Tomorrow I am leaving Dharmsala for a 10 day silent intro to buddhism meditation retreat. I am really excited about it because I have never been silent for that long of a time and I am really excited to continue my studies in buddhism. I am so sad about leaving Dharmsala though. I have really connected with tibetan culture and have really enjoyed my time here. Living with a host family has been a very good experience for me. I was no nervous going in because I had no idea what to expect. I had nothing to worry about though because the only problem I had was easily solved with a jar of neutella (my breakfasts...) It was so cool to see the similarities and differences between my real family and my homestay family. In my homestay alot more time was spent just hanging out and watching indian soap operas. The entire time I was here my little brother was sick with an itchy rash. It is always hard for me to see a little kid in pain but it was even harder because my homestay family believes that it was caused my dark magic and did a series of prayers with high lamas and various religious treatments before bringing him to a doctor. Some good memories with my family were my homestay mom teaching me how to knit, religiously watching tom and jerry with my brother every night, chilling on the porch with momo, attempting to teach my eldest sister french...even though i forgot what merci ment for a night, going to the temple with my family, being served way too much tea, and being loved and welcomed into their family. I am also sad about leaving here because I really enjoyed all of my independent studies. I could have done without yoga everyday but it was still nice. Jewlary, tibetan buddhism, and hindi were all awesome. I also have really become passionate about the tibet issue so its a bummer to leave this place. I have recently been reading about womens rights in tibet and am so upset by what I have found. Basically the one child policy has been carried out in tibet (even though there are rules about not implimenting it on minoritys) and the women are forced into abortions and sterilization (even with a baby in the 3rd trimestor). All of the cases I have read abvout have been done with no anesticia and through force, coersion, or economic/social pressure. It is even worse for buddhist women to go through this because the worst thing that you can do in buddhism is take a life and they believe that life starts with conception. It also violates the laws of karma (too long to explain here) and the international law of the womens right to reproduce etc. I think this issue has become so significant to me because being in india has made me feel semi-vunerable for being a girl. I have learned alot from Dharmsala.
- the importance of my education
- developed an awareness of the significance of nationality
- i have learn compassion is possible even though our society dipects total selflessness as not being realistic
- i have become less of a picky eater
- i learned that love is happiness...it sounds hippyish and simple but it is true. if you have love in your life you have everything.
- ones mindset really can influence the turnout of an event. if you go into something thinking that it will suck then it most likely will