So much to say (and see) and so little time...

Guys. Everest. Let's be real...it was just okay. Snow, rock, clouds, getting squeezed into a tin can like sardines, weird masala candies...definitely wasn't worth $160. It was priceless!

The day started off groggy and indifferent (with the exception of Alisa, who was bouncing off the walls with excitement). I think we were all still trying to process the fact that we were all awake at 5 am and actually operating before the fact that we were about to see the top of the world. The drive there was the first surprise of the day; taking a brief 15 minutes, a stark contrast to the hour (?) that it took from the airport to the monastery our first day. We got off the bus, and we realized that the entrance and exit doors basically came from the same room. A number of us commented on this, something we had not noticed the first day, due to the jet-lag and chaos of the airport. Did anyone else notice the oddities of going through two baggage claims? When we finally got our tickets, we said goodbye to our grounding force: Tashi (Tashiiiiiiii!!). After some wait, we finally loaded onto a bus and waited some more. We shared some tunes, and then we were on our way with the arrival of the pilot (kind of important for flying), onto the plane strip thing (#askNick).

The sun was rising, and Shivam dropped his camera (welcome to the group). Only one person was allowed onto the staircase at a time and #sorryNick that plane was TINY.

The best part about being in this quite retro tin can was the view of the cockpit.

When we finally took off, it was such a shock to see the distinction of the smog over the city, and the view of what we left behind.

There was no going back (except the flight was only an hour long so there is that). And then there were mountains.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we can't find the words to explain the Himalayan majesty, so we'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Tears were shed and hugs were shared. What a karmic connection we created (or is it #askLarry?).

Grumbling stomachs brought our heads out of the clouds in realization that we only had 6 hours of sleep, no food, and unfinished journals. We got back and everyone was glowing. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs as we over ordered-there were a lot of pancakes in the room (shoutout to Tsewong and his kitchen crew). Class was to start only an hour later than usual.

So meditation felt exceptionally long today, especially with the lack of sleep. For those who saw Emily during the first half of sitting, you obviously weren't meditating either. It seemed that minds were a bit distracted from the Everest excursion (for the record, you can't say that 5 times fast-we tried).

...

As much as I hate small talk, the weather today was beautiful. Most of us stayed at the monastery for lunch, and took a chill (remember, Larry?) under the sun. It was so nice to be able to do our own thing, while still all being together as a group. Some ate, some napped, some Skyped, but we were all still back by 3 for our mysterious community engagement assignment.

Who knew that monks have recess? We stumbled upon a football match (not soccer, sorry guys) and Morgan was quick to start a fiery game of penalty-kick football.

Marching down to the side entrance space, we met our new friend Rigzin, along with a few others. Initially, we still had no idea what we were doing there. A little bit of guidance was all we needed to get started.

Some did compost, some made aprons, some lifted branches, but one was almost killed by a falling tree (c'mon man). Zoe's group of apron-makers started out slow, but picked up the pace (literally) when one of the monks asked if we wanted to play a game. A race. We were cutting the strings that would be the ties on the aprons, which meant it only had to be a straight line. Who could cut the fastest? The initial time to beat was 22 seconds. With each next person, the time got shorter, until we thought that there was no way to beat a 5 second cut, when one of the monks did it in 2 seconds! It was both stressful under the pressure of time, but we had a lot of laughs with people messing up their seemingly simple lines (it's a lot harder than it looks).

Lopen was having time of his life playing us: tourists. (Great camera work!)

At the end we all reflected, like the good little Gaels we are, on the meaning of the mind and the body in community engagement. 

The highlight was Lopen melting our hearts by saying he is comfortable with us like good ole' friends. Our hearts are still melting #howarewegoingtosaygoodbye #Jonwesaidnomorehashtags #sorryguys #fromJon

Let me just say that I had such an amazing time today. Dinner was fabulous and it was such an amazing experience to have people just hand us (Zoe and Jon) the guitar and ask us to play when I haven't even played guitar yet for my boyfriend of 2.5 years. The singing and music along with dinner was the best night that I could have asked for so far. From Wonderwall to JB to Party in the USA to Hey There Delilah, there was something for everyone, and I think we can say the same thing about all that today had to offer (#blessed 😜)
So here's to flights across the world with people you hardly know and far too many hashtags for one blog post (I blame Jon), cheers my friends!

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

The One with the Existential Crisis

On Wednesday afternoon in a monastery classroom, Aubrey, Kavya, and Sabrina found themselves having an existential crisis….

It all started the day before when their Tibetan Buddhism class went on a day trip to the Asura, the cave of Padma Sambhava a Buddhist practitioner who meditated there for months at a time. They started the day with a can-do mindset and with poise and grace faced their first challenge of walking up the exactly 1 million stairs to reach their destination. When they finally made it, they were awed by Padma Sambhava’s dedication to Buddhism and to reaching enlightenment. Sabrina wondered how one could possibly sit still for so long. Aubrey was amazed by the spiritual vibes that still reverberated through the cave after so many years. Kavya wondered about how he took care of his business. Although they enjoyed the cave, the class’s hunger for food took precedent over the hunger for knowledge and so, after retrieving their classmate Morgan from playing soccer with monks, they went to lunch. 

After lunch, the class enjoyed a trip to Namkha Drimed Rinpoche’s monastery. Inside the temple, Aubrey experienced some culture shock when examining the sometimes vulgar images depicted on the walls. Sabrina experienced sensory overload from the thunderous sounds of the unfamiliar instruments and the vibrant colors throughout the temple. Kavya, although awed by the beauty, was looking forward to the tea and cookies provided at the end of the tour.

The sun was setting as the class began their return to their temporary home of Sechen monastery. Because of the numerous events of the day, the bus was bustling with conversation some of which was of a serious note, some of a more lighthearted demeanor. Tired, the trio went to bed with visions of monks dancing in their heads. 

This morning, both professors were busy helping sick students. Using their extra time wisely, Sabrina reached out to her parents to share her tales of adventure. Aubrey reflected on the previous day in her journal. And Kavya decided to enjoy an extended breakfast. After all finally made their way to the classroom, the class enjoyed a relaxing session of meditation. The class’ collective mind slowly waded into the vast pool of Buddhist philosophy, gradually asking more difficult questions as the conversation progressed. As the discussion moved into the territory of Karma, Kavya, Aubrey, and Sabrina collectively went into existential crisis. Aubrey was thinking of her place in this world and what purpose her impermanent life has to serve. Sabrina was lost in trying to find the logic in the concept of karma being bereft of judgment. Kavya was concerned that she was collecting bad karma from accidentally squishing bugs by simply walking. 

As the day came to a close, Sabrina went immediately to write her daily reflection. Aubrey went to do rooftop yoga with some other classmates. Kavya went to find the karma bank. She is yet to return. Stay tuned… 

P.S. The nunnery was dope

PUPS, KARMA, COFFEE.....OH STUPA!

PUPS, KARMA, COFFEE.....OH STUPA!

Our Kathmandu mornings never fail to bring a smile to our faces and a chill through our bodies. Our day started in the best way possible by being joined with some furry friends.

Today is our 4th day at Shechen and we have grown more at home with this peaceful bubble. We gained more insight into rebirth, spiritual materialism, and karma. Lopan, our Buddhist mentor, allowed us to understand the causes and conditions in the world and how karma is the reason why everything happens for a reason. With hours of Buddhist philosophy lessons and insightful meditation our bodies and minds began to wither and adapt to the deep thought that Kathmandu promotes. Our class reached an emotional break through as we tried to learn to become less attached to our emotional realities. We also discussed how to deal with guilt. In Buddhist philosophy they believe everything happens for a reason because of karma. It is, however, important to acknowledge those feelings of guilt because that means we have a conscience. Opposite to us westerners, Buddhist believe intention is more important than action. It was important for us to mentally bite that Buddhism is like a menu, you can take what you like. 

As a special treat Lopan took us to his favorite restaurant that specializes in Thalis. This special Nepalese dish had several types of Nepali foods that stimulated our senses.

It's not every day you get to sit next to a monk at lunch, and learn how similar we all truly are to him. We even had matching cell phones! While we were all so hungry and the fresh food took an hour to come to our table, we settled for enlightening conversation and giggles.Lopan showed us how to make fresh coffee by muddling ground coffee beans with sugar and pouring it into hot water. Another reminder that some monks are coffee addicts just like the rest of us.

After lunch we walked around the Stupa with Lopan guiding us and teaching us stories and important facts. He said that walking around the Stupa allows our wishes and prayers to come true. The more we walk around the Stupa the more good Karma we develop, and the more our lives and health benefit.

After our Stupa adventure most of us retired to our rooms for the night and were looking forward to explore Pharping in the morning.

Cheers to many more walks around the Stupa and a lifetimes worth of good karma.

-Esha and Vanny

༒😼☃

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.

yesterday, in any case.

Chögyam Trungpa Legacy Project: ChögyamTrungpa.com Books by Chögyam Trungpa January 10, 2017 WE DO NOT REMEMBER YESTERDAY Generally, we do not remember yesterday. We don’t really go back to yesterday, in any case. The past is imprinted in us in this present moment, and we only think we are seeing yesterday. You might have a memory of your dead father, for instance. That doesn’t mean you see him there, but your memory of him is present. In the same way, there is generally no such thing as going back to the past. Excerpted from: “Precision and Vastness,” in The Teacup and the Skullcup: Where Zen and Tantra Meet, page 36 READ MORE    |   ADD TO BAG |   BROWSE INSIDE Ocean of Dharma now has 23,611 subscribers. Please send comments to the list moderator, Carolyn Gimian, at cgimian@shambhala.com. Teachings by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, taken from works published by Shambhala Publications, the archive of his unpublished work in the Shambhala Archives, plus other published sources.

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I Do Not Exist: Morgan and Nick

Today started with our first early morning visit the great Boudhanath stupa to join the community of Nepal in circumambulating in clockwise motion to practice the traditions of the Buddhist religion. Some of us even found comfort in an Americanized coffee shop cleverly called Himalayan Java Coffee that overlooks the massively magical stupa. We then gathered for our first official class session of the journey in our humble abode of a classroom.

"One thing I've really struggled with in What Makes You Not a Buddhist is the concept of impermanence. If change is constant, then how is change not permanent?" This question asked by our colleague, Sabrina, brought the entire group into the deep end.

The idea of permanence, impermanence was of great conflict for our group today. Many of us struggled with the idea of constant change being coupled with nothing being permanent, or constant. The discussion evolved into dialectic of both sincere misunderstanding of one of the main tenant of Buddhism as well as a skepticism of that tenant’s reality.  Many people in the group were confused by both the vague answers given by our instructor, Larry Marmelstein, purposefully, and the very explicit ideal of impermanence that is expressed in Buddhism. Despite the misunderstanding or confusion, our class had a profound and light-hearted discussion of many philosophical points expressed. There was an overall energy of curiosity and sense that our questions ultimately could not be answered by anybody but ourselves. And then we broke for dinner. 

A member of our group (inhale) Sir Maximilian Xavier Cox Conrad Knight of the Orthodox Order of Saint Anna, Order of Seraphim, California Commandery, Confrere of the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (exhale) . . . had contacted a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend named emphatically Lucky, whom the group was invited to dine with. After being led astray by some local passersby’s, we eventually braved the Kathmandu traffic, which seems more chaotic than calm, taking our lives in our hands just crossing the street to the cafe (crosswalks are non-existent, the same goes for streetlights, or even road rules in general) we could finally leave our little bubble at the monastery and experience the real rush of the streets. It was only then that we realized that we had simply traded one bubble for another, the safety and bubble of Moraga was exchanged for the safety and the calm of the monastery. After dodging cars, motorcycles, and mangy dogs, we all ate Chinese food, except for Catherine who found happiness in an American style dinner: donuts and coffee. 

We ended the day by gathering on the roof and conversing about the different topics of discussion and events of the day, which ended up turning into a very philosophical conversation on permanence and ego once again. In the end, we all shut our eyes with many unanswered questions to dream upon.