We are only gardeners.... (Dec 13 - 15)

or... the alternative working title... No Answers, Just More Questions.

We spent the rest of the week getting up early, running to Gakyi for porridge, heading to the lecture, picnicking with a group of Tibetan's who pretty much adopted us, afternoon lecture, dinner, pack the next day's lunch and bed early. That's not to say nothing happened... in fact, plenty happened!!

One morning at breakfast we ran into Joanne again and met Christian from Montreal. Joanne is from upper New York state and had been attending Naropa University studying contemplative psychology and Buddhism. Naropa sounds very interesting. They have a writing school called the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poets (how cool is that!?). That definitely goes on the "what next" list! We talked about how much we missed broccoli and maple syrup. Ah... how the simple things become important!

The Dalai Lama was delivering a fairly serious message although he has quite a light hearted, humorous side that was quite funny. He discussed the benefits of cultivating and generating a sense of empathy and compassion toward others. Desiring that sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering cannot be brought about by praying to him (or any idol) but only through your own effort. And, you can plant the seeds of compassion and tend the garden but, in the end, it has to grow on it's own. Some days he was so "out there" that we were a bit lost but we figured that, even if we don't totally understand it, the information is filtering into our brains and may percolate up at some later point when it's needed.

The monks, at afternoon tea each day, are given rupees. There didn't seem to be any pattern to how much they were given, but each day they received some rupees. Brad asked one of the monks what it was. She indicated that the donations to the temple were divided up among the monks as a daily gift, which the monks then, more often than not, generated additional merit by donating it to a worthy cause (maybe even back to the temple). So there is a bit of an endless circle of donating.

The group attending the teachings was quite diverse. The majority were definitely Tibetans but there were Koreans, Japanese, English, French, German, Israelis... all searching for peace and happiness. On the last afternoon Brad encountered a group of Chinese from Quebec speaking fluent French in the middle of India in "Little Tibet". What a combo! Even so, as many peoples as were present, except for the guards and the occasional surprised looking tourist, there were almost no Indians present... and we were in India! Perhaps they don't mind the Tibetans setting up shop here but aren't really interested in seeing what they have to say about life, the universe and everything.

The tea served in the morning and at lunch was butter tea. What is butter tea you ask? Well, it's tea with milk and butter. In fact, if you get the bottom of the pot, you can have a very thick layer of melted butter floating on the top of your tea. It was really hard to drink. Our delicate Western systems that have been taught that fat is bad. Thank goodness the afternoon tea was just simple milk tea!

The Tibetans are quite hardy people but not fat - even with drinking all that butter tea! The group that adopted us did not speak any English and we don't speak any Tibetan so all the communication was non verbal. During morning tea, out of nowhere was produced a seemingly endless supply of bread. We weren't sure what it was called but it looked like giant English Muffins. They were soft and very fresh. They offered all around and would not take no for an answer. We tried to share the food we had brought but they would not accept. They've fled their country, have basically no possessions, yet still try to give what they have. Amazing. On the last day, one of the men gave Brad the cushion he had been sitting on that week. Again, he would not take no for an answer. Following his example, we gave the cushion to one of the beggars we passed each day. The Tibetans are just human beings. They have two arms, two legs, two hands, etc, etc but they have a light that seems to shine from within and beams from their faces. They are curious and friendly and some of the most open, hospitable people I've ever encountered.

We went looking for cough drops one day due to a bit of a tickle in my throat. All the candy/lozenges are sold in singles because people cannot afford to purchase an entire package. So, not only do they have poverty issues, they have now created excess waste and packaging issues. Seems like a bad downward spiral that's hard to escape.

We had been spending our evenings trying to map out what direction I will go next. Back to India for more training... VSO work for a few years overseas... RMT... Accupuncturist... writer... artist... the options are almost too many! One evening I looked up from our mind map and asked Brad what he wanted to do. We had been spending plenty of time on me, what about him? He was undecided and not really ready to make any decisions. That same night, when we checked our email, Brad had a message from an old boss asking him if he was interested in a 6 month maternity leave contract. Again, the universe delivered what we needed, exactly when we needed it. We now have time, resources and flexibility to do our investigating and make some decisions!

On Thursday, I brought a camera with me. I knew that, if they found it, they would not allow it in the temple but Brad had noticed that some people were checking things so I decided to chance bringing the disposable with me. They located it (good thing, I'd be disappointed if they hadn't). I was told I could leave it at the medical clinic but it was closed. A woman sitting at a table selling CD's told me I could leave it at the store for 10 rupees. Seems a reasonable check price! I left the camera for the day and, at a strategic moment, left the talk just before it finished in order to get pictures of the sea of people that streamed out of the temple.




And, of course, Brad standing in the midst of the sea of people streaming out of the temple.