Peace, Love, & Holy Cows

Hello world! Max and Katherine here, reporting from sunny Kathmandu, Nepal. 

To begin our day we started with a meditation from our teacher and fearless Buddhist leader Larry! After we centered ourselves through meditation we were able to have a great discussion. Our discussion focused on the principle themes of this course; mainly impermanence, karma, and suffering. One thing we learned today, that we all enjoyed, was the idea of karmic connections between people. We dubbed this idea 'mind mates' to describe the unexpected connections that we have with others that aren't just by chance. After we struggled to comprehend all these subjects through group reflection we were told of a teaching from Gautama Buddha himself. He said that people can pick and choose what they want to take and use from his teachings. We come from many diverse background so naturally we will have different take aways from this class. This teaching from the Buddha opens Buddhism up to all of us so we can be confident that we will leave this course with new perspectives.

Later in the day we took a break for lunch. A group of us went to a little slice of home; an American influenced cafe. We had waffles, sandwiches, and starbucks-esque coffee. Another group of us ate at a traditional Nepalese food place that our monk friend Lopan introduced us to several days ago. We are amazed by the variety of food that we have found in Kathmandu.

After lunch we all reconvened for an adventure to the Pashupatinath Temple. On the walk there we stumbled upon many new experiences. We were able to leave the Stupa and monetary area and adventured out into the city. We found plenty of dogs, a sacred cow stealing lettuce (much to the chagrin of the store owner), and many monkeys. The streets were very dusty and the pollution was apparent. The hike up to the temple had a stunning view of the city with the Himalayan Mountains peeping out behind it. There were locals enjoying picnics and playing proper football amongst the monkeys and cows. Only two of our classmates were allowed into the temple due to their Hindu background which was an amazing experience for them to have. 

Overall our day was full of learning Buddhist lessons, exploring new territory, and enjoying time with each other. Another day of adventure and excitement has come to an end!

 Peace, love, and holy cows! 

-Katherine and Max