Monk silliness

Tibetan monks are incredibly down to earth, silly, and fun to be around. Lobsang punches his friends, harasses girls (in an approriate, big-brother kind of way), and calls me fat. Jigme Kocha has biceps bigger than my head, wears sunglasses in class, draws intricate Tibetan lucky symbols on the whiteboard before I arrive. When Tuk Che gets bored with his monk duties we sit around and complain about having too much work; occasionally he'll join us at the local eats, red robes and all.

Damchoe left about a month ago, sad to see him go. He was a real gas. Reminds me a little bit of my dad. From a humble family of nomads, he became a teacher of Buddhism, attaining the highest degree of knowledge - the equivalent of a Doctorate. Many of the other monks here have achieved the same, but given their humble attitude an outsider would never find out.

Happy Mother's Day!

On my birthday my mom always sends me a little hand-painted watercolor of some flowers. Sometimes my dad will draw funny sketches on the back. Watercolor is a mess but somehow she creates these amazing fluid things... I really don't have the writing skills to describe how nice they are. You'll just have to see them.

One time when I was little I forgot to get her a present, so I filled a coconut shell with some dirt and stuffed some wildflowers in it. I painted "Happy Mother's Day" on the side. Ten years later that stinky old coconut was still proudly displayed in the garden.

Slugs, hail and 185 million dead Africans

Hail smacked my head the other day. Stuff fires down from the sky like angry golf balls. Unusually hot, weird weather. Local people say, "Monsoons starting so early this year." "It's never been this hot so early." "You can see slugs on the street. Slugs never come out until July, when monsoon season begins. This year is different."

The climate is changing whether we recognize it or not. Slugs pop their gooey antannae out a few months early. Families in Charan enjoy a small brown stream running through their home before they can seek out higher ground. Schools in Delhi close early, children whose parents can afford the bus ticket travel north to cooler regions. An extra 185 million Africans may die, as if they didn't suffer enough already.

"Climate change is taking place and will inevitably continue. Poor people will take the brunt... Rich countries must take responsibility for having largely created this problem, and cut CO2 emissions radically..."
-Christian Aid, NGO

"Most scientists agree that global warming is due to burning fossil fuels for transport and power... Christian Aid said it based its estimate of 185 million deaths due to disease on figures from the UN... Global warming should allow carriers like mosquitos to expand thier ranges. Melting ice caps and glaciers were not only eroding coast lines at a rapid rate but were also raising sea levels and reducing reliable sources of fresh water. At the same time changing weather patterns were increasing the incidence of floods and droughts, with arid regions becoming drier and wet regions getting wetter."

"These changes would increase tensions as key resources like water and fertile land became more scarce..." Etc. Fuck!! Poor people are going to get shit on really bad by the irresponsibility of most everyone else.

Countless living beings could suffer and die. Who's responsible? Oil companies? Politicans? People who drive SUVs? People who fly in airplanes? Republicans? Hippies? Anyone who has ever eaten factory farmed meat, bought tofu that came from rainforest soy, or turned on a light switch? Yes, yes, and yes. Pretty much anyone on this planet who lives, breathes and poops shares the responsibility of protecting other living beings. If all hell breaks loose some of us will get screwed over worse than others, but the fact remains that we're all in this together (awww) and if we don't get our act together it's going to bite us in the ass sooner or later.

So as much as I love venting my frustrations at certain political figures who shall remain unnamed, better to stop pointing fingers and take get involved in as many ways as possible. I think in the coming years there will be a growing need for folks who give two scoops. Regardless of our creed, religion, diet, species or political affliation, we can all agree that the suffering of any sentient being is totally for the birds. Let's think about our every choice, and ask, "how am I impacting others?" The answer may not be that obvious, since those affected by our actions are often an ocean away.

Useful tourist & scaly invader

My pal Tsering says to me today, "Brent, you are a useful tourist." Thanks buddy!

March I felt like a useless floundering tourist with good intentions. April I felt overwhelmed and occassionaly grumpy. Now I can honestly say I'm serving some useful functions here and there, and I feel calm, at peace with my life here. Meditation, prayers, good food and exercise have improved my mental and physical well-being. My students, friends, colleagues and teachers ooze character and compassion through their pores. Opportunities for change abound. Come join the fun, monsoon season's just begun!

A foot long lizard scurried into the middle of the class in Charan today. Children screamed and ran to the farthest corners of the tent. Class could not resume until Shankar shooed away the scaly fellow. "Surely," I thought, "they must deal with stranger critters than a cuddly little lizard!"

Neat parallel

108 beads on a Tibetan mala (prayer beads).
54 beads on a Catholic rosary.

neat.

There is no spoon

Our state of mind shapes our experience. Our brain can tell us we're miserable on our birthday, happy in prison, calm during a tornado or stressed out at a knitting club.

For example: My commute to Charan takes a total of two and half hours. I have to walk, good Lordy, in the heat and sometimes the rain and always in the dust past noisy people and the dirt gets up in my nose. Afterwards, I blow my nose and black snots come out. Gross! Holy crap it makes me tired. Then I have to teach screaming kiddos that would rather hang on me like I'm a walking playground than learn squat about maths and English. Look, I can see their lice and scabies and cooties marching right up onto my arm. Get me out of here!!

But what if it was more like this: Damn, I am one lucky duck! My commute to and from Charan is breathtaking. I walk past the freaking Himalayas on my way to work, how neat!! I found a secret mountain path past some little villages; there's lots of rock hopping and steep slip-sliding down the dirt. The only traffic I have to deal with are herds of goats, wayward cows with their pointy horns, and plenty of pups who are happy to tag along, asking only for a brief ear scratching in return. When I arrive in Charan people are happy to see me, and I am happy to see them. My students scream and smile when I arrive, and they pull on my arm when I leave, begging for one more math question (it's true, some do), or one more game of one-legged tag. Sometimes class is chaotic, but I work with children whose parents' would rather they beg on the streets than go to school. I can't expect them to be model citizens. The journey home is physically challenging, but invigorating. I sleep well at night, knowing I did something meaningful with my day. Go me. Listen to me honk my own horn, HONK! Damn it, I love what I do here!

There is no spoon. Woah.