Compassion

Nichole and I left Risheskeh on Tuesday to explore the rest of Northern India. It was difficult to leave because we have made so many wonderful friends, with the women on our yoga retreat and with the local Hindu people. Our last night we had a farewell party with our wonderful new community and danced the night away to funky Indian music. Nichole and I had heard that the Dalai Lama would be speaking for three days in Dharmansala, so we changed our previous plans and decided to head straight to this Himalayan community. Traveling anywhere in India is not easy, it takes a lot of patience, good humor, and a tough stomach... and as many of you know, I get nautious very easily! We decided to take the 9 hour night train rather than airplane: one, it was much cheaper (around 500 rupee, which is about 10 US dollars) and two, everyone has told us the main things we must do in India is attend a Hindi wedding and ride the train (somehow crashing a wedding hasn't come up yet, but we still have a few more days). I'm not sure if I can put into words how comical/ crazy/ overwhelming/ life-flashing-before-your-eyes/ intense our experience of the station and actually riding all night on a crowded train in India really was... so the best I can do is tell you to see the movie Darjeeling Limited, because that sums it up pretty well. And to make it all so much better, we then took a 5 hour car ride up the windey, gravel roads of the Himalayas... needless to say my stomach was in my throat by the end of the day.

But arriving in this beautiful town was more than worth the trip. Dharmanasala is a Tibetan Buddhist community where the Dalai Lama lives along with many other Tibetan refugees. It is a cute little town that is nuzzled into the side of the mountains, and it truly has it's own unique culture... it feels like we have stepped out of India and into Tibet. We have been spending our time hiking through the winding paths of the green trees, eating wonderful Tibetan food, reading about the Buddha's teachings, making friends with the sweet locals (and just to prove that the world really is a small place, we ran into my friend Dorjee from my plane ride to India), taking yoga classes (and really trying hard to appreciate all the different traditional styles of yoga that are taught here) and of course, listening to the Dalai Lama speak.

For the past three days Nichole and I have walked down to the local Buddhist temple after breakfast to listen to a 2 hour teaching. Each day we were surrounded by such beautiful people... local Tibetan Buddhists, Hindus, tourists from all over the world in every shape, color and religion... it didn't matter. What mattered was that we were all brought together with the intention of peace and love. The Dalai Lama was everything you would imagine; blissful, playful, funny, inspirational, and passionate. He spoke very informally, making jokes and taking time to drink tea and eat biscuits with everyone in the crowd. Each day I walked away from the lesson with so much inspiration and clarity in my heart... but I know you must be curious as to what he spoke about, so I will try my best to summarize it here:

His main message was about compassion, and how it truly is the key to life. He said that no matter what our differences (gender, race, background, social statues, age, etc.) that we are all so very similar, and having compassion in our hearts will help us to feel that connection. We all have the same fears, hopes, dreams, desires, and needs; in essence we are all human beings. Once we can truly see that there are no differences between us, only then can we begin to work together towards peace. We must first learn to have unconditional love and compassion for ourselves, so that we can then extend it to the world. Honoring the light and perfection in our own hearts, allows us to see that exact same thing in others. The Dalia Lama explained that the foundation of Buddhism rests on compassion, but that there area also two more important parts. The first is ahimsa, which is sanskrit for non-violence... to have completely loving thoughts and actions towards all sentient beings. The second is interdependency, which acknowledges that all of existence is connected. To know that all of our pain, anger, fear, joy and sorrow directly effects one another, and that there is no separation. Living through non-violence and the concept of interdependency are both done by having compassion for oneself and the entire universe.

Yeah I know, pretty powerful!

This morning Nichole and I walked around the grounds of the temple along with many other people completing their morning prayer and meditation walk. Along the peaceful path there were Tibetan prayer flags hanging from the trees, hand painted stones with the Buddhist mantra of compassion, and prayer wheels that are turned clockwise while repeating ones prayer or mantra. There was a such an extremely beautiful feeling of peace along the entire path, that I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with the foundation of Buddhism: compassion. Compassion for these amazing Tibetan refugees, and all of the struggles they have faced. Compassion for the beautiful nature that was surrounding me. Compassion for myself and this amazing journey that I am on. Compassion for the Dalai Lama and his vision to spread peace all over the world. Compassion for the my friends and family who are not physically with me, but who I can feel every day. And compassion for the entire universe, with all of its sorrows, joys, pain and beauty. I felt all of this in just our short hour walk around the temple, and yet people walk this very path every morning. Imagine if everyone in the world started their day with thoughts and feelings of compassion towards all beings! What a peaceful world we would live in.