My Dalai Lama Prophecy 2

Continued From Dalai Lama Prophecy Part 1

Traveling to Dharamsala is the culmination of a dream from five years ago. A psychic told me I will meet the Dalai Lama on my travels. Now I have a chance to see that prophecy come true.

It’s a beautiful fresh cool morning in Dharamsala, and I keep remembering that day as we walk down the small Village of McLeod Gang toward the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Polish couple told us that he is away on a speaking tour but I am excited to just be in the place where he lives.

Aw and I walk up to the open courtyard and then up the stairs to the Temple itself. This is such a thrill for me as I look into the Temple and say more to myself than Aw: “This is the Spiritual Seat of Power of Tibetan Buddhism.” We are walking around the outside of the Temple when we run into our Polish friends again. “He’s here.” They say. “He just arrived a couple of hours ago. We heard a commotion on the street and then a string of cars arrived here. No one knew. He just suddenly arrived.” We continued our walk around the Temple and then we went to the entrance to the residence and I took this photo of Aw. It’s so exciting to me to think that the Dalai Lama is just on the other side of those gates.

If you look closely you will see the armed guard standing there. We saw a number of soldiers around the complex but none of them actually on the Temple site itself. Now I wonder if the prophecy will be fulfilled in the next few days while we’re here.

My Dalai Lama Prophecy Part 1

Traveling to Dharamsala is the culmination of a dream from five years ago. A psychic told me I was meant to travel the world. Just as I was leaving her house she handed me a string of cloth birds and said: “A friend who met the Dalai Lama gave me these birds. Now I am to give them to you for you will meet the Dalai Lama on your travels.” Now I have a chance to see that prophecy come true.

We travel by bus from Amritsar on our way to Dharamsala. After several hours we come to the border of the State of Himachel Pradesh and everything changes drastically. The architecture is much better and there is a lot of new construction going on. The country starts to get a lot hillier and there are many more trees.

I love this country It seems so familiar to me. As if to accentuate my feelings, we pass an estate named ‘Canada Palace’. We travel up winding roads through reddy brown dirt hills with cinder block barriers to hold back the soil from falling into our path. We drive slowly around narrow roads who's banks drop off hundreds of feet to the valley below. Many times we have to stop for another bus to squeeze past us as it heads the other way. As we come to a clearing between the steep hills, I suddenly catch me first glimpse of the Himalayan Mountains. They are very far away to the North and appear as a misty vision in the distance. They are magnificent to see. They remind me very much of the Rocky Mountains near Banff Alberta except they are twice as high. Here's a photo I got of them the next day. Do you see them in the distance behind Aw?

How about now? This photo doesn't do them justice of course.
I am surprised to go through several large towns before we finally arrive in the dark in Dharamsala. Lonely Planet says we really want to go the extra four kilometers to McLeod Gang. We find a Polish couple to share a jeep with and the four of us pay the 120 rupees between us, to make the final assent. When we arrive I feel an increasing sense of peace and tranquility. This place really feels like home. We walk a short distance to the ‘OM’ Hotel and get a room for 250 rupees.

Our window looks out to a view of the wooded hillside below and the view makes me feel energized. I love the town for as much as we can see in our quick stroll to find some dinner. We walk across the street to the MLCD Restaurant, which is touted as the place Pierce Bronson likes to eat.
It has a photo of him with his hand on his heart; sitting at the same table Aw is eating her Thai chicken (not really Thai).

I have a extra strength King Fisher Beer and we are feeling very good. Aw is very cuddly and I can feel that we are both starting to relax after the last two days of hard travel. We come back to our room and both fall immediately into a deep sleep. We wake up refreshed and my heart feels more at peace than it has been in a long time.

Continued in Dalai Lama Prophecy Part 2

Nirvanah Negotiation

Pushkar India,Jan 26th 2007

We head out through the long garden of our guesthouse and through the gates to begin our first adventure in Pushkar itself. As we walk along we meet a man who hands us each a flower and tells us we are very fortunate because it is Temple Day. He instructs us to take the flowers to the lake and drop them in for good luck. We walk with a spring in our steps with the mission in mind. He tells us we have only twenty minutes to do it.

The town site has a Carnival atmosphere. There are small shops everywhere and we keep walking as every vendor implores us to come in and look at their wares. “Looking is free. Come I show you many more inside. Come. Come.” We find the lake and take off our shoes on the marble steps. As we walk down, we are suddenly separated by two men in robes.

Aw is whisked away and the other man guides me to the steps leading to the lake and has me sit down across from him next to the water. He has me repeat a long Brahman prayer and he puts flower petals in my hands and does a ceremony with water and rice. Then he puts a red mark on my third eye and has me repeat a prayer that includes the names of my family members. He has put something that looks like a coconut in my hands and he has another ‘priest’ standing by with a package of sweets and some literature for me. Then he says: “Now you give money in your own currency for each family member. How much you want to give for each?” I am puzzled by the question and say: “I don’t know”. In an impatient, matter-of-fact tone he says: “You need to give money for each member. This is a one-time donation. You do not have to give any more to see the temples; only this once.” I am getting wary of this guy.

I can't believe I'm in this wonderful place experiencing this incredible feeling of serenity and conflict at the same moment.
I realize he’s just another salesman here in India with his hand out. To me, my donation is between me and Rama and none of his cotton pickin' business. I say: “I have no money from my country. Only rupees.” He says: one hundred per family member is good. How many in your family. I ignore his question and say in a cautious tone: “ I have only one hundred rupees.” He gives a look of disdain. “Your family is only worth one hundred rupees?” I say in an even tone: “That’s all I have to give.” I look at him square in the eye and wait. I look to this other man and then to this guy across from me. He says: Where is your guesthouse. I say: “not here.” I open my wallet and (thanks to Aw) I really only have one hundred rupees inside. I take out the note and show him that’s all I have. He looks angry. He snatches the note from my hand and gives it to the other guy. Suddenly that coconut thing is gone and the sweets are making an exit without me. I see that the blessing has come to an abrupt end and get up. He says: “The man who brought you here must have told you about the money you need to pay.” I tell him: “No one brought us here. We just got these flowers and were told to go to the lake.” He is getting rude now as I begin walking away. “Not possible” he shouts at me. I turn around and look him straight in the eye: “With Rama, all things are possible” I say and turn and walk away. I spy Aw standing on the marble steps watching me. “How did you do Honey? How much did they take from you?” “Oh Stevie. I afraid you give them too much rupees. I tell them in Thai we only give 100 baht. He want more but I tell him no. I hope you do same.” I look at her as if her concern is ridiculous: “of course I only gave them 100 rupees” as if I was on to their game from the start. I didn't want to admit that the only thing that saved me was the fact that I only had that much in my wallet. I’m so glad Aw is in charge of the money.

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We walk around the corner and I have a few minutes to cool down after that ‘religious’ experience. Aw buys a package of bird seed and starts feeding the thousands of pigeons on the steps of this sacred lake. As she smiles and laughs around the birds all my anger resolves and I come back to the feeling of wonder and beauty that is the essence of this magical place.