Field Trip With The Monks

For two days I was blessed to experience the coolest field trip of my life.  I was lucky to be able to join the Pokhara monks on a pilgrimage to various places around Derha Dun and surrounding areas in Northern India.   We loaded up the 26 kids, their Lama Kunga, one of their teachers, a sponsor, Jane, Allison, and I joined them on an amazing road trip which I will always remember!

The first day we started off by driving up into the mountains and heading to Mussoorie, one of the first places that the Dalai Lama first lived when leaving Tibet and heading into exhile.  Mussoorie now has a large Tibetan community and a few schools for the Tibetan children.

The Tibetan kids there were doing their calesthenics when we arrived.  It was funny to see the monks reactions to the kids all lined up and dancing and exercising in sync.  One of the kids was even joking around with me telling me what a good dancer he is, I told him to join in and prove it.  About a minute later he busted out laughing when I asked him what he would think if they had an exercise class like that back in pokhara.

This is Jane and Tenzin Puntsuk walking up the hill back towards our bus in Mussoorie.  They share a really amazing bond and are constantly talking with each other.  But, I have to say that it is hillarious to hear him give her a hard time.  He really knows which of her buttons to push.

After leaving Mussorie we headed with the kids to Sakya College.  The grounds are amazing and the place is just gorgeous.  I could see why it would be a blessing to be chosen to attend school here.  The Pokhara kids are extremely smart and have done really well with their studies, so I am sure that the possiblity for most of them can be a reality.  It was great to go with them and to see their interest in the campus as well as their educations.

Just an overview of the Sakya College grounds.  The place is remarkably neat and beautifully kept up.  It was definitely a serene place and I would love to have a place like this for my studies. 

Behind Sakya College there is a basketball, volleyball, and tennis court complex.  It was obvious with the amount of time that we spent outside and around the courts that these boys may have just been won over by the college, just based upon the possibilities of playing ball all the time.  Good to know that boys will be boys.

The morning of the second day of the pilgrimage Jane and I went down to the canteen to grab some bottles of water and some snacks for the kids on the bus ride.  We grabbed a couple of pieces of Tibetan bread from the Reception Hall and headed to the bus.  The bread was a bit greasy and yeasty and neither of us were really down with it so we decided to feed it to some animals that would be out on the road.  I made Jane confront her fear of the cows and feed it to one of them instead of the dogs.  The cows are constantly routing through the piles of trash that are on the road and I see them all the time chewing on plastic bags and wrappers.  I can not imagine that they digest too well.

 This is Ngawang Puntsuk, 14, and the youngest of the monks on the field trip.  He demanded to sit up front with the driver and the guide the entire trip.  He read his comic books at every chance that he got!  

As soon as the bus got moving, many of the boys fell asleep, just like a typical road trip.  Once again I was confronted with the amazing bonds that these kids share and I have to say that a couple of sleeping monks is definitely a great treat to see, it's like any kids asleep and cuddled up.  You appreciate the bond that they share and realize just how great their love is.  Plus they are a lot more peaceful when they are asleep!

Our first stop was Manduella, which is the monastery where Jane's guru lives.  When we arrived the monks were all still in their morning pooja and we wandered around for a bit while we waited to meet Rinpoche.  

I got up the steps of the prayer hall just in time to catch the end of their pooja and to see them all exit the prayer hall.  It always amazes me the ritual and ceremonial moments that I was able to experience.  What amazes me more is that all of these precious life moments just fell into my lap.  Just goes to show you about any paths that we may lay out for ourselves in other lifetimes, I guess.  

Monks all lined up and bowing to Rinpoche as he exits the morning pooja.

When we got into the prayer hall there was a really neat mandala that the kids had made.  I was fascinated with the details of the prayer hall and the butter lamps are always sure to get my attention.

Just like the detail of the sun shining through the window and the breeze blowing the curtain around.

In the Schedra (school, so to say) behind the prayer hall the chidren were practicing all of their prayers and reading their pechas.  It was funny to hear how loud they got when we opened the door and began to take a couple of photos.  Then when we began to close the door they all got very quiet again.  I could just imagine them waiting for the doors to close and then run around screaming their little heads off and bonking each other with their pecha (prayer books).

After we wandered around for a bit it was time to go and greet Rinpoche and offer him katta. A katta is a long white scarf that you offer to a high lama when meeting him.  He then blesses the scarf and puts it around the presenters neck.  This is a sign of offering.  

This was an odd expereince.  There have been a few times, now, that I have met fairly high lamas and in their private rooms.  But this time was a bit different.  I was completely at ease to meet Jane's guru and oddly enough felt no jitters upon going into his room.  After leaving I was talking with Jane about this.  I was sure that I had met him in Kathmandu and thought that I had eaten with him at Bouddha's New Orleans Cafe before.  Jane laughed and thought that it may be a past life or something as there was no possibility that I had met him and that he would never just go out and especially not without a large entorage.  I could not help but feeling at ease in this situation when usually I just find myself wondering what the heck I did to deserve to witness this.

After leaving the Rinpoche's room Allison got a lesson on katta folding from one of the monks.  On the left is Lama Kunga over seeing the lesson and it was nice to see a bit of pride in his face and a little bit of light in his eyes for the pride that he has in his guys.

We got back on the bus.

Some of the monks snuggled up in their zens and took a little nap.

Others spent their downtime enjoying my electronic gadgets.  They loved learning about photography and playing with my ipod.  I am not really sure if this is a good thing or not, but it was a lot of fun!

When we got to the border of Himichal Pradesh to go to Purawalla, we had to stop and pay road taxes.  This was a long ordeal and it took about an hour to get everything cleared up and all of the paperwork completed.  The bus got really hot and began to smell like teenage boy, so we had to get off for a while and wander around.

The monks have all learned to use my camera and most of the day I did not have it in my posession.  I am not sure who, but someone took this photograph of me hanging outside of the bus.

We got back on the bus and really soon the kids were again sound asleep.  Once again we were on the road and heading back to the center.