the final fortnight

Hello Everyone!

It's been ages since I wrote... The Dalai Lama teachings are done now and I'm looking at my last two weeks in India already! It's hard to believe. I had several dreams last night about the logistics of coming home -- running madly around airports, trying to arrange things and catch flights -- so clearly my mind is already moving in that direction.

It was wonderful to see the Dalai Lama. He is a beautiful person. I was sitting quite near the place where he entered and left the main temple, so I got to see him close up at least twice a day. His smile is contagious, and he radiates peace. Quite a presence.

The actual teachings were on a text -- some commentary on Asanga's chapter on Ethics. Basically it went through the nitty gritty of taking and keeping the Bodhissatva vow... On the last day of the teachings, everyone had the opportunity to take the pratimoksha vows (no stealing, lying, killing, sexual misconduct, or use of intoxicants for this lifetime) and to take the Bodhissatva vows, both in full or in part. It made me feel strange to be in such a huge crowd of people taking these vows -- I think that many of the westerners who were there doing it probably didn't have much preparation. The complete Bodhissatva vows are supposed to pertain not only to this life, but to all following existence -- so it seemed strange to me that some people seemed to be entering into this idea rather impulsively...

Right now I'm up in McLeod Gang again to see my last friend from the Varanasi program one last time before he leaves tomorrow. It's strange to think back -- the program seems like ages ago. And it's funny to me that most of the participants are already back home, fully integrated back into life as usual. I'm glad for these last two weeks of solitude down in the convent -- but I am ready to get back. I miss everyone, and I want to start preparing for the year in front of me.

I'll leave you with one lovely image from convent life: Last week I was taking the bus back from the teachings with one of the other lay women staying at the convent. The bus let us off at the wrong place, and I was feeling disgruntled and late. We started walking back (a farther, unfamiliar distance because of the bus mistake) and suddenly the other woman stopped and started singing. At first I felt impatient and confused -- then I saw that she was singing to some stray dogs on the side of the road. She stopped soon and explained: "I love dogs. I like to sing them mantras. If we had more time I would feed them too and sing more, but we must get back before dark." At that my whole dark mood lifted and I went smiling back to the convent, with plenty of time and energy to spare.