On the up: Nirvana
On the down: Samsara

Wheeeee! The four days in India were magical (even if 3 of the four days were spent sitting in a bus).

We flew KL to Bangalore, then took an 8 hour bus ride down to Hubli, an hour away from Gaden monastery. Spent a day at Gaden and then did the trip all the way back in reverse.

Of course, things being the way they are, the bus trip down to Hubli wasn't 8 hours, it was 14. We got into the hotel at midnight, had dinner, sorted out the offerings to present to the monks, and were off again on the bus at 3am to make it to the monastery by 5am for their morning prayers. But we were surprisingly full of energy and it was all very exciting.

People who think Enlightenment doesn't exist haven't been to Gaden. The air is magical, alive with the joyous still energy of over 2000 monks and extremely precious teachers who made that dangerous escape from Tibet so many years ago to reestablish themselves in south India. Seeing them in prayer made me cry like a baby but it was a feeling of homecoming, I've never felt so comfortable.

Afterwards, we had the fortune to meet some of the high lamas of Gaden, including one of our own Rinpoche's Gurus, Zong Rinpoche. You see the serenity on these lamas' faces, the way they are totally in the present and full of happiness and you wonder why the hell you're still bothering with samsara. All that clubbing/drinking/sex/drugs/shopping/boys/money/fame/fortune can never ever give you that same energy that these lamas have.

They got it sorted, man. The rest of us who think we've got it sorted here with our piddly little crap businesses and temporary highs are just bullshitting ourselves. We must look like fools to them - wonder they thought of all of us crappy ridiculous monkeys trooping in and out of their rooms?

And all that feverish chanting Om Make The Pain Subside Hum Phet please everyone in the sky make the bloody ache in my legs go away worked. For the whole 20 hours we were out and about in the monastery
there
was
no
pain

After 2 1/2 months of insufferable pain all down my legs, there was nothing that whole day. And mind, this was after 2 days of travelling and while at the monastery it was 20 straight hours of walking, going up stairs, up down up down up down, kneeling down to make offerings to monks, getting up again, kneeling down, prostrations, walking round and round and round, up down, up down, up down, standing on foot waiting for everyone else to catch up, kneeling down again, sitting squashed up with 70 people into a tiny a room and
there
was
no
pain

Compare it to 2 hours in 1Utama a few days ago which gave me endless incredible stinging pings all the way up the thigh.

Magical? Just so fabulous!

Came back, got in my car today to drive to 1 Utama and the pain is back. See, samsara really is good for nothing.

Photos!!!! (Mine are crap because I don't ever know what I'm doing. Am waiting to steal our in house photographer, Seng Piow's photos which are good enough to give Nat Geo a run for their money).

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche with the reincarnation of his Guru Zong Rinpoche looking at photographs.

Tsem Rinpoche with two cute little local Tibetan ladies. I love this photo because it encompasses the whole lovely simplicity and happiness of Tibetan Buddhist culture.