From Brahma to Buddha, Fall 2008

Some students have expressed interest in earning college credit for their semester with Global LAB. This is possible through a partnership with Seattle Central Community College (SCCC). Students can sign on for 1-3 courses which mesh with the planned itineraries for each program. They complete a variety of written and hourly requirements for each course and return their assignments to a professor in the US. The financing of this program is independent of Global LAB and is coordinated directly between program participants and the college. If you might be interested in doing this please follow the five-step instructions listed below:

1) Go to: www.seattlecentral.edu/coop
2) Click on travel, language study
3) Click on registration
4) Print out the 3 page registration form
5) Mail in or fax the completed form, along with check (or credit card
info) for $89 per credit hour

Possible courses include:

• ITL 197: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE EDUCATION (5 credits)
Assignments relate to 66 hours of community service and 40 hours of language

• EDU 291: USING THE WORLD AS A CLASSROOM (5 credits)
Assignments include a daily journal, ethnographic paper, two critical thinking assignments (based on program-relevant articles), and one related project

• SSC 297: TRAVEL/STUDY EXPERIENCE (10 credits)
Assignments include a daily journal, three research papers relating to service and/or your Independent Service Project, and four critical thinking papers (based on program-relevant articles)

Posted by Aaron Bos-Lun at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Namaste,

I am Amit from Delhi and I've been working with the Brahma to Buddha semester for more than two years now. I love to meet different people, understand the diversity of cultures, and love traveling to new places and exploring new ideas. The last semester groups were wonderful--I learned so many things from them, enjoyed traveling with them, from Holi Festival in my house to each and every day was something new like visiting the blind school, visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar, taking a boat down the Ganges River, watching Bollywood movies and taking Bollywood dance lessons, etc.

About my qualifications I went to a boarding school which is 175 km from Delhi and I studied there up to grade 10TH and then came back to Delhi, finished my grade 12TH and college from DELHI COLLEGE OF ARTS AND COMMERCE IN HISTORY (HONS).

You are very lucky as you are coming in a very good festival season--almost all the big festivals of India are in the following months, including Diwali, the festival of lights.

So here I sign out and for more information you have to meet me. Wishing you love and luck for the fall semester 2008.

Amit

Posted by Global LAB at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This National Geographic article was published in the June 2008 issue - the location of the photos are Hemis National Park, which is one of the most popular options for our trek this fall while we are in Ladakh.

In three years of leading programs in Ladakh, I have yet to see a snow leopard - keeps things exciting! Maybe we'll get the chance to see some evidence of one this fall while we're trekking.

Hope packing is going well for everyone - be in touch if you have any questions as we get closer to departure time. Also, keep checking back here on the blog as valuable information will be shared in the coming days that will help you start thinking more about what our time together will be like.

Tracy

Posted by Tracy at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the file below you will find frequently asked questions, as well as their answers, regarding the complimentary travel insurance Global LAB provides its participants.

Download file

Best,
Aaron

Posted by Aaron Bos-Lun at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Namaste Everyone,

We've collected a list of some highly recommended books and movies which might help you better prepare for your experiences in India. While we do recommend a visit to your local library (for the movies too!) to pick some of these up, we also have a small library stored in Delhi with many of the same titles listed below and much more. There is certainly more out there, so let us know what you fine.

Feel free to comment on this entry and let us all know what you've watched/read/enjoyed already!

History:

Mahatma Gandhi, (Louis Fischer, ed.) The Essential Gandhi, Vintage, 1962.

Avedon, John. In Exile From the Land of Snows, NY: A Knopf, 1984
This excellent book as it offers a clear and concise background on Tibetan culture, and details the events surrounding the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese.

Tenzin Gyatso, H. H. the Dalai Lama. My Land and My People. NY: Potala, 1983
This is an autobiographical account of the history of modern Tibet, told by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the XIVth Dalai Lama. We also recommend any other publication by His Holiness such as Ethics for a New Millennium , The Art of Happiness and The World of Tibetan Buddhism.

Mahatma Gandhi. Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Beacon Press, 1993.

Gita Mehta. Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East. Vintage Books, 1991.

Diana Eck. Banaras, City of Light. Knopf, 1982.

Travel/ Historical Fiction

Elizabeth Gilbert. Eat, Pray, Love. Penguin Books, 2006

Greg Mortenson and David Olivier Relin. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time. Penguin Books, 2006.

Rudyard Kipling. Kim. Bantam Classics and Loveswept, 1983 - Traditionally "Kipling" account of silk road adventures. We'll visit Ladakh, who's capital city, Leh, was once a major stop on the silk road.

Satyajit Ray. Twenty Stories. Penguin Books Ltd., 1993. - Ray is a well-known, edgy Indian film maker. These are some of his short stories, but check out his movies as well.

Peter Mathessien. The Snow Leopard. Penguin Nature Classics, 1978.

Herman Hesse. Siddhartha. NY: New Directions, 1951 - Yes, it's fiction. Let's discuss!

Arundhati Roy. The God of Small Things. Harper Collins, 1998. - Though set in the state of Kerala in South India (we'll not travel there), Roy presents her riveting story and shakes our paradigm of time and relationships.

Rushdie, Salman et al. Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997. Henry Holt & Co., 1997. (an excellent anthology; a good way to sample many authors who have written about India)

Religion/Spirituality

Ethan Nichtern. One City: A Declaration of Interdependence. Wisdom Publications, 2007. - Nichtern is a practitioner of Shambhala Buddhism and founder of the Interdependence Project, an organization promoting social awareness and personal responsibility based out of New York City but existing in cyberspace as well. He's young, hip, and can explain Buddhism to our younger generation in a completely engaging fashion.

Diana Eck. Darshan. Columbia University Press, 1998.

Aiden Rankin. The Jain Path: Ancient Wisdom for the West. O Books, 2006.

Michele Martin. Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Snow Lion Publications, 2002. - If our karma permits, we'll be able to have an audience with this Karmapa who is the head of the Karma Kagyud sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

John Powers. An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995.

Walpola Sri Rahula. What the Buddha Taught. Grove/Atlantic Press, 1974.

A.L. Herman. A Brief Introduction to Hinduism: Religion, Philosophy and the Ways of Liberation. Westview Press, 1991.

Kim Knott. Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 1999. - These "very shorts" are great for getting some content info about what we'll see. There's also one on Buddhism and Sikhism.

Juan Mascaro, ed. The Bhagavad Gita. Viking Press, 1983. - Other great epics in the Hindu tradition to check out are the Mahayana and the Ramayana. These all greatly inform Indian culture.

Films (Available at your local public library and most video rental stores)

Regarding India:
The Namesake (2006), Gandhi (1982), Earth (1998), Fire (1996), Water (2005), Om Shanti Om (2007), Dhoom 2 (2006)

Regarding Tibet:
Kundun (1997), Windhorse (1997), The Cup (1999), Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

Posted by Tracy at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All Global LAB participants are covered for medical and emergency evacuation insurance through a policy we purchase through CORE travel.

We provide each participant with the basic CORE coverage. If you wish to upgrade or select additional policies provided by CORE (such as lost luggage insurance or increased protection) please see the attached document, which can be found at the end of this post. If you have questions about upgrading, please contact the CORE administrator, Fiona Lally. Her contact information is available in the attached document, as well.

Download file

Michelle

Posted by Aaron Bos-Lun at 07:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)