Leaving Varanasi

Yesterday was another eventful day. I slept soundly for 9.5 hours straight. Had a hot shower. Full complementary "American Style" breakfast in the hotel. I spent about 4 hours online in the morning after breakfast, responding to email, managing the Spring Retreat and writing one of my more detailed blogs.

I signed-off just in time to catch the bus to Sarnath. We arrived there at 3:30. Khenpo was not there yet and a few of the pilgrims were with him at a Buddhist Conference that I told him about after I read about it in the newspaper he gave me to read the day before.

Most people congregated under the shade of a big tree and had a Dharma discussion. I kind of wandered about in my style. Took some photos, explored the ruins, did some kora, and imagined all the centuries of practitioners going back to the Buddha himself who had walked these hallowed grounds. I joined the group finally and rested. I didn't really participate in the discussion, but I heard bits of it and it was very good.

Khenpo arrived about 5 PM and we joined him near the large Dharma Chakra stupa. He gave a wonderful teaching in a beautiful setting. We were able to stay there until about 6:15 PM when we had to go next door to a temple where the teaching continued. Then we walked to a general store to buy supplies and on to a Tibetan Restaurant that was very primative. It was made of split bamboo lashed together and covered in layers of blue plastic tarps. The kitchen was positively scary by western standards, but the food was amazing, very tasty.

The bus brought us back to the hotel by 9:15 PM and then I walked around the block to join Khenpo who was getting an Aurevedic oil, massage, and steam treatment. I had the same, in a different room. Before it started, the owner, Namir gave me a ride in a tiny van to an ATM where I extracted rupees from a very strange (to me) ATM.

Back at the hotel about midnight, Betsi, Justin and Tenzin recruited me to join in a hunt for ice cream. The Baskin Robbins next door was closed, so we briefly crashed an Indian wedding across the street. It is wedding season here. Namir told me it is currently February, March, and April due to the Vedic Astrology. Auspicious times are very important for Indian wedding planning. We saw several weddings going on last night. One blocked our bus for several minutes and we got a close pass where I shot some photos. I bailed on the wedding and headed back to the room. I was about to get into bed when Tenzin said I needed to come to the lobby to eat ice cream. Betsi had struck gold and found that the front desk was willing to open the kitchen to get us some ice cream. It was strange and delicious. It had some kind of crunchy sugary mix-ins.

Got to bed by 1 AM and woke up at 6 AM. Not much sleep, but feeling good after the massage.