Meeting the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in the words of Julia, was “definitely the coolest thing I’ve done in my entire life.”
I don’t want to rule out the rest of my life yet, but it was absolutely amazing. Words may not do it justice. Also, if you are reading this at a computer with legitimate internet (aka, you are not in India), youtube the song “Oxford Comma” by Vampire Weekend and listen carefully. It is the perfect soundtrack for this post.
Our meeting was scheduled for 1:30, so Liz and I spent the morning making breakfast in our new apartment and running various errands. These errands included picking up our thankas from the shop, where they had been brocaded overnight. For full disclosure, I bought four thankas from this shop, which can best be described as a hut on the side of the road with a lot of paintings in it. I feel all right about this because some are presents and also because I saw him making them, sitting on the ground in his shop with a half-finished canvas in front of him. I came back so much that Liz and I got pretty good deals on our thankas. Then we picked up our chupas from the cleaners and got lunch before we went home to change.
Coming to India means doing away with things like hair dryers, straighteners, and pretty much anything that makes one’s hair manageable, and so we struggled to look presentable for the audience. Then we grabbed our bags of religious objects to be blessed (plus a baseball hat for my brother: Derek, I love you enough to sneak an unapproved item into the bag!) and headed out the door. A monk commented that we looked beautiful in our chupas on the way to the temple.
The area outside the temple entrance was more deserted than usual, and there were more barriers than normal, presumably so no one could drive a car up to His Holiness’s residence (he lives inside the temple complex). We ducked under some major scaffolding to get to security, where we went through a full pat down and submitted our objects to a tray for blessing later. We were left with only our passports and khatas (ceremonial scarves).
Our group, which consisted of 11 students, 2 TAs, 3 teachers, and Ani-la’s mom and her mother’s friend, sat in the waiting room for a while folding our khatas. Eventually, we got called in for the audience. We walked into a long hallway, holding our khatas and bending forward at the waist so as to keep our heads below HHDL’s head. The helper monks placed the scarves over our necks, which left our hands free to shake! The Dalai Lama has a strong grip. He spent a few seconds holding onto my hand and looked right into my eyes.
Once everyone had progressed through the line, we moved into a room with couches and armchairs and listened to HHDL talk. Two translators assisted him, and the group got the chance to ask three questions. He spoke for a long while about all the topics: we asked two questions on Buddhist philosophy and one on compassion in everyday life. Stephen asked about the relationship between karma and the laws of nature, Ed and Kylie asked how to apply compassion to people we meet in India and at home, and Nellie asked a question about a specific quote that is supposed to contain the entire Dharma in four lines. HHDL asked if she spoke Tibetan so he could answer in Tibetan instead of English. Thank goodness for the translators.
The Dalai Lama laughs a lot, and smiles a ton, and does not fail to make eye contact with each person in the room. Being in his presence really did make me tear up, although I’m not sure why. You can just tell that you’re in the room with someone special when he sits and thinks. He spoke well in English and listened intently to all the questions and answered carefully and thoughtfully. His answers showed his intelligence, but also his warmth and his humanness, which is something weird to say about a person that Tibetans consider a god. He makes you feel like he really cares about people, and animals, and worries about their well-being, which is a lot more than other people who supposedly care about people’s well-being, i.e. politicians or humanitarians or decision-makers or whomever. The world would probably be a better place if more people cared about people rather than other things.
The time flew by, except for the part where the room was really hot. HHDL got up from his chair in the middle of speaking and tried to turn on the air conditioning unit (it took him a while). He looked absolutely hilarious holding the remote with his lips pursed, and you could tell that the translators (both men in their 30s or 40s) just wanted to rip it out of his hands and turn it on for him, but couldn’t because that would mess up protocol.
Afterwards we took photos on some stairs outside, which I will post once I get them from Hong Kong, and then HHDL blessed all the things we brought by touching his forehead to the tray.
Overall, I would concur with Julia’s statement that meeting HHDL is definitely a life highlight.
Showing posts with label HHDL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HHDL. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
We met HHDL
Amazingly powerful experience. Brought tears to my eyes. I shook the Dalai Lama's hand. Details to come. I'm still processing.
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Live blog: HHDL drive by
Not the kind with a shooting. Elizabeth and I were stopped on our way out of class by a mass of people lining the street, waiting for HHDL's motorcade. People have cameras and katas. A cow almost just ran us over. It is the only thing allowed in the street.
It's unclear if we'll have to wait ten minutes or an hour to see the car, but I hope it's short because I want to pick up my bright pink and green pants and shirt from the tailor.
Movement!
It's unclear if we'll have to wait ten minutes or an hour to see the car, but I hope it's short because I want to pick up my bright pink and green pants and shirt from the tailor.
Movement!
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
HHDL teachings day 2
I feel like I did a terrible job explaining what the teachings are actually like, so I apologize. Only seven pages of notes today, but then again it was only a half day teaching. Above is my super official badge to access the upper level. It cost ten rupees. Excellent.
I thought that HHDL's teachings today would just be a continuation of yesterday (I.e. Pick up at nature of the mind and such). Instead he began by talking about the difference between material wealth and mental wealth/happiness. It emphasized why Buddhist thought is important and I think it would resonate with a lot of people. It kind of confirmed why it is awesome to listen to him even when Buddhist philosophy is hard to accept and apply generally.
He then went on to discuss the nature of the self and emptiness, but the part that I got the most out of (looking back on my notes...I feel really nerdy) was his explanation of the nature of mind.
For Buddhists, the mind is a compassionate and loving entity,and delusions and ignorance cause our hatred and suffering. They have good explanations for how this happens, but I had not been satisfied with any answer as to why the nature of mind is loving. It seems to me that mind could just as easily be evil, since we have to train it to be positive.
HHDL tried to answer the question "how does one live an honest or honorable life when the world is so full of evil?" By talking about the news. The news focuses on distasted and destruction and downfall because, according to Buddhism, compassionate people are taken for granted. This much is obvious in our daily lives. HHDL said we take compassion for granted because we realize it is natural. This struck me as really good reasoning both for why we take things for granted and also for the loving nature of the mind.
Also, Liz and I got there really early and got seats where we could both see the tv and have a view of HHDL's profile in the temple. That made the teachings much more enjoyable, and it was still super fun to see him walk by so close. It is impossible to describe the lightness he exudes and the reaction of all the people, especially the Tibetans, when he is around.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011
One Hundred Posts: The Dalai Lama's Teachings
It's fitting that the 100 post mark describes HHDL's first teachings, given that this is a pivotal moment in the program and is the reason that some people came. And also because it's really cool.
(I do have more to say about our weekend trip, but I'll put that on hold because I know HHDL is a huge draw. With good reason.)
Background: Dawa left to go back to school today, so before I left at 8 (an hour earlier than normal), I gave him a "I heart NY" hat and a kata to wish him safe travels. He really did make my homestay experience super enjoyable and I was sad to see him go, since I'll have no one to walk the dog with and he won't make fun of me anymore (he is super sarcastic and always makes ridiculous comments when I ask questions. Then I believe him and look like a fool). Anyway, he really liked the gift and I gave him a hug and it was a good time to see him (and Amala) so happy. I may still get married off, but that’s a different issue.
Liz and I walked over to the temple around 8, and there was already a huge throng of people there. Monks were hawking books outside, momo sellers were everywhere, and generally there was a lot of commotion. We met Julia and Sam in the security line for foreigners (there are two separate lines) and got our bags checked and underwent patdowns that rival those in US airports if you refuse the body scanner. They didn’t do a great job of bag checking, because I realized I got my apple peeling knife (10 rupees!) in the temple.
Since we registered beforehand, we walked to the upper level of the temple (the temple has two levels, but the main level is the upper one) and found seats with the rest of our program. HHDL sat in the main temple, and we sat in the open air part surrounding the temple on the same level. Thai people got to sit in the temple with him because they paid for the teachings to occur. The area was sectioned off, with places for monks, Tibetan natives, and specific foreigners (like, Koreans, etc.) in a way that I couldn’t really make head or tail of. There were big tvs broadcasting HHDL’s podium, but I was sitting behind a tree (in the middle of a temple…welcome to India) and so couldn’t see the TV. No worries, though, because…
HHDL rolled up the stairs literally five feet in front of me! Everyone got up to bow/prostrate/whatever, and there he was walking up the stairs! The place was packed and had Indian security with rifles in place along the stairs and at the corners of the building, but even those guys put their hands together in respect towards HHDL.
Then everyone sat back down on their cushions, at some point monks came around with butter tea and bread, and we listened to HHDL talk. He spoke in Tibetan, but there’s simultaneous translation to many languages, so we listened to English over the radio. Occasionally he would break into English so then I would take my headphone out and listen to his voice, which is so awesome. I took 20 full pages of notes on Buddhist philosophy, and as frustrated as I have been at philosophy class while I’ve been here, I must say that I felt like I had a really good grounding in a lot of the things he spoke about. If you would like a detailed account of the philosophical lecture, contact me, but I think most people would rather I skip ahead to key quotes and other random stuff.
HHDL quotes that I heard with my own ears:
(* = in translation)
“You come here to learn something new!”
“If a fox were to leap like a lion, it may break its back.”*
“Buddha statues cannot speak to us – it is the story that really teaches us.” *
“Ultimately you yourself are master/creator.” *
[English English English]… “You speak English, don't you?” (in response to murmurings from the Thai people)
He stopped at 11:30 and broke for lunch, once again walking out right in front of us. I didn’t leave the temple; our friend Pemala (from Sarah) led us to a secret bathroom with no line – clutch! A bunch of us had oranges and rice crackers for lunch, then Cynthia and Britain brought back some bananas, and we just generally lounged and talked to the people around us. Claudia found some fellow Venezuelans who were pretty cool.
He came back after lunch to finish the teaching. Overall, HHDL touched on freeing oneself from suffering by cultivating boddhicitta (wish for all sentient beings to be happy) through method and wisdom. He talked a lot about meditative concentration, and studying, and the different minds, and how the self exists, and emptiness, and attachment/the nature of suffering, and how phenomena actually exist. Text analyzed: “The Stages of Meditation.”
Thoughts on the teaching:
HHDL’s voice is amazing.
It is really weird to listen to Tibetan in one ear and English in another. Additionally, as a translator you have so much power and/or pressure.
HHDL talked about religious tolerance and the fact that all religions work towards a harmonious world. He argued that each religion preaches to be good to one another, and only the reasoning behind it differs. I.e. theistic religions rely on God to persuade adherents to be good to one another, while Buddhism uses karma to argue that you make your situation through cause and effect. Buddhists argue that their system is more logical, but I’m not sure I agree. Also, one could argue that submitting to God/self-sacrifice is less selfish than simply being good so as to improve one’s own lot in life. This is probably a really Western argument but I think it’s worth mentioning.
HHDL is pretty short but always looks super happy and has a great laugh and is clearly just the kind of person you want to be around. He also has a sense of humor, given that he said other monk in attendance were more learned than him because he only had 13 years of study and they had 15 or 20.
Two major points of emphasis: real study and real practice. By real study, he was really into people digging into the texts and analysis, and practice he meant applying the principles of Buddhism to your life, each and every day.
The teachings were surprisingly physically exhausting: sitting cross-legged is hard, and it’s even harder to sit up straight for long amounts of time, but if you don’t your back hurts. Plus it’s mentally exhausting to listen to a fuzzy radio with a billion and a half people around. But it was absolutely worth it.
(I do have more to say about our weekend trip, but I'll put that on hold because I know HHDL is a huge draw. With good reason.)
Background: Dawa left to go back to school today, so before I left at 8 (an hour earlier than normal), I gave him a "I heart NY" hat and a kata to wish him safe travels. He really did make my homestay experience super enjoyable and I was sad to see him go, since I'll have no one to walk the dog with and he won't make fun of me anymore (he is super sarcastic and always makes ridiculous comments when I ask questions. Then I believe him and look like a fool). Anyway, he really liked the gift and I gave him a hug and it was a good time to see him (and Amala) so happy. I may still get married off, but that’s a different issue.
Liz and I walked over to the temple around 8, and there was already a huge throng of people there. Monks were hawking books outside, momo sellers were everywhere, and generally there was a lot of commotion. We met Julia and Sam in the security line for foreigners (there are two separate lines) and got our bags checked and underwent patdowns that rival those in US airports if you refuse the body scanner. They didn’t do a great job of bag checking, because I realized I got my apple peeling knife (10 rupees!) in the temple.
Since we registered beforehand, we walked to the upper level of the temple (the temple has two levels, but the main level is the upper one) and found seats with the rest of our program. HHDL sat in the main temple, and we sat in the open air part surrounding the temple on the same level. Thai people got to sit in the temple with him because they paid for the teachings to occur. The area was sectioned off, with places for monks, Tibetan natives, and specific foreigners (like, Koreans, etc.) in a way that I couldn’t really make head or tail of. There were big tvs broadcasting HHDL’s podium, but I was sitting behind a tree (in the middle of a temple…welcome to India) and so couldn’t see the TV. No worries, though, because…
HHDL rolled up the stairs literally five feet in front of me! Everyone got up to bow/prostrate/whatever, and there he was walking up the stairs! The place was packed and had Indian security with rifles in place along the stairs and at the corners of the building, but even those guys put their hands together in respect towards HHDL.
Then everyone sat back down on their cushions, at some point monks came around with butter tea and bread, and we listened to HHDL talk. He spoke in Tibetan, but there’s simultaneous translation to many languages, so we listened to English over the radio. Occasionally he would break into English so then I would take my headphone out and listen to his voice, which is so awesome. I took 20 full pages of notes on Buddhist philosophy, and as frustrated as I have been at philosophy class while I’ve been here, I must say that I felt like I had a really good grounding in a lot of the things he spoke about. If you would like a detailed account of the philosophical lecture, contact me, but I think most people would rather I skip ahead to key quotes and other random stuff.
HHDL quotes that I heard with my own ears:
(* = in translation)
“You come here to learn something new!”
“If a fox were to leap like a lion, it may break its back.”*
“Buddha statues cannot speak to us – it is the story that really teaches us.” *
“Ultimately you yourself are master/creator.” *
[English English English]… “You speak English, don't you?” (in response to murmurings from the Thai people)
He stopped at 11:30 and broke for lunch, once again walking out right in front of us. I didn’t leave the temple; our friend Pemala (from Sarah) led us to a secret bathroom with no line – clutch! A bunch of us had oranges and rice crackers for lunch, then Cynthia and Britain brought back some bananas, and we just generally lounged and talked to the people around us. Claudia found some fellow Venezuelans who were pretty cool.
He came back after lunch to finish the teaching. Overall, HHDL touched on freeing oneself from suffering by cultivating boddhicitta (wish for all sentient beings to be happy) through method and wisdom. He talked a lot about meditative concentration, and studying, and the different minds, and how the self exists, and emptiness, and attachment/the nature of suffering, and how phenomena actually exist. Text analyzed: “The Stages of Meditation.”
Thoughts on the teaching:
HHDL’s voice is amazing.
It is really weird to listen to Tibetan in one ear and English in another. Additionally, as a translator you have so much power and/or pressure.
HHDL talked about religious tolerance and the fact that all religions work towards a harmonious world. He argued that each religion preaches to be good to one another, and only the reasoning behind it differs. I.e. theistic religions rely on God to persuade adherents to be good to one another, while Buddhism uses karma to argue that you make your situation through cause and effect. Buddhists argue that their system is more logical, but I’m not sure I agree. Also, one could argue that submitting to God/self-sacrifice is less selfish than simply being good so as to improve one’s own lot in life. This is probably a really Western argument but I think it’s worth mentioning.
HHDL is pretty short but always looks super happy and has a great laugh and is clearly just the kind of person you want to be around. He also has a sense of humor, given that he said other monk in attendance were more learned than him because he only had 13 years of study and they had 15 or 20.
Two major points of emphasis: real study and real practice. By real study, he was really into people digging into the texts and analysis, and practice he meant applying the principles of Buddhism to your life, each and every day.
The teachings were surprisingly physically exhausting: sitting cross-legged is hard, and it’s even harder to sit up straight for long amounts of time, but if you don’t your back hurts. Plus it’s mentally exhausting to listen to a fuzzy radio with a billion and a half people around. But it was absolutely worth it.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
10 March: let's march
I have no photos from HHDL's speech or the march because you are not allowed to bring cameras or cell phones into the temple area when HHDL speaks. However, grandpa requested that I describe my encounter, so I shall. (I Already finished the starburst. Thanks! I should note that grandma and grandpa's package contained only food. Not even a note, just food.)
Background: Chinese People's Liberation army invaded Tibet in 1949. 10 March 1959, the Chinese govt invited HHDL to a performance without bodyguards. Tibetan laypeople surrounded his palace to make sure he didn't go, which turned into protests against chinese occupation. HHDL fled to india soon after.
Tibetans now celebrate uprising day on March 10, although the chinese don't recognize this day. In India, HHDL gives a political speech, then there's a freedom demonstration. Yesterday Liz and I went to the temple with Dawa but then left him outside to get a radio. This was a mistake, given that we didn't even try to tune in to the english translation. We ended up going in around 8 am, and got seats with a partially blocked view with pretty much everyone else in the program.
Everyone marched in to tibetan music (i bet you didnt know tibetans played bagpipes!) There was the Tibetan national anthem, and a prayer, and then a representative from the Tibetan govt spoke. A senator and his wife were there (help on the name? Robert someone, I think. He has a Himalayan foundation, apparently). HHDL eventually spoke, and it was cool to be able to see him in person and hear his voice (surprisingly strong and clear), but of course he spoke in Tibetan. I followed along in the English packet given out.
His speech touched on a lot of things, but perhaps the most important and interesting was HHDL's announcement that he will devolve all political power with the coming elections. That part of the speech made the BBC world news later that evening, which i didn't expect.
Afterwards, I did Kora around the temple, and saw Lopsang Sengey also doing Kora. I nodded to him and he returned the nod-it is awesome to have a political candidate return your gesture, no matter where you are. He was there by himself and didn't seem to be campaigning or anything, which seems strange given that it's ten days before the election. Different than american politics.
Then everyone gets together to scream slogans, wave flags, and march down to the courthouse in lower Dharamsala. There were cameras and film crews everywhere, and if you are a Tibetan who wants to return to Tibet it is not in your best interest to show your face at the rally.
Even though we started late, we found a shortcut and ended up in the middle of a group of Young Tibetans chanting in Tibetan, english, and Hindi. Walking with them through day to day Indian life made me really uncomfortable, especially because some of the slogans called on the US and UN to step in and help Tibet.
Standing in the middle of all those people screaming forced me to think about difficult things. Partially I don't feel that I know enough about the Tibet issue to really have an opinion on whether or not Tibet should be its own country, although if they want to be free and china agrees, that would be great. More than that, though, I felt personally attacked from the chants and I realize that there are many more implications than just Tibetan freedom if the US or UN get involved. It's the same question the EU and NATO face in Lydia, or did two days ago (I haven't kept up).
Global politics is really hard, and there's a difference between what I think all people deserve (i.e. Basic human rights) and how I think people should go about getting them. I wish I could say that in all situations you should always work towards getting people basic human rights as soon as possible, but unfortunately to live in the world the game doesn't always work like that. Pissing off China might help Tibetans, but would necessarily further US goals generally. One could argue that people and countries should revise their goals, and that's a fair point, but right now the best way to work towards change is from within the system, not by destroying the system.
In other words, I kind of missed the boat by being a philosophy major and should have been an ir dual, because I think it's interesting to figure out what the best system is and what people deserve (philosophy), I think it's important to make sure people actually get as much of what they deserve as possible (politics).
So the march kind of stressed me out, but Cynthia-la bought me, Nellie, Craig, and Liz lunch at India Coffee Shop, which is a chain from the 40s that rocks and if you are in india you should go to as many as possible. The food was great.
Afterwards I finished the movie water (thanks for the rec, Grandma! ) which is informative on widows in India but also really sad, so it goes along with the theme of the day. Then Dawa and I and a family friend participated in a candlelight vigil, which was my favorite part of the day. We walked through the streets with candles, singing a prayer that helps all people cultivate compassionate and loving minds. The candles also help departed minds find their way to their next bodies, even though I felt like I was carrying a candle in remembrance of Tibetans tortured and killed by Chinese. It ended at the temple with another prayer, and then calls for a free Tibet.
Amala made tomato soup, which is my favorite kind, and I learned there is no word in Tibetan for tomato, both of which cheered me up, but overall march 10 was one of the most difficult days I've had here.
It really forced me to think about things that affect the people around me on a day to day basis (Dawa wants to go to Tibet) but also about what I value more: freedom of speech? Feeling comfortable? My own interests? Is it reasonable to hang back from working towards a free Tibet because it might hurt US economic interests in China? Is it even ethical to produce things in China given the working conditions? On some level I'm appalled by my own answers, and feel really uneducated about basic issues. On another level, I feel like I'm letting myself off the hook if I say that, and that feels terrible. And if no one really knows what's going on in Tibet, can we afford to err on the side of caution as opposed to the side of doing too much and getting into trouble politically, economically, generally? Is that reason enough to ignore human problems?
It made me think of the piece "always go to the funeral" (http://www.npr.org/templates/text/s.php?sId=4785079&m=1). I believe you should always go to the funeral, or do what you can, but what counts as what you can here? What you can do, or what you're willing to do? It's unclear to me which is better.
(I Can't believe I wrote this whole thing on my phone.)
Background: Chinese People's Liberation army invaded Tibet in 1949. 10 March 1959, the Chinese govt invited HHDL to a performance without bodyguards. Tibetan laypeople surrounded his palace to make sure he didn't go, which turned into protests against chinese occupation. HHDL fled to india soon after.
Tibetans now celebrate uprising day on March 10, although the chinese don't recognize this day. In India, HHDL gives a political speech, then there's a freedom demonstration. Yesterday Liz and I went to the temple with Dawa but then left him outside to get a radio. This was a mistake, given that we didn't even try to tune in to the english translation. We ended up going in around 8 am, and got seats with a partially blocked view with pretty much everyone else in the program.
Everyone marched in to tibetan music (i bet you didnt know tibetans played bagpipes!) There was the Tibetan national anthem, and a prayer, and then a representative from the Tibetan govt spoke. A senator and his wife were there (help on the name? Robert someone, I think. He has a Himalayan foundation, apparently). HHDL eventually spoke, and it was cool to be able to see him in person and hear his voice (surprisingly strong and clear), but of course he spoke in Tibetan. I followed along in the English packet given out.
His speech touched on a lot of things, but perhaps the most important and interesting was HHDL's announcement that he will devolve all political power with the coming elections. That part of the speech made the BBC world news later that evening, which i didn't expect.
Afterwards, I did Kora around the temple, and saw Lopsang Sengey also doing Kora. I nodded to him and he returned the nod-it is awesome to have a political candidate return your gesture, no matter where you are. He was there by himself and didn't seem to be campaigning or anything, which seems strange given that it's ten days before the election. Different than american politics.
Then everyone gets together to scream slogans, wave flags, and march down to the courthouse in lower Dharamsala. There were cameras and film crews everywhere, and if you are a Tibetan who wants to return to Tibet it is not in your best interest to show your face at the rally.
Even though we started late, we found a shortcut and ended up in the middle of a group of Young Tibetans chanting in Tibetan, english, and Hindi. Walking with them through day to day Indian life made me really uncomfortable, especially because some of the slogans called on the US and UN to step in and help Tibet.
Standing in the middle of all those people screaming forced me to think about difficult things. Partially I don't feel that I know enough about the Tibet issue to really have an opinion on whether or not Tibet should be its own country, although if they want to be free and china agrees, that would be great. More than that, though, I felt personally attacked from the chants and I realize that there are many more implications than just Tibetan freedom if the US or UN get involved. It's the same question the EU and NATO face in Lydia, or did two days ago (I haven't kept up).
Global politics is really hard, and there's a difference between what I think all people deserve (i.e. Basic human rights) and how I think people should go about getting them. I wish I could say that in all situations you should always work towards getting people basic human rights as soon as possible, but unfortunately to live in the world the game doesn't always work like that. Pissing off China might help Tibetans, but would necessarily further US goals generally. One could argue that people and countries should revise their goals, and that's a fair point, but right now the best way to work towards change is from within the system, not by destroying the system.
In other words, I kind of missed the boat by being a philosophy major and should have been an ir dual, because I think it's interesting to figure out what the best system is and what people deserve (philosophy), I think it's important to make sure people actually get as much of what they deserve as possible (politics).
So the march kind of stressed me out, but Cynthia-la bought me, Nellie, Craig, and Liz lunch at India Coffee Shop, which is a chain from the 40s that rocks and if you are in india you should go to as many as possible. The food was great.
Afterwards I finished the movie water (thanks for the rec, Grandma! ) which is informative on widows in India but also really sad, so it goes along with the theme of the day. Then Dawa and I and a family friend participated in a candlelight vigil, which was my favorite part of the day. We walked through the streets with candles, singing a prayer that helps all people cultivate compassionate and loving minds. The candles also help departed minds find their way to their next bodies, even though I felt like I was carrying a candle in remembrance of Tibetans tortured and killed by Chinese. It ended at the temple with another prayer, and then calls for a free Tibet.
Amala made tomato soup, which is my favorite kind, and I learned there is no word in Tibetan for tomato, both of which cheered me up, but overall march 10 was one of the most difficult days I've had here.
It really forced me to think about things that affect the people around me on a day to day basis (Dawa wants to go to Tibet) but also about what I value more: freedom of speech? Feeling comfortable? My own interests? Is it reasonable to hang back from working towards a free Tibet because it might hurt US economic interests in China? Is it even ethical to produce things in China given the working conditions? On some level I'm appalled by my own answers, and feel really uneducated about basic issues. On another level, I feel like I'm letting myself off the hook if I say that, and that feels terrible. And if no one really knows what's going on in Tibet, can we afford to err on the side of caution as opposed to the side of doing too much and getting into trouble politically, economically, generally? Is that reason enough to ignore human problems?
It made me think of the piece "always go to the funeral" (http://www.npr.org/templates/text/s.php?sId=4785079&m=1). I believe you should always go to the funeral, or do what you can, but what counts as what you can here? What you can do, or what you're willing to do? It's unclear to me which is better.
(I Can't believe I wrote this whole thing on my phone.)
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