Namaste

There is no self.

This is what I learned this morning from my first teaching from the Dalai Lama himself!

"There is no other place I want to be." Not knowing that such a momentous occasion was happening in Dharamsala, there was really only the one place I wanted to be. Staying in Rishikesh, a holy Hindu place, I was confident I'd be taking a meditation course there. My mind changed after learning these three pieces of information: 1) I just read a book inviting the reader to say yes to more opportunities as they arise. The author also finds himself interviewing some Buddhist monk and I was reminded how much Buddhism has intrigued me since I read Herman Hesse's Siddhartha in 9th grade. 2) I wanted to pick up a specialized yoga tool for my Africa tent-mate, Alethea, that she lost while in Zambia. I thought the place was Rishikesh, it was actually Dharamsala. 3) My best bud Jess just informed me that she was starting Buddhism classes in San Francisco.

So I woke up on the morning of my sixth day of Montezuma's Belly (what you get when you eat Mexican food in India) and decided, instead of taking the 1 hr bus ride back to Rishikesh, I'd take the 15 hr bus ride to Dharamsala. And it was worth it. After an excruciatingly long journey where every single person stared ruthlessly even jumping off their bus to board mine and take my photo, arriving at 4AM, my least favourite time to arrive in a place while traveling sola, a friendly Tibetan woman offered to share a cab and then walked me to my front door. Thanks friendly Tibetan woman, I was not in the spirits to get lost!!

I woke up around midday, not having slept on the bus, had a late lunch where I met Andrea, a German teacher here. Casually, she asked me if I was attending the teachings tomorrow. "What teachings?" you ask. Just those meditation teachings by His Holiness himself. He only teaches to the public 4X a year and because of his fragile health, he will only be conducting one next year! What a freaking amazing opportunity. I feel like many circumstances and opportunities I have said yes to have led me specifically to this place. AND Andrea even knew what was up with my stomach. (Olly, maybe if you are still ill, check out Giardiasis--it's in the LP!)

I invited Ol to India => he said yes => we ended up seeing loads in a short amount of time allowing us to hang out with our angry stomachs in Rishikesh, earlier than I had planned for myself => things started happening to push me out of Rishikesh => It's like Andrea said: "Taking Buddhism lessons from the Dalai Lama is like taking Catholicism classes from the Pope." My response "That's exactly what it's like." Big smiles for all :)

What I learned during my first day (of 5):
From Ignorance we gain Knowledge, from Knowledge we gain Wisdom, From Wisdom we gain Compassion and from Compassion we gain Love (or enlightenment).

Well, this, in so many words!! Cheers to me being in my first step: Ignorance!! I feel like I've mastered it well...

His Holiness has actually got a pretty great sense of humor. At least, that's what I can tell from the laughing Tibetan monks all around me! Jokes don't exactly translate....

High: the Spanish dude in front of me lending me his jacket to sit on the hard, cold temple floor.
Low: the butter tea that they handed out this morning was exactly that, more butter than tea though. Not too great for my suffering stomach!

More Incredible India details to come....Much Love to all and another Thanks to Olly for making another country truly special. (now please send me my Stella.)