Dharamsala - McLeod Ganj
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2007
1
9
90
Trip End
Nov 10, 2008
McLeod Ganj,
India
Sunday, September 30, 2007
After getting here to find out that the Dali Lama would be teaching and getting all excited I got my pass to enter the temple and set my watch to get up early the next morning.
Well, I didn't need to set my watch! There were about 10 people in each of the 2 rooms beside me. A group of students came in late last night and the owner felt sorry for them and gave them 2 double rooms (he was thinking of his good karma, but not of my sleep)! I don't know how they could all fit in the room and obviously they couldn't sleep and woke me up at 4h30am! They took over the squat toilet and the sink and there was no water left for me! So I left, unwashed, to see the Dali Lama. I just had to follow all the monks to find my way to the temple!
The Dali Lama sits on a kind of throne in a room closed with 3 walls. So only a small number of people can actually see him live! I found a little spot to sit down in the room and luckily without noticing I sat down right in front of the TV screen which was the only way to see him! Then I waited for the teaching to start. A few monks played drums and all of a sudden the whole crowd got up! I got up too, but couldn't see him coming in. Then I saw him on TV coming into the room slowly with a smile and waving at everyone. He sat down and someone set up his mike. First, he welcomed the Korean group of monks and nuns who had requested the teaching this week.
The translation is not done simoultaneously, so when he talks you can see him on TV and hear his real voice speaking in Tibetan. Then the Korean translation is heard on the speaker and the English and Mandarin translations are heard on the radio. It's hard to judge a person when you watched them gesturing and you can get the different intonations in their voice but you have no clue what they are saying (wonder if that's how my students felt in my French class sometimes.......often?) He said a mantra with some people in the room and surprisingly none of the monks sitting around me were saying it. Then he said we must have tea before starting. We already had been given a small Tibetan bread and now got some disgusting Tibetan butter tea! The teaching started after that. The Dali Lama was reading a text and explaining it line by line. He talked for a long time, so I had to wait for the long translation to follow. I must admit that I didn't understand much of what he said and I felt pretty stupid!
He talked about emptiness and enligthment, that you can't just say mantras, you have to change as you keep saying them. He said you had to clean yourself of obstructions and that there are 4 stages of buddhas. He was giving different school's opinions of the text and which one had been rejected or accepted and why, etc...........
I stayed until the end to see what would happened. I know he sometimes puts a red rope aroung people's wrist. Well, there was none of that today! He said the teaching will continue in the afternoon and got up to slowly leave the room. Everyone got up and I finally got a glimpse of the real Dali Lama walking down slowly and smiling while touching a few hands on his way to his car then he was gone!
I decided not to go the other days because I can't understand and I feel very nervous leaving my camera behind at the hotel (you can't bring anything with you inside the temple)! I met 2 girls who have seen him a few times and they said it's always the same when he teaches in Tibetan, but it becomes easier to understand after a few times. When he teaches in English he cannot go as deep into buddhism and it is easier to understand, plus there is no delay for translation! I will try to catch him again somewhere else when he teaches in English.....
