Swambunath Stupa

Today we all visited Swambunath Stupa. It's on a hill overlooking much of Kathmandu. After a puja lead by Khenpo which included several tibetan lamas, monks and nuns, we all made positive aspirations there at a huge gold-plated copper dorje. It is said that if you do this, there is a good chance they will come true. We were there with Khenpo Konchok Monlam Rinpoche. He is a highly respected meditation master and abbot of Ngodrup Charbeb Ling Retreat Center as well as Nagi Gompa, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's Nunnery, both located in Kathmandu, Nepal. Khenpo Konchok commented during the aspiration ceremony that the more experience of emptiness one has, the more powerful one's aspirations are at this stupa.

Yesterday afternoon, Chris, Susie, Tenzin and I took a taxi from Boudhanath to Patan, an ancient town that is midway between Kathmandu and Godawari. The town is renowed for its Newari style copper statues and metalwork. The streets are so narrow, that two micro cars can barely pass each other. Many buildings look to be over 200 years old. I was shopping for offerings for the opening ceremony of the Dzogchen Spring Retreat. I had some success, but the time was short and I need to go back to negotiate price on a statue I found.

I changed my ticket to go to Bangalore to try to get Julian's hard drive recovered after the pilgrimage. I hope to see Gonga and Tara and spend a couple days at the Ashram they've been helping to manage which is a few hour taxi ride away. Hope to come back to the states around April 1st.

This is a bit of a fragmentary post due to time constraints.