I have now spent a week in the hill’s of McLeodGanj and have spent time hovering around Dharamshala for a few days. I wanted to meet the Dalai Lama and submitted an application to see his holiness with his office secretary. In the meantime I have been soaking in the atmosphere of the monastery and the monastic life. I attended a sermon given by his holiness in the morning prayer meeting and later wished at the wishing wheel.

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Having consumed the prasadam of rice and milk I watched with awe all the ceremonies of this monastic order, the blessing of the buddha statue and off course the Dalai Lama sitting on his thrown couched and hunched preaching in Tibetan – not many words of which I understood but there was a serenity there. All his high priests were huddled around him as he gave his sermon. We were not allowed to carry our camera’s inside only the guy’s telecasting the prayer session where allowed to carry camera’s. The security was tough we had to go through the security checks and even inside the monastery their were guard’s carrying gun’s. Even amongst such peace and tranquility the fear of the uncertain?

I had a sparse breakfast of potato curry and roti and ventured back home. For two days I’d been trying to get an audience with him but I have failed miserably every time. Once i reached late by 20 minutes and the next day the taxi did not arrive on time to take me there. I moved into a hotel just minutes from the monastery, so that I don’t miss him and yet I did since that was the day he was not going to hold a prayer meeting and now the Dalai Lama be travelling and be out for another two weeks!!

Wandering about for solace of sorts I bumped into an old couple from Texas Mr & Mrs. Emerson over breakfast and got chatting .” you see Anuj all is everything and everything is all and that’s all .” they said to me as we spoke and learned more about each other. I remarked “ It’s like we are riding a chariot with two wheel’s one is called Desire the other is destiny . If we rely only on one wheel we will keep going round and round in circles. We have to use both wheels , desire to push us forward and meet our ambition and sense of achievement and destiny the one we cannot control that will take us through . Only after blanking the two can we move on our path.” 

“You see Anuj we don’t get to talk to people at the same philosophical level  back home. I mean i have been in india for over a week and my chakra’s are all roaring to go .” The man smiled as his wife poured us both some tea and the waiters served our breakfast. It was getting chilly and the peaceful atmosphere of the valley was enchanting . “ i would love to see your blog and make me your friend on Facebook “, he said. I took a picture of the two and thanked them for the breakfast.

This is life I thought and will buy some robes tomorrow and chat with Tenzing who has promised to become my guide through the amazing Tibetan monastic life. The monk’s in their maroon robes are all over the street’s of Mcleodganj as shopkeepers sell their artefacts, rugs, clothes and other ethnic nik naks.There is also a pizza hut also at the heart of the bazaar and shop’s selling clothes , electronic’s items book’s etc.  Then i bumped into some fan’s who recognised me as a Bollywood actor , they took photo’s with me and chatted to me about my film’s , i aquatinted them with my travel journey and stories.

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I had wanted to meet the Dalai Lama for a while and had then though that the best way would be to head where the Dalai Lama resides and I knew he’w be in residence now. A lucky call from my dear relatives the Shivpuri’s made me head out for the cool breeze of Dharamshala and for the sermon of The Dalai Lama.

In the midst of all this i found the warm oasis of the Shiv Puri Family , who have been my host in discovering this mountain area. I had at my disposal their car their driver and their dog’s and off course their son Sunny who was like a nephew to me and who took me for a tour around the hill’s. Khushboo his bubbly little sister had been jumping around seeing my acting video’s and I felt like I have a home here. I forgot my nomadic life for a while and am enjoying the comfort of home made food and cheerful banter.

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After settling into the routine I was up early at seven and went to listen to the Lama’s sermon on my second day there. My first glimpse of his holiness was in his Tibetan attire. We were not allowed to take our camera’s into the sermon and I could not take a photo. Their was a large gathering of more then 500 people all listening to the sermon. A young Tibetan man had been murdered by local people and tensions were high and the lama was asking his flock not to retaliate and be patient. Prasadam of rice and milk was being distributed to everybody and Buddhist prayer ceremonies were being performed . A line of high priests carried bronze statue of the Buddha to the lama, who in turn blessed them and performed prayer on them. The sermon continued for three hours. I meandered through the crowd into the office are and where I had given a written application to meet the Dalai Lama. I was assured by the secretary that I would be given the opportunity to meet with his holiness the next day in the morning and would also get an opportunity to get my photo taken with him.

I drove back to the comfort of the Shivpuri home in the afternoon for lunch and a snooze. Evening was a discussion with my aunt on our family and how one by one everybody has gotten old or passed on I remarked “you know chachi i think even if one has had a hard life , it will be great if one has  a peaceful death , most of our relatives including my parent’s died in a lot of pain . I just hope and pray that when death comes it takes me away with out pain and suffering. A peaceful death is such a boon .”

Lake View At the Dal Nadi Lake ?!!

Lake

Just as busy and urban as elsewhere & then the monastery of Namgyal where I made my application to meet the Dalai Lama!!

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The name translates into the “Jewelled Garden” from Tibetan and is a palace and park in Lhasa, Tibet and served as the traditional summer palace of the Dalai Lama till 1959 when the 14th Dalai Lama was exiled. When China annexed Tibet it made sure that the remnants and the knowledge of the ancient culture was decimated. There was a concerted attempt to destroy all evidence of Tibetan culture. Books were burnt and precious statues melted down for their copper. Centuries of accumulated knowledge was not spared. Scholars were branded reactionaries and imprisoned and killed. Craftsmen’s guilds were disbanded and artists were forced to abandon their trade.

It was at that exile at India then that the Norbulingka Institute was founded and today comprises a Centre for Arts, an Academy of Tibetan Culture and a Literary and Cultural Research Centre and the Library and Publications. The Norbulingka Institute a registered trust under the Chairmanship of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was founded in 1988 by the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in an effort to promote and preserve Tibetan culture in exile. Today it stands as an unique testimony to the perseverance of people who stood up to be counted.