"If they throw blood, then throw milk back"

Today...today was incredible. Right now I am sitting here in a dinky internet cafe filled with truck fumes, and I'm just filled with joy (unless the truck fumes are making me high- but I'm pretty sure that's not it, since I have been filled with joy for several hours now).

We began our day with breakfast at Pema Thang at 7am. Did I mention we are staying there? If you ever make it up to McLeodganju, stay at Pema Thang guesthouse. Best vegetarian meals in the area, reasonable prices, wonderful staff! Then we hopped in a few taxis and drove several kilometers to Gyuto Monastery. It's a beautiful place, another wonderful view of the Himalayan mountains, with rolling hills, farmland, cows. The structure is well maintained. There were a few 5 year old monks, who were precious in more than one way.

We had a tour. They gave us tea. Then my class (15 students, my instructor Dr. Miriam Cameron, her husband Mike, and my two rocking interpreters) had an audience with His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa (http://www.kagyuoffice.org/karmapa.html). There were several other individuals and groups in the waiting room, but we all went in separately. Being such a large group, we went in last.





I'm not sure right now what I want to say about this. He was very kind, and patient. He let us stay awhile longer than we probably should have (maybe 30 minutes) and ask a variety of questions. One question was about his daily routine, which led to a question about how many languages he is studying. He is studying about 6. I very helpfully suggested he consider adding sign language to his repertoire. To my surprise, he is actually interested. He said he saw a documentary and found the language to have a great deal of feeling. AW YEAH! But first, he said, he needs to find a good teacher. I joked that I'd volunteer (and if you know how pidgin my ASL is, you'd find that even funnier). He gave some very profound responses to other questions my classmates asked, but again I'm not sure how to write about it
I will say, of all the profound things he said, what brought tears to my eyes was his comment that even in the most difficult and
dark conditions, there has to be light and laughter. Sometimes I get embarrassed because I feel like I'm constantly laughing and giggling like a kid, but joy doesn't detract from the seriousness of any terrible situation. Have you had a good laugh today?

I don't know what I've done in this life or past lives to be able to have this experience, but I am so humbled. If you want to hear the Karmapa talk, go to http://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_the_karmapa_the_technology_of_the_heart.html. Beautiful.

Well I have to pee and I've been sitting in this stinky cyber cafe for over two hours, so I don't think I'm capable of waxing poetic about one of the most wonderful days of my life. I will have to talk about our visit to Norbulingka Institute (unbelievable- Josh, you would LOVE this place) and the Dolma Ling Nunnery (inspiring) later. And tomorrow is another big day, but I'm not ready to talk about what might happen tomorrow. ;-)