Tashi Delek (Hello!)

Okay, I've put this off long enough...it's like a snowball effect when you don't consistently write a journal- so I hope I don't forget all that's happened in the last 2 weeks!

Here goes:

Spontaneous Trip to Delhi, Last Friday-Sunday:

So, I heard that Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche was teaching for one night in Delhi and several people from Deer Park were going...so I decided to go! He's the director of Deer Park, by the way, and I have never met him in person. Melitis, a Taiwanese woman named Vera and I traveled by train and I got a room in a clean, but dingy, little place (run by a large Indian woman named "Ama" who hugs alot, haha). The overnight train ride was uneventful, and when we arrived it was morning, so Melitis and I went for tea and shopping. She received a phone call from an Indian boy, Mathews, who I had also befriended in Deer Park. He was there to see Rinpoche, too! So....he met us for lunch and then Melitis left us to go rest. I, on the other hand, was wide-awake and ready for action! I had previously disliked Delhi, but decided to give it another chance....

Mathews is from south India, but knows his way around Delhi and speaks Hindi, so we decided to see a bunch of different markets...then when dinner time came around we went to a few little places that he knew about- it was great! Then we went to a meditation and Dharma talk by an American nun named Tenzin Chokyi- she's amazing!! AND she's taller than me!!
Saturday
I woke up on Saturday and went to the New Delhi Train Station. I went to by my ticket for Dehra Dun (where I am now). Then, I spent some time at the National Museum. They have some of the Buddha's bones (relics) in a shrine there...it was a really moving experience. There are also really old statues, textiles, artifacts, etc... After that, I went for lunch at the ISKON (Krishna) temple. The food was really good, but the temple was closed, so I just walked around a bit. For those who don't know, my aunt and cousins lived in India and were ISKON members for many years, so I wanted to see it first hand. It was a lot bigger than I thought and they had an interactive movie/museum thing, but I didn't have time to go.

Next, I went to see Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. The teaching was on top floor of someones home in a posh, gated neighborhood called Sundar Nagar. He taught for a couple hours and there were so many people I knew from Bir and Deer Park! Melitis was amazing and spontaneously arranged for me to meet privately with him. It was very short, but it was really wonderful and he's an amazing teacher. I'm going to risk sounding "New Age," but he has great energy! hehe He also knows my teacher, Anam Thubten Rinpoche, and was glad to hear I'm studying Tibetan.

There was a girl there who said I looked familiar and we pieced it together that she knows my friend, Dorje (since they were 5 years old). She'd seen me on Dorje's MySpace page last year- haha! What a small world! Mathews and a few people and I went to dinner at a great south Indian restaurant and then I headed back to my little room.
Sunday
I woke up EARLY (5 am) for the train to Dehra Dun. I have to say, I was feeling pretty "savvy" about my getting around Delhi solo! Also, the express train I took was pretty "fancy" and they served chai (twice) and breakfast- my ticket was under $10! The trip was 6 hours, but the scenery was beautiful and I talked to my mom & dad for a bit...I finally broke down before leaving Bir and got my "mobile" (as they call it) an Indian number.

Dehra Dun

I arrived in Dehra Dun 2 days early, so I didn't have a room arranged. I called my friend, Meghan, who I had only met through a friend in NY and never in person. She's amazing. She lives at Songtsen Library (where I'm studying now) as a translator. She instructed me on how to get to the Library (by taxi) and told me to come to her room, she'd find my a place to stay! The Library was closed (Sunday) so I couldn't check in there...

When I got there, I ended up meeting a girl named Heather in Meghan's room. Heather's from New Hampshire. I followed her over to the actual monastery and stayed there for a night. Heather was checking out and I was checking in and the next morning I discovered she's paid for my room!! All these nice people!!!

Just before dinner, I met an Austrian girl named, Gabi. She and I immediately hit it off. She lives in Dharmasala (where HH Dalai Lama lives) and she's been studying Tibetan in a school there for almost a year. She was on "holiday" here for the week. She and I woke up the next morning and checked out of the monastery and in to Songtsen Library- the most AMAZING place I've seen, let alone stayed in, in India so far....

The Library was built in 2003 or so and it's all new and clean. I have my own bathroom and an amazing view. The Library itself is a replica of one from Tibet. "Songtsen Gampo" (who the Library is named after) was the first Buddhist king of Tibet. He was an amazing guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songtsän_Gampo
At night there's a flower that blooms called, "Queen of the Night." Every night after dinner I look at the stars and smell this sweet flower as I walk back to my room and think of how grateful I am to be here.

This week I started class on Tuesday and I've been studying like crazy ever since! I have been befriending monks and attempting to speak with them, it's a great environment to study and also to practice in! There are 8 students in my class:
3 Malaysians- Kong, Lai, & Sandi
1 German- Rosita (an older woman with a GREAT sense of humor- and VERY straight forward)
1 Puerto Rican nun- Ani Pema
2 Taiwanese nuns...I can't remember their names

I have 2 teachers, Tenzin and Sherab. Tenzin has been teaching Tibetan for many years and he is our Conversation Class teacher. Sherab is a twenty-something monk who is our writing teacher. They're both great!

There are also some really amazing Buddhist teachers in Dehra Dun at the Mindroling Monastery (http://www.mindrolling.org/). Gabi and I have gone there twice this week and I hope to go a few more times when I have time off from school.

Yesterday (Saturday), I went to see Sakya Trizen, head of one of the 4 schools of Buddhism, like HH Dalai Lama(http://www.hhthesakyatrizin.org/index.html). Two ladies from the Library came with me and Sakya Trizen walked out to greet us, from his house!!!!!!! Seriously, this guy is up there with HH Dalai Lama and so down to earth and available!!! He walked us in to his sitting room and we talked for a few minutes and then we left.

*Sigh*

Gabi left yesterday, but I'm hoping to visit her in Dharmasala when I go back to Bir in February. I'm feeling really good about being here for a few months to study and have my first "conversation" class with the "geko" (disciplinarian) from the monastery. He's going to help me with my Tibetan and then I'll help him with English.

Off to lunch I go...while all of you are sleeping in the U.S. :)

LOVE