I had a pretty good idea about where to go after Amritsar. From here I was getting close to the mountains in northern India. After some research prior to coming, I knew that northern India was the birthplace of Buddhism, and I had always wanted to do some sort of retreat while being here to learn more and get a new perspective on things from a tradition that hardly exists in the West. Not far from Amritsar (about 5 hours north) is Mcleod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama; so what better place to start? I got a ride with some friends and after showing up, finding a hotel for the night, and walking around the small hilly village of Mcleod Ganj, we found out that the Dalai Lama was giving a public talk at his temple the following morning. Not a bad coincidence. Also, that following day was the first day of a 10 day Introduction to Buddhism course at one of the meditation centers up in the hills, so things just got busy.
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| The Americans with the Dalai Lama (me in the far back, behind his left shoulder) |
We started the next day early in the morning scrambling, trying to get to the talk in time and figuring out logistics. But we made it, and the first thing they did was organize everyone into groups of countries so that the Dalai Lama could take pictures with everyone. We organized and he came out with all smiles and got a picture with our group. I touched his back so I can say that I’m now officially spiritually enlightened. It was a really cool and surreal thing to just see him all of a sudden and get a picture with him, when the previous day I was not expecting this to happen at all. He gave a nice little talk that we unfortunately had to leave early from to get up to the meditation center for the course. I was on the waiting list for the 10 day course, which would be a silent retreat in which they take away all electronic devices for its entirety, so I wasn’t sure if I would be cut off from the world until the last minute, but I think seeing the Dalai Lama that day brought me some good karma and I ended up getting in.
Boy was I glad I got into that course. Talk about a profound experience. We couldn’t speak to anyone outside of asking questions in class and one hour of group discussion each day. I didn’t have my phone or computer for the entire 10 days, so entertainment mostly consisted of reading about Buddhism, writing, thinking, meditating, walking around, and watching monkeys (which was the funnest thing to do). This was by far the most peaceful experience I’ve ever had. It’s so difficult in today’s society to go even one hour without staring at a screen, let alone using a phone or even speaking. Opportunities like this don’t come up very often but I had quite an amazing experience here.
Boy was I glad I got into that course. Talk about a profound experience. We couldn’t speak to anyone outside of asking questions in class and one hour of group discussion each day. I didn’t have my phone or computer for the entire 10 days, so entertainment mostly consisted of reading about Buddhism, writing, thinking, meditating, walking around, and watching monkeys (which was the funnest thing to do). This was by far the most peaceful experience I’ve ever had. It’s so difficult in today’s society to go even one hour without staring at a screen, let alone using a phone or even speaking. Opportunities like this don’t come up very often but I had quite an amazing experience here.
Our course material was also incredible. I learned so much about the Buddhist philosophy (which I can easily talk about for hours) and meditation practice, and our teacher was phenomenal. It’s difficult to stop writing about my experience at Tushita Meditation Center, but I’ve got to keep it short and sweet and just say that everything here was absolutely wonderful and I would absolutely do it all over again. I highly recommend any sort of retreat experience like this (of which there’s centers and locations all over the world) to everyone. After the course, I stayed in the small village outside the meditation center for about 5 more days just relaxing and easing my way back into reality, finally being able to speak and catch up with fellow students in the course and doing a couple hikes here and there. This was such a beautiful area of India, and my favorite part so far.
On my last day here, there was a very high-up and well known Buddhist nun visiting the meditation center to give some talks for a couple days. She spent 12 years in a cave in the Himalayas on retreat so I was definitely interested in seeing what she had to say. She had some pretty great ideas to share and it was a perfect sendoff to what was one of the greatest experiences of not just India but my entire trip. But sadly, it was time to leave and hop on an 11 hour bus back to Delhi, and then a 25 hour train the following day to Southern India to meet up with a friend. But as Jack Kerouac says, “we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”
On my last day here, there was a very high-up and well known Buddhist nun visiting the meditation center to give some talks for a couple days. She spent 12 years in a cave in the Himalayas on retreat so I was definitely interested in seeing what she had to say. She had some pretty great ideas to share and it was a perfect sendoff to what was one of the greatest experiences of not just India but my entire trip. But sadly, it was time to leave and hop on an 11 hour bus back to Delhi, and then a 25 hour train the following day to Southern India to meet up with a friend. But as Jack Kerouac says, “we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”
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