More news from Dharamsala
Thursday 6.6.2019
June 5th was Dalai Lama´s second day of teachings. We were once again crammed in the big main temple and were sitting with Tibetan grannies.
There was just a little actual teaching as the main program of the day was an initiation and transfer of power given by His Holiness. This means that we were given ordination to the path of a bodhisattva. It is a promise to strive for development, doing work with yourself in such a way that is would benefit all beings. The aspiration to become enlightened carries the same idea. This initiation was a solemn and a holy moment for me, very touching with the mantras and rituals.
At the end of the day during our evening meditation, I experienced something very wonderful that opened up the view of space and infinity. So the ordination in the morning had been quite powerful. I have to repeat myself once again and say how thankful I am, of being able to participate in all that is happening here and experience these pinnacle moments in this place.
We are taking a pause from our normal work and get to take part ourselves and just be students, at least for some moments. Of course, our task here is to also help the group, discuss and guide the participants through different exercises and meditations.
It has been quite a hullabaloo in this little town or village all this time we have been here. The crowds, the noise, the constant honking horns of the cars and mopeds and the odors and dust reach you everywhere. You cannot lose your alertness for a moment, instead, the practice of being present gets deeper every time you step out from the hotel. You also have to take care of your belongings carefully all the time. As a woman you cannot look too long at any man´s direction for then you will end up with some uninvited company trying to get acquainted with you or sell you something. You also have to look out for excrements of dogs and cows together with all other dirt that the curbsides are gushing. It is, however, much cleaner here than for example in Delhi. We, fortunately, managed to avoid that chaos by taking directly a connecting flight to Dharamsala.
Despite all this, there is permanent holy energy over this town or village if you just want to reach for it. This material chaos and mess can be left to the background, and the holiness can overtake your heart. I feel that it is a choice you can consciously make. I see all this and I experience it at the concrete level, but I keep the connection of the heart to this higher level.
We have had our personal challenges because we both with Patrick have been fighting fever and inflammation in the lungs. I fell sick already during our trip to Hungary three weeks ago and the illness recurred during the first days here. Patrick got a fever the last day in Hungary and was sick when we started our trip here. We, however, sought help immediately from a Tibetan doctor and both got herbal medicines for a week.
It is very interesting to visit a Tibetan doctor. You go at their door and knock. If there is no other patient inside you can go in. The examination by the doctor is even more simple. The doctor holds one or both of your wrists, listens, and maybe asks a couple of questions and then prescribes the medicines. Then you pay which in my case was 277 rubles, i.e. about 4 euros. That included the visit itself and the medicines. I got five different bags of pills that I needed to take 3 times a day according to the instructions. I can tell you that they did not taste of strawberries and were no joy to drink diluted in hot water. But now when only the final days remain of the cure, my condition has improved a lot and the cough is easing off. The herbs are working and doing it in a pure way that strengthens the body.
We have been working at a tremendous speed in the last few years, distributing information, arranging courses and giving private sessions. And we have been traveling constantly. We both already have our own basic ailments that need to be taken care of. We should pay careful attention to eating and what kind of food we eat, otherwise, our condition gets worse. It is in no way easy to take care of yourself in different countries with different conditions. This year has basically gone flying in the true sense of that word. We have visited five different countries and in a couple of them already more than once. We have been sitting in airplanes certainly more hours than is enough. The air conditioning in airplanes and hotel rooms is surely poison also to the airways. The very few resting days and short nights of sleep have also taken their considerable toll on physical power. At the end the physique could not take it anymore and was overtaken by a virus. Now we are heading for the better again and with the guidance of Upstairs, the plans regarding fall and future trips will be structured in such a new way that there will also be enough resting time included.
In a few days´ time, we will begin our retreat of silence and move to a new hotel that is closer to the main temple. The concentration on the own innermost will deepen and new exercises await. With the deepest gratitude to our wonderful Light Helpers, this time here with all the exercises and guidance that they give us is the best time for development. Our Helpers are irreplaceable.
Until next time,
Tashi Delek, Eija