Well sorry for the break. We've been trying to update, but have focused mainly on getting our pictures up, which is maddening and inevitably unsuccessful, and takes up enough time that we don't feel like writing any update. The system seems to be working great here, though, so I went WILD!
First update, I suppose is that that "we" is no longer "we," but just "I." Mon left to Kathmandu to join up with James and get some Everest-area trekking in, so if you're looking for updates on that front, she's moved back to her old blog. Of course, it is Everest-area, so I don't imagine updates will be too frequent.
As for me, I'm in Jaipur, Rajasthan--a place I was mostly familiar with as J-Var's study abroad location (Whitman friend and roomie, for those who don't know). I was kind of expecting Delhi II, but arrived to find a much more easy-going, clean, and all-around less chaotic destination--a welcome change. Most of the city's draw seems to lie in its plentiful bazaars, each with a specific focus--textiles, perfumes, bangles, gold and silver smithing, etc. However, not being much of a shopper, I've spent my time with the less commercial touristy sights: palaces, gardens, restaraunts, and the like. So far the highlight is the incredibly bizarre and beautiful astronomer's garden of Jantar Mantar. See the photos if you're interested. It's basically the playground of a brilliant Jaipur-ian astronomer/ologer, replete with astounding, enormous instruments for measuring and tracing the movement of the heavenly bodies. Everything is made of unusual angles and curves, but given their purpose of mirroring the planets and suns, they also come out surprisingly natural. It was a delight to walk around such a surreal landscape and hear about the different purposes of the instruments.
The other recent highlight (since with over a week missing, highlights are the only update I can give) was the Thiksey Gompa (monastery), in Ladakh, which Mon and I were lucky enough to stumble upon. It is a monastery complex situated on a hillside (as they all are in Ladakh--see the pictures to get an idea, but we don't have any actual pictures of Thiksey available to upload--this blog doesn't like the size of pictures of Mon's camera, which was the only one we brought). Temples, a dining hall, a school, and all of the monk's living quarters (at high season there are over 100 monks) are perched on the hill, painted in lovely blues, reds, and yellows, and visible from great distances. We wandered around the place in the afternoon when we got there, and ran into a delightful monk named Taiga who invited us to puja (morning prayer) the next day. We accepted and awoke the next morning attempting to put ourselves in a very quiet, introspective mood, appropriate to meditation. When we arrived in the temple, the sun was just rising over the mountains into the clear blue sky, and not a whisper was spoke by the few monks and visitors then gathered in the prayer hall. Soon the bell was rang for the rest of the monks to come, and they began to gather outside the hall, some contemplatively looking out towards the mountains, some coming inside. However, this gompa houses a school for young monks, and of about 35 monks presently at the gompa, about 20 or so are between the ages of 8 and 12, I'd say. And when these monks began to gather, they started horsing around a bit--pushing each other and laughing. I assumed this was just letting off a little steam before having to sit and concentrate, but was further surprised when they began their morning shout/chant--a wonderful, cheerful collective yell that they continued as everyone entered the prayer hall.
Here, the elder monks sat--and were largely immobile the whole time, other than swaying and eating--and began a low, steady chant, not at all in sync with another--each went at his own tempo--but nevertheless a collective mantra. The boys, on the other hand sat, only to keep up their pushing and shoving, and every so often would get up and rush around the temple. Rather than being distracting, though, it was perfectly in keeping with the ecstatic style of the meditation. During the puja, eager, swift young monks served breakfast (bread and salt-butter tea--the most repulsive drink I have
ever had: basically exactly what it sounds like: salt and melted butter), and elder monks would occasionally start to play music with english-horn-like double reeded instruments, low brass horns, large drums suspended between ceiling and ground, and tambourines. It was not melodic, merely rhythmic to accompany the chant. This chaos was not at all like what we expected--and just about the opposite of my previous monastery experience at a Zen monastery on Whidbey Island for a week. But it was also at its heart a very simple practice--celebratory, clarifying, and communal. I can't truly convey the joy and power of it on this blog--writing about it is not an easy task, particularly in the proof-less, quick-entry manner of this blog, but, as I say, it's not really so complex a event. It was a pure kind of ecstasy, that we were honored to have been present for, and it is something we'll keep with us forever.
Not sure where to next (somewhere in Rajasthan--which is my territory for the next three weeks before meeting back up with Mon and the gang for the Annapurna Circuit), but I'll update when I can.
Dave
