Author Archives: Thomas

About Thomas

Full time student majoring in International Studies with emphases areas of South Asian Studies and Human Rights. My passion is to help create a better a world for those who are continually marginalized, live in extreme poverty, and are often unable to enjoy the very basic fundamental human right of self-determination. I am a firm believer that where you live should not decide whether you live or die. Seeing and experiencing new places and cultures is the first step in being able to make a difference and this is what provides a wind at my back and a rising road in front of me.

Mid week – Dharamsala

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My registration badge for the teachings.

At night, the city is vibrantly alive and astonishes the senses.

Put a word in with His Holiness for me tomorrow…

Namaste everyone,

Its Wednesday here in Dharamsala and I have finally hit my groove in regards to making contacts for my research topic.  I have met 4 amazingly knowledgeable people whom I have already spoken with and have offered me their continued support and input.  Grace abounds.

One gentleman is a Tibetan refugee and restaurant owner here in town, another is also a Tibetan refugee who works at the guest house I’m staying in, a third is the manager of the Central Tibetan Administration Office store, and the most recent contact I have made, and perhaps the best, is a Tibetan woman who is the executive director of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy.  Most serendipitous indeed.

Tsering Tsomo, the director of TCHRD, presented a discussion today at the Tibetan Museum about the current human rights situation in Tibet.  I was able to introduce myself and visit with her after the presentation and learned an invaluable amount in our short visit.  My research project has picked up tremendous steam and I am becoming more excited with every conversation I become engaged.

Tomorrow I will be attending Day 1 of a 3 day teaching by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on the topic of Buddhism and meditation located at the Main Temple.  With that said, I am keeping this one short as I will be up at 5:00am tomorrow morning in order to secure a decent place in the first come first line for the first teaching which begins at 9:30am.

The food and coffee shops here are out of this world….

As always, I’m posting a few pictures for your enjoyment J

Thomas

First day in Dharamsala

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A group of beggars pining for a small donation

A seemingly endless row of beggars line the path leading up to the Main Temple during Kora in Dharamsala, India

Spinning the wheels of the Dharma Chakra

Namaste from Dharamsala, India,

Arrived yesterday afternoon after a full day of traveling to the secluded, yet thriving, Tibetan community and government in exile.  Words cannot fully, nor accurately, express the sea of humanity that I encountered last night in this small, mountain side, community perched below the Himalaya Mountains.

A vast difference from the sheltered, quiet surroundings of Mussoorie, Dharamsala instantly grabbed me and pulled me into its arms.  I awoke this morning, met a friend for coffee and local, Tibetan style bread with jam and then decided to take advantage of the special once a year happening overtaking this community yesterday and today.

An event that takes place here once a year and is built around the celebration of the full moon and its auspiciousness, called Kora, was an eye opening and mind blowing experience.  Kora is an ancient and revered pilgrimage and a type of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and is carried out by making a circumambulation around a holy site, in this case the Tsuglkhang Complex in the very center of Dharamsala.

The traditional event begins with the ritualistic spinning of prayer wheels, chanting of mantras, and the counting of mala beads while circling the complex clockwise, however today was a special occasion that was marked by a Tibetan custom that I have not yet fully understood.  Apparently, coinciding with the auspiciousness of the full moon, Tibetans, who already have so very little money to give, receive a thousand fold in return for the giving of small amounts of Rupees to beggars.  Thus begins the very strange and delicate dance of give and take between local Tibetan Buddhist monks and the “visiting” Punjabi pilgrims who make the trek every year to be on their end of the receiving line.

Our trek began with a ½ mile walk along a very narrow and dusty trail lined with beggars of the most extreme magnitude on either side, each clamoring for a small piece of hope from the passersby.  We must have passed 1,000 extremely destitute souls before reaching the Main Temple, each one reaching out from the altar of the dark star with a heart wrenching stare and utterances of “money” and “hello, please”.  The sight brought me to tears within minutes and most certainly has impacted me forever.  There are only so many Rupees I can carry at one time.  The trek ended at the entrance of the Main Temple and H.H.’s residence with monks sitting in prayer and chanting inside the main room and scores of people in line to enter the Main Temple and pay their respects to a statue of Avalokiteshvara, the manifestation of compassion of all Buddhas.

As I exited the Temple I was reeling in the thought that this is just my first day here.  Tomorrow morning at 9am I am registering with H.H.’s office for His lecture on Buddhism this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I also begin my volunteer effort of teaching conversational English to Buddhist monks tomorrow at 4pm with an N.G.O. named LHA.

Here are some pictures I captured earlier this morning, enjoy…