Winding up the Mountain and Winding down from Bir

Another week has past and in this short period of time- SO much has happened here....not to mention the amazing election results in the U.S.!! Wow!!
The American students that were staying here definitely contributed to the energy at Deer Park surrounding the election. We were all cheering and crying- it was really amazing to experience in another country.
We had a week packed full of classes that came to an end on Friday.
Here's the rundown:

Monday-Thursday
8:30-9:15 am-
Sanskrit chanting
We learned some of the poetry from a book I was reading. It was so beautiful to learn the verses in the language it was written in. I had to hold back tears a few of the days...the language is SO beautiful.

Monday-Friday
9:30-12pm
Studying the text, "Elegant Sayings" by Sakya Pandita
This class was really interesting because the Khenpo had never taught in English. He ended up asking me to read the verses in English and then we would have a discussion. It was an amazing opportunity to sit with a Buddhist scholar and ask ANY question about Buddhism. I learned so much about things I have already studied, along with new information.

Tuesday & Wednesday
7-9 pm
Teaching on the "Six Paramitas" by Mingyur Rinpoche
This teacher is really well known (even in the "west") so it was a blessing to have him at Deer Park. The room was PACKED with 99.9% westerners and a handful of Tibetan locals. Mingyur Rinpoche speaks English really well, is very clear and concise with his explanations, is highly energetic, and is FUNNY! I really really enjoyed this teaching. It was on a topic that is taught a lot, but I (of course) learned something new and how to put it to use!
FYI the "6 Paramitas" are as follows: Generosity, Discipline, Patience, Enthusiasm (or Diligence), Meditation & Wisdom.
Mingyur Rinpoche also wrote a book (I haven't read yet) called, The Joy of Living. I hear it's really good (no surprise after seeing him teach).

Thursday
2-3pm
Introduction to Chinese Medicine
This was a short class taught by my friend (and mentor) who is a meditation instructor and volunteer at Deer Park, Meletis. She's a Hong Kong-born, Canadian-raised, acupuncturist who has an amazingly inspiring focus on her meditation practice and study.
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Saturday
My new friends, Mathews (Bangalore, India) and Memo (Mexico), and I went to Sherab Ling monastery (http://www.sherabling.org/index.htm) for a "puja" (Sanskrit) or "tsok" (Tibetan), which roughly means "offering ceremony" in English. People offer food, flowers, all sorts of things to the teacher (who is Tai Situ Rinpoche) as a thank you (he's been doing a 2 month long teaching, almost every day). It also consists of a lot of prayers for his long life (and ours!) It was amazing. He has a lot of Taiwanese students who contribute a lot of financial donations so the temple is beautiful and ornate and there were HUGE flower arrangements that smelled just intoxicating. We were there for about 3 hours, but it went by so quickly. We stood in the looong procession to walk up and offer a "kata" (a white scarf given in Tibetan culture to show respect and "thanks") to Tai Situ Rinpoche, and he gives you a blessing, too. It was really special to be part of!
Sunday
Linda (from the office at Deer Park) and I decided to take a taxi up the steep and windy mountain road behind Bir to the (nearly non-existent) "town" of Billing. It's about a 40 minute drive up. This is at the TOP of the mountain. The "town" is TWO chai shops...nothing else but wide-open sky, mountain meadows and trees. This is the "take off" point for the (mostly Russian) para gliders. It's peak season for them and there were SO many up there! They literally run off the top of this mountain with a parachute (but rectangular-shaped) and then float around...and eventually land just below Deer Park. After seeing the view from the top, I can only imagine what it's like from the sky...
She and I hiked along the ridge of the mountain for about 5 hours. It was SO beautiful (and, yes, I took photos). I finally found out what mountains these are: Dhauladhar Mountain Range. It was a very peaceful walk, in and out of the shade and we had long stretches of silence, scattered with conversation. Linda has helped me SO much. Before I even arrived, she was emailing with me from Deer Park on "how to" do (virtually) everything in India!! I am forever grateful to her!
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The next few days are my last here in Bir until February when I plan to come back for a Tibetan language course. I am savoring my moments here- it really has become a little home for me. I am friendly with the locals and "know the ropes" for how things are here. It will be an adventure to get out of this bubble...but I surely want to come back.

LOVE.