Its about time!

Its about time... We release control

Its about time... We slow down

Its about time... We are peaceful

Its about time... We practice mindfulness

Its about time... We let go

We wanted to incorporate videos of our experience here in Kathmandu by filming our way through the day. While they may seem fast to you, we were actually taking our time. It seemed fitting to show the peaceful nature of this city and people the only way Westerners recognize through quick paced time lapses.  The first being our walk to class.

You can probably tell that we talked about the concept of time a lot today. Our discussion began because we were supposed to meet by 8:45 and start our class by 9 but we ended up actually getting started around 9:10. We discussed a way to get everyone together earlier but that brought up a conversation about how much we appreciate and are refreshed by slowing down. By letting go of time, because it does not really exist, we release control which can be scary but with that, we release pressure and anxiety. We often are attached to time because it brings structure to our lives and with that we strive to achieve our purpose. Our conversation quickly moved to what is our purpose if we cannot have attachment to goals.

We then moved to a conversation with our monk friend Lopan. Beforehand, we wrote down questions concerning love, attachment, permeance, mind, and reincarnation. They were very existential because we seemed to be having a group existential crisis. We were all so eager to hear what he had to say being a monk and so intelligent. He did not just answer our questions but explored them with metaphors and examples. He said the mind is like water because it can be poured into soup, juice, and tea. It was very interesting that sometimes he needed to say the answer in Tibetan before translating it to English. We appreciated that. We all left our conversation feeling empowered and grounded. We were all thankful to hear from such a great Buddhist perspective and that made us hungry for more knowledge but we settled for lunch. 

                  

Walk a mile in our shoes as we take you to and around the Stupa. 

This is our walk to the Stupa!

This is our walk around the Stupa!

When we reconvened, we discussed one of the books we were assigned, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. We mostly focused our conversation on meditation. Various things about meditation such as the practice but also the reason behind it. We all have been concerned about the way we have been doing it, you could say we are attached to meditating in the most proper and beneficial way. We also dove into discussing reality and what that means to us as westerners versus how Buddhists understand it.  We closed our day of class with a rooftop yoga session courtesy of Morgan.

To cap our third day in Kathmandu, we enjoyed some amazing tapas and paella at a rooftop restaurant with an unbeatable view of the Stupa. 

Signing off from your favorite, tapas filled, and mindful doggo duo.