Dharamsala and beyond

The last few days spent in Mcleod Ganj have been mainly spent reflecting on this trip, on the many experiences that we have had and the many things we have learnt…It really has been life changing, allowing us the time out to look at the way we live our lives, how we distract ourselves in so many ways , how we fool ourselves in so many ways…If we are masters of anything I think then it is masters of the art of deception. Who is being fooled ?…we are…by whom? ..ourselves!!!!
Pray to the Guru within to guide and direct us, look within and rest in that open awareness that is always there.
On may 3rd it was my birthday so we thought we would have a day out. We hired a taxi and visited the Chamundi temple some 20kms away. It is an ancient and very large temple complex dedicated to both Shiva and the Goddess Chamundi, one of the forms of Durga the female Shakti. Many people queued to get darshan of the devi and receive her blessings whilst drums beat out a constant beat in tune with your own heart. After receiving the blessings of the devi we ventured downstairs into a place where a huge rock stood and a shrine had been formed around it. We queued with hundreds of others and then stepped down under the rock itself where a natural Lingam had formed and where a priest sat . He invited us to pour water over the lingam and then gave us a blessing in the form of sacred food and a dab of red powder on the forehead. Both Jess and I silently prayed for the removal of negativity from our body, speech and minds and also from the world around us. We prayed that the world may be healed of its heavy load of negativity and that teachers and high beings may be allowed to continue their work without obstacle or disturbance. We then sat at the rivers edge and watched the river carry away offerings we made to it.
Before leaving the temple we sat with a sadhu who smiled and waved at us. Jess is always amused at my relationship with sadhus, they seem to strike up conversations with me as if I am an old friend. This one, with deep red robes, a huge bundle of hair in dreadlocks wrapped around his head, a long beard and a mouth full of rotten teeth said come sit….He put his arms around us both and allowed a photo to be taken. He refused our money and just blessed us on top of our head and said something about a great saint, a great saint..full of sur shakti whatever that is!!!! But it was a nice moment with the wandering sadhu whose name seemed to be larry baba…which amused Jess as Jess’s dad’s nick name is larry!!!
After the temple we drove back towards Sidhbury and stopped briefly at Karmapa’s temple. We knew he wouldn’t be there but thought it would be worth double checking!!! He was still in Delhi…
Our trip ended at the Tapovan ashram, a small and very peaceful place on the outskirts of Sidhbury. It is set in a forest and the lilac trees and willow trees were a perfect setting for this place of meditation. It is one of many ashrams begun by the well known Vedantic teacher Swami Chinmayananda and was the home to a hand full of sannyasins or hindu monks who practiced meditation and followed the precepts of their teacher. A huge Hanuman statue stood in the garden and there was a temple dedicated to Rama, the Hindu Avatar.
The day was ended with a nice Indian meal at Mclos in Mcleod and 1-2 beers( light not strong this time).
The following morning we chatted over breakfast to two American girls who had just arrived from Rishikesh. One of the girls discovering we lived in Wales, asked “ where in Wales?”, when we told her Bridgend she said, “ I’ve been there, I bought my dog a St Bernards from there!!!”. Such a small world……we talked about the death of Osama Bin laden and the American response outside the White House. It was good to know they didn’t share in the celebratory cheers that were taking place there and felt confused by it all… Not all Americans can be pigeon holed as gung ho yanks despite what the media tell us.
On May 5th we left by taxi to Bit, a Tibetan colony some 2 hours drive from McLeod Ganj. This is one of the most beautiful areas in India and we enjoyed the drive which took us through tea plantations, small villages and all the while the backdrop of the snow capped mountains of the Himalayas followed us along. We arrived in Bir and at our guest house the Dzongsar guest house to be told that we couldn’t come in as police were checking all shops, cafes and guest houses to ensure that they were licensed. We had to sit outside with our bags for a while but were then allowed to leave our bags in reception whilst we went for lunch. When we returned, police had been and gone all was ok so we could go to our room. Unfortunately our room perhaps wasn’t worth the wait that we had just had!!! Damp and dark with lots of traffic noise, not a lot of running water and we knew that come the night time the dogs would start their howling. We had stayed there before and knew it was pretty basic but not quite this basic….we have noticed that on our days of travel and arrival somewhere new we tend to be a little grumpy and unsettled and hoped that after a nights sleep things would look better…they didn’t and the following day we looked around Bir for alternative accomodation, but the problem we came up against was that although there were some other rooms available, come the 25th May and everywhere was booked up because Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is teaching for 4 days in the Deer park Institute here. This would mean we would be stuck without a room for a week until our planned leaving date of June 2.
Fortunately, the problem was solved with the help of our friend Vee from Italy who we had met at Lama Wangdu’s in Kathmandu. We bumped into her at the Deer Park over breakfast and she told us that the house where she was staying had a room. We checked it out and it was great, a family run home with a few rooms for rent, all with bathroom, solar powered water which actually came out of the tap, tv, lovely garden and the cutest Tibetan spaniel which looks like its crossed with a panda..as it is white with big black eyes!!!!!.All this for 300 rupees a night.
The Deer Park is 50 yds away and is becoming our second home. Its really well run with great food 3 times a day, just put your name in the book and turn up for meals, each meal is less than £1 and they also have great filter coffee which keeps Jess happy…There is a great system of recycling and waste management going on here and people are very mindful of their activities, everyone washing their own dishes etc. The Buddha Hall is free for meditation and we have got into a routine of using it for our practice after breakfast. They have a good library and bookshop and are very helpful with enquiries. Currently there is a course on for monks “ Science and Buddhism” run jointly by a university in the states and the Buddhist Library in Mcleod Ganj and also a course for lay people on the 7 points of mind training. Jess and me are not attending this, using our time for practice and quiet walks.
We popped over to Sherab Ling on May 6 and found it very quiet. H.E. Tai Situ is still in Delhi and there weren’t many monks around at first but then we went into the Gompa and found them busily preparing a mandala for the forthcoming Vajrayogini Drupchen beginning on May 7. We called in on Pongre Rinpoche, Lama Samten’s nephew and spent some time with him discussing our travels also some of his experiences and reflection about his 3 year retreat which he finished last year. He invited us back for the Drupchen and empowerment which would take place soon.
At breakfast in the Deer Park we met an English woman B. who it turns out is originally from Porthcawl!!!!! Yes it really is a small world and getting smaller. She has been travelling in India and recently completed a 10 day vipassana course nearby.
After speaking to the Rinpoche at one of the nyingma monasteries here, he has arranged for one of his khenpos to teach Jess, Verena and myself the chod practice that we began to learn in Kathmandu. He said at least he will be able to help with visualizations and meanings so that will be interesting.
Today, 7 May we also visited Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche who is spending time here and also teaching here at the end of the month. He greeted us at his house, put down his newspaper and spent about an hour with us discussing all sorts of things including the difference between England and Wales and which he preferred( I’m not telling!!!), traditional versus other means to teach the dharma in the west…this depends very much on the teacher he said, he has to take into account, lifestyle, means, etc and determine which is more beneficial to the student. We also discussed retreats long and short and again how they affect the student. He was very relaxed and open in his conversation with us warning us about perfectionism and how a need and greed for perfection results in people giving up. Better is consistency he said, keep going, if you stumble, pick yourself up and continue recognizing this as part of the path. Along with consistency you need a sense of direction, like the archer who fires the arrow at the target…know where to aim for and then just relax and get on with it. Great instructions from one of a new breed of teacher who is able to teach the dharma in a 21st century style without losing its essence.