Yogin's Quest

2007-03-05T04:53:00.000-08:00

Nepal

I arrived to Nepal a few weeks ago, and stayed in Katmandu, in the Tahmel area, which is the area gear for tourist, so after I visited some of the old parts of town, such as Durbar square, Paten both show the ancient’s city architecture, mostly wood construction with magnificent carvings, showing the grandeur of this city in centuries past and their influence in Chinese architecture.
I also went to the monkey temple, one of the most revered Buddhist Stupas in Nepal (a Stupas is usually a Buddhist building round most of the times , of different sizes, that contains Buddhist relics, such as Buddha’s teachings, remains, old lamas remains or objects, etc), it is located on top of a hill which is steep enough to make you puff going up, the place was full of pilgrims from all over the world and many Tibetans (locals as well as from Tibet), magnificent views of Katmandu city and valley, and very ancient temples and chapels surrounding the Stupa.
I have said it again I feel so lucky of having this opportunity, of being here learning, seeing and witnessing sooo much, I feel so blessed and thank full.
After a week in Katmandu I move to Boudha, a small Buddhist area for centuries and full of Tibetans that sleeked refuge after the Chinese invasion of their country, it used to be a small town in the outskirts of Katmandu, but now the city has almost devour it.
In this beautiful place the noise, traffic of Katmandu is none existent as it is replaced by the sound of Monks praying, mantras being said and bells and other Tibetan musical instruments, it brought me back to my Dharamsala days as the atmosphere is almost identical full of Buddhist doing pilgrimage or just visiting the area.
Boudha is the site of the Largest Stupa in the world, it has to be seen to be appreciated, is huge and constantly full of people doing Khoras (is walking around clockwise in the base of the Stupa), what a sight, at times there most be a couple of thousand people walking around it while saying their mantras, so the energy is incredible and the Buddhists spirituality and faith just unbelievable.
Since my arrival here I attached myself to the Gelug Monastery (my Tibetan Buddhist lineage), I met the Abbot a very old and wise Lama which to my surprise had been in Mexico city teaching Buddhism in one of the centers there, also I met Dawa-la a very nice monk that has as one of his jobs to do the administration of the monastery for a while, we became very good friends and I listen to his teachings and talks very attentively as we hit it on great from day one, I also attend the Morning pujas very early in the morning for a couple of hours, so I am done with this practice by 7.30am, then breakfast YESSSSSSSSS coffee, and then Khoras around the Stupa for a while.
One day I go the crazy idea and commitment to do 8 hours non stop Khoras, so to the delight of my feet I started and I was able to finished the 8 hours non stop and I got 1 black toe nail and 3 blisters LOL, but I did not bad when I finished I did 105 Khoras (walk around the Stupa), and 14,400 mantras so I went home limping but happy of this achievement, eventually I lost 2 toe nails and was a bit sore for a few days.
Also while in Boudha I was witness of a very rare opportunity, as one of the higher lamas of the Sakya tradition passed away, and his body was brought to Boudha to be visited in the Sakya temple for several days till his cremation on March the 3rd, by the way it is very much appropriate to mentioned here that the bodies of enlightened beings like this one, have a very special qualities, one of them is that they don’t decay so they remain for many days as if they were a sleep after dying, so while the body was on the temple , it was visited by thousands of people, I was there several times as you get many blessings while viewing such an enlightened being.
When his body was brought, there were thousands of people, and monks from all four lineages (Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, Nyigma ), there was a great feeling being present, it was very emotional, but not emotional sad, it was more like an honor to be present witnessing such a ritual.
Once again, I am so lucky that I have witness so, so many wonderful things in this trip, that I have been sometimes overwhelmed, such an honor and a learning experience, for an incipient Buddhist like me, so many blessings.
While in Katmandu , I visited the valley which contains many small towns and villages with distinctive Nepali architecture and Buddhist monasteries amongst the Nepali fields of growing crops and their terraces, creating a very appealing countryside to visit and explore, there are also some special places for Buddhist such as caves that were used by the great Lamas of the past such as Nagarjunas Cave and Guru Rinpoche cave, Namo Buddha.
As most things have to come to and end, after two months here my stay in Nepal is finished, very happy and satisfied with my achievements I must go now to Thailand and continued my trip and its goals.
At the moment I have taken around 6000 pictures in this trip and most of you have told me that you like the pictures I am this time posting more pics than text, so once again here is an example of the Nepal pics, enjoy.

Jaime

View of an old square, Kathmandu Valley Patan square building near Katmandu

Anotheer example of the old architecture

A tipical street of old Katmandu

One of the local industries black pottery

A tipical view of a terraced house, Katmandu valley

Mount Everest almost in the middle of the picture

Mount Everest range
You can see the amount of people during the arrival of the body

Before the body arrived
Arrival of the body of a Sakya lama saint
A closer view of the body sitting inside of the urn
The way thebody was received with music and a multitude
Another aspect of the people attendance to the arrival

My dear friend Gelugpa Lama Dawa-la, cooking pasta for us

A Gelugpa homage to HH the Dalai Lama, during Losar (Tibetan new year)

Waiting for the Sakya Lama body to arrive
The procession of the body to the temple
6am at the Gelugpa Monastery doing our daily practice, see how young some of the monks are??
My favourite store, where I used to buy Yak cheese
A Local sadhu
Flying horse in Nepal
The Gelugpa monastery temple in a quiet morning
The largest stupa in the world in Bodha
Old Tibetans doing circumambulations (Khoras)around the stupa
An old Anila (nun)always praying by the stupa

Nagarjuna's cave

2007-01-30T05:24:00.000-08:00

TRIP TO RAJISTAN

India is a very diverse country, the terrain, the people, the languages, their customs, is like visiting many countries in one, so you can experience so many different things just by changing areas in India, my intention here is not to give you a detailed tour/account of each city and place that we visited, but highlights of the human aspect or things that impressed us.
In the past never had the opportunity to visit Rajistan, which is located in the eastern quadrant of the country, and in view that Karethe’s first visit to India and my last five months of intense Buddhist practice and studies India, it was appropriate to take a break and do some touring around.
So we decide it to go to Sarnath for HH the Dalai Lama teachings, then remain in Varanasi and start our holidays there, what can be said of Varanasi, is a holly, crazy city that has to be seen to be believed and appreciated it, we had a great time visiting all the gaths, temples, holly places and of course the Ganga, ahhhhhhh Mata Ganga, to be in this river at morning before sunrise and before sunset is an unbelievable experience, the colors the People, the temples, the history, the sadhus all illuminated with different lights as the sun rises or declines, is overwhelming and a reminder of why all the tribes in the past all over the world worshiped the sun.
People live and die by the Ganga as it is the most sacred river in India an very auspicious to die here and to be cremated here, walked everywhere and took, tuk tuks and bike rickshaws, we did it all and as usual were impressed by the people, most of them have nothing or less that nothing and they never give up, hope, living day by day they keep on living and doing their spiritual practices, a way of life forgotten or ignored in the west, in my opinion we should have a look at how this people survive and how thank full they are for what they had, perhaps or world would be more compassionate and appreciative, rather than taking all for granted, and constantly complaining (no I am not generalizing here), there is people like these in the west, but so few, so we continue to destroy our world and our health pursuing happiness, not realizing that happiness is within our reach, as it is internal not external, all we need is to change just a bit at a time, getting more compassionate and putting always others ahead of self and you will see the change.
We visited Agra and the Taj Mahal, the biggest monument inspired by real love in the world as well as other cities like Jaipur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaihlsamer, Bikaner, etc., we even did a desert Safari in camel back, we saw from the idiotic to the sublime, temples, forts, mansions, ruins etc., but wherever we went, the contact with the local people struggling in their daily lives to survive was the most important, cherished and remembered experience of these five weeks.
As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words and not wanting you to be bored with my poor grammar and recontouring abilities, here are some pictures that will describe Rajistan better that I could do, enjoy. Once again I want to mention that I am very thankful to many beings, for being so blessed in having the opportunity to be here and experience and learn so much, from all these places , cultures and people.

We met so many local people, they adopted us into their families, gave us presents and their love, without expecting anything in return, hey are the ones that made our trip and unforgetable experience

Taj Mahal 6 am

A Sadhu

Ahhhhhh Pushkar

Desert people and their house

Desert lady in her house

Our camel safari

Timeless sands in the desert

Midnight time at the oasis (actually is 6am at the desert)

Desert prople dances (notice the cobra in the box in the right hand side)

Desert folklor colorful and different

The blue city

Pushkar old man

Varanasi, Ganga river early am
Ganga river daily wash and swim

Another daily swim

Night ceremony at the Ganga river

Interdenominational morning ceremony at the Ganga

2007-01-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

IMPERMANENCE

(sorry for the delay of 5 weeks in updating my Blogg, but I have been traveling in Rajistan, with Karethe)

One of the main Buddhist teachings is impermanence, it teaches us that weather we like it or not, all things good and bad most end and that we most be ready to accept it.
Well my time in Dharamsala has come to an end, I was lucky enough to be able to be here thanks to the kindness of my teachers as well as many other people in my life.
I have received many teachings and make many friends, also I have re-evaluated my life many times over, change my ways and prepare my future steps in serving people.
I leave behind not only teachers and friends but sentient beings that were my family during my five months here, they helped me and teach me many lessons, for which I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being there for me, I am leaving behind friends and teachers, to continue my quest in Nepal and Thailand.
I will go now to HH teachings in Sarnath, and then to travel to Rajistan with Karethe, for five weeks, I want to dedicate this entry in my Blogg to all the beings that were my family here and that I love dearly, the pictures here really don’t do justice to their kindness and love for me, my teachers HH the Dalai Lama, HH Kalka Jetsun Dampa, Geshe Sonam, Geshe Monlam Sangpo, Anila Sonam, Anila Norsom my monk friends, that so graciously allowed me to practice daily with them even that I am not such a good practitioner, and all the other Buddhist and non Buddhist friends that shared the monsoon and the winter with me, I will never forget you, nor be able to repay your kindness and I hope to see all of you someday somewhere, may you find all the happiness that you deserve.

HH the Dalai Lama (my beloved teacher)

HH Kalka JetsunDhampa (my Chod teacher)

Geshe Sonam Rinchen (with sunglasses, my Tibetan Philosophy teacher)

Mongolian monk and Tenzin-la

Monks that did daily practices with me

Paijman's family from holland and Nestor

Joelle from Switzerland

My Basque friends

Anila Norsom (my Tibetan language teacher)

Jeffrey and Chris (my Trekking companions)

Anila Sonam (right), and HH the Dalai Lama's Oracle

Geshe Monlam Sangpo (my Tibetan Philosophy teacher)

2006-11-17T02:00:00.000-08:00

THE JOBS OF THE HIMALAYAS
There is no doubt that the jobs here are very difficult, not only to obtain but to perform, in many cases they are done without any technological know how, so basically is the old “elbow grease method”, that prevails in most of the industries.
So they are very labor intensive, sometimes in very high altitudes and with heavy loads, once while trekking I bumped into about 6 workers going up a mountain transporting on their shoulders very heavy pipes about 5 meters each, I try to lift one and my guess is that they weighted about 40 kilos and we were about 11,000ft altitude to this day I don’t know how the job was done, and the porters were, young and old, a truly remarkable job that perhaps pay them 200 rupees a day (4US dlls).

CLOTHS WASHING THE OLD WAY BY HAND

Another very interesting aspect of the nasty jobs around here, is that they are performed by woman, yes woman, very physically demanding Jobs are made by women, in all type of situations, in construction liften very heavy loads of cement, bricks, rock etc, they are transported mostly on their heads, many times you can barely see two legs underneath this heavy load of plant cuttings.

VERY HEAVY CONSTRUCTIONS JOBS DONE FOR UP TO 12 HOURS BY WOMEN

You also seem them falling trees, making cement, selling goodies on the stree/market, and in many cases they have to bring their children to work, so the kids are laying around the job site while their mothers are working hard for 8 to 10 hours.
In the mornings you can see them going up or downhill, going to work on their very colorful Sari’s, and their lunch in those famous metal containers called “ Tipan (steel type) “, and sometimes a pick or a shovel or other working tool.
Children also work, even that is prohibited for anyone to work in any industry if you are under 14 years old, you seem them in stores restaurants and other types of work trying to make a living, I had the chance of talking to some incense makers, young guys about 17 years old and they told me that they make about 1500 rupees a month, which is about 30US dollars.

TIBETAN LADY SELLING TIBETAN BREAD

As you can see its not easy to make a living around here, but what is very noticeable is that they are so happy going to work or performing their job, that many of them are singing away, something that you don’t see back at home, and of course they are sometimes praying.

GAS DELIVERY SYSTEM, VERY SAFE JOB???

Artist of a very high caliber also perform their job in precarious circumstances, butchers, hiding from most as they perform a necessary job for some people and a sin for others.

ARTISTS WORK IS VERY HIGH QUALITY HERE

Monks, nuns, yes they also have to perform their jobs other than their religious obligations they have to clean and do all sort of things around nunneries and monasteries, as well as washing their clothes sometimes by the river.

MONKS WASHING THEIR CLOTHS IN THE RIVER

NUN DUSTING WINDOWS IN THE NUNNERY

Some jobs are very hilarious, like the electricians/phone workers, going up a pole trying to make sense in a medusa like wire mayhem, to all these people that work so hard to survive (as here is no welfare here), I dedicate this Blogg, may we learn something of this people and be thankful for what we have.

PHONE MAN MAKING SENSE OF THIS MEDUSA

IS THIS JOB UP TO A CANADIAN CODE??

2006-11-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

THE CRITTERS OF THE HIMALAYAS

There are many critters around here but the most, creative elusive, and smart, no no, not the tourist………… I mean the monkeys, those vivacious guys that inhabit these hills, have learned how to live side by side with humans as well as survive in their environment.

UPS THIS IS NOT THE ONE, OR IS IT???

They come in all sizes from little tinny babies to waist high ones, and they have developed many techniques to survive, like stealing food from vendors as well as tourist, because if you have food in your hands or in a bag you better be careful, as with the speed of lightning, they will take your food and run up the nearest tree.

BETTER MUCH BETTER, THIS IS THE ONE

Another trick that they have mastered is to tantalize the dogs and as soon as they start chasing them they will go up a tree and start throwing things back at the dogs, of course making them jump up and down trying to reach the critters. They are also masters of the high wire act, putting a shame the flying Wallendas ha ha ha, downtown they cross the streets aerially, walking/using the phone wires, to safely cross the streets, they know which cables are power lines and they wont use those, only the phone wire, so it is very funny to see them at any time of the day, doing the high wire act, I have not been able to get a picture of this act, but I hope to do it one day.

HOPE YOU LIKE THE HAIRY BEASTY

ANY SIMILARITY??

Humans don’t escape their abilities, depending in where one lives, you have to be alert to leave doors and windows closed as they will enter your room and create major havoc with your belongings, some friends of mine left one day the window open while going for dinner, and when they got back a copule of hours later, all their cloths were scattered all over the room, as they were females, they were a bit afraid, in case that the monkey was still inside, the funny part of the story, no the monkey did not steal their brassieres or try them on, ha ha ha, the clever monkey got into their medicinal supplies and opened all their small bags of vitamin C that they had, leaving a trail of vitamin C dust, ans some kind of foam, probably the cause of this powder hitting their saliva, the end of the story was that apparently the monkey got hooked on Vitamin C, and came back after that looking for more, so if you see a monkey hooked on vitamin C is probably this one.

GREAT HAIR DO

HE IS VERY STRONG

One serious aspect to these animals, is that they are wild and although people think that they are friendly and a pet, they are not, they can attack if provoked, specially if they have young ones with them, all they are trying to do is protect their little ones, but they can inflict serious bites and give you a good scared as they are extremely strong.

THERE ARE MANY OF THIS GUYS AROUND

BUT THIS IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD ONE

I discovered that one day, walking up one of the hills in a rainy day going to Tushita meditation center, I had my small backpack and umbrella, all of a sudden a band of about 5 monkeys came out of the bush and attacked me, I had to use my umbrella as a sword at the same time that I was trying to walk as fast as I could, without running to get out of the danger, which I did, the problem was that I had to go back the same way to get back to town, but that is another story, enjoy the pictures of one of these funny, clever animals that lives around my place, he actually lives in a nunnery across from me, I am sure that the nuns keep him well fed, he is waist high and very smart, when he is around, he always get the dogs of the neighborhood all excited, and they start chasing him up the trees, as any respectable monkey should have a name?? what do you guys think that we should name him???, please e mail me your suggestions, what should we call him??, and in the future I will let you know who won the name monkeys contest and the price.

ANY CLEVER NAMES FOR THIS GUY??

2006-10-27T02:15:00.000-07:00

GENOCIDE IN TIBET

It is with a heavy heart, and watery eyes that I write this Blogg update, the recent Chinese atrocities had left me almost speechless, how can somebody do such a thing, how can a human being soldier or not, shoot nuns and children while they are trying to escape an oppressive government???, I don’t understand it, its beyond my comprehension!!!!!.

On September 30th, Chinese forces opened fire on a group of escaping Tibetans, they were about 70 Tibetans trying to escape by foot to Nepal, through the Cho Oyu advanced Everest base camp, Chinese border guards opened fire, at a line of defenseless Tibetans, which attempted to dodge the bullets by running uphill through deep snow at 19.000 feet.

At least two Tibetans are confirmed killed, a young boy and a nun, at least nine children part of the group were captured by the Chinese soldiers at gunpoint, their whereabouts remains a mystery, unfortunately for the Chinese, the whole incident was filmed by a group of mountaineers, so now the whole world can see how the Chinese murder innocents, I ask myself, “if their government was so great why would people try to escape”.

On October the 24th, we had a march and a candle light vigil here in Dharamsala, to protest such actions, it was extremely well attended by all, nuns, young monks, (just like the ones being killed) Tibetans and the international multitude of tourist, students and residents of this Himalayan town, we marched in the morning to the Tibetan government in exile buildings, and at night we marched downtown, then to the main temple, were a quiet protest was held, including the showing of the video (which address I include so all can witness the murders), yes I cried several times during this sad sad day, it was impossible not too, the Tibetans have lost all, and they continue to be killed while trying to escape and the world does nothing, is this the way of the future, that innocents get killed and the world just watches and does nothing???, if so, I am a shame of being part of this crazy world.
The pictures here are from the protests we did on October 24th, here in Dharamsala Northern India.

2006-10-20T01:21:00.000-07:00

JUST FACES AND PEOPLE

There are so many different types of ethnic people here that you can see dozens of different dresses, hear so many languages, smell and taste so many different types of food, it is a real pleasure to have the opportunity to be here, to see these variety, wow, what a colorful experience, to see all those dresses in vivid reds, greens, oranges, of people going to work, reminds me so much of all the colorful dresses in Mexico.

OLD LADY DOING MANTRAS

FEMALE CONSTRUCTION WORKER

AN INTERESTING FACE

A common denominator to all these people is that regardless of the hard work (I will make another Blogg entry about the jobs here) performed in many cases by woman, they all have a degree of happiness not known by our western cultures. The spirituality of this people is so evident, there are temples all over the place of many religions, people pray on their way to work, during work, on the way home, children with nothing are clean happy, playing the games that children usually play, participating in all religious festivals.

CHILD WAITING FOR HH THE DALAI LAMA

SAME CHILD STILL WAITING

PRETTY TIBETAN LADY

One of the reasons these people are happy is that they don’t have all the weight of the western life on their shoulders, we worry first about making money and then saving it, then making it grow or making sure that no one will steal it, then we want to acquire all the material things available and very nicely advertised by clever marketing wizards so we create an aura around items, which according to us we can not live without, creating a never ending attachment and dissatisfaction, because as soon as we acquire something new, we are already thinking in what to buy next and were can I get the money to buy it.

CHILD PLAYING ON THE STREET

OLD MONK

YOUNG SHEPPARD

You see this people don’t have that mentality, they are happy to have a bit of money, to survive and very few possessions, some people very simply live on the street, their bed is on the street, surrounded by a plastic tarp, they sleep there, then in the morning, they get up and convert their bed into their display/show case, so they start selling their goods, in most cases the items for sale are mad by themselves, so they are all day selling and making product, without worries, stress and anxiety, they don’t know anything different therefore they are satisfied, I wonder who is right them or our world ??, make your own conclusions!!!!.

MY WAITRESS NIMA-LA

MONK TURNING THE WHEELS

TIBETAN LADIES GOING TO WORK

So I dedicate this entry in my Blogg to the people, faces and dresses around me, the young and the old, they have enriched my life, mind and way of thinking, enjoy the pictures.

MY YOUNG TOUR GUIDE AND OUR CHAPERONE A NUN

2006-10-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

The animals here

There are lots of dogs around here, specially in all the Buddhist places such as Temples, Monasteries, Nunneries, the Tibetan government offices etc, they most sense that they will not be hurt by people around this Buddhist places , they are very friendly and always playing with each other, they are also sleeping in the steps of these places kind of guarding the buildings, so you will see them in my pictures laying down or just looking at people, the only nasty thing they do its to chase monkeys.

There are cows, bulls, donkeys, monkeys, mongoose, beautiful butterflies,birds, very few cats and pesky bugs, having a Buddhist vow no to kill anything sometimes is very hard not to kill some of them, so I got bitten by some of them and a couple gave me a nasty bite (don’t know the kind of bug), so I had to go and get some powdered herbs and make a paste to apply in my arm till it got better.
The animals are used here just like in Mexico, to do hard labor and also as pets, but not being used to see cows everywhere it is funny how they appear everywhere at any time of the day and night.

Most animals are well fed and everyone feeds them so they really belong to the whole town, it is not unusual for a restaurant owner to come out with food for a cow or a dog, the free roaming cows are feed all the left over veggies that are discarded from the market every night as the market merchants sweep their left overs into the streets, and then the cows are used to this process so as soon as the market closes they appear to munch on cabbages, tomatoes, potatoes, cukes and all the other morsels that are discarded daily.

As you can see there is so much fun here, yes a different world but very realistic and practical, in which ancient ways are preserved and function well in this society, enjoy the pictures, until next update, just think how lucky we are and how much we have, even that we don’t realized it.

2006-09-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

Coaching
I went for almost a week to coach the Tibetan national soccer team to their training camp in Dharadun, which is about 12 hours drive from where I am staying, the bus ride was a experience and a half, the driving is like Mexico but scarier (if possible), so you basically close your eyes an hope for the best, passing in curves and all the other no no’s while driving are common occurrence here.
I shared the ride, with a young Jewish girl, that was traveling alone for another two weeks and then returning to Israel, she has jus finished her 3 year military service which al citizens have to do, she was very interested in Buddhism, so she was asking me many questions about it, this took my mind from the driving and the near misses.

TIBETAN NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM

So I arrived around 5.00am at the old bus station and waited for the team officials that were going to pick me up and take me to the training camp, which is about 30 minutes from town, in a great facility of the TCV (Tibetan Children Village), this particular facility has around 70 acres of well kept grounds and buildings, it actually continues to expand every year.

HAVING BREAKFAST WITH THE TEAM

This school (residential), has two sections, one for grades 1 to 10, mostly of Tibetan children refuges, some of them orphans and the rest with their parents in Tibet, unable to leave, the other section is for vocational training and have many different courses , such a cooking , hotel management, computers, house keeping, usually 2 years after grade 12.

COOKING/BAKING SCHOOL FACILITIES

HOUSE KEEPING STUDENTS CLEANING MY ROOM

MY MEALS COOKED BY STUDENTS, DELIVERED TO MY ROOM

Both sections are designed for high achievers, so the best of all the TCV schools in India is here, is a beautiful facility, that we don’t have even in Canada, all the cooking for all the students is done by the cooking students, the housekeeping also is done by the students etc, so the students take care of all the services, which give them an excellent practical training, there are soccer fields and basket ball courts.
This facility being so great is a perfect place to sequester the National soccer team so they can train without interruptions with all the facilities at their disposal.

FEMALE STUDENTS IN THEIR BIKE

So I did 2 training sessions and one classroom session a day, working mostly on the needs of the team to improve their technical abilities as well as their physical conditioning, they have 2 tournaments coming up, one in Seekim and the other one in cypress.
I am going to try to do my best to go with the team, but it requires many days away from my Buddhist teachings, so more likely I wont be able to go with them, so I will have to return here to their training camp, once more between tournaments so they get ready for Cypress.
The players and other coaches are extremely respectful, I never been called SIR so many times in my life, players do as they are told, no Prima Donas here just hard working players, all the players, and coaches do it as VOLUNTEERS as they don’t have any money to get pay, they take timeoff their regular jobs or teams to train and play together, so they need funds on a regular basis to pay for the team expenses including traveling, so if any of you know of any organization that may help, please let me know.
In the way back I got a tour of the Nehru Tibetan colony, which is superb, I was amazed by the beauty, size and cleanliness of this Tibetan colony, there is a central area with all the monasteries, centers stupas (Tibetan religious buildings), and a very big statue of Lord Buddha, the place was very impressive and as it was Sunday well visited by Tibetans and Indian families a like.

BUDDHA STATUE IN THE TIBETAN COLONY

STUPA AND CHENREZIG

NICE OLD MONK

MONASTERY IN THE TIBETAN COLONY

STUPA

After the visit to this center, it was time to take the 12 hour bus trip back to my loved mountains, so I returned with Kalsang-la the person in charge of the Tibetan team, I was ready for another 12 hours of fun filled bus ride, but I was not counting of being in a middle of a riot in the highway.
It was around 9pm, as we were passing by a town, predominantly of a specific faith which I will not mention, I live it to the reader to imagine which one, there were a few hundred of people on the road, shouting and fighting, there was armed police present but it was kind of an ugly seen, I put my shoes back on and grabbed my back pack, in case that I have to do some running to save limb and soul, fortunately the bus driver was convinced to turn around and go another way, so we turned back among chaos of traffic and fighting demonstrators and drove by another road.
After that the usual near misses for a few more hours and suddenly we were back in the lovely Himalayas around 6am, which is great to observe the sunrise by the high mountains, the trip was very full feeling and I was able to share some of my limited knowledge and learn much more from this land and its people, I arrived to my apartment, had breakfast, picked my books and went for my teachings, walking down the road to the Tibetan Library and Archives (which is were my teachings are held), I could only think, how lucky I am to be able to see/learn and witness so much in this far land, as I walked down, my usual road side companions, Tibetans, Indians, monkeys, cows, donkeys, were heading into their daily activities, and once again I felt part of this very different world.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET YOUR GAS DELIVERD LIKE THIS??, OR TO HAVE THIS JOB??

more pics to come soon

2006-09-14T01:54:00.000-07:00

There are stingy situations here as well, the other day I helped some monks catch a scorpion as they were afraid of it, me being a good Mexican grew up with them (no we don’t eat them in Mexico), so it was a very simple operation, then we realize the creature on the bush, there are also huge fields of Nettles (Urtica dioica), all over the place growing by the road side and houses and everywhere, not to many people knows the medical benefit of this plant, you can not even find a bag of nettle tea in town, some foreigners get stinged by this plants and don’t know what to do, it is funny seeing their faces, when they get it.
Also I have seen a couple of Mongoose, I wanted to take pics of them but I did not wanted to get in the bush to get closer as their main meal is Cobras and I don’t want to find out if there are any around here.
As you can see there is never a dull moment around here....
But nothing is as chalenging and dangerous as going to the ATM machine to retrive money (there is only one in town), you see it is the favorite place of some of the locals,

THIS IS THE BEST PROTECTION AGAINST GETTING TO MUCH MONEY

and then try to pass by them without getting a scratch its not easy, and that is no BULL, I hope you agree with me??????.

THIS IS TO MUCH EVEN FOR A MEXICAN BULL FIGHTER, (you should see their deposits???)

changing the subject to food, the Tibetan food is very simple but tasty and around here its very cheap, it cost about .50 to.60 cents for breakfast, lunch about 1 dollar and dinner about the same so with 3 to 4 dollars you can eat 3 meals a day, food is mostly vegetarian and thank good Tibetan use chilies so I can eat all my food hot and spicy.

THIS IS THANTHUK MY FAV. TIBETAN SOUP, WITH VEGGIES, TOFU, HOME MADE PASTA AND CHILIES

The other day went to a Korean restaurant (there are 2 here), perhaps the best meal in town and for all standards very expensive, it was about 8.00 dollars but it was a great meal and complete with rice, kimchi, which I love, salads and the main dish, it is funny but there are 2 Italian type restaurants Run by Tibetans (actually most of the restaurants are owned by Tibetans and perhaps 2 or 3 by Indians, the funny thing is that a lot of the foreigners believe that this Italian restaurants serve pretty good Italian food, in some cases just as good as in Italy???, no offence to my Italian friends, they also have Mexican food (so called) in 2 or 3 places, such as corn chips and salsa, quesadillas and vegetarian Mexican hamburger.

2006-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well life continues as normal, studying, doing my Buddhist practices, In a way there is never enough time to do all the things that I one would like to do, so you can make your life as busy as you want, here just like anywhere else, the difference is that here you are trying to get rid of the negative/afflicting emotions that affect your life creating an illusory life and also by volunteering you help sentient beings as there is so much need around here, every day refugees from Tibet continue to arrive here from all areas of Tibet trying to escape the Chinese oppression, and they are in much need of everything even the most basic human needs.
In my philosophy courses there are Buddhist students from all over the world so it is neat to listen in the breaks so many languages spoken around me, it is also nice to see that Buddhism is so well accepted all over the world as the people realized that Buddhism, offers so much to us as a human beings not as a religion but just as a life philosophy to become a better human being.
In my Tibetan languages class are mostly Indian people, 3 or 4 from Singapore and Korea a German lady and me, Tibetan language is very hard as it is completely different than any languages that I destroy (sorry speak), but lets see how much I learn, my goal as requested by my Lama is not to learn it to be fluent, but to learn Some and used to read and better understanding of my Buddhist teachings.

Very popular the Mela festival

The monsoon is still upon us, for the last 2 days there has been the Mela festival,full of more food and items to shop than normal, its supposed to announce the end of the monsoon but I believe since the festival started there has been more rain than before, I have never seen so much rain in so little time before, in way it’s a blessing as it cleans the streets of all the cows droppings that the leave as They move from place to place.

Even the nuns have to do some shopping

Festival was very well attended

But you can smeel winter in the air, its starting to get cold in the mornings, soon I expect to see the Himalayas white and as magnificent as we see them in pictures or in our imagination
I hope that you like the pics that I have been posted, now that I know how I will be posting sometimes just pictures, with no text as I imagine you may get bored with story telling, my goal is to mostly take pictures of daily life, not the worst or the best here, but real life and hopefully some funny pics of different things that we are used to see in the west.

Even a pale face got into the Mela market, can you find him? LOL

2006-09-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

Monday 21st I started all my 3 classes, Tibetan beginners, and 2 Buddhist philosophy, one with Geshe Sonam a very well know teacher in the Tibetan world.
All 3 classes were very interesting specially the Tibetan languages as the class started 1 month ago so I am behind but I had to do the same as the others and repeat alone every thing that was written in Tibetan in the black board, this class is taught by a very funny nun, and she really is a good teacher, to bad I am not her brightest student.

MY POOR TIBETAN LANGUAGE TEACHER A VERY FUNNY NUN

Today Tuesday 22nd was the second class and I felt a bit more confident, so I have to hit the books to catch up with the rest.

ONE OF MY TIBETAN PHILOSOPHY TEACHERS (NOT GESHE SONAM)

MY TIBETAN PHILOSOPHY CLASSROOM

NUN'S DURING A DEBATE SESSION IN THE NUNNERY BEHIND MY PLACE

I see one or two of the soccer team members every day just walking up or down hill (that is all you do here there is no flat terrain, so today they told me that they all went for a run at 5.30am as it was part of my new instruction as the team has to be in a better shape, they are very accommodating and they do as they told very refreshing.

2006-09-01T01:44:00.000-07:00

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF PEOPLE

Road trafic going to my courses

His Holiness Oracle temple

Tibetan lady circumambulating a temple (notice resting dog)

Tibetan lady walking saying mantras

Garbage Day, nunns do the chores as well

Indian ladies going to work

Laborers going to work

More indian ladies going to work

Tuk tuk on road

2006-08-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

Blogg
with pics now
So here I am updating my Blogg, on august 11/06, had to fly to India, and of course the terrorist had to spoil it, this was the day after the terrorist were discovered in England, so I had to face the repacking of my liquid belongings, under normal circumstances it would not be a problem, but this time I had to pack a lot of liquid, no I am not referring at my tequila bottles, I was carrying with me several bottles of…………………. My contact lens solution (sorry to disappoint some of you).
So I repacked all my liquids into my mochila (backpack), and hoped for the best, so after a very trough search in all airports, Vancouver, Toronto, Zurich, I arrived on August 12/06 to Delhi, ahhhh, back in India, looked and smelled just like last year, but more chaotic if that can be possible, I was planning to stay only 2 days to recuperate from the flight so after having a half decent sleep got up to do all the mundane things a traveler does, went to the bank and then to the National museum which is one of my favorite stops in India.
I have to go back, I did not know this but it is a long week end in India because it is independence day, so my next encounter with the terrorist threats was here in India, there was a red alert, which means that all you see is soldiers with machineguns and barricades in every street, with some corners having a parapet of sandbags just like in the war zones, (the lights just went out here which is a common occurrence here but don’t worry I have my miners forehead light or torch ready so its on now).
So all day in India I had to dodge police, soldiers and their dogs, so when I went to the museum, I was thoroughly searched to gain access, one of the reasons that I like this museum is that there is an excellent exhibit of Buddhist art and relics which I find very complete, if any of you are in Delhi, visit this museum is very good.
Well I am supposed to take the train that is going to take me north to the Himalayas an over night trip that will last about 12 hours, so yes there are delays at the train stations as the terrorist said that they may do some train bombing, , that means that I have to go earlier and go trough a nasty security (the story of my life in this trip), so I go earlier and go trough the process all of a sudden my Tibetan drum that I use to do Chod practice (a high Tantra practice for all of you non Buddhist), so they want to inspected, so I have to get it out (the drum that is), and they carefully inspected, meanwhile there is a thousand locals passing by this check point with more luggage than an Italian family in a weekend trip, and nobody stop them, I guess I must look like a real bandito to them.
I board the train (first class so I wont sleep with the goats), and my traveling companions, there are four berths to a compartment, are very nice business men, which had brought enough food for the whole train so we start eating using on of their beds as a buffet table.

The oldest gentleman is a very rich merchant exporting goods all over the world he is 70 years and a very kind man, they are Krishna practitioners and I was told that last year there was an opening of a temple in the Kangra valley and this gentleman paid food and transportation for 15,000 people.
They were going up north for a 2 day Krishna celebration and they invited me to attend, but it will be almost impossible to go.
Once I arrive to Pathankot I get off the train and my driver is waiting for me to take me up to McLeod Ganj which is my destination, he is holding a sign on the train platform with my name on it spelled Jammey.

He is supposed to take me up hill for 2 ½ hours, so no soon we start the trip a police stop us and wants money from my driver which he finally gives and we are free to go ahhhhhhhh, India reminds me so much of Mexico.

We finally arrive and my hotel, there is a waiting comity by the door (more memories of Mexico), a couple of donkeys are by the hotel door, Picture from my room enclosed of these two), my room is ready and waiting for me, so I go and get read of my mochila and go to the Tibetan office, to get clear so I can go to HH the Dalai Lama teachings that started today. (see pics)

And yes once again I have to go trough a big security clearance including 2 pictures of my ugly face, once I get my pass I am free to go and get the teachings, I think I will stop here for now as this covers several days of security checks, and travel covering from August 11th to the 15th , enjoy the pictures.

So after, I got my clearance to attend HH, teachings, for the next 4 days I have attended them, the teachings are “thirty seven practices of a Bodhisattva”, a collection of teachings to serve others and become a better person, I am taking the liberty of giving here some examples of the teachings (verses), which were explained in detail and with examples sometimes funny by his holiness.

Practice 1
“ Now that you have obtained the precious human body, the great boat so difficult to find, in order to free yourself and others from the oceans of samsara.
To listen, reflect and meditate with diligence day and night is the practice of a Bodhisattva”.

Practice 2
“Passion towards friends churns like water.
Hatred towards enemies burns like fire.
Thtough dark ignorance one forgets what to adopt and what to reject.
To abandon one’s homeland is the practice of the Bodhisatva”.

One more
Practice 26
If lack of discipline prevents you from benefiting yourself, then your wish to benefit others is just a locke.
Therefore, to observe discipline with no longing for wordly existence, is the practice of the Bodhisatva.

This is just to give all of you an example of the teachings.

Well the weather has been monsoonic there are a couple of weeks left in the monsoon season, (or so they tell me but is still here, in a way it’s a blessing as all the grunge and dirt gets clean from the streets, so everything has a purpose, here are some pics of the rain and its combatants, notice that tourist as well as monks and nuns get very much affected by the monsoon, and we all run for cover creating funny instances everywhere.

And even the Tibetan ladies very nicely dressed in their Tibetan Chubas have to walk quickly not to get soaked.

Today Saturday August 19th is the first day after HH teachings so the town is back to normal, and tomorrow I will be starting my new volunteer job , now I am the coach of the Tibetan soccer team, (not the National team) and we have a game tomorrow, so if I am not linched after the game I will be able to continue with my Blogg LOL.
Monday I will start my Buddhist Philosophy teachings as well as the beginners Tibetan language course, so I will be every day busy fom 8 till 12pm and then I will be doing all the volunteer work that I may be able to do.

2006-08-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, It was my intention to finish my Blogg and post it today, as I am new at this I just have erased my last entry of several pages, and many days of work, that was going to provide all the information about my whereabouts since April, as I will not have time now until I arrive to India to re do it, Just be aware that I am flying to India August 11th and I will re-start my Blogg in India. Please be patient, you can log in a few days and it will be updated, love all take care.
Jaime

2006-04-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

My Blogg will keep all my friends and family, as well as others interested in Tibetan Buddhism informed as to the progress of my quest, which is to learn more about Tibetan Buddhism, so I can serve others best and be a better person.
I will try to be brief and post pictures to give you an idea of my travels and my experiences.
I hope that I will provide some help for others that may want to follow the Buddhist path, and those who want to serve others, this Blogg will be mostly educational and informative, as it its my first, please be patient while I learn how to do it.
I will not post daily as most Bloggs do, as my intention is not to create a traveling journal, you can contact me at my e mail address if you so desire, just be aware that sometimes while in retreats I won't be able to answer my e mails for a while.