There’s an article in the free Dharamshala community magazine, Contact Mag, about life in England. It’s headed: So you want to go to the west? and starts: What about England? It’s a small island situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with a population of 60 million. You could live a long life …
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McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
In the bar yesterday evening an Indian guy, slightly pissed, was saying all you Westerners you come over here because you’re empty and you fill yourself up with anything you can find, like a rubbish bin, you take it all in, you don’t reject anything. You come here with no God, no belief, and you …
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
Yesterday people were talking about a German woman who died. She had been missing for two days and they’d just found her body near the waterfall. She must have slipped. The body was laid out in Bhaksu on a bamboo stretcher, covered up and guarded by police.
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
Spent Saturday night up on Triund, a ridge 1000m above McLeod Ganj, 2800m above sea level. It took about four hours to walk up there, five if you include the breaks in the chai shops on the way up. On Triund there are three chai shops, some shepherds’ huts, some caves, some very basic rooms …
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
Sitting in a cafe. Thunder rumbling. Stomach also rumbling. I went down to the LHA the other day, a Tibetan education place, where they can learn English from volunteers and also computer skills and website design. I know some people who have been doing English conversation groups there, and thought I could offer to do …
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
Press the center of the heel down and connect with the earth and everything will be okay. The last day of yoga. I should have been writing notes on all the poses but haven’t. Pressing the center of the heel down and stretching out the toes is what I remember at the moment. Backward bends …
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
There was a Tibetan monk sitting outside my guest house this afternoon. He was sleeping when I looked out of my window but he was awake when I got outside and sat down. He talked in a very quiet voice about emptiness and compassion and how you should spend time studying and meditation rather than …
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
Day three of yoga. Less painful than yesterday. The plough. Lie down on shoulders, on a bolster, shoulders back. Walk up the wall, which ought to be in front of you (if it isn’t you’re in the wrong place) and put your legs over your head and rest them on the stool (which ought to …
McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India
Yoga: Observe what the body is doing and feeling. Observe without making value judgements. I observed my thighs hurting. I tried to observe the pain without it bothering me, but that’s not so easy. I remember trying to do the same thing when I was cycling.
McLeod Ganj, India
McLeod Ganj is cold, and it rained for most of the day. I bought a jacket, one made by Tibetans living here. McLeod Ganj is the home of the Dalai Lama, though I think he’s now in England, or maybe Holland, or possibly Argentina. Have a look on www.tibet.com to see, if you really want …