Young monks at Tergar Monastery last month. Young monks running to line up just before H.H. the Karmapa arrived last month at Tergar (Bodh Gaya). A driver sleeps in his rickshaw in Kolkata. Yours truly with my friend Soorjya along the river in Kolkata. It had been over 5 years since we last parted ways in Bristol, but it felt like not a day had passed. Read more

His Holiness Galwang Karmapa is giving teachings this week in Bodh Gaya and we, the faculty/staff and students at my program, will get a brief private audience with him tomorrow. Odds are we’ll have at least a few minutes to ask him questions directly. I may not have a chance to check this before going, but supposing I do, what would you ask him? ~ I made it to his teachings yesterday afternoon and the main stress was on cultivating greater... Read more

I pass by an Indian man dressed as a sadhu. He wears colorful orange robes and a bright yellow turban, a caries a walking stick and a small stainless steal bucket, used for gathering alms-food or money. He could be a real holy man. He could be a fraud who makes a living by dressing as a holy man. I am told there are plenty of each throughout India and I’m in no mood to ask for a discourse on... Read more

A bit of a late “thanksgiving” post… Dharamsala (McLeod Ganj) has been wonderful thus far. And tomorrow I switch hotels to a place around the mountain in another little village called Bhagsu. Everything around here has filled up – with Russians – for H.H. the Dalai Lama’s public talks later this week. So I’m off to some sort of resort (we’ll see) for my last two nights in the area. I will see the first day of H.H.’s talks, but... Read more

Well, I’ve made it. Yet another cross-country journey by train in India, from the warm, dusty air of Bihar to the cool, crisp mountains of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.  The trip began on a night train in the relatively poor (even for India) city of Gaya, about 20 minutes by car from our Vihar in Bodh Gaya. The train station was packed with people sleeping, which seems fairly common here. Not so common was the large presence of army and... Read more

As I wrote before (regarding Varanasi), past visitors to India often described it as a land of marked contrasts, at once beautiful and foul, spiritually enlightening and humanely heart-wrenching. The more time I spend in Bodh Gaya, the more I feel these extemes myself. Though it may just be the meanderings of my own heart: at times joyful and light, at others heavy with nostalgia and longing. I learned today that 80% of the people of Bihar, the state I live... Read more

Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss something you’ve lost until you have it back again. So it has been for me and my beloved (good) coffee and big pink sunsets. Over the years in Missoula, and a few in London and elsewhere around the world, I’ve loved the sight of a good sunset and have always been quick to pick up the camera to try to capture some part of its beauty. With the cooling weather here in... Read more

Phewww… It’s been an exciting few weeks here in Bodh Gaya, ranging from highs of incredible (restricted) Mahamudra teachings by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche to the lows of a nasty, nasty stomach bug. But all seems to be leveling out again, for better and worse. We’re in our penultimate week of classes, meaning my work schedule is in overdrive with grading and prep. We’re also planning our students’ Independent Study Projects and travels, adding another layer to the madness, not to... Read more

Just got this in the (e)mail and figured I’d pass it on to all of you… (via DigitalBookIndex) nneBooks: Religion, Culture, History: Buddhism 1  2   AUTHOR TITLE EDITION FORMAT PRICE PUBORG Glossary of Buddhism [religion] On-Line Free Glossary of Buddhist Terms [religion] On-Line Free Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms [religion] On-Line Free Official Buddhism Glossary [religion] On-Line Free Buddhist Mahayana Texts (Sacrd Bks of the East v 49) (tr. Cowell; Muller; Takausu) 1894 Html Free SacredTexts Buddhist Suttas (Sacrd Bks... Read more

http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/jwplayer.swf A little something different from here. http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/embedded-xnl-stats.swf Read more