Gega Lama, Bhutanese Artists & Kalachakra

Awoke to a beautiful morning with clear blue sky and fresh air. JL and I went to the local Kagyu Monastery in the Lingtsang Settlement. It was originally funded by Lama Tsewang Gyurme of Vancouver, B.C. who is also Lingtsang. A large stupa stands to the west side of the main temple, designed and built by the famous Karma Gadri Lingtsang artist Gega Lama. The murals inside the temple were done by Bhutanese artists and the temple although originally associated with Lama Kalu Rinpoche now is a branch monastery associated with Situ Rinpoche. (Images to follow).

The Kalachakra initiation began at 2:30 with a short speech by Sakya Trizin followed by a lengthy history lesson on the various traditions and source lineages of Kalachakra. It was relatively easy to follow the general points because I was familiar with the subject matter but it was still all in Tibetan and the subtlety was lost on me. It appears that the empowerment was originally requested over a year ago by Khenpo Gyatso the head of Sakya College. Sakya Trizin decided to give the empowerment at this time as part of the ceremonies for the opening of the Nunnery. The 'tagon' began at 4:00 and ended at 5:30. There were easily 3000 plus people in attendance. Six hundred were in the temple with a few lay Tibetans and a small handful of westerners not more than 10 or so. The majority were monks from Sakya College and Sakya Centre. The lay people and over flow monks and nuns filled all of the courtyard and completely filled the walkways surrounding the temple and the balconies of the nun's quarters that over look the courtyard.

Khenpo Gyatso looks almost as he did 35 years ago. We talked briefly and joked about the passing years, his spoken English and my Tibetan. Both were not very good. Yontan Zangpo, JL's cousin, is virtually identical to the last time I saw him in July of 1981. The last time I was in India he was either in Singapore or Taiwan. He traveled in the car with us back to Manduwalla so he could spend some time with his elderly mother. His duties for the morning at the monastery were canceled because of the Kalachakra empowerment.

ST will give a follow up Green Tara initiation of Thursday which we will also attend because JL's mother wants to go. ST will then return to the palace (podrang) in Rajpur a 15 minute drive from the nunnery where he has been staying for the duration of the opening ceremonies.

I am happy to say that the most attentive boy at the empowerment was Ani Rinpoche's son who is about 10 or 11 years old. During the 3 1/2 hours he never really took his eyes off of ST nor did he fall asleep or fidget. He also new all the prayers at the beginning, during the initiation, mang ja prayers, and the dedications at the end. I will let his grandmother, Dagmo Kusho, know how good he was so that she can be even more proud of him than I was. Zaya Rinpoche's son was also there and well representing the family but he has not yet had the same training as his younger cousin.

Kalachakra Initiation & Old Friends

I had a very good meeting at the new Sakya Nunnery with Sakya Trizin Rinpoche yesterday. We discussed art, Bon, Mongolia and Kalachakra, and agreed to meet again before I leave for Delhi. Today is the first day, 'ta gon', of the two day Kalachakra empowerment. It is an introduction or preparation prior to entering the mandala which takes place on the second day of the empowerment and called the 'ngo shi'. For more information see the Kalachakra Outline Page and the excellent Kalachakra website of Edward Henning.

Each day I meet old friends, some I have not seen for 35 years while others I have seen more recently in Tibet, China, the USA or Europe. Today undoubtedly I will see many people. I expect several thousand people to attend the empowerment at the new Nunnery (probably the largest Tibetan nunnery in South Asia with approximately 300 nuns).

The image above is a depiction of the world according to the Buddhist Abhidharma system. The world is flat with four principal continents in the four directions with a large mountain in the middle - the flat earth theory. The Buddhist Kalachakra Tantra system on the other hand presents a round earth theory long before the Italian Galileo came up with his ideas.

Bon Monasteries & Temples

Sunday (today is Monday) was spent looking at Bon paintings and murals along with traveling the short distance from Manduwalla to Lama Tenzin Wangyal's (Ligmincha Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia) new retreat (institute) land on the north slope of the Dun valley. The land is very large with some existing cottages and many fruit trees. A single Bon monk lives there as caretaker.

I am eating way to much and not doing enough exercise. Tomorrow and Wednesday I will be in the Tibetan settlement of Dekyiling during the day sitting for hours and hours. Sakya Trizin is giving a two day initiation on the practice of Kalachakra which I will attend. I need to find a cushion to take in case there are none in Dekyiling. The initiation is part of the ceremonies accompanying the official opening of the new temple at the Sakya Nunnery. There will probably be several thousand people in attendance. I don't usually like to do scenes but his way I will be able to see a lot more friends and acquaintances in a relatively short period of time.

I have accumulated so many images of paintings that I need to spend more time cataloguing them into custom folders. I am concentrating on collecting images of tangkas and murals from known artists who claim to paint in well-known styles. Yes, this is a kind of a set up. The key phrase is well-known.

I am already starting to think about which day to leave Dehradun and return to Delhi. My flight is next Tuesday night. I have some business in Delhi to attend to prior to leaving. Probably I will leave Dehradun Saturday or Sunday and on Monday and Tuesday finish everything that is outstanding in Delhi.

The image above is of Jake Dalton, Paldor and me in a small seminar discussion during the conference. The photo was taken by David Kittlestrom of Wisdom Publications. I have also added more images to the previous blog entries.

Clement Town & The New Mindroling Monastery

I spent the day at Mindroling Monastery photographing the paintings and murals of the famous Karshodpa artist Pema Konchog. His photograph and a photograph of JL's elder brother Tsedor appear in David Jackson's first book on Tangka painting. It is JL and Tsedor's home that I am staying in at Manduwala. Everybody in the family is an artist although they have all given up art as a profession. Only JL still does some painting. He was the personal artist to a Gelug lama in Taiwan for nearly ten years. Although a Gelug Tulku the lama maintained that Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro was his principal teacher.

I have added images to some of the previous entries where images were lacking such as the group photo of all the conference participants and the group photo with the Dalai Lama. The kids that randomly appear with me on various entries all belong to JL. The youngest boy is missing from the photos because he goes to a private school in Mussorie. We will try to visit him in the next week or so.

Manduwalla, Ling Tsang Settlement, Dehradun

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day in Dolanji, ate a simple breakfast and then proceeded to see Menri Trizin. There were many people, both monks and lay, along with hordes of small school children all massed in the temple courtyard awaiting Menri Trizin's entry into into the main shrine hall to bestow the initiation of Mawe Sengge, a Bon wisdom deity. We were able to see Rinpoche before the ceremony. It was quite a surprise because none of the monks had told him of our arrival. It really was a surprise. We talked for about 40 minutes and then said our goodbyes and watched Rinpoche as he made his way towards the temple wearing his traditional lotus hat and led by two gyaling playing monks dressed in their best and wearing ceremonial hats.

Geshe Samdrub showed us the completed library which was still under construction the last time Tenzin D. and I were at Dolanji. It is now completed and officially opened during a large ceremony in 2007 headed by the Dalai Lama and retinue who stayed in Dolanji for several days. The most interesting thing about the library was the addition of a Bon museum. I took many photos and walked slowly past each exhibit taking note of things that I had only heard about but never seen before. The most interesting was probably the display of the 'jutig' (knot) divination system along with a rare text of explanation. I took photos. There were also several large thread-cross (namkha) exhibits.

We left Dolanji at approximately 12:00 noon and made our way via the short cut and back roads to Ponta Sahab, the place where Guru Gobind Singh's three sons were killed in battle some hundreds of years ago sparking the militarization of the Sikh religion. This is also the place were I used to swim; always mindful to avoid the poisonous water snakes. It was a beautiful drive through the pine forests. We stopped for a light lunch at a roadside restaurant and had some spicy Indian food. Finally at 5:00 we turned into the driveway of JL's family home and were greeted by his elder brother, wife and mother. Two other brothers arrived later along with numerous other family members that I knew from India years ago, Lhasa, or Chengdu. Of the two younger brothers, both Nyingma Lamas now in Taiwan, I had met up with one in Majnujkatilla, Delhi, on his way back to Taiwan. He was very generous and paid for my hotel stay in Delhi prior to my journey to Bir for the Translator's Conference.

So far I have managed to remain vegetarian but that is likely to end here in the Tibetan settlement of Ling Tsang. Today is a rest day. I have also strained my back which I do about every 4 or 5 years. It is quite painful but should be fine in a day or so. While here I will be photographing some rare paintings and documenting the artists who created them. I may not have mentioned that JL and his family are all tangka painters, or rather used to be. Their uncle was a famous Karshodpa painter from Ling Tsang, Kham, Tibet. Photos of many of these people I have mentioned are in David Jackson's first book that discusses the techniques and materials of tangka painting.

Tomorrow I will pay my respects to the Ngor Lamas at Ngor Magon which is directly across the street from my bedroom; strangely enough so is the local Bon monastery which I will also visit and photograph. The head lama of this temple visited New York during the Bon exhibition.

I spent many hours removing viruses and updating the various software in this computer to make it usable. Hopefully I will be able to add some images to the Blog. This I will try later today.

By the way, it says Thursday at the top of the entry for this post. In fact the blog is set to New York time, or maybe even Chicago time, the location where the blog was first created. For the correct date as of where I am - add a day to that date. It is currently Friday at 12:20 and rapidly approaching the time for lunch.

On the Road to Mandi, Riwalser, Solan and Dolanji

It sounds a little like one of the "on the road" pictures of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Am I dating myself or am I dating all of you?

It was an early start this morning from Bir after a night of thunder claps and heavy rain both of which woke me at different times of the night. It continued to rain on and off throughout the day. We left at about 8:00 in the morning and headed for Mandi with the goal reaching Riwalser and the lake miraculously formed by Padmasambhava and Mandarava (Tso Pema). We arrived around 11:00 and proceeded to the nearest tea shop. That is what you do in India. From there we ascended the highest mountain over-looking the lake of 'Tso Pema' to the cave of Guru Dragpo and visited the shrine and the two main caves. We stopped to look down on the lake and take photos. It was cold and wet.

Returning to the town we circumambulated the lake in the car. Yes, a little lazy, but it was raining even heavier. Instead of renting a room in a guest house we decided to head directly towards Dolanji and figured we would arrive there arong 7:00 at night. We arrived closer to 8:00 and had some anxiety negotiating the difficult road in the dark that runs sixteen miles outside of Solan. There are many twists and turns as the road transformed from a nice two lane thourogh fare into a one lane paved road into a dirt track with mud and rock slides at regular intervals.

We arrived safely and promptly found my friend Geshe Sonam (he was one of two Bon monks that were present for two months during the RMA Bon exhibition) who whisked us away to get a hot meal and a quick catch up on all of the news. He also helped us get or bags into a vacant room at the guest house which was completely booked two days earlier and will be again in two days. Tenzin will be the only one to appreciate that the only rooms available were on the ground floor, or bottom, of the Bon Guest House. It could have been a sad story of 'no room in the inn' but then we're not Christians and there isn't a good Buddhist story that corresponds to that phrase, not even concerning Bon Guest Houses.

After visiting the Menri Tizin in the morning we will likely leave Dolanj around mid day tomorrow and travel to Manduwalla in the Dun Valley.

Drugpa Kagyu & Back at Deer Park for the Night

JL and I left Dharamsala a little after nine this morning. It was a pleasant drive along the road heading east back to Palampur. We turned off the road north heading into a forested area and then wound our way around some low hills and then on to the top of the hill where Dorzang Rinpoche is building a retreat center. Actually it seems that Drugu Chogyal Rinpoche is the one really building it but one must remember protocol and hierarchy.

The forest retreat comp[lex of many buildings and monks quarters is unfinished but magnificent. It is very clean with few people other than an occasional monk and then the Indian workers finishing the construction. It is in the middle of a pine forest with grass underfoot and clean dust free air. Drugu Chogyal met us out front of his residence. We spent two hours talking and then adjourned for lunch. None of us ate very much as the conversation continued over the formally prepared lunch table. We looked at an amazing assortment of paintings both actual and photographs. I managed to copy all of the important images and will return to New York with them and add them to the HAR website. Most are from the late 17th, early 18th century and painted by the great Drugpa Kagyu painter Cho Tashi. I took numerous pictures of the retreat center and surroundings.

Leaving Drugu Chogyal we proceeded directly to Tashi Jong and spent some time in the main temple again photographing paintings of the former Khamtrul Rinpoches. Again, these paintings were in the style of Cho Tashi if not by his very hand. After that we traveled the short distance to Bir and took a room at the Deer Park Institute for the night. This time JK and I were able to meet with his eldest son at the local TCV school and take some photos. On the return to Deer Park we stopped and visited Orgyan Tobgyal Rinpoche at his house that I call a palace. Many of you will remember him from the movie "The Cup" where he played the disciplinarian - the very stern head monk.

Darkness sets in very quickly in India; it could also be that there is a lack of street lighting. I will quickly finish this and then go and get something light to eat. The plan is to get up relatively early and head off towards Tso Pema. If we can get there in a reasonable time and see what we need to see then we will head south-east down to Simla. If that isn't reasonable then we will spend the night in Tso Pema and leave the next morning.

Leaving Dharamsala

It is 20 to 8 and and we just finished breakfast in this very good Kongpo restaurant. After a short walk JL is now going for a massage and I am again at the internet. Since arriving in India I have pretty much remained vegetarian. It is very easy to be vegetarian here and probably the best protection against stomach sickness. I don't know that it is so much that the meat is bad. It is more likely the case that the food preparation for the meat is not as clean as it should be and that is why some people end up with problems. I am not being overly cautious nor am I taking any chances. With health concerns in third world environments it is best to keep to a middle course rather than being extreme on one side or the other.

It is a beautiful morning here with bright sunshine and a clear sky. The mountains are a shimmering white with all the snow that arrived last Wednesday. The mountains rise straight up behind Dharamsala making for a magnificent sight. Anybody that has seen the Canadian Rockies in Banff or Jasper National Park will know what I mean. The snow is not likely to melt soon since it is still March and the really warm weather is yet to come.

Today is important for me as I will be meeting the Drugpa Kagyu Lama Drugu Chogyal Rinpoche at his monastery this side of Palampur. He and I have always met breifly over the past ten years in New York but I have never been to his monastery. I have been researching Latog and Khampa Gar style paintings for the last few years and he is the most knowledgeable expert in the world on these subjects. (See an example of this painting style - Namkha Palzang). I have a series of questions that I want to ask him and several theories that I want to present to him. With luck and enough time I also hope to see some of the art treasures in his monastery as well as in the settlement of Tashi Jong a few miles away. Tashi Jong is famous for the many tokdens that live in the hills above the settlement. Tokdens are Buddhist yogis and sadhus that keep their hair long and live an ascetic lifestyle.

Dharamsala, Last Night

The meeting with Tashi Tsering went better than I had hoped. I have so much information and he pointed me in so many positive directions for more research on the subjects we discussed. I also came away with some valuable texts and rare images. He now has ownership of my first born.

The LTWA went very well also. We have opened a channel of communications and will hopefully move slowly forward towards their participation on the HAR website.

I met up with Maura M. in the main bazaar of Dharamsala. She has been here for two weeks and leaves in five more days. I don't think I could handle that. JL and I had a nice dinner at the Kailash Hotel (Chu Shi Gang Drug). We leave early in the morning heading back to Palampur so as to meet Drugu Chogyal Rinpoche for lunch at his monastery.

Dharamsala, Day Two

Had a good sleep last night, I was in bed before 10:00 and didn't get up until 7:00. I must have needed the sleep. We ate an early dinner in the Tibet Hotel. The place looks like a typical dive but the food is very good. And as one Tibetan friend says "the chances are very good that you won't be sick from eating here." It is very cool at night. You definitely have to be dressed well. You can't sit outside in the open air cafes too long. The hotel has hot water and it is nice to bathe normally as opposed to pouring cold water over your head or luke warm at best. At Deer Park we didn't always have luke warm water. From Bir to Dharamsala it is only about 50 kilometers but because the roads are so narrow and windy, often single lane with single lane bridges, it takes over two hours to travel the distance. Strange westerners and wanna-be hippies fill the hill station of Dharamsala. Many of them dress like Indians or quasi-sadhus and yogis. I have meeting this morning and then another in the afternoon, otherwise my day is pretty well open. I will go and see the main temple of Dharamsala and a smaller temple for Kalachakra next door.

The mountains behind the hill station rise up sharply and are covered with snow from the big storm that came through last wednesday. The views of the valley a thousand feet below are very nice but I don't think I could find enough to do here in Dharamsala to spend more than a couple of days. The streets are incredibly narrow and aside from clothing and some books, most if not all the shops only sell junk - junk art, junk paintings, Tibetan singing bowls, and more junk. Many of the so-called Tibetan paintings are imported from Kathmandu and painted by Nepalese tourist artists. The open fields of Bir and the Dun Valley, pine forests and meadows, are more to my liking.

Dharamsala, Dalai Lama & Travels

I'm in Dharamsala with my friend Jamyang Lekdrub after spending the day in Bir looking at Temples and meeting old friends. We have a car which makes it very easy to get around. Saw the Dalai lama yesterday at a private meeting with the rest of the conference participants - if you can call that a private meeting. We had a group photo taken but I don't have a copy of that yet. I will post it here when I have it. Arrived back in Dharamsala this afternoon to visit my friends two kids that are in school here. He also has one in school in Bir and the fourth and youngest is in Musoorie because he especially wanted to learn English. I will stay in Dharamsala for two nights. I meet with Tashi Tsering, an important Tibetan historian, tomorrow morning and I then have a meeting with the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in the afternoon. We have to leave early on Tuesday morning to go back towards Palampur to have lunch and spend time with Drugu Chogyal Rinpoche (Drugpa Kagyu, Khampa Gar) at his monastery near Tashi Jong. He is one of the last of the Tibetan Lamas that understands painting and the various traditions. We will probably spend the night in Bir and then go up to Tso Pema the next day. I no longer have Wi-fi and am at the mercy of the Indian internet cafe. The Blog may be updated but it is unlikely that I will be posting too many images.

Sword and Lotus with Two Two-headed Birds

The symbol of the sword standing above a lotus along with two double headed birds was first designed by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen and painted on a wall in Samye Monastery, Tibet.

Follow the Conference and Proceedings

It is a little late since we are going into the last full day of the conference but here are the proceedings as posted on Facebook (no password required): http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59296950597

Khyentse Foundation Website Conference Information: http://www.khyentsefoundation.com/2009_02_translating_the_words_of_the_buddha_conference.html

The Buddhist Channel: http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=10,7896,0,0,1,0

All hits on Google with the terms 'translating the buddha words'
http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=translating+the+words+of+the+buddha&meta=

Heading into the Home Stretch

The food at the conference has been excellent. The weather has also been pretty good with only one day of some rain and today with a little smattering. At night you need to wear a jacket because it is cool as it should be above 3000 feet. Although each day will now get a little warmer as India heads into summer.

I don't think I mentioned that Paldor and I are rooming together at the conference. Everything is basically double occupancy. Paldor is a great room mate and it is nice to review each day before bed with someone that cares so passionately about the subject and who also has such a great knowledge and insight into the issues and history of the Kangyur and Tangyur. Paldor worked in Chengdu for 10 years on Alak Zenkar Rinpoche's edition of the Tibetan Kangyur (published in China).

Tomorrow is the last day of the conference and a lot of resolutions and decisions will have to be made. Khyentse Rinpoche has agreed to be the interim leader of the proposed project to translate the Tibetan Buddhist Literary heritage until an organization and infrastructure has been set up. Who knows, maybe he will stay on after that and continue as the visionary leader while others step up and take charge of the fundamentals of organization and administration.

Manjushri Sculpture by Sakya Pandita

The two images here are of the famous Manjushri sculpture in Sakya, Tibet, and made by the hands of Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (thematic set on HAR). It was this sculpture that inspired Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, who is not easily inspired, and from the inspiration he took his own photo and had a replica of the Manjushri sculpture made and installed at Deer Park. The image is now the center piece of Manjushri Hall.

I took these two photos during a one week stay at Sakya in June 2007. At that time numerous sites were visited and thousands of photos taken. The images are currently being organized and catalogued and will then be uploaded to the Himalayan Art Resources website. The subjects of the photos will also be commented on from the Sakya Resource Guide website.

Snow on the Mountains

This is a sample image of the mountains surrounding Bir to the north. They are the foothills of the Himalayas. The altitude is between 3 and 4 thousand feet in elevation. Today was another busy conference schedule with both small group discussions and the full participants meeting in the Manjushri Hall. The main news of the day about a schedule change is that on Saturday instead of going to Tso Pema we will instead travel the two hours by bus to Dharamsala to have a private interview with the Dalai Lama and brief him on the results of the conference.

Conference Decisions

It rained here this afternoon putting fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. It can cool down quickly especially when a wind comes up. Tonight there is a local cultural show at Deer Park for the enjoyment of the conference participants, probably the group least likely to enjoy such an event.

The conference has been pretty amazing with so many people that I know and many people that I have heard about for years but never met.

Yesterday Khyentse Rinpoche gave an amazing speech, a call to arms, inspiring, uplifting and directed towards a singular goal - the translation of the Kangyur, Tangyur and the Tibetan writings and commentarial collections within 100 years. We spent the rest of the day working out a 100 year mission statement, then a 25 year plan and statement, and then a 5 year action plan. Fifty translators all in agreement is a rare thing.

Manjushri Sculpture at Deer Park

In the Manjushri Hall at Deer Park is a large central image of Manjushri approximately 7 feet tall. This sculpture is a copy based on a photograph of the famous Manjushri sculpture in Sakya, Tibet, said to be made by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen. The photo used for the copy was taken by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche during his first visit to Sakya Monastery.

Conference,1st Day

It is 7:30 in the morning on Monday the first full day of the conference. The first session begins at 9:00. It is warmer this morning with nice light and sunshine beginning to streak over the mountains catching the eye at odd angles. The wi-fi internet is supposed to be turned on from 6:00 in the morning but wasn't active until 7:20 today. The Internet users are competing with a yoga class about 20 feet away.

The image above is of me in the mountains above Dzongsar Monastery, Kham, Eastern Tibet, back in August of 2004. The monastery, not visible, is way down in the valley below. At this time Victoria Blythe-Hill and I were doing and a conservation survey and cataloguing of all the sculpture and paintings in Dzongsar monastery.

Karmapa Visit Photos

The group photo was taken the morning of Saturday March 14th by a monk attendant using Matthieu Ricard's camera fitted with a wide angle lens. In the full photo Matthieu is kneeling in front with the big smile. Seated on the floor to the right of Karmapa is the happy face of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. Gene Smith is standing to the left of Karmapa with Paldor seated below and to the left. I am standing at the back, almost center, with Jake Dalton standing below and slightly to the left, above Karmapa.

The painting to the left of me behind the Shakyamuni Buddha sculpture depicts the five forms of Manjushri associated with the five peaks of Wutaishan Mountain in China. This recently painted portrayal of the five forms shows that the subject of Manjushri at Wutaishan is as popular as ever.

Hang Gliding Images

These two images are taken from a window of the Tara Wi-fi Lounge at Deer Park Institute. It is a common sight to see these daring hang gliders floating above the temples and villages of the Kangra District.

Conference Signage

Here is the conference sign and a picture of the main temple at Deer Park. The double headed parrots are/is kind of cute. The original concept for this comes from Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen. The double headed birds, in Sakya Pandita's design there are two birds, represent the early translators of Tibet. For more information on this subject see the publication "Gateway to the Temple" by Chokye Tri Rinpoche, translated by David Jackson.

Did you know that Bir is famous for hang gliding. It is one of the hottest spots in all of India. On Thursday in Majnukatilla I met a Tibetan from Toronto who had just returned from hang gliding in Bir. I asked if he had family there or was on pilgrimage and he said no he was only there for the hang gliding.

Arrival in Deer Park, Bir

Arrived in Deer Park, Bir, at 12:00 last night. It was a 16 hour bus ride from Delhi. You definitely need a jacket at night up here in the mountains. Sunny and cool this morning. There are lots of people I know at the conference and more Tibetan friends than I can count. We have wi-fi from about 8 in the morning until 11 or 12 at night. I don't know how well it will work when there are 50 scholars all sitting cross-legged in a room connected to the internet. We will have to see. There will be a formal greeting this afternoon with Dzongsar Khyentse and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. The conference officially starts tomorrow morning.

The group meeting with the Gyalwa Karmapa yesterday morning went as planned and was very nice. Some group photos were taken. I will post these after I get them.

The image above is of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche at his official enthronement ceremony recognizing him as the rebirth of Khyentse Chokyi Lodro. The ceremony was conducted in the early 1960s. Khyentse Rinpoche is the host of the Translators Conference here in Bir, North India.

New Delhi, International House Seminar

On Friday afternoon and evening there was a seminar titled 'What the Panditas and Yogis Brought to Tibet.' There were four speakers (from the left) made up of Steven Goodman, John Dunne, Gene Smith, and Jake Dalton. It was very well attended with some recognizable faces of old friends such as Virendra Kumar, patriarch of the Kumar family, and others. The event was co-sponsored by the Khyentse Foundation.

We are up at 5:00 tomorrow morning and then off to see the (Situ) Gyalwa Karmapa for an audience prior to the 14 or more hour bus ride to Bir. It should prove to be a thoroughly exhausting day with or without the audience. It seems there will be a convoy of three mini buses.

Holidays and Holy Days

Tuesday was March 10th - a Tibetan Holiday. Wednesday was Holi - an Indian holiday. Thursday is Tibetan Women's day - a holiday again. It can be very hard to see people here when they have so many holidays. Yesterday I ate lunch in one of my favourite restaurants in the Defense Colony. Sagar, they specialize in vegetarian South Indian food. The obligatory and necessary nap was soon to follow. Today I move to a central Delhi hotel and meet up with the main conference group. Jamyang Lekdrub's wife arrives from Mysore today and then they travel back to Manduwalla tomorrow.

I can't say that it will be sad leaving Majnukatilla. I have many friends here but it is so dirty, smelly and with lots of mosquitoes. The food is certainly affordable and the guest houses are reasonable to the point of being down right cheap. When I first came to India in the 1970s the $ was worth about 10 rupees. Now the $ is worth over 50 rupees. It is 5 rupees a minute to call Canada or the States. What does Verizon charge for overseas calls?

Sunny, Windy & Dusty

Dirty, windy, dusty, mosquitoes, smelly, but still preferrable to elsewhere. I have met so many people today that I know from the past that I can't keep them all straight. I couldn't keep them all straight in the past either. Slowly plans are being made, the conference topics are becoming clear, and the invitations to visit various places and spend time with specific people are starting to arrive. Delhi is such a bustling crossroads of people and activities. If you want to meet somebody then you just have to pick a spot and sit. At some point everybody will walk past.

Arrived in New Delhi

It is a bright warm sunny day here in New Delhi. I have made contact with everybody I need to contact and everything is proceeding as smoothly as possible for India. I have already run into several people I knew from nearly forty years ago. I am staying in Manjukatela but move on Friday to a more central hotel closer to the main group of translators. On Saturday we meet with the Gyalwa Karmapa before leaving for Bir and the beginning of the one week conference. The morning has been spent talking to old friends and discussing art and looking at many paintings some of which were painted by the uncle of my friend Jamyang Lekdrub. I will try and document as many traditional paintings by known artists as possible.

Hanging Out In The Hong Kong Airport

Well, the 14 hour flight is over and I have a 3 hour gap here in Hong Kong before I get onto the 4 hour flight to Delhi. The Business Class Lounge is a lot bigger here than in New York. They have two bar/restaurants (free) along with showers, internet and a secret door that leads to the First Class Lounge. I have some e-mails to write but that will probably go much easier with a glass of red wine.

The picture above is of my friend Jamyang Lekdrub. He and I were monks together back in the 70s in Rajpur India. This photo is of the newly built Ngor Ewam Monastery in Tibet. In 2007 JL and I traveled to Ngor, Jonang, Bodong, Narthang, Gongkar Chode, and then spent a week at Sakya Monatery, Tibet. The reason for showing this picture is because he is picking me up at the Delhi airport at 2:00 am in the morning. Now that's a friend.

India

Tomorrow I leave for India. Because of the time zones and international date line I won't actually arrive there until early Wednesday morning. The purpose of the journey is to attend an international translator's conference sponsored by Khyentse Rinpoche. Click on the link to see an old photo of Khyentse Rinpoche and me taken during the Lamdre Tsogshe teachings is Rajpur, India, back in 1975. Khyentse Rinpoche is on the far left, Sakya Tridzin Rinpoche is on the far right and I am in the middle. For those very few people that know this blog address and also care about what kind of trouble I get into I will try and keep everyone informed as often as I am able while traveling abroad.

The photo of me and the Bactrian camel is from last year when I was taking a break from lecturing in Mongolia.