In Silence

A number of Buddhists practice periods of silence to deepen their concentration, remove distractions, that sort of thing. I am practicing silence today too, not for the reasons cited above though, but because my cold has gone to my throat and I can hardly speak a word, so...I am in silence.

I have also resorted to wearing a surgicle face mask as I walk around. This cold makes it hard to breathe and the air here is really foul so...on with the mask. I feel a little funny, but if it makes my cold get better or breathing easier, I am all for it. I would say that roughly a third of the people here are wearing masks, so...it is not as strange as it may seem.

We did meet the Karmapa Lama the other day. It really was something. This man is young, only 26, and very handsome. But mostly he has that soft demeanor, that humbleness that is so disarming in a person commanding so much respect. I presented him with a ceremonial shawl, which he then blesses and gives back to you, he then said "hello, how are you?", in perfect english, I was so stunned I could hardly reply. Luckily my voice was still working that day.

Aside from that, the visit here is getting a little long. Yesterday I decided to do Koram while the ani prayed. I figured I would do 30 revolutions, sounded good, one of the ani had done that the other day, so...I thought I would follow suit. Well, it took 3 hours to complete. I was whipped by the end! And the whole time chanting, very softly, om mani padme hum, it was a long day, but also interesting. There were two old people, a man and a woman, who were there the entire time I was. And these people were OLD. The man walked with a serious stoop and a cane, in what looked to me like a short kimono, the woman, they were not together, was in traditional Tibetan dress, she was unusually tall and walked with her hands fingering her prayer beads behind her back, long braid coiled on her head. It was really inspiring to watch these two just continue to walk and walk and chant.

And that is all for now,

Namaste