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<\/a><\/div>\nAnd my second addiction, behind time in nature: (good) coffee.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had this \u201cViennese Blend\u201d coffee ever since my trip to Varanasi about a month ago, but the french press my folks mailed to me seemed to have been lost. So, as good coffee cravings mounted and my search in Bodh Gaya turned up no coffee makers, I began getting slightly desperate. I asked our local internet shop owner and he suggested the large electronics store on the edge of town (large meaning about 12 feet by 20 feet, stuffed mostly with flat screen TVs and refrigerators).\u00a0 There, on a dusty top shelf I saw it (above).<\/p>\n
I asked the owner, do you have a coffee maker?<\/p>\n
He said, no.<\/p>\n
I pointed at the one behind the glass. \u201cWhat about that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s local quality. Not good quality.\u201d (translation \u2013 it\u2019s junk, you look like you want something good.)<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cThat\u2019s okay. Around here I\u2019ll take what I can get.\u201d (translation \u2013 I\u2019m desperate)<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d (translation: okay)<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d (translation: uh oh, what have I said?)<\/p>\n
\u201c1500 Rupees\u201d (translation: 30 bucks; for a 5-10 dollar super cheep somewhat used looking coffee maker)<\/p>\n
Ugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have the heart to walk out, which I should have done. I didn\u2019t even try to bargain. Such is the power of my addiction to decent coffee. $30? Fine.<\/p>\n
So now Bodh Gaya is complete with gorgeous sunsets and my limited supply of good coffee (I\u2019ll get a couple more pounds when I\u2019m in Calcutta at the end of this month). Happiness.<\/p>\n
But it kind of makes me wonder about the Buddhist<\/a> idea of suffering<\/b>. I don\u2019t think I was really \u2018suffering\u2019 without these two things. I was really too busy to miss the sunsets much and the weak coffee and good chai sustained me in the absence of good coffee. So where is the suffering? I just knew<\/i> deep down that having good coffee would bring me great joy (oh and it has<\/i>). And as for the sunsets, a welcome surprise \u2013 like unexpectedly hearing good news from an old friend.<\/p>\nIf I can be perfectly happy without these joys, and just even happier<\/i> with them, what happens when I get my next glass of good wine or taste of really good Italian cuisine (with wine, of course)? Perhaps hedonism is encroaching on my Buddhist ideals? Or perhaps I\u2019m just a caffeine and sunset-powered Bodhisattva? Who knows?<\/p>\n
I heard a good story from a student yesterday about her contact with a friend who was in India few years ago. He advised her not to think about it now, not to try to understand it, just to experience it to its fullest. It\u2019ll be 3 months, 6 months, maybe 2 years before the impact is really fully felt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Good advice I think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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