From Brahma to Buddha, Spring 2008

Harrison and Peter heading to homestays

There're all these people around who aren't keeping silence, which leads me to believe that we're out of retreat.

It was rich to be submerged into Buddhist teachings and silent reflection for the past 10 days, and I'm SO PROUD of our students- not only for sticking through it, but also for being attentive and critically reviewing the ideas which were taught. After having a council earlier today to decompress and share our thoughts, it was great to hear about what concepts resonated, which didn't, and which ones will take some time to mull over. I look forward to seeing how having developed this strong foundation to Buddhist learning will inform the remainder of our trip, especially in Dharamsala with its predominant Tibetan Buddhist population.

ISPs are hatching as well, including sewing, jewlery making, yoga, Hindi, Buddhist philosophy classes, life-stories research, and even French! These individual pursuits will be paired with an amazing line up of speakers by day and warm Tibetan family homestays by night- all reasons why Dharamsala is again one of my favorite components of the semester, and I expect it to be so for the students as well.

Also, on a local note, most shops and restaurants have re-opened their doors and life on the streets seems to be returning to normal. Certainly, though, the hearts and minds of many here are still invested in the ongoing events in Lhasa and around Tibet, and we'll be keeping our ears open as events continue to unfold.

Off to walk Ellie home...

Stay tuned for the score of an upcoming boys v. girls basketball game. Peter and I mean business!!