The next morning, we walked to the main road and attempted to hitchhike but failed, as the first vehicle to stop was the bus headed to Baijnath. We hopped on.
In Baijnath, I was showing off my Hindi skills ordering parantha & channa masala for breakfast, even though Eric was not too keen on spicy food. We finally took a taxi to Bir as the buses were not in agreement with our schedule, deciding to skip the channa masala in a leaky plastic bag on the bumpy ride and making do with the paranthas.
Bir happens to host yet another cool Tibetan colony. We arrived at Deer Park - the monastery where the talk was happening - which looked kind of like a resort. Mostly foreigners of all ages attended the talk. We were a little late, and the room was full, so we joined the few other people sitting outside on pillows, peeking in through the open door and windows.
The speaker turned out to be Tenzin Palmo, a rather "known" British woman who became a Buddhist before it was cool. I didn't know what to expect but immediately felt I was in the right place. Somebody handed me a sheet with the Buddha teachings she was covering during the talks. She would read them and interpret them, and give examples in our daily lives. I can still find a peaceful smile on my lips when I think of her charismatic and subdued way of talking. Important yet simple messages. There was a strenghtening, uplifting energy about her. It was a suitable temporary harbour for lost and confused me who was still incredibly unsure about the next step, and still felt greatly emotional after so many attachments and goodbyes, and kept panicking whenever thinking too much of the big picture...
Following the talk, many of the attendees took refuge - taking vows for a sort of first step towards becoming Buddhist. Tenzin Palmo cut a small piece of their hair and placed it in a bowl. She asked "Are you happy?", and they would answer "I am happy". One woman started crying during this.
Yup, that day I probably realised I needed some more meditation in my life. And a change in gears. I had to remind myself again that the point of my travels is not solely to do crazy adventurous things that I can later brag about, but to become humble and grow my own mind in parallel with helping others.
Eric and I parted in the evening. He had been facing a dilemma of where to go next in his life as well (albeit, he had more specific options to choose from than I ever did). He wanted to continue his Buddhism studies but was unsure where. I tried to be an attentive ear and get him out of the loop of his dilemma a little, offering an outsider's perspective whenever I could. Not sure if I helped much directly, but I think just talking it out gave him a better grip on the situation.
Whenever we tried to talk about my life, words and guttural sounds would spew out uncontrollably, a bit like an alien eating spaghetti, or two tortoises attempting to mate... According to Eric, I, "master of neurocomputation" as he put it, was in the ideal position to reconcile East and West philosophies. He saw me as a good candidate for uniting science and meditation into a more cohesive explanatory process of consciousness. But I didn't quite feel a calling for that, nor am I really a master of anything, to warrant devoting all my energy to... I was still feeling beyond confused, anxious, and restless, and I didn't see any improvements whenever I tried to talk it out. So I decided to focus on other people's lives for a bit, until something came along in mine (which it did, eventually, :) through an unguarded back door I had forgotten I left open. It slipped through quietly one night...).
We exchanged phone numbers and thought it might be cool to meet again in Nepal - where we were both headed eventually - for some more Buddhist insights. Unfortunately, when we both left India, the numbers stopped working, and although I had given him my email, I still haven't heard from him since last we spoke. Eric was definitely a person I would have liked to keep in touch with and follow his progress in life. If you ever meet this peaceful, interesting individual - probably he will have shaved his long hair and beard, and become a monk by that time - do let me know he is alive and well.
Photos: Bir & Deer Park
In Baijnath, I was showing off my Hindi skills ordering parantha & channa masala for breakfast, even though Eric was not too keen on spicy food. We finally took a taxi to Bir as the buses were not in agreement with our schedule, deciding to skip the channa masala in a leaky plastic bag on the bumpy ride and making do with the paranthas.
Bir happens to host yet another cool Tibetan colony. We arrived at Deer Park - the monastery where the talk was happening - which looked kind of like a resort. Mostly foreigners of all ages attended the talk. We were a little late, and the room was full, so we joined the few other people sitting outside on pillows, peeking in through the open door and windows.
The speaker turned out to be Tenzin Palmo, a rather "known" British woman who became a Buddhist before it was cool. I didn't know what to expect but immediately felt I was in the right place. Somebody handed me a sheet with the Buddha teachings she was covering during the talks. She would read them and interpret them, and give examples in our daily lives. I can still find a peaceful smile on my lips when I think of her charismatic and subdued way of talking. Important yet simple messages. There was a strenghtening, uplifting energy about her. It was a suitable temporary harbour for lost and confused me who was still incredibly unsure about the next step, and still felt greatly emotional after so many attachments and goodbyes, and kept panicking whenever thinking too much of the big picture...Following the talk, many of the attendees took refuge - taking vows for a sort of first step towards becoming Buddhist. Tenzin Palmo cut a small piece of their hair and placed it in a bowl. She asked "Are you happy?", and they would answer "I am happy". One woman started crying during this.
Yup, that day I probably realised I needed some more meditation in my life. And a change in gears. I had to remind myself again that the point of my travels is not solely to do crazy adventurous things that I can later brag about, but to become humble and grow my own mind in parallel with helping others.
Eric and I parted in the evening. He had been facing a dilemma of where to go next in his life as well (albeit, he had more specific options to choose from than I ever did). He wanted to continue his Buddhism studies but was unsure where. I tried to be an attentive ear and get him out of the loop of his dilemma a little, offering an outsider's perspective whenever I could. Not sure if I helped much directly, but I think just talking it out gave him a better grip on the situation.
Whenever we tried to talk about my life, words and guttural sounds would spew out uncontrollably, a bit like an alien eating spaghetti, or two tortoises attempting to mate... According to Eric, I, "master of neurocomputation" as he put it, was in the ideal position to reconcile East and West philosophies. He saw me as a good candidate for uniting science and meditation into a more cohesive explanatory process of consciousness. But I didn't quite feel a calling for that, nor am I really a master of anything, to warrant devoting all my energy to... I was still feeling beyond confused, anxious, and restless, and I didn't see any improvements whenever I tried to talk it out. So I decided to focus on other people's lives for a bit, until something came along in mine (which it did, eventually, :) through an unguarded back door I had forgotten I left open. It slipped through quietly one night...).
We exchanged phone numbers and thought it might be cool to meet again in Nepal - where we were both headed eventually - for some more Buddhist insights. Unfortunately, when we both left India, the numbers stopped working, and although I had given him my email, I still haven't heard from him since last we spoke. Eric was definitely a person I would have liked to keep in touch with and follow his progress in life. If you ever meet this peaceful, interesting individual - probably he will have shaved his long hair and beard, and become a monk by that time - do let me know he is alive and well.
Photos: Bir & Deer Park
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