Sunday, October 23, 2011

Dad visits!









Mountains and monasteries
Crazy local bus rides
Women sitting on my father's lap
Children sitting on mine
Praying, praying, no one will puke this time
Taking in the quiet of the morning fog of Lumbini
A welcome reprieve from the oppressive heat of the day
Moments of stillness
And home
Wrapped up together, mingling together
Speaking to each other

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Sacred cows




Last week we volunteers had the opportunity to gather in Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, for 2 days of work. Program planning, strategizing, discussing... And evening gumning (that's Nepangregi, for my fellow half English, half Nepali speakers).

This cow slept at the front gate of the buddhist nunnery where we were staying. She arrived a year ago, and hasn't left since.

My dad arrived in Nepal 2 days ago. I am seeing the country again from a visitor's eyes.

Tomorrow we head for a 3 day trip on the Trisuli river: from Kathmandu to Naranghat, which was very close to where my first home was in Nepal. Perhaps it's not exactly the same as canoeing down the Deschutes as we used to do when I was young. But - on multiple levels - feels like circling around back to home. Just in a new way each time.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Movement




These days everything is shaking, rumbling, stirring

It has been like this for some time.

Sometimes in a pleasant way – laced with hope and excitement.

Sometimes it’s quite uncomfortable.

I guess change is like this.

Today it started shaking outside also. First my computer screen. Then my chair, the windows.

It felt like the world was reflecting my inner self back to me.

Outside on the street, my neighbour claimed it must have been a 5.5. I wonder what it was near the center, he mused.

Aren’t we always at the center?

If we die today, however, we’ve done our meditation and we’ll die with our spirit happy, in the right way, he says.

He says this with a smile on his face.

He’s a brilliant artist. And can say these things and they sound authentic. Not like platitudes.

We had just eaten. Rice and potatoes and turmeric and spices and cabbage and onions and garlic and peppers and achaar.

We had talked about the transitory nature of life. How quickly everything can change. And how in our life- how often it does.

As I was running down the stairs, I realized how easy it was to leave everything behind if I had needed to.

Outside of the immediately practical things (my passport, wallet, a flashlight, pen and paper, water and a house key), everything truly important to me isn’t material.

This, somehow, is reassuring.

Nora: I felt like it was appropriate that I spent today (your wedding day) with artists and philosophers and home-made food cooked with love.

In the calm now, it’s hard to know if the shaking was the beginning or the end.

And really, it doesn’t really matter.

It’s just good to enjoy the calm while it is here.

Knowing that peace and chaos can only ever co-exist.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Monsoon skies







A reflection on weather and our connection with the sky as - with clouds still grumbling outside my office window - the monsoon season starts to come to a close.