Hello friends,
Happily settled in here in Tiruvannamalai. The weather is lovely and warm, my cold is almost gone, and I'm thinking that this is definitely more aligned with my hopes and dreams. You can breathe the air here, and there's a relaxed feeling about the people, and I think I might have mentioned already, it's warm.
Left Bodhgaya at 6 am on the 10th of January. Our taxi driver was waiting for us, which was a relief (you never know...). Traveled with my friend Michel from Montreal, and an Indian photographer from Bombay called Desai. Had a pleasant drive to Patna during which Desai told amusing stories about his adventures. One thing I learned is that taxi drivers, and specifically taxi drivers in Delhi, rip off Indians as badly as they do foreigners. He described incidents that involved either the police, or physical violence, or both. Somehow that made me feel a bit better, and also more confident in negotiating with them for a reasonable fare. Our plane to Delhi was "delayed," actually cancelled I suspect due to low ticket sales, and we went on a later flight. Michel and I parted company at the airport in Delhi, and as I had missed my connection to Chennai I had to arrange to get a seat on the next available flight. That gave time for some book shopping (got Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw) and a meal. Then the flight to Chennai; arrived 11:30 pm. My luggage did not make it to Chennai, so that involved some filling out of forms and sort of a hope and prayer that maybe they would get it to me eventually. The taxi driver had waited for me since 6 pm and we set off for the three and a half hour drive to Tiru. Two thirds of it was on a good four-lane highway with a lot of truck traffic. Easy going, the main problem being how to pass some of the slower trucks, some of them only going 40 km/h. About half the vehicles had no tail lights, and many of the trucks were moving building materials, mainly rebar for the concrete buildings that are everywhere. Also a lot of buses on the road taking people home for a big 3 day festival that's on right now. We passed a big new Ford plant that is just getting into production, and a lot of trucks were delivering shipping containers there. Then onto a two-lane paved road for the last bit. The road had some bad spots here and there, big potholes or broken pavement, but the driver seemed to know where they all were and would be slowed right down before we got to them. Arrived in Tiru at about 3:45 am. I had made a reservation at a guesthouse two days earlier, and let them know when I landed in Chennai that I would be arriving very late, and nothing seemed amiss. The front gate of the building was locked and a guy was asleep just inside the gate, so we had to wake him up. He woke up grumpy, opened the gate and right away started saying there were no rooms. I explained to him that I had reserved a room two days before, and confirmed a few hours earlier, but he kept saying there was no room. My friend, Meena, had told me that there are times in India when you don't take no for an answer, and it seemed like this was one of those times. I didn't argue with the guy, but I was inside the gate and I had set my hand luggage on the ground, and I just stood there and made it clear that I wasn't going anywhere. He kept saying over and over for maybe ten minutes that there were no rooms, to me in broken English, and to the driver in Tamil. When he realized that I wasn't going anywhere, the story abruptly changed, and it turned out there was a room after all, that had been vacated that day and hadn't been cleaned yet. I wasn't about to be too picky about that, so he showed me the room and I took it. Slept very soundly, negotiated the rate the next morning (only Rs300 per night), got the room cleaned, and all is well. I got a phone call at 10:30 the next evening and a guy showed up in an autorickshaw with my backpack. Amazing. Really didn't know how that was going to turn out.
So, Tiruvannamalai. When I was in Bodhgaya I was sure that I was at the holiest place on the planet. And now I'm living at the foot of Arunachala, and this seems like the holiest place on earth. How to decide these things? In any case, this place has definitely cast its spell on me. A fellow student of Mingyur Rinpoche, Bindu, arrived here on the 11th and we spent most of three days together. We were up early and circumambulated the holy mountain, starting at 5am in the dark, and back in town again by about 7:30 for breakfast. Then off to Satsang with Mooji (see him at mooji.org and search for him on Youtube), then lunch, then some wandering or a little shopping or whatever, and some dinner, then off our separate ways, and do it all again tomorrow. She was one of the people who planted the seed in my mind to come to India in the first place, and it was really great to have the chance to spend time with her here and walk and talk and just let our minds roam around in each other's company. Her Indian adventure is almost over, she's back in Delhi now for her flight home to Belgium, so now I'm on my own, doing mostly the same things. I slept in this morning though and didn't do the walk :-). The Mooji Satsangs have been a revelation. I knew him only from his website and Youtube, but in person the effect is very powerful. And it seems that the effect is cumulative and every day it goes deeper.
It's getting pretty near time to be thinking about booking my flight to Delhi for the trip back. A somewhat melancholy thought. If things were otherwise, I'd be staying until my visa expired. As difficult as it can be, India does get under your skin. Something changes. Hard to be more precise than that. So I'll just coast for these last days, let India do its magic, look at this mountain, listen to Mooji, let it all sink in...
Still planning to post some pictures.... :-)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
last few days in Bodhgaya
Hello friends…
Writing this in the evening at my guesthouse room. It’s the beginning of the end in Bodhgaya, and thoughts are turning to the next thing: Tiruvannnamalai and the Ramana Maharshi Ashram. It looks like I’ll be traveling alone: my potential traveling companion, Prasad, met a girl, and she’s going to Thailand, and he’s showing a brand new interest in Thailand himself. But I have heard of several others who will be heading to “Tiru” as well, so I’ll have some friends there when I arrive… The distance is about 2000 km, which takes something like two and a half days by train, which I would do if I had more time, but things being as they are, I’m going to fly. Will make the arrangements tomorrow with a local guy who has a reputation for being honest (a pretty unique trait for this town). Am spending mornings doing Phowa practice with other students from the course. For the next two afternoons Dilgo Kyentse Yangtsi Rinpoche will be teaching. He’s the reincarnation of one of the greatest Tibetan masters of the 20th century, now in his late teens and just beginning to teach. As much as I really don’t want to be running around all the time, it makes no sense either to have come all this way and not attend these events. Much of the conversation at mealtimes is about travel plans away from here: everyone is on their way somewhere. I’m very pleased to be heading to the south, which everyone says is more relaxed and cleaner. It will be warmer as well. The nights have been cold here. Wearing layers and with two thick wool blankets on top I’m just barely staying warm overnight. (There’s no heat of any kind in the buildings here, of course.) Even during the day I have one or two sweaters on and am glad to have them. This is as cold as it ever gets here, and is due to warm up again before the week is over. I haven’t taken as many pictures as I intended to and I plan to fix that before I go. It’s still difficult, but not as bad as when I first got here. I know the ropes better, and the locals know me somewhat, so it gets a bit easier. I want to take pictures of the vehicles, more various than it’s possible to describe. Motorcycles, mostly Hero Hondas (an Indian joint venture with Honda), with a very few Royal Enfields around and a local make, Bajaj, and not much else. I’ve seen one Yamaha and one Suzuki and one Kawasaki. I have so far not seen a motorcycle with more than one cylinder. The smaller displacement bikes are 100cc, and most are about from 125 to 175cc. The Royal Enfields are 350cc, which looks and sounds like a monster here. Sort of the Harley Davidson of India. Apparently there is a 500cc Enfield as well, but I haven’t seen one. For all the talk of the Tata Nano (a tiny, very basic car, meant to be one step up from a motorcycle) I haven’t seen one yet. I have seen families of five on a Hero Honda, or four adults, and the bikes seem to handle it okay. The bikes here are all set up for the passenger (the wife) to sit side-saddle, with a foot rest and guard alongside the rear wheel, as all the Indian women here wear saris, never pants. Another observation: I haven’t yet seen a woman driving any kind of vehicle here. Maybe one percent of motorcycle riders here wear helmets. The one saving grace for all of Indian traffic is that with the poor quality of the roads and the volume of traffic, nobody really ever gets going very fast, so accidents tend to be few and minor despite the seeming chaos of the driving. Actually the driving has a pattern, and Indian drivers actually must always be very much more alert than we in North America are used to, which must also serve to limit the frequency of really bad accidents.
(The next afternoon...) The cold is back with a vengance. Had a really rotten night, but got some good Tibetan noodle soup for lunch, and a pot of tea, 4 glasses worth of really strong, sweet, milky stuff, and I seem to be feeling a bit better. Much sneezing and blowing of the nose still though. The air ticket to Chennai is in hand, still working on the details of getting to and from airports, and accommodation in Tiruvannamalai. It's coming together. Traveling is work, and I'm reflecting again as I have many times before that I'm really glad that I have a reason for being here. I keep promising to post pictures, and I will... sometime... Stay tuned... :-)
Writing this in the evening at my guesthouse room. It’s the beginning of the end in Bodhgaya, and thoughts are turning to the next thing: Tiruvannnamalai and the Ramana Maharshi Ashram. It looks like I’ll be traveling alone: my potential traveling companion, Prasad, met a girl, and she’s going to Thailand, and he’s showing a brand new interest in Thailand himself. But I have heard of several others who will be heading to “Tiru” as well, so I’ll have some friends there when I arrive… The distance is about 2000 km, which takes something like two and a half days by train, which I would do if I had more time, but things being as they are, I’m going to fly. Will make the arrangements tomorrow with a local guy who has a reputation for being honest (a pretty unique trait for this town). Am spending mornings doing Phowa practice with other students from the course. For the next two afternoons Dilgo Kyentse Yangtsi Rinpoche will be teaching. He’s the reincarnation of one of the greatest Tibetan masters of the 20th century, now in his late teens and just beginning to teach. As much as I really don’t want to be running around all the time, it makes no sense either to have come all this way and not attend these events. Much of the conversation at mealtimes is about travel plans away from here: everyone is on their way somewhere. I’m very pleased to be heading to the south, which everyone says is more relaxed and cleaner. It will be warmer as well. The nights have been cold here. Wearing layers and with two thick wool blankets on top I’m just barely staying warm overnight. (There’s no heat of any kind in the buildings here, of course.) Even during the day I have one or two sweaters on and am glad to have them. This is as cold as it ever gets here, and is due to warm up again before the week is over. I haven’t taken as many pictures as I intended to and I plan to fix that before I go. It’s still difficult, but not as bad as when I first got here. I know the ropes better, and the locals know me somewhat, so it gets a bit easier. I want to take pictures of the vehicles, more various than it’s possible to describe. Motorcycles, mostly Hero Hondas (an Indian joint venture with Honda), with a very few Royal Enfields around and a local make, Bajaj, and not much else. I’ve seen one Yamaha and one Suzuki and one Kawasaki. I have so far not seen a motorcycle with more than one cylinder. The smaller displacement bikes are 100cc, and most are about from 125 to 175cc. The Royal Enfields are 350cc, which looks and sounds like a monster here. Sort of the Harley Davidson of India. Apparently there is a 500cc Enfield as well, but I haven’t seen one. For all the talk of the Tata Nano (a tiny, very basic car, meant to be one step up from a motorcycle) I haven’t seen one yet. I have seen families of five on a Hero Honda, or four adults, and the bikes seem to handle it okay. The bikes here are all set up for the passenger (the wife) to sit side-saddle, with a foot rest and guard alongside the rear wheel, as all the Indian women here wear saris, never pants. Another observation: I haven’t yet seen a woman driving any kind of vehicle here. Maybe one percent of motorcycle riders here wear helmets. The one saving grace for all of Indian traffic is that with the poor quality of the roads and the volume of traffic, nobody really ever gets going very fast, so accidents tend to be few and minor despite the seeming chaos of the driving. Actually the driving has a pattern, and Indian drivers actually must always be very much more alert than we in North America are used to, which must also serve to limit the frequency of really bad accidents.
(The next afternoon...) The cold is back with a vengance. Had a really rotten night, but got some good Tibetan noodle soup for lunch, and a pot of tea, 4 glasses worth of really strong, sweet, milky stuff, and I seem to be feeling a bit better. Much sneezing and blowing of the nose still though. The air ticket to Chennai is in hand, still working on the details of getting to and from airports, and accommodation in Tiruvannamalai. It's coming together. Traveling is work, and I'm reflecting again as I have many times before that I'm really glad that I have a reason for being here. I keep promising to post pictures, and I will... sometime... Stay tuned... :-)
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Hello friends,
Very sorry to have left this for so long. I spent about 10 days doing what a friend grimly referred to as "shitting meditation." The local germs finally got inside me and had a field day. Along with the other symptoms comes a lethargy that had me sleeping 12 hours a night and taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoons. I really resisted taking antibiotics, hoping that nature would take its course, but on the other hand sometimes nature kills you, so I didn't want to take it to extremes. On the worst day I was sitting in my room with the bottle of ciprofloxin in my hand, reading the label and counting the pills. I'd had breakfast that morning and had to wait another 2 hours before taking the pill. Amazingly, before the 2 hours were up, my guts didn't feel so bad, so I held off and I've been getting better and better ever since. I don't remember ever being cured before by holding pills in my hand. I'm now at a point that another friend colourfully described. He said, "The unemployed acrobats in my guts do a backflip every now and then just to remind me that they're still there." The Phowa course is in full swing, actually nearly done, just 2 more days to go. It is very good and I am ever so glad to have had this opportunity to take it. When the course ends some students set up an informal practice group that I will take part in for a week or so. We'll practice once in the mornings and then I'll have the rest of the day to decompress. The course is pretty intense, lasts from 8am till about 8pm with a 2 hour lunch break, and there's a lot of content, and the practice sessions are pretty intense too. Still planning to head to the south afterwards, but haven't made travel arrangements yet. No rush.
I'm still adapting to India. Getting better. It does wear on you. It's largely annoyances, but they're constant, and your patience can wear thin. The local kids have mostly given up on scamming me for money, so now we just chat. I say, "What are you up to today?" and they say, "Looking for tourists." Every now and then one or another of them will take a lame stab at the soccer ball scam or the dictionary scam, and I just look at them and raise my eyebrows and they give up. They're good kids with very few options trying to take advantage of whatever opportunities present themselves.
An unusual sight, even for here, the other day there was a guy riding a camel heading down the street I was walking up, and another guy riding an elephant going up the cross street. Don't know what that was about, but then again we're in India and you have no idea what is going to come around the corner. Usually it's an autorickshaw swerving around the people and cows, stereo blaring at 11, horn almost drowning out the stereo, one monk on each side of the driver, four more monks in the back seat, four more in the back behind the back seat, and three riding on the rear bumper, and sometimes it's a guy riding an elephant. You just never know.
There's a big black and white bull who lives in the area in front of the Mahabodhi Stupa where there's a sidewalk market of fruit and vegetables. The other day I watched him bee-line to a woman sitting on the pavement with a basket of pears in front of her. She was slow in seeing him coming and in her rush to get up and pick up the basket she spilled some of the pears on the ground and the bull snatched up three or four really quick before she and some other people managed to push him away. Nobody here would hit a cow (or bull) but pushing and yelling seem to be within bounds. The bull seemed like he had done that trick a time or two before.
Crazy busy at the Mahabodhi Stupa today for the New Year's holiday. The vast majority of the tourists are Indian and the street vendors definitely try to sell to them, but when they see a foreigner they forget all about the Indians and their pitch revs up to redline. I'm getting better at the balance between polite and firm. Smile, say "no thanks" so they hear it, look away (the most important part) and keep walking.
Enough for now. Hope everyone is well. Please feel free to email. I'll reply eventually...
Very sorry to have left this for so long. I spent about 10 days doing what a friend grimly referred to as "shitting meditation." The local germs finally got inside me and had a field day. Along with the other symptoms comes a lethargy that had me sleeping 12 hours a night and taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoons. I really resisted taking antibiotics, hoping that nature would take its course, but on the other hand sometimes nature kills you, so I didn't want to take it to extremes. On the worst day I was sitting in my room with the bottle of ciprofloxin in my hand, reading the label and counting the pills. I'd had breakfast that morning and had to wait another 2 hours before taking the pill. Amazingly, before the 2 hours were up, my guts didn't feel so bad, so I held off and I've been getting better and better ever since. I don't remember ever being cured before by holding pills in my hand. I'm now at a point that another friend colourfully described. He said, "The unemployed acrobats in my guts do a backflip every now and then just to remind me that they're still there." The Phowa course is in full swing, actually nearly done, just 2 more days to go. It is very good and I am ever so glad to have had this opportunity to take it. When the course ends some students set up an informal practice group that I will take part in for a week or so. We'll practice once in the mornings and then I'll have the rest of the day to decompress. The course is pretty intense, lasts from 8am till about 8pm with a 2 hour lunch break, and there's a lot of content, and the practice sessions are pretty intense too. Still planning to head to the south afterwards, but haven't made travel arrangements yet. No rush.
I'm still adapting to India. Getting better. It does wear on you. It's largely annoyances, but they're constant, and your patience can wear thin. The local kids have mostly given up on scamming me for money, so now we just chat. I say, "What are you up to today?" and they say, "Looking for tourists." Every now and then one or another of them will take a lame stab at the soccer ball scam or the dictionary scam, and I just look at them and raise my eyebrows and they give up. They're good kids with very few options trying to take advantage of whatever opportunities present themselves.
An unusual sight, even for here, the other day there was a guy riding a camel heading down the street I was walking up, and another guy riding an elephant going up the cross street. Don't know what that was about, but then again we're in India and you have no idea what is going to come around the corner. Usually it's an autorickshaw swerving around the people and cows, stereo blaring at 11, horn almost drowning out the stereo, one monk on each side of the driver, four more monks in the back seat, four more in the back behind the back seat, and three riding on the rear bumper, and sometimes it's a guy riding an elephant. You just never know.
There's a big black and white bull who lives in the area in front of the Mahabodhi Stupa where there's a sidewalk market of fruit and vegetables. The other day I watched him bee-line to a woman sitting on the pavement with a basket of pears in front of her. She was slow in seeing him coming and in her rush to get up and pick up the basket she spilled some of the pears on the ground and the bull snatched up three or four really quick before she and some other people managed to push him away. Nobody here would hit a cow (or bull) but pushing and yelling seem to be within bounds. The bull seemed like he had done that trick a time or two before.
Crazy busy at the Mahabodhi Stupa today for the New Year's holiday. The vast majority of the tourists are Indian and the street vendors definitely try to sell to them, but when they see a foreigner they forget all about the Indians and their pitch revs up to redline. I'm getting better at the balance between polite and firm. Smile, say "no thanks" so they hear it, look away (the most important part) and keep walking.
Enough for now. Hope everyone is well. Please feel free to email. I'll reply eventually...
Monday, December 20, 2010
some links
I'll just post a few links to the events that are happening here:
I plan to attend Ayang Rinpoche's Phowa retreat from December 25th to January 3rd:
http://ayangrinpoche.org/bodhgaya-phowa-course-2010-2011/
My teacher, Mingyur Rinpoche, will be teaching at his monastery here in Bodhgaya, but the dates coincide with Ayang Rinpoche's retreat, so I won't be able to attend:
www.tergar.org
I'm thinking to going to the Ramana Maharshi ashram in Tamil Nadu for a week or so in January:
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/
The website of the Kagyu Monlam, which is going on right now:
http://www.kagyumonlam.org/
I plan to attend Ayang Rinpoche's Phowa retreat from December 25th to January 3rd:
http://ayangrinpoche.org/bodhgaya-phowa-course-2010-2011/
My teacher, Mingyur Rinpoche, will be teaching at his monastery here in Bodhgaya, but the dates coincide with Ayang Rinpoche's retreat, so I won't be able to attend:
www.tergar.org
I'm thinking to going to the Ramana Maharshi ashram in Tamil Nadu for a week or so in January:
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/
The website of the Kagyu Monlam, which is going on right now:
http://www.kagyumonlam.org/
bits and pieces
It has taken me about half an hour to get this blogspot page to load. The internet is very slow and glitchy in Bodhgaya. I haven't been able to get Hotmail to load at all since I arrived in India, don't know why not.
A few things: The thing to keep in mind here is that Bodhgaya is part pilgrimage site and part tourist trap. The trick is to maximize the pilgrimage aspect and try to keep clear of the tourist trap aspect as much as possible. I do my best. So far I have met quite a few Rinpoches, attended a lot of teachings, done a lot of chanting, circumambulated the big Mahabodhi Temple many many times, and spun a lot of prayer wheels. That's what I came here for. I'm intending to be a part of Ayang Rinpoche's Phowa retreat from Dec. 25th to Jan. 3rd, which should be very cool. After that I don't have definite plans, but I'm considering a trip to the south, to the Ramana Maharshi ashram in Tamil Nadu. We'll see.
I took some pictures yesterday. I'll try to figure out how to post them here. Also haven't got a phone yet, but I'm working on it.
A few things: The thing to keep in mind here is that Bodhgaya is part pilgrimage site and part tourist trap. The trick is to maximize the pilgrimage aspect and try to keep clear of the tourist trap aspect as much as possible. I do my best. So far I have met quite a few Rinpoches, attended a lot of teachings, done a lot of chanting, circumambulated the big Mahabodhi Temple many many times, and spun a lot of prayer wheels. That's what I came here for. I'm intending to be a part of Ayang Rinpoche's Phowa retreat from Dec. 25th to Jan. 3rd, which should be very cool. After that I don't have definite plans, but I'm considering a trip to the south, to the Ramana Maharshi ashram in Tamil Nadu. We'll see.
I took some pictures yesterday. I'll try to figure out how to post them here. Also haven't got a phone yet, but I'm working on it.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
more from Bodhgaya
Settling in nicely and getting into a bit of a routine. Caught the cold that's going around here and was partly out of commission for two days, coughing and sneezing and feeling bad. Feeling better today, but two of my friends here seem to have caught it.
Most days, I'm up before the sun. It doesn't get light here till after 6 am, and is dark again by 5:30 pm. I get up and move quite slowly for the first bit as is my nature. I set up my cushion on the bed under the mosquito net and sit for a little while. Then around 6:30 or 7:00 I go across the street to Hari Om cafe for breakfast. They're supposed to be open at 6, but when I get there they're usually just lighting the fire in the kitchen and getting started. It's a temporary place with walls about 5 feet high of brick around the outside, and a couple of inside walls to divide the space, and a pretty good tent roof on top. No doors, just fabric hanging in the doorways, and a gravel floor, with a little mouse running around busily. They burn cow dung in the kitchen and the draft up to the roof doesn't always work right away and the place is sometimes filled with smoke when I arrive. On those days I choose to sit outside. I get oatmeal porridge with banana and honey and a milk tea. Total is Rs 45, equivalent to $1.00 Canadian. Sometimes the owner brings over the Bihar edition of the Times of India and I get caught up on the local political scandals. Then it's down to the Mahabodhi Temple where the Kagyu Monlam is being held. While I'm walking I'm likely to see pigs rooting through the garbage, dogs either asleep on the path, or cruising around looking for a fight, cows meandering around, sweeper children sorting through garbage for plastic and tinfoil and such, little piles of burning garbage, goats picking around the garbage or nibbling on greenery, and I'm careful as any farmboy would be to step around the shit that dots the path. The street vendors will just be setting up their carts and stalls for the day. Beggar children are on duty already though. I keep forgetting the Hindi word for "Get lost!" but it comes in pretty handy. I've seen tourists make the mistake of giving a rupee or two to one of those kids, and the result is not quite a riot, but it's close. On the way I go to my favourite chai-wallah. He was ripping me off at first, but now he fills my mug about two-thirds full for Rs 10, which is about right. The events there start earlier, but I'm content to be there by 9 am when the Karmapa begins to teach. I do kora (circumambulations) until the teaching starts, then find a shady place to sit and listen to the teachings. The teachings are translated and broadcast on FM radio, so I listen on my little MP3 player. By mid morning the sun is bright and high enough that I start to feel warm, and it's time to take off the sweater. There are pigeons living in the niches of the temple, and also two kinds of parrots, one kind green, and the other some sort of brown. The green ones are the better fliers. In Delhi there were a lot of big vultures, very good soarers, but there are only a very few of them here. There is also some kind of crow, and also a robin-like brown bird with red around the eye. There are also a lot of little chipmunk-like critters, bigger than ours, with stripes on their backs, and more squirrel-like in their ability to climb trees. A dog has about 6 or 8 puppies tucked away in a hole between the roots of one of the big trees, very cute. His Holiness teaches till elevenish, then I join up with my friends Prasad and Michel and it's off the the Mahayana Hotel for lunch. It's included in the program we're part of, but I actually prefer the more down-market places like the Tibet Om cafe, or Mohammed's near the Tibetan Refugee Market. They're not much for ambiance or decor, but the food is really great. After lunch, the routine breaks down. Sometimes it's out to Mingyur Rinpoche's Tergar monastery if something is going on there. It's nearly a kilometer away on the west side of Bodhgaya, a nice walk down a pretty busy road, every kind of vehicle imaginable, much honking of horns and swerving around, but no accidents that I've seen yet. We walk past rice fields, some with rice growing, some with rice being harvested, some with just the stubble left on the field. I talked with a rice farmer who told me that three months work had netted him 600 bundles of rice (they tie up the rice in small sheaves about 5 inches in diameter) that would give him about 100 kg of rice, worth about Rs 30 per kg. He keeps it for his family and trades with other villagers if he has excess. He said it's been dry the past two years and the crop has been poor. Bodhgaya has electricity so they can irrigate from wells using electric pumps, but away from here where there's no electricity they're suffering very badly. Rice was Rs 20 per kg last year, and is Rs 30 per kg this year, which is a real hardship. Most days I'm hanging out with Michel or Prasad (or both) and we take opportunities to meet with Rinpoches who are giving interviews. So far I've met Mingyur Rinpoche twice, and once each with HH the 17th Karmapa, Gyaltsap Rinpoche, Jamgon Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche and Thrangu Rinpoche. I'm surprised at how accessible many of them are, and Michel seems to know who is where, and who we need to talk to, and in addition he seems to be quite lucky, so I'm happy to ride on his coat tails and see who he sees. In the evening we have supper back at the Mahayana Hotel, then maybe some time on the internet, or some more kora at the Mahabodhi Stupa, and usually back at my room for a fairly early night. I have a small kettle (only Rs 180, about $4) that I can use for making tea in my room. I got 500g of sugar for Rs 17, so I'm all set. Also, the electrical adapter that I bought in Canada for $40 doesn't work, so I got an Indian one for Rs 20 (about 50 cents) that works great, so I can charge my computer and camera battery. Anyhow, the computer battery is low right now, so that makes it time to quit. Hope everyone is well...
Most days, I'm up before the sun. It doesn't get light here till after 6 am, and is dark again by 5:30 pm. I get up and move quite slowly for the first bit as is my nature. I set up my cushion on the bed under the mosquito net and sit for a little while. Then around 6:30 or 7:00 I go across the street to Hari Om cafe for breakfast. They're supposed to be open at 6, but when I get there they're usually just lighting the fire in the kitchen and getting started. It's a temporary place with walls about 5 feet high of brick around the outside, and a couple of inside walls to divide the space, and a pretty good tent roof on top. No doors, just fabric hanging in the doorways, and a gravel floor, with a little mouse running around busily. They burn cow dung in the kitchen and the draft up to the roof doesn't always work right away and the place is sometimes filled with smoke when I arrive. On those days I choose to sit outside. I get oatmeal porridge with banana and honey and a milk tea. Total is Rs 45, equivalent to $1.00 Canadian. Sometimes the owner brings over the Bihar edition of the Times of India and I get caught up on the local political scandals. Then it's down to the Mahabodhi Temple where the Kagyu Monlam is being held. While I'm walking I'm likely to see pigs rooting through the garbage, dogs either asleep on the path, or cruising around looking for a fight, cows meandering around, sweeper children sorting through garbage for plastic and tinfoil and such, little piles of burning garbage, goats picking around the garbage or nibbling on greenery, and I'm careful as any farmboy would be to step around the shit that dots the path. The street vendors will just be setting up their carts and stalls for the day. Beggar children are on duty already though. I keep forgetting the Hindi word for "Get lost!" but it comes in pretty handy. I've seen tourists make the mistake of giving a rupee or two to one of those kids, and the result is not quite a riot, but it's close. On the way I go to my favourite chai-wallah. He was ripping me off at first, but now he fills my mug about two-thirds full for Rs 10, which is about right. The events there start earlier, but I'm content to be there by 9 am when the Karmapa begins to teach. I do kora (circumambulations) until the teaching starts, then find a shady place to sit and listen to the teachings. The teachings are translated and broadcast on FM radio, so I listen on my little MP3 player. By mid morning the sun is bright and high enough that I start to feel warm, and it's time to take off the sweater. There are pigeons living in the niches of the temple, and also two kinds of parrots, one kind green, and the other some sort of brown. The green ones are the better fliers. In Delhi there were a lot of big vultures, very good soarers, but there are only a very few of them here. There is also some kind of crow, and also a robin-like brown bird with red around the eye. There are also a lot of little chipmunk-like critters, bigger than ours, with stripes on their backs, and more squirrel-like in their ability to climb trees. A dog has about 6 or 8 puppies tucked away in a hole between the roots of one of the big trees, very cute. His Holiness teaches till elevenish, then I join up with my friends Prasad and Michel and it's off the the Mahayana Hotel for lunch. It's included in the program we're part of, but I actually prefer the more down-market places like the Tibet Om cafe, or Mohammed's near the Tibetan Refugee Market. They're not much for ambiance or decor, but the food is really great. After lunch, the routine breaks down. Sometimes it's out to Mingyur Rinpoche's Tergar monastery if something is going on there. It's nearly a kilometer away on the west side of Bodhgaya, a nice walk down a pretty busy road, every kind of vehicle imaginable, much honking of horns and swerving around, but no accidents that I've seen yet. We walk past rice fields, some with rice growing, some with rice being harvested, some with just the stubble left on the field. I talked with a rice farmer who told me that three months work had netted him 600 bundles of rice (they tie up the rice in small sheaves about 5 inches in diameter) that would give him about 100 kg of rice, worth about Rs 30 per kg. He keeps it for his family and trades with other villagers if he has excess. He said it's been dry the past two years and the crop has been poor. Bodhgaya has electricity so they can irrigate from wells using electric pumps, but away from here where there's no electricity they're suffering very badly. Rice was Rs 20 per kg last year, and is Rs 30 per kg this year, which is a real hardship. Most days I'm hanging out with Michel or Prasad (or both) and we take opportunities to meet with Rinpoches who are giving interviews. So far I've met Mingyur Rinpoche twice, and once each with HH the 17th Karmapa, Gyaltsap Rinpoche, Jamgon Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche and Thrangu Rinpoche. I'm surprised at how accessible many of them are, and Michel seems to know who is where, and who we need to talk to, and in addition he seems to be quite lucky, so I'm happy to ride on his coat tails and see who he sees. In the evening we have supper back at the Mahayana Hotel, then maybe some time on the internet, or some more kora at the Mahabodhi Stupa, and usually back at my room for a fairly early night. I have a small kettle (only Rs 180, about $4) that I can use for making tea in my room. I got 500g of sugar for Rs 17, so I'm all set. Also, the electrical adapter that I bought in Canada for $40 doesn't work, so I got an Indian one for Rs 20 (about 50 cents) that works great, so I can charge my computer and camera battery. Anyhow, the computer battery is low right now, so that makes it time to quit. Hope everyone is well...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
First impressions
Hello friends,
Here's the blog. I'm going to be posting haphazardly as time and inspiration dictate. Please check back from time to time, or I think you can subscribe or something and you'll get an email when I post something here. When I figure out how to post pictures, I'll try to do that as well. If you want to get back to me, I think you can post right to this blog in a comments section or something, or you can email me at jcalvindevries@gmail.com. I hope to get a phone one of these days too. I sent an email to my folks just after I got to Bodhgaya with my first impressions. Here it is:
Here's the blog. I'm going to be posting haphazardly as time and inspiration dictate. Please check back from time to time, or I think you can subscribe or something and you'll get an email when I post something here. When I figure out how to post pictures, I'll try to do that as well. If you want to get back to me, I think you can post right to this blog in a comments section or something, or you can email me at jcalvindevries@gmail.com. I hope to get a phone one of these days too. I sent an email to my folks just after I got to Bodhgaya with my first impressions. Here it is:
Hi Mom and Dad,
Made it to Bodhgaya yesterday morning and all is well. The plane was late, as you know, so we had no time at all in Paris. They put us on a shuttle bus and took us straight to the plane going to Delhi, which was delayed because of us. It was a 747, and I paid $60 extra for a seat on the upper deck with extra legroom, which was worth it. I actully slept a quite a lot on both flights, which was good. Air France is great. The food was absolutely amazing, pretty different from other airlines. We were still late getting to Delhi, so the taxi driver had to wait a long time for me. He was standing just outside the luggage claim area with a card with my name on it. Delhi was unbelievable. I think if you can handle Delhi, everything else is easy. I was happy to leave. It was a long train ride to the town of Gaya. Left New Delhi station at 2:10 pm, arrived in Gaya about 7:30 am. Slept fairly well on the train and did some reading. Spent the first few hours looking out the window until it got dark. It gets dark early, around 6 pm. I had my backpack chained to the seat, and slept quite well. I was in class 3AC, which means it is a three-tier sleeper with air conditioning. I was in the lower berth, which turned out well. The upper berth is very high and looked hard to climb into. The trip cost about 1000 rupees, which is about $25. Got an autorickshaw to Bodhgaya, about a 25 minute ride. It's a three wheeled thing with the driver in front with a motorcycle handlebar, and I sit in the back with my stuff. It was a very bumpy ride, past all kinds of sights. Lots of cows and goats running all over the place, a few strange looking pig, Vehicles of every possible description, bikes, motorcycles, cars, big trucks, little trucks, three-wheeled trucks, people walking, and of course the cows, goats, and pigs, all the drivers honking pretty much all the time. The ride cost Rs 150, about $4.00. I think he ripped me off. Safely arrived at Rahul Guesthouse, a very nice place, but more expensive than I was hoping for. I thought of looking for a cheaper place but because it's very nice and clean and quiet (especially after the noise of Delhi!!) I think I'll stay. It's 900 rupees a night (about $20), quite expensive for here, but not bad compared to anywhere else in the world. Have been seeing the sights and attending the events here, and it was worth the trip. On the way back I'm going to try to arrange it so I don't have to stay in Delhi. Hopefully find a way to get a train to New Delhi station and then an autorickshaw straight to the airport from the prepaid stand at the train station, and get on the plane and go. One more thing about the autorickshaws: they're sort of triangle shaped, narrow in the front where the driver is, and wide at the back where I am. He sort of wedges himself into very narrow spaces in traffic, inches from other vehicles, constantly on the horn, and sort of squeezes in and makes a space for himself. From the back it looks pretty bad, but I haven't seen any accidents, and they all drive like that. Once I thought we were going to take the side mirror off a car, but we missed it. By couple of inches at most. Also, crossing the street in Delhi is for sure the most dangerous thing I have ever intentionally done. I might have come closer to death in the past through blissful ignorance, but never on purpose. The food here is very good and very cheap. I just had a simple dinner of potato curry and rice with a Coke to drink for Rs 65, about $1.50, and it was really good and I'm full. Am being very careful with food and water and so far, so good. Also very careful about mosquitos, so far only two bites. The mosquito net is my friend. By far the worst danger, even here in Bodhgaya, is the traffic. Walking back this evening, it was getting dark, so I was careful not to be the guy closest to the traffic. I made sure there was always someone a little farther out than me. An hour on the internet costs Rs 30, about 75 cents, but I really have to get back to my room and finish up for tonight. Hope all is well...
Love,
Calvin
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