Varanasi to Bodhgaya, back to Varanasi and back to Bodhgaya!

After Kopan Rob and I boarded a flight bound for Varanasi, India. Whenever I board a flight I always have somewhere in the back of my mind the thought that this plane may not stay in the air the entire flight! Well this time I felt completely safe and comfortable on the flight due to the fact that we were flying with Lama Lhundrup (the abbott of Kopan monastery) and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s sister (who is a nun).

Having touched down in Varanasi a group formed based on the common theme of finding a hotel…..and so the Varanasi 8 was born – Taff, Jutta, Yohan, Rob, Inese, Adrian, Edgars and myself (see photo below in order of names but missing Edgars and myself). Staying together was our main objective, and that we did during our time in Varanasi, even if it meant we skipped lunch, so we could registered for His Holiness Dalai Lamas teachings or so one of us could run an erand. It was a beautiful bond that I will never forget.

Part of the Varanasi 8

Here is Edgars! and Inese just before I said goodbye to them as they made their journey home to Latvia

Pulling into the old part of Varanasi (near the ghats) we were greeted by Razz, one of Varanasi’s many guides, who helped us find our hotel (after several hours - searching for a hotel for 8 takes some time but we wanted to stay together!).

From our hotel roof, on a clear day (no pollution), you can see the Ganga. Although I'm 'blinky' this shot shows the river clearly including the exposed far bank. In the monsoon the river swells and covers this sand

One of the winding alleys leading to the Ghats

Varanasi is a very holy city for both Hindu’s and Buddhist’s (and probably many other relgions…). For Buddhist, it is significant as the nearby town of Sarnath was were the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, first taught about his method of achieving Enlightenment (a fully perfected mind with no delusions or bad aspects such as anger jealousy, hatred, greed etc and all positive aspects such as love, compassion, kindness, energy to help all etc). For Hindu’s it is important as the Ganges River flows here.

The Gange’s (known as the Ganga) in Varanasi, has a series of steps leading down to meet the water, known as ghats. The ghats make for easy access for bathing in the holy river, which Hindu’s believe washes away sins (although it is extremely polluted). For some locals this is a daily ritual and for pilgrims, an opportunity not to be missed. For this reason many Hindu’s come to Varanasi to die. When someone dies, the male family members dunk the cloth covered body in the Ganga to wash away the sins of this life. The body is then burnt on a huge pile of wood, on the ghats, entirely in public. Anyone can observe this cremation, including Rob and myself. In the West a funneral is so private and hidden, but in the east is an open and accepted part of life. It was a solemn lesson to witness how fragile life is.......I came away thinking 'one day that will be me'.

The first few days were spent registering for HH Dalai Lama’s teachings (this is required for security purposes but it took about five hours……it was well worth the wait!), and resting. One morning we decided to go for an early morning boat cruise and Razz’s brother turned up to ‘guide’ us. He was iiiiiiiincredibly drunk. So Taff stepped up and fired him in a wonderfully kind and diplomatic way. Thankyou again Mr Taffy! The following photos are of that beautiful sunrise cruise that we took along the Ganga.

Just before sunrise on the Ganga

Sunrise on the Ganga

Taff enjoying the cruise

Some of the amazing architecture along the ghats. Many of these building were built as 'holiday homes' for maharajas


Our boat looked something like this...




Taking a rickshaw in tandem, one of Yohan and Taff's delights (Inese just enjoys the ride)!


We like rickshaws too!


A cycle rickshaw and an auto rickshaw - two ways to get aroud in India

Dogs wait patiently and safely in the middle of the road until there is a break in the traffic

Apart from the Varanasi 8 we were fortunate enough to spend some time with more amazing people - the Ace Adelaide 4! These four Adelaideians gave us wonderful company over dinner with much laughter and merriment. Shyla and Nina (in the photo below) were fellow Kopanians with big beautiful hearts. Shyla is the director/ driving force behind Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth, a peace organisation for young people, which I hope to help out with when I return home (and perhaps whislt still in India).

Shyla and Nina - two beautiful Adelaidians

Two more members of the Ace Adelaide 4 are Yasmine and Adam (see below). I felt instantly befriended by Yasmine as she kept us all giggling over dinner, thankyou! And I felt fortunate to bask the in the incredible glow of Adam's male modelness - the best male model India has seen since Shane Warn!

Thankyou so much for your fun company and I can't wait to catch up again in good old Adelaide (or London if we head your way Nina).

Jasmine and Adam enjoying the traditional India music (tabla and sitar) as we wait for dinner

More photos of the Varanasi 8 and Ace Adelaide 4

Taff and Adrian show us the love - how cute is this photo!!


Taff, still spreading the love


Jutta and Adrian are currently back at Kopan in retreat. 'Sending you all my postive thoughts, may your retreats bring you the biggest benefits!'


One night whilst waiting for dinner we played one of those match stick puzzle games... I think Nina won - such a smart cookie!


Inese and Edgars with their rosy cheek, Latvian smiles


Yohan, poet with a big heart and love for his Nepalese children


This is the last journey the Varanasi 8 took together. We travelled to Bodhgaya to attend teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute.

Thankyou again! I really enjoyed spending time with you all and really appreciated how we stuck together during our time in Varanasi and enjoyed each others company over many meals!

And so the Varanasi 8 travelled together to Bodhgaya, an important Buddhist site as it is where the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, attained Enlightenment under a bodhi tree. Today a 50m stupa, the Mahabodhi Stupa, marks this site, as does a decendant of the original bodhi tree (see picture below).

The Mahabodhi Stupa

We attended a retreat at Root Institute along with many other Kopaners and others who were interested in getting to know the Buddha of Compassion better (and thereby having some compassion rub off on them!). I was one of the most difficult retreats for me, as it showed me many of faults that need work (so it was great.....)

For the first few days there were no rooms at Root Institute so Rob and I hired a bike to get around (Root Institute was a 7 min bike ride or a 15 min walk out of town from our hotel). The road out of town was not unknown to bandits at night, so on the few occassions when we had to head home at night, I wrapped my blondy hair in a shawl and curled up behind Rob whilst he pedelled his little heart out! Rob seems to get away with being Nepalese, Tibetan, Gurkha or some such and didn't need to hide away....

Being at the Mahabodhi Stupa was one of the highlights of our trip so far. Even though there are many people talking and walking around, monks chanting, dogs barking - when I closed my eyes and (tried) to meditate the sounds didn't bother me like they did away from the stupa. Not that my meditation was any good, it was just a small observation I made.

Whilst we were in Bodhgaya, Christmas happened. There was not a hint of Christmas anywhere to be found which was kinda great. No pressure to shop, be anywhere, do anything. In any case, word spread to the Kopaners in Bodhgaya to meet at Mohammed's for lunch. Mohammed's resturant is essentially a tent, with seats and floor made of mud. The kitchen is just a rustic as the dinning room but somehow, Mohammed's serves the most delicious kidchari and chocolate cake. AAAAnd the ceiling was decorated with four balloons, each with the face of Santa or a snowman.

Christmas Kopaners. Note the Christmas decs top of photo

Rob and I with Christmas smiles. Someone asked us to snug up and we were pulling faces at each other before the photo was taken

New Years Eve marked the end of our retreat and what an end it was. Lama Zopa Rinpoche took us well into the night, finishing at around 3am with his salutation of 'Goo Mornin' It was the best New Years. We then bundled into a taxi, with Edgars and Inese and headed for the train station. Our train was only a few hours late and soon we were on our way back to Varanasi to meet our friends from Bunbury and Perth to begin our pilgrimage.

During our time in Varanasi, before meeting the group, Rob and I had a few days to ourselves (the first since we arrived at Kopan) to explore this amazing city. Below are a few shots we took as we walked along the ghats.

Paintings of Hindu Gods, a skeleton of an umbrella and a dog

I love the the wooden boats gliding silently across the water

Rob strikes a pose

I couldn't resist taking a picture of a goat in a coat!

The PO

A bunch of hankies hanging out to dry

When the group arrived, I went on another boat cruise and took a few more pics...

'A floating supermaket' these men proclaimed as they approached us to sell their trinkets


The hotel we stayed in before the group arrived, is the red one on the right (Ganapati Guest House)

A lone meditator amongst the noise and movement on the Ganga

Last few images from Kopan and Nepal....

Boudhanath Stupa in the glorious morning sun is so beautiful....



And I caught this shot of the stupa in Rob's eye.

This piccie was taken in Boudha (down the hill from Kopan near the stupa) in a cafe that has an espresso machine. Sooooo, we all headed down there after a month with no Cafe Latte's (a welcome sacrifice for the benefit we gained from the course!). The women on the left joined us towards the end so I can't remember her name... The others are Peter (joined us for early morning puja's), Robo, Mitch (fellow Aussie from Qld), Bill (who we followed around India for a while) and Mr Taffy (who made our time in Varanasi a pile of giggles and inspired Rob to buy some 'Taff pants').

Rob was on picture taking duties and had a huge pile of cameras in front of him for all the people who wanted a shot! He managed to get a picture of some of the people that were on the course on our camera (some people had left already).

One morning a thick mist blanketed the valley below us and made for a pictureske shot of the thousand Buddha stupa at Kopan (there are 1000 Buddha statues on the stupa).

This picture was taken from the dinning balcony. What a view for breakfast! On really clear days we could see snow capped mountain ranges in the distance.

This picture is of us with Floris and the little boy from the kitchen, who's family cooked us delicious meals everyday.

Rob and Floris wizzed him around the stupa a few times. Dispite the look on his face in the picture, he did enjoy it.. I think. At least Rob and Floris did!



These picutures were taken on Lama Tsong Karpa day, which is celebrated with a light offering ceremony. We all chanted alongside a few hundred monks as we circled around the monestry and finally placed our candles at the stupa.

The picture below is particularly special. The young monk, Lama Puntsog, is four years old and is the reincarnation of Geshe Lama Konchog, a great practioner that resided at Kopan. The stupa at Kopan was built to house the ashes of this great lama after his death. This young lama is amazing to watch. He is so serious, much like his predecessor - we were told, and sat patiently for hours during one puja we attended. Rob and I had the fortune to meet with him. He tapped our heads as he blessed us, picked out yellow lollies for us and then launched himself off of the throne he was on and ran away!

Life after Kopan

After one month of meditation and teachings on how to bring more happiness and peace into our lives, I do feel a little calmer inside (I think...)! The test is taking this feeling with me, into India and eventually back home.

Here is a little peek at the view from my room at Kopan. The mornings are quite cool, especially at 4:30 in the morning when I wake up! Rob and I do some practices with a small group (15 people) until about 7:30. Then it is breakfast until 8:00, cleaning until 9:00, and teachings until 11 (with the rest of the group - 160 people), then lunch. Anyway that is just a small taste of what the mornings have been like.



Here is a snap of my discussion group. They were like a family from all over the world - England, America, Australia, Holland, Hungry and New Zealand.



I didn't take alot of photos during the course so I could focus on my mind (well I tried..) but, on the last day there was a long life puja from the 'head lama', Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Here are a few shots.



The monks were on the side closest to the Westerners and the nuns were on the other side (there are more nuns than monks!)



Rob offered part of a mandala to Rinpoche as part of the puja. He is standing behind an amazing Aussie called Shyla, who is starting a new project, LKPY. We hope to get involved in this project to help young people and young at heart develop a more loving and peaceful outlook on life.



One of the beautiful nuns performing a Tara dance.



Yesterday we visited an orphanage that was started by this amazing member of the group five years ago. He has helped 35 childern stay off the street. I will post more details about it later. It was amazing to be part of this wonderful project.



Taff with some of the kids. This little one fell off the swing a few mintues after the photo.... so many tears for this cute pumpkin..

OK, gotta go. The next retreat starts in a few hours. This one is five days long and will be meditation only, so quite intensive... yaaaaaaaaha!

Kathmandu and Kopan

This is our fifth day on the road and I now feel very comfortable here in Nepal. The people are so friendly and the kids have such big smiles when you return their greetings of heeello or nameste.

Right now we are at an Internet place in Boudha, a twenty minute - downhill - walk from Kopan. (To walk back takes about 45mins if you don't get lost and if you are fit!!!) This internet place looks out over Boudhanath Stupa. It is amazing! You can see how big it is by looking at the picture below. The white blob that looks like a nose (between the eyes of the Buddha) is a person. Many pilgrims come here to circumnavigate the stupa, including us!! All the CD shops play the same music, Cho. It is a very special place.



Tomorrow at 5pm, our month long course begins, so this is the last blog before 'lock down'. I am really looking forward to it. Below is a picture of part of the grounds at Kopan, so as you can see, it is beautiful so spending a month here will not be so hard. The himalaya range in the background and a beautiful stupa to circumnavigate. A stupa represents the Buddha's enlightened mind. This stupa is filled with the relics of many holy beings. Circumnavigating a stupa clockwise is said to purify negative karma as it represents all that is positive.



We spent the last few days shopping for warm clothes in Tamil. It is exhausting walking in in the dirt and puddle filled streets, with cars, bikes, motorbikes, people passing just centremeters from you, breathing in all the fumes, while bartering for items. The people don't hassel you in the street and they always barter in a friendly way so although my body was exhausted, I still felt calm and peaceful within.

The food here is so cheap! Rob, our friend Ray and myself ate three plates of momo's (like steamed dumplings filled with vegetables, paneer and potato), a plate of chips and a big pot of Tibetin tea (salty, butter tea) for $5. We were so full that Rob had to leave one lonely momo behind.

Steph, I took this picture for you. There are tiny marigolds all around the gompa at Kopan. I want to bite them all off... kkkaaargum!

See, his eyes are big and beautiful!

Maybe I should change the name of my blog to 'The life and times of Sam'... He's just so cute! He seems to have a quiet contentment about him. He is happy to be alone with his dummy and he is happy to be passed around from person to person.

He really likes Rob.... and I think that Rob really likes him.

Monarto Zoo

Yesterday Chris, Mel, Rob and me took Nan to Monarto Zoo. Monarto is a 1 ooo hectare open range sanctuary on the eastern side of the Adelaide Hills. The zoo has a strong conservation role, for both native and exotic animals with many national and international breeding programs for rare and endangered species.

Nan loved the meerkats and the giraffes. They were easy to see and she could get quite close to them. I think the meerkats reminder her much loved Benny, a little Chihuahua/ jack russell who died this year.

It was great to learn about all these animals and gain an appreciation for the role this zoo plays in their survival. Many of these animals have very low numbers or are extinct in their natural habitats. I'm glad we had the opportunity to support Monarto and learn a little more about the human impact on the planet at the same time.

If you get the chance take at drive out there and do the same. You can even get up close to the human reared cheetahs (their mothers milk became infected so they had to be hand reared) or close to the lions.

These tours are booked out for weeks in advance, so we took a short camel ride around the park....

Sam

After missing out on meeting him by hours the last time I visited, Rob and I finally met Sam, who was born on the 14th September.

He is so tiny and his face seems to be all eyes - big, dark and curious.



Mum is gearing up to be a grandma/ nan in anticipation for Scott and Lynda's little one.



I'm sure this is not the last time your cute little face will be splashed all over this blog!

And my other little cute faced friend, Finn, was snuggled up with his mum before I could snap a shot of him. This shot was taken after I was shooshed down by him for my bad nursery rhyme singing..... I can't blame him, Leanne has a beautiful voice.

Leaving Bunbury - the SouWest

On the 15th of October, we packed up our remaining things and prepared to leave Bunbury, our home for the past four years. Rob claims that the reason we finally decided to leave was because the local news reading would call in the SouWest instead of South West.... He has a thing about 'th'. Maybe we are just becoming grumpy oldies....

We had a final farewell breakfast with some friends at the beach before heading off.

Soni, George, Carl and Rob - one last slide

We stopped a couple of times on the way up to check the load, few of the mats were just about to fly off the back of the ute.....

Don't be fooled. The road from Perth to Bunbury is sealed. We just pulled off to a side road for local farmers.

Once we landed in Rockingham, we were greeted with a beautiful sunset. The stunning pink of the sky was an indication that summer was on its way!

Quiff

The coolest hair in town.....Henry gives Finn a quiff.


Aaaaand he has the best collection of toy cars!!!

Nameste II

Last Wednesday, instead of practicing yoga together, our yoga class met for dinner and a final farewell.... A night full of giggles!

I had a great few years practicing yoga with you all, thankyou! I will always remember your laughter, fun, support and love of yoga!

And thankyou for all of these thoughtful and travel friendly gifts! Even a plug for the sink!


On the subject of yoga, I found this hilarious yoga blog, yogabeans!, that uses figurines to demonstrate yoga poses... lol!! ha!

Namaste!

A word I will not doubt be using in the next couple of months, being Hindi/ sanskrit for hello and goodbye, but today I use it in the context of 'goodbye' to my beautiful fellow yoginis! It has been fantastic bathing in your knowledge and love of yoga.

And I'm really gonna miss all the yummy scoff fests post yoga!

Thanks for the funky pj's! I really wish there was more peas on earth... :")


This picture of Mel and Allie is just gorgeous. There is no mistaking your mum/ daughter bond! She is beautiful.

I didn't get any pics of my little friends Sasha and Charlie :"( Rob gave Sash some 'magic beans' (broad beans) which he deposited into his pocket. Apparently, he planted them as soon as he got home and was expecting them to pop up straight away! He is so cute and alert and soaks up all that is going on around him.