5/31/2010
It is our second to last night at the monastery. Things are definitely getting busy.
Where last week there was a feeling of heartbreak and tenderness, unnamable but ubiquitous, there is now a feeling of excitement– at least an approximation of it. These last days are beautiful in their finality, and I find myself saying goodbye to the places I’ve come to love; in particular the mountain up which I run most mornings, and the rooftop on which I sing and do laundry after I get back from the run.
I celebrated my 28th birthday a few days ago, and thanks to my far away girlfriend and my brothers in arms it was a truly delightful day. As I served breakfast to Rinpoche, he turned and looked directly in my eyes with a half-puzzled, half-curious look and said, “You look old today.” I’m not sure if he knew it was my birthday when he said that. If so, he didn’t let on. The remark left me cheerfully puzzled.
We are about to enter the maelstrom of intercontinental transport of a vajra master. Last week I was quite worried that the spaciousness I’ve been cultivating in my mind would be traumatized quickly from its complacency, but after a day of type-a ass busting, I’m feeling pretty confident about the transition and the tremendous amount of work it will no doubt entail.
I’ve read five books, had two bouts of food poisoning (one minor, one major), done close to 80 sessions of the Werma Sadhana, heard close to 3 million plays of Justin Bieber’s Baby blasting from every monk’s cell phone, bought 2 new suits, one white, one black, served countless cups of tea, received exactly 127 bites from small insects (mostly mosquitos), eaten more tukpa (Tibetan stew) than I even care to think about, sent at least five postcards that never reached their destination, taken no more than 10 hot showers, and enjoyed (nearly) every minute of our whole stay in this beautiful, completely foreign, and utterly fascinating place.
No comments:
Post a Comment