November 26, 2003
Pokhara
Pictures
Had an excellent few days at the Ganden Yiga Chozen Buddhist Meditation Centre. A lovely little setup in the quiet area of Lakeside and set back a little but with excellent views of the lake.
Wasn't sure what to expect from this place but everyone was so incredibly friendly and relaxed it wasn't difficult to settle in immediately. There were 4 others on the course:-
- Alexandro, a great Mexican guy living in London
- Claire, nice French girl
- Wim and Aleyda, great Dutch couple
The days were quite full and went something like this:-
6:30am - Meditiation. I really enjoyed this. Sitting still for an hour and emptying your mind (no jokes!) was not very easy but quite rewarding. We meditated on Lord Buddha made of golden light shining rays of peace and love through all sentient beings. It didn't sound quite as weird as writing this now!
07:30 - Yoga. This Hatha Yoga session started very simply on the first day and built up to some pretty serious moves. The guy taking the lesson had this really hypnotic voice and the funniest accent/pigeon English I've heard, none of which would be worth telling unless you were there. I did get some amusement from his announcements that we shouldn't have done certain exercises but only *after* we'd done them! Classic.
08:30 Breakfast
10:00 Buddhist teachings. We had a Tibetan Monk for 3 hours called Jompa whose bad English was entirely compensated by his cheeky manner. Listening for 3 hours on the subject of emptiness cross-legged was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I don't bend that easily (without alcohol) so this was pushing my limits...
13:00 Lunch
14:30 Discussions. Lisa let us ask any questions we had on Buddhism,yoga or meditiation. Started off a bit stilted but soon we were clamouring to ask questions.
16:00 Meditiation
17:00 Yoga
18:00 Candle gazing. I think the purpose of this is to maintain your concentration. You have to stare at a candle for a few minutes then close your eyes and visualise it. Weird, but fun.
19:00 Dinner
The course was residential and I shared a room with Alexandro. We got on really well although our snoring sessions were a bit heated some nights! I killed a cockroach about 3 inches long on the first night and got reprimanded in the morning by Lisa. Well, not reprimanded exactly, but asked to obey Buddhist principles ie leave it alone or move it but don't kill it! Sorry Lisa, but it was him or me. That bugger was going to attack!
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