Our Fond Farewell

Shushma, Sonu, Meera...the Ladies of Stupa Guest House

It's 10:52 AM Tuesday November 28 (10:22 PM Monday night at home) here at Stupa Guest House/Sherabling, and I'm writing our final blog post for this visit. It'll be mostly Nancy's haiku, and a few of my musings as usual.

Again, we're sad to be leaving this place, which, as I said to Nancy yesterday, is a lot better than feeling as though we can't wait to leave. We're not eager to be in the current madness of the larger world including America, and yet we know we must be. At least for now. Our conversations about next year have included the possibility of staying here for three months instead of two, assuming we remain able, and willing, to make the journey again. As I've already written about, this year's travel was the hardest so far. It took more energy, and it took longer than usual to land, to be here, to adjust, to settle. By next year we might need the entire first month just to accomplish that. 

I'd like to express my gratitude to those of you who have traveled here with us through our writings and images, who have taken an interest in what we've had to share, and who have inspired the desire to publish the blog at all. We truly do it for you. Thank you.

If all goes well and according to plan, we'll leave here at 10 AM on Thursday, take the two hour taxi ride to Dharamsala/Kangra Airport, and then our 2:10 PM flight to Delhi. There's been some worry talk, most especially from a Lithuanian woman who's apparently heard stories of last minute, as in at the airport, cancelled flights out of Dharamsala. Neither she nor we have big windows of time between our scheduled arrivals in Delhi and our international flights out of Delhi, meaning that if our flights from Dharamsala were to be cancelled at the airport, we would not be able to wait for a flight the next day. Her contingency plan is to opt to take the over night 12 hour bus to Delhi instead of her scheduled/possibly cancelled flight. Ours is to opt for a taxi from Dharamsala airport to Delhi if the need should arise, maybe ten hours then in the car.

If all goes well and according to plan we'll fly to Delhi and spend about 12 hours there before heading to the airport for our Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. 21 hours after leaving Delhi we would arrive in Los Angeles in the late afternoon of December 1, spend the night, and fly non stop on Southwest to Albuquerque on Saturday December 2. If all goes well and according to plan. I have to say that over all, over the last few years of travels, and what seems now like countless flights, we've been pretty fortunate with airlines. There have been hiccups here and there, cancelled flights, airport over nights, missed connections, lost and destroyed luggage. Over all though we've been pretty fortunate. May it be so now.

Battered old ego

My kleshas front and center

self absorption blues

Here I go again

down the rabbit hole of shame

I accept this with grace

Neuroses swirling 

in one big shrine room

Compassion save us!

Confidence wavers

My energy plucked and pulled

Catch it and let go

Local village gal

   

   We have been waiting

   Maitreya Buddha is here

   Dear Golden Guru

   So much excitement!

   we sit in sacred silence

   deep devotion penetrates

    

Authentic Presence

 surrounds and supports us here

 loving pure compassion

So elaborate

these detailed pearls of wisdom...

ancient melodies

In my element:

pine forest stupa refuge

snow peaks confirm this

Om mane padme hung

   Disillusionment

   Complicated Samsara!

   Awareness dawning

   In the dead of night

   shame comes to haunt me

   gift for hungry ghosts

Offering blessings

on the lineage alter

Ancient, authentic

Everything in place

precision and clear order

the magical net

Ritual objects

honoring the Buddha

and our own true nature