On my second full day in the Dharamshala area, I went to Jigmey’s class to speak with the young monks. The evening prior, I had prepared a lesson plan based on the techniques I learned in a class I took on Teaching English as a Foreign Language. I focused on United States geography, interspersed with general factoids about the U.S., along with some transportation terms and some interesting landmark transportation facts pertinent to Ohio ... stuff like the Wright Brothers’ first flight and the fact that the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, lived less than an hour from my hometown. The monks, who were ages 20-24, were very bright, better at English than Jigmey gave them credit for and already knew much of the stuff I had in my lesson plan, including the factoid about Neil Armstrong.
So that went by pretty quick and our conversation turned toward lighter material like John Cena and Marvel movies and much more serious topics like how the United States won its independence via the Revolutionary War whereas India achieved liberation through non-violent means spearheaded by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi.
It was a very fun lesson and valuable learning experience – as much for me as for the monks.
Friday of that week, I went to a temple here in Dharamkot called Tushita and participated in their daily free morning meditation practice. Since I had nothing else to do for the day, I was so inspired to volunteer to help clean some rooms on the campus. They fed us and showed a movie by Martin Scorsese on the early life of the Dalai Lama, culminating in the religious leader’s narrow escape into India where he has been able to continue to share Tibetan Buddhism with the world.
The day of activities also inspired me to sign up for a weekend meditation workshop. It was eight hours each on Saturday and Sunday, with two hours of mediation practice each day and four hours Buddhist philosophy.
Despite the fact that I put Buddhist on the mandatory religion field on my Indian visa application, I really have not studied or practiced Buddhist teachings in quite some time. This workshop was an excellent opportunity to revisit the philosophy before the Dalai Lama’s teaching’s, which begin tomorrow morning.
In my spare time and during the first three days of this week, I have been hiking up to a waterfall at the small town of Bhagsu, which is also known for a decadent chocolate and peanut butter cake; doing some yoga, a tantra meditation and a soundbath healing session; shopping at McLeod Ganj; and today, I walked all the way down to Dharamshala proper and made my way back up via the cable car, getting a nice aerial view of the mountain towns.
I’ve also been eating way too much and drinking lots of espresso and chai at the countless restaurants, cafes and sweet shops on my miscellaneous journeys. Food is so cheap here compared to the U.S. You can get a meal and a fresh juice or coffee for less than $5 and desserts or pastries – including slices of the incredible Bhagsu cakes – are only $1 to $2 each.
We had a power outage this evening so I snuck off in search of that ever elusive piece of original Bhagsu cake. I did not locate it so I settled for a piece of sub-par cake at a German bakery near where the original is supposed to have been created.
So my quest for spiritual enlightenment in Dharamshala and the perfect piece of Bhagsu cake continues.