My Week of Buddhism

The Boudhanath stupa and prayer flags

This past week my friend Sam and I took a week off of volunteering to take some courses in Tibetan Buddhism, which I have to say was a great idea. I have learned a lot in the past week about the Three Jewels and meditation, and I’ve also gotten to live in Boudhanath (an area of Kathmandu that houses the largest and most important stupa in Nepal… it is very important to Tibetan Buddhists; the Boudhanath stupa is at least 1500 years old). Every morning I woke up to the sound of large trumpets (think 6 foot long Narnia-style) and drums being played and numerous monks chanting in the monastery that was right next door to our guest house. Sam and I had all mornings free (class was in the evenings) so we usually spent some time sitting in one of the nearby cafes to have some coffee and breakfast (which is a delicacy after our month in Dolpa); the Saturday Café is my favourite, as they make delicious organic and vegan foods to order… their porridge with dates and raisins is the greatest. I’ve been drinking lots of tea and reading lots of books (our guest house had a “library” as well!) and spending a little time walking around the stupa and watching the monks and tourists intermingling. A second meal in the afternoon usually finished me off for food for the day, and then it was time for class.

We took two courses: one was on the key points of Buddhism taught by Loppon Yeshe Phuntsok. He seemed pretty cool. He spoke through a translator and would answer any questions we had as best as he could after class. The most difficult tenet for me to grasp is the one of giving up attachment. I don’t think it’s difficult to give up attachment to things, I’ll do that in a heartbeat; but I’m a people person, and I can’t give up loving my family and friends. However, one of the girls studying at the Institute explained it to me better: “It’s not that you love your family less, it’s that you love all sentient beings [even enemies] just as much as you love your family.” Now that is something to aspire to.

An old woman feeds the pigeons near the stupa

Meditation class was on Saturday and Sunday and was taught by Khenpo Jampa Donden. I thought I would be really interested in this class, but the two day session failed to impress me. I, as a person trained in very basic meditation (like what I’d read in books), already knew and had practiced the type of meditation he described on both Saturday and Sunday, and I didn’t really learn anything new about it. But I suppose the main lesson I learned is that one actually has to practice meditation--something I’m not very, um, tenacious about. And meditation is very important, apparently… gonna have to get on that one.

Our Classroom at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute

Also on Saturday, the main monk of the gompa (temple) where we’re studying gave a talk. His name is Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and he’s very much admired and respected around these parts… well, everywhere really--he’s got institutes in California and Austria as well, and he travels a whole lot to visit all kinds of places. His talk was very nice, it was about surrounding ourselves with the right kind of people. (If you surround yourself with negative people or people attached to disturbing emotions, you too will become disturbed; if you surround yourself with people focused on loving-kindness and compassion then you too will become a loving and compassionate person. Seems simple enough.) The gompa was amazing inside, and while I sat listening to Rinpoche talk (through a very talented translator) I put myself in the 7-fold posture (a posture for meditation) and was surprised that what they’ve been saying is true: I almost immediately entered a state of meditative concentration and stayed that way for quite some time. It was really cool to experience; I was meditating in a gompa in the most important Buddhist center in Nepal, listening to a renowned Rinpoche speak. Rock on.

The seto gompa on a beautiful October day.

In the evenings we might watch TV, but many times we used the time to read or correspond using the internet. It’s been a pretty chill life for the week, but just what the doctor ordered after the month in Dolpa and before I head out to my next assignment--a hospital and clinic in the small (and close to Kathmandu!) town of Banepa. I can’t wait to update you guys on that one.

A shopkeeper at Boudha puts away his wares by candle light during a break in the electricity.

Please let me know on here if anyone is interested in a post about what I’ve learned this past week. I can summarize and explain the key points of Buddhism for you from my notes. It will be a long post, but it’s really interesting stuff.

A view of the edge of the stupa and the surrounding shops at nighttime.