Day 2 in the Himalayan foothills

Hi all,

Day 2 in Dharmsala in the Himalayan foothills. We spent this morning in meditation and prayer with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and about a thousand people from all over Asia. To say that I was moved is an understatement. HH spoke on karma (actions) and selflessness and discussed some very basic Buddist texts. Hearing these ideas while sitting cross-legged among a thousand others, equally intent on understanding and practicing the the ideas, was to experience the dissolution of cultural and national boundaries. The entire hall was intent on learning together and the sense of "self" was transformed into a sense of "all are one". It was an amazing experience - still hard to describe.

Although HH was speaking in Tibetan, we heard transalations through our little Walgreen FM radios. We were sitting on mats among the Vietnamese Buddist delegation and were able to see His Holiness on the big screen t.v. just in front of us. Unfortunately, we did not find spots in the main room, which was very small and mostly reserved for the Russian Buddists. Next to us were pilgrims from Spain, Cambodia, Bhutan, and a sprinkling of fairly caucasian faces from Europe. Monks in saffron and paprika colored robes were everywhere, seemingly impervious to the morning chill in their mostly bare feet and shaved heads. About an hour into the 3 hour teaching, the monks served Tibetan bread (a lot like very big English muffins) and Tibetan tea (a brew of yak butter/milk and tea) from giant, silver tea urns that they carried throughout the hall. Pilgrims passed cups up and back to the monks, with the cups surprisingly finding their rightful owners in the mass of seated people. Marty was not very fond of the yak tea, it had a decidedly gamey taste to it.

Tomorrow I will return to HH's teaching and in the afternoon we tour the Tibetan Children's Village, a boarding school for Tibetan children from ages 12-18y) and a tea plantation. Thursday we leave at noon, stop at Norbilingka Institute (a Buddist teaching center) and then drive to Chandgarh) (oh no.... the bus.... again). No other way out of Dharmsala, no planes or trains could make it up these mountain curves and narrow roads. Talk to everyone soon. Thanks for checking in on Ben.

Donna and Marty