BUDDHA!!!

So here is what I have been up to recently: I was going to LIFE every evening and loving it. The kids were great, though hyperactive at times (to be expected), so I calmed them by telling long stories and explaining multiplication of fractions (which had immediate results on the hyperactivity).

Then, my Mom and sis showed up at the airport at 2 in the morning and we had a blast romping through the hot and humid south. We spent four days in Kerala, India’s southwestern-most state, eating fish curry and relaxing to the sounds of birds and sights of boats. Kerala is basically Tamil Nadu with the grand addition of beautiful backwaters, tons of coconuts, and the highest rate of literacy in the country. I had a fabulous time venturing to another part of the south and found it difficult to leave the lush, tropical, backwater backdrop for the madness of Chennai. But, we pulled ourselves away and soon headed to Pondicherry (with the mandatory stop in Auroville- who doesn’t love a little utopia every once in a while?) for some French-flavored fun in the quiet “ville blanche (white town)” near the beach. Mom and I took an evening stroll after a calm day only to stumble upon a hectic temple scene. Being a temple for the Lord Ganesh, there was an elephant out front who looked a bit agitated at the chaos around him. In the evenings, temples get revved-up with vendors shouting the prices of their goods (usually traditional flowers all for the same price) and families pushing to get inside. This was all of that and more. The poor guy was stamping his feet and waving his ears, yet stayed in his place near the temple entrance without any ropes or chains holding him down. I was totally fascinated, as it was the first time I had seen one up close (too close, maybe). Vendors around me sold bundles of grass for him, which he would kindly take, in return for a tap on the head. Oddly enough, this elephant also liked coins, so I dropped a few into his nostrils and he lifted his large trunk and blessed me on the head. It was the first real experience I’ve had with Hinduism and an elephant so it was momentous! An hour later, Dumbo had retired so (all jokes aside) my sister was left unblessed. The next day was a serene Sunday spent driving back to Chennai along the beach road with a stop in Mamallapuram. We checked out the stone carvings and rock temples, and strolled the streets lined with the “come, madam, just have a look” shopkeepers. With one last stop at Marina Beach in Chennai where we watched Indian families enjoying one of three activities: balloon-popping, kicking a ball, or sitting, we arrived at home and went to bed early. On their last day in town, Vidya (my friend from Pranic Healing) had us over for a large lunch and mild picture-taking. They left late at night and I was alone. I bid farewell to the kids the next day, leaving one in tears and the rest with tired hands from waving goodbye from the gate as I walked away. It was quite cute and I miss them already. I flew to Delhi the next day, almost choking when I took my first breath outside. The city may look nicer than Chennai with all the parks and grass, but it doesn’t taste any nicer! I saw the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort the next day. Both were lovely, but Agra was not. The next morning I took a strange bus ride to Jaipur, Rajasthan and was dropped on the side of the road at a rickshaw who, thankfully, took me to my pleasant hotel where I remained for most of that day, attempting to avoid aggressive selling tactics like I experienced in Agra. I did manage to get out and buy a scarf which was incredibly useful in the frigid mountains 20 km east of the city where I spent the next 11 days. That night I went to this famous resort which claims to be an authentic Rajasthani experience. I doubted that much, seeing as it was in the Lonely Planet guide and doubled as a five-star hotel. Nonetheless, all the Rajasthanis I have talked to love it and it seems to be the cool thing to do for Indian families on a casual weekend evening. It is around $5.50 for a pass which gets you into the circus of performers and a full dinner in the amazinf mud-walled dining room. Acts included children spinning on poles, contortionists bending in acute angles, a woman dancing on broken glass balancing seven pots on her head, a magician, a palmist, a fortune-teller, and a metal-worker. I rode a camel and an elephant (not at the same time) and stuffed myself on a full vegetarian Rajasthani feast. It was fabulous, enchanting, creepy, and magical all at the same time. At the end of each act (all the performers have their own small stage and people just wander from place to place) the dancers stand at the front of the stage looking longingly at the dissipating audience for tips, which I found disheartening. It also made it very awkward if I didn’t give a tip and just walked away. That was the only strange part of the experience. It really was the circus, though. The contortionists had a baby and a toddler sleeping at one end of their platform and while one wasn’t performing, she would rock the baby’s crib. It was a weird and lovely place.

I arrived at Dhammathali Vipassana Centre around lunchtime, and spoke with a few very interesting backpackers who were seeking a change of pace and relaxation. I had signed up for this ten-day meditation course about a month ago and had no idea what I was getting myself into. Here is a shortened version of the Code of Discipline for the full ten days:
1. No communication whatsoever with anyone but the teacher. Don’t even acknowledge those around you.
2. No writing, reading, or exercising of any sort (except walking).
3. No intoxicants or sexual misconduct.

That wasn’t too bad. I knew this before I came but had no idea what to do with myself during breaks. Here was the schedule:
4 AM: rise and shine!
4:30-6:30: drift in and out of sleep in the main hall while I’m supposed to be meditating
6:30-8: breakfast, followed by lingering around watching playful monkeys hit each other
8-11: listening to odd sounds of stomach from strange breakfast food while meditating 11-1: lunch and peacock-chasing (walking, of course)
1-5: daydreaming about sumptious treats I will devour when I return to the States/ meditation in main hall
5-6: Tea break- chai and porridge (a gooey mixture of cooked oatmeal, cooked rice, and bean sprouts. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sick)
6-7: meditation/ stomach cursing me
7-8:30: Goenka, the master of Vipassana meditation, guides us through life via cheap video recording
8:30-9: struggling to keep warm while meditating

A couple days of that will really have you missing the West. But, I did it and came out feeling great and with a strong interest in Buddhism. This was Buddha’s meditation technique, so Goenka talked a lot about him in the evening video session, telling inspiring stories of people who came to kill Buddha and ended up adopting his technique. I’m not going to receive enlightenment anytime soon, but it is nice to be familiar with such an ancient meditation form. It’s all about feeling the sensations on the body and eliminating cravings which will then eliminate misery. I believe in that, but have yet to start the elimination process. Maybe after this chocolate cake…

I am back in Jaipur, about to run out to buy a bus ticket for my journey back to Delhi tomorrow. I think my emotions may be calm enough to do some sightseeing in Jaipur, but I haven’t decided. If there was anything I learned from the short amount of time that I conversed with the hippie backpacker types was that being indecisive is completely acceptable and living in the moment is what it’s all about! Sorry, Mom.

I don’t want to scare you off by thinking I am now hung with dreadlocks (my hair isn’t long enough), draped in potato-sack-baggy clothes (too cold in Rajasthan), a vegan (I could never pass up a milkshake), and the epitome of all things liberal (I took economics). No, no. I just really seem to like that attitude because it is such a change from what I have known.

In other news, I met an American at the course (there were three others who were from the U.S. or were born in the U.S., two of whom were from Milwaukee!!!) who is my uncle thirty years ago. It really scared me. He looked like him, talked like him, had the same weird mannerisms and everything. I thought I should mention that in case there has been a time machine invented in the States that I haven’t heard about and my uncle went back thirty years to his nomad backpacker phase.

I promise to write again soon as I will be in access to a computer, I think. I am staying with a family outside of Delhi, which should be a great time. Hope all is well! Happy holidays!