The Dalai Lama comes to town

Today hereby ended a four-day Buddhist teaching session in McLeod Ganj, led by none other than the Dalai Lama himself.

What an experience it was to hear the Dalai Lama speak in person. I'm not a Buddhist and have never really studied Buddhist philosophy so it was a bit complicated at times, but there were still many concepts that I felt I could take with me. But I'll let Elise comment more on the teachings as she was a much more diligent pupil than I ;)

What really fascinated me most about the teachings was the kind of sociology of it and the actual experience of being there. The system seems totally crazy at first--you go there the day before to reserve your seat by writing your name down and taping it onto these mattresses outside the temple where the Dalai Lama sits. But then the day comes and you see it actually works--even though it's you and 2000 other people squeezing onto these mattresses for two-hour sessions at a time!

I think what struck me the most was the sense of tenderness that pervaded everything that was happening, from how everyone was provided Tibetan bread and butter tea, to how the monks next to us would then still offer us their leftover half-eaten knobs of bread, to how they taught Elise how to perform certain Buddhist rituals even though we didn't take our layperson vows ;) At times I felt kind of like, who am I really to be here?--I mean, really, I was doing everything wrong, from bringing my leather bag in to fidgeting all the time because my hips were stiff from sitting cross-legged to killing an ant that was crawling up my arm (oops), and oh yeah, I'm not a Buddhist--but it was really this overwhelming sense of openness and tenderness that made me feel super welcome. And there are these really human moments about the teachings that I loved--even though thousands of people were there to see this religious and political rock star, and most were dutifully paying attention, there were still times when people (including monks) fell asleep, and got excited and a little chatty when the tea came around, and laughing at the kids running around and causing a ruckus when the Dalai Lama was speaking :) It was all wonderful to watch and partake in.

Cameras were not allowed during the teachings, so no personal shots of His Holiness, sorry ;) But here are some photos from the day before...

Always walk clockwise and spin the prayer wheels in the same direction :)

The mattress system

Love you!
Lixian