From Brahma to Buddha: Spring 2009

So much has been going on in Dharamsala, time is flying! For the past 2 weeks I've been finding it hard to keep my thoughts here. I've been worrying about what I would do when I get home, school, work, etc. I was also finding it hard to connect to this place for some reason, something wasn't "clicking" (maybe because my thoughts were somewhere else). Yesterday we were sitting and listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's political address and all of a sudden, everything fell into place. No more thoughts on the future or the past- just the present. I was preventing myself from learning by worrying about what will come next. I want to make the most out of the time we have left here...I'm hoping to take some books out from the library on Tibet and Buddhism.
Yesterday we also saw the movie, Tibet:Cry of the Snow Lion. I would recommend everyone at home to see it. It made me realize how little we know about Tibet in the West. We hear stories about it on the news once and a while, but then we just change the channel and forget about it. We've had a few guest speakers on the topic- it's affected all of us. Jess had the idea of writing letters to newspapers when we get back home, maybe we'll do a group project on it.
I hope everyone back home is doing well. I'm still loving my time here and am learning lots. For my ISP's I've been doing yoga, conversational english and Buddhist philosophy. My conversational english partner (Austen's Amala) wants me to give her homework, so I feel like I've become an unofficial teacher. The pressure's on! Time for lunch, later!