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European Sangha has arrived home safely. Looking forward to my next meeting with you all.




White Conch In Bodhgaya












Rinpoche in Nalanda









Lhakpa Dolma

Not yet walking

Yesterday at the stupa I watched a young Tibetan mother with her toddler who was managing to stand up holding on to her fingers. They stood in front of a buddha statue and she was teaching him how to prostrate, guiding his every move. How wonderful to be taught prostrations before you can walk!

I remembered Rinpoche telling us at the end of summer retreat to stop screaming, get out of our nappies and become potty trained. I know we're all trying hard, sometimes I feel like such a total beginner at everything and very grateful for every tiny step I manage to take here.

Doing kora at the stupa feels like taking the first steps of billions to come...

Also yesterday I went to a Tibetan tent restaurant. I was the only guest sitting there with a young Tibetan woman employee. She was dressed in jeans and trainers, with a trendy haircut, and when I came in she turned on the TV and started playing very loudly some western pop video with a relentless techno beat. I suppose she thought she was doing me a favour. I asked her eventually to turn down the volume.

As we sat together in this dark and dusty place it struck me how here I was travelling in India trying to learn something about ancient Tibetan spiritual practice and culture and this Tibetan woman is trying very hard to behave as much as a Westerner as possible...how we all have so many choices these days, every second in fact, to be someone else, be the best we can be...

5 vows later...

how fortunate we all are!

we took lay-vows under the bodhi tree this morning and listened to Rinpoche's beautiful teachings. Several westerners and Tibetans joined us and everyone received a blessing string (sorry don't know the official name) from Rinpoche afterwards.
I feel especially blessed because she is practising her German with me and said 'Achtung' and 'Gesundheit' as she blessed me (Achtung doesn't just mean 'attention' it also means 'respect').

It's another of those beautiful mild sunny days and it feels like we've been living here for a long time. A lot of the world's spiritual energy seems concentrated in this spot - I especially love hearing the call to prayer of the muezzin from the mosque which often coincides with the end of my meditation and reminds me that I'm a Sufi as well as a Buddhist...

pictures from India

my first attempt at blogging and here are 2 photos of Varanasi.

Breakfast at the Ganpathi guesthouse and a view from the back terrace