I am back in Nepal , and feeling good. The poverty is hitting me this time like it never has before. My guess is that when I was in my 20’s, I was not able to be as keenly aware of the starkness of this poverty as it never shocked me the way it is now.
The trip was smooth. I have been suffering from a head cold since the day of my major fundraising event on 11.2. So I have been popping a lot of Nyquil/Dayquil and vitamins. My congestion also made me snore, which I’m sure my roommate Harry (friend from New York who is also here for a few weeks with his mother) doesn’t appreciate too much.
I arrived in New Delhi on Saturday and took a taxi to my hotel at 12:30 a.m. The hotel is in one of the more notorious slums of Delhi , where the Tibetan community lives in a somewhat gated enclave. There was a mouse in my room that jumped on my foot when I was getting dressed, but otherwise it was a pleasant $10/night hotel experience.
The flight from Delhi to Kathmandu was spectacular. The snow mountains (Himalayas) are awe-inspiring of course, but even more so, the mountains directly below the plane (technically “foot hills” of the Himalayas, but seemingly as big as the Rockies in their own right) were jaw-dropping. It was especially amazing to see terraced fields right on the mountain top! I have no idea how they get up there, but I imagine they have to hike up from the valley.
As soon as I arrived at the Monastery, I jumped right in to help out with preparing for a major enthronement ceremony that was held yesterday. I was put in charge of a few projects, such as assembling sacred book tables (where the monks read the text from) that are elaborately carved with sacred images and painted, kind of like Kate and Peter’s furniture. I also worked with the monks to place 1,000 books on a table, which contained the biography of the previous throne holder, who was now reincarnated in a boy I knew—my Buddhist teacher’s nephew.
On the day of the ceremony, we woke up at 4 a.m. and had a light
breakfast before meeting a greeting visitors and beginning the ceremony around 6 a.m. I had to wear a suit and tie for the occasion, and many people complimented me on how good I looked in it. J I rounded out the look with flip flops, as dress shoes are way to heavy to carry around the world.
The ceremony involved a lot of prayers, a pro
clamation read by Shyalpa Rinpoche that went on for 1.5 hours, and about 4 hours of people offering gifts and getting blessings from the masters inside, particularly the one being enthroned. That night, we had a major party at a fancy resort that was similar to a wedding reception. Lots of delicious food and drinks and monkeys swinging from the trees above.
Riding home from the party was a little spooky for some. One car narrowly escaped a hijack attempt by some drunken youth (they almost succeeded in dragging the driver out of the car before he fought them off and sped away). My van was stopped by military police at a checkpoint, but it wasn’t too scary. The driving conditions here are mind-boggling. A near accident occurs multiple times on each trip, but somehow people make due.
I am now in town to do a number of errands, including playing Santa Claus on behalf of my Tibetan friend, who gave me several gifts to pass along to his children and wife. I also am going to stop by the monastery I used to study at to try to get a letter of recommendation to go to Bhutan . I am applying for a journalist visa to do a project called “Immortal: The Life and Legacy of Guru Padmasamvhava”, which may also feature a short documentary (I will be doing some filming at some of the spots he visited, including the place where he attained immortality according to legend).
That’s all for now. Much love to all of you and thanks for your support.
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