considered rude here, nevertheless they make me feel the whole range of awkard, spectacle, handsome, intrusive . . . There's no blaming them though; a 6'4'' white guy in traditional white Indian clothing is probably quite the sight. The shaved head certainly adds to it.
On the subject of clothing, like many other students I've adopted traditional Indian dress, even though most Indians actually where Western clothing these days. The clothes are amazingly comfortable, light, and beautiful. If you want to google-pic: corta, pajama pants, and doti. I really wish I could pull off a doti in the States (basically a man's, Greekish, white, skirt). Indians give me the strangest compliments, "You. Doti. You know you're whering a Doti? Good! You look good! Like Gandhi. You Indian man now! Very rich, very high." What makes me feel really nice and priveledged are my tailored clothes and sandals. They fit wonderfully and were ridiculously cheap.
Speaking of tailors. I befriened my tailor Makshud of "Good and Best Tailors" -- a 26-year-old, kind, but soft-spoken Muslim man. One night, a friend and I got to join him for dinner at his home. It was wonderful. He lives in a quite small tenement near the monastery with family members and a cow (the cow's outside, sort of . . . in India, very little is definitively outdoors or indoors.) We hung out and watched Indian TV (obnoxiously entertaining), although the power switched off every hour or so because it was raining.
I could speak volumes about the curriculum, but I have to keep it short. In brief, the classes are like any other good liberal arts classes; they're definitely enriched by living with the professors! The way in which they teach the meditation course is in three three-week segments. One focusing on Vipassana, the next Zen, and the last Tibetan. We have asian teachers from the traditions who come in and instruct, which has been wonderfully enriching as well. Perhaps, I will illucidate more about the curriculum and meditation in my next entry.
Next week, I will be participating with about 15 others in Burmese temporary lay ordination. Which basically means we get to become monks for 10 days -- taking on additional precepts, wearing the robes, and behaving like monks and nuns. This is a regular ritual in Burma and other Theravadan Buddhist countries, and I'm quite eager and grateful to be participating in it.
Two weeks from now will be our first long weekend. My friend Matt and I will be heading to Varanasi. Perhaps, in future entries, I will discuss some of the friends I'm making: a lot of really interesting, wonderful people who have made this trip a joy for me.
You can expect entries about every week or two because there is not a lot of time to get out of the monastery during the week.
Take care.
Hello from Bodh Gaya, my home for the previous ten days. Our group arrived from Delhi and began classes last week. The moment I stepped off the bus, I knew this was the right place and the right time for me. Simply put, the spiritual vibration of Bodh Gaya is quite intense, especially around the Mahabodhi Temple - the central temple grounds around the Bodhi Tree (where the Buddha attained enlightenment). This is, of course, compounded by the regular Indian, half-modernizing, half crumbling, half-ancient, half-renovated environment. The road outside the vihar is littered with every imaginable 5-note combination squanking out of tourist buses - their horns are more like broken-trumpet ringtones than anything else, an interesting addition to our meditation practice!
The program has been wonderful in terms of accomodation: decent rooms, clean facilities, clean, nutritious food, and countless tips for staying healthy. I've had no illness so far, and, apparently, our group has been record breaking in terms of health. Hardly anyone has gotten sick: some colds and diareha, but nothing abnormal.
Some fun cultural experiences . . . Toilet adjustment has been a blast. Most toilets are fancy holes in the ground with no toilet paper. But squatting has turned out to be a nice leg stretch, and water is more effective than you'd think for anal cleanliness!
Generally (but not absolutely) speaking, Indians have a much more liberal sense of personal space, are friendlier and looser, are crude in conversation with each other but very gentle with Westerners (unless they want your money), and they have no problem staring at you for 5-10 minutes straight. Long eye-to-eye glares aren't considered rude here, nevertheless they make me feel the whole range of awkard, spectacle, handsome, intrusive . . . There's no blaming them though; a 6'4'' white guy in traditional white Indian clothing is probably quite the sight. The shaved head certainly adds to it.
On the subject of clothing, like many other students I've adopted traditional Indian dress, even though most Indians actually where Western clothing these days. The clothes are amazingly comfortable, light, and beautiful. If you want to google-pic: corta, pajama pants, and doti. I really wish I could pull off a doti in the States (basically a man's, Greekish, white, skirt). Indians give me the strangest compliments, "You. Doti. You know you're whering a Doti? Good! You look good! Like Gandhi. You Indian man now! Very rich, very high." What makes me feel really nice and priveledged are my tailored clothes and sandals. They fit wonderfully and were ridiculously cheap.
Speaking of tailors. I befriened my tailor Makshud of "Good and Best Tailors" -- a 26-year-old, kind, but soft-spoken Muslim man. One night, a friend and I got to join him for dinner at his home. It was wonderful. He lives in a quite small tenement near the monastery with family members and a cow (the cow's outside, sort of . . . in India, very little is definitively outdoors or indoors.) We hung out and watched Indian TV (obnoxiously entertaining), although the power switched off every hour or so because it was raining.
I could speak volumes about the curriculum, but I have to keep it short. In brief, the classes are like any other good liberal arts classes; they're definitely enriched by living with the professors! The way in which they teach the meditation course is in three three-week segments. One focusing on Vipassana, the next Zen, and the last Tibetan. We have asian teachers from the traditions who come in and instruct, which has been wonderfully enriching as well. Perhaps, I will illucidate more about the curriculum and meditation in my next entry.
Next week, I will be participating with about 15 others in Burmese temporary lay ordination. Which basically means we get to become monks for 10 days -- taking on additional precepts, wearing the robes, and behaving like monks and nuns. This is a regular ritual in Burma and other Theravadan Buddhist countries, and I'm quite eager and grateful to be participating in it.
Two weeks from now will be our first long weekend. My friend Matt and I will be heading to Varanasi. Perhaps, in future entries, I will discuss some of the friends I'm making: a lot of really interesting, wonderful people who have made this trip a joy for me.
You can expect entries about every week or two because there is not a lot of time to get out of the monastery during the week.
Take care.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
6th Day - Delhi
Our group arrived yesterday morning in Delhi airport after an 8 hour flight, and the day transpired into quite the adventure. It was my first day outside of the U.S./Canada/UK and my first in a third world country, so, of course, there was a lot of new sights and experiences on the trip from the airport alone: ridiculously chaotic traffic, lots of road construction w/o the American safety amenities, low ceilings, amazing and terrible smells, and people napping everywhere from roadsides, to gutters, to on top of buildings and cars.
We arrived at our YMCA hostel, checked in, etc. I showered, but actually shrugged off the initial groups of people heading out to eat and such because I wanted more rest. By mid-afternoon, I decided to go out, grab something vegetarian/cooked/safe-looking/water-free to eat, perhaps find a cheap rate on a phone, and see if I could find my peers who were heading towards one of Delhi's (perhaps India's?) largest Sikh temples close by. Well, I went out alone, which was a fantastic idea, yet something I'll avoid doing in the future. Within twenty minutes I had made two complete rotations through the six realms of being: heaven (beautifully new smells, flower arrangements, people, clothing), human (massive amounts squeezed into confined spaces), titan (aggressively friendly street-vendors, motor-rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, teenagers looking for a kick), hell (poverty you just have to see for yourself), hungry ghost (all kinds of beggars/scam artists) , and animal (monkeys, cats, dogs (alive and dead)). Well, twenty minutes later and only one task achieved (a safe-looking veggie sandwich), I found some of my friends in a market -- boy did they stand out -- and we made our way to the Sikh temple.
The Sikh temple was quite beautiful; here's someone else's pic (http://www.worldchanging.com/temple.jpg). We kind of just wandered in, found out what was expected in terms of hair coverage, prostration, donation, feet washing, and enjoyed sitting, listening to tabla/sitar music and Sikh proselytizing (presumably in Hindi) booming from speakers all around: a tremendous spiritual vibration to absorb. Meditation was quite effortless; all you needed to do was close your eyes.
Well, nothing too interesting after that. Today at 1:00 PM, I meet with my acarya (teacher, adviser, friend) from Ananda Marga, Dada Rudraprakeshananda, who led me through my experience at the retreat center this summer at Ananda Kanan. We arranged to meet some time ago, and I'm very excited to see him again and have a trustworthy Indian lead me around!
In terms of culture shock, I'm doing surprisingly wonderful at the moment. At the moment . . . I'm sure that'll all change as time goes on.
That's all for now.
We arrived at our YMCA hostel, checked in, etc. I showered, but actually shrugged off the initial groups of people heading out to eat and such because I wanted more rest. By mid-afternoon, I decided to go out, grab something vegetarian/cooked/safe-looking/water-free to eat, perhaps find a cheap rate on a phone, and see if I could find my peers who were heading towards one of Delhi's (perhaps India's?) largest Sikh temples close by. Well, I went out alone, which was a fantastic idea, yet something I'll avoid doing in the future. Within twenty minutes I had made two complete rotations through the six realms of being: heaven (beautifully new smells, flower arrangements, people, clothing), human (massive amounts squeezed into confined spaces), titan (aggressively friendly street-vendors, motor-rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, teenagers looking for a kick), hell (poverty you just have to see for yourself), hungry ghost (all kinds of beggars/scam artists) , and animal (monkeys, cats, dogs (alive and dead)). Well, twenty minutes later and only one task achieved (a safe-looking veggie sandwich), I found some of my friends in a market -- boy did they stand out -- and we made our way to the Sikh temple.
The Sikh temple was quite beautiful; here's someone else's pic (http://www.worldchanging.com/temple.jpg). We kind of just wandered in, found out what was expected in terms of hair coverage, prostration, donation, feet washing, and enjoyed sitting, listening to tabla/sitar music and Sikh proselytizing (presumably in Hindi) booming from speakers all around: a tremendous spiritual vibration to absorb. Meditation was quite effortless; all you needed to do was close your eyes.
Well, nothing too interesting after that. Today at 1:00 PM, I meet with my acarya (teacher, adviser, friend) from Ananda Marga, Dada Rudraprakeshananda, who led me through my experience at the retreat center this summer at Ananda Kanan. We arranged to meet some time ago, and I'm very excited to see him again and have a trustworthy Indian lead me around!
In terms of culture shock, I'm doing surprisingly wonderful at the moment. At the moment . . . I'm sure that'll all change as time goes on.
That's all for now.
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