Vulture's Peak

   

 

   Doing this blog has sparked not much joy ever since the machine started on Windows 10 and I've never been able to get the photo thing to work. A source of great frustration. You can't write anything really interesting when you're using your own name and ...anyway, some folk on this pilgrimage might look at this and I don't really want readers who aren't interested in the books on kindle .... that's why I was persuaded to keep it. I also was keen to have a place for photies, but the photie thing ..... dukka! (nest day. Then I got some photies!! Great!)

          But Vulture's Peak was wonderful today. The last time I was there, about three or four years ago with the lama, the place was bathed in clouds. Well, the rectangle of brick wall where the Heart Sutra was expounded poked out of the clouds, and clouds wreathed the base of the great, big Japanese Buddhist stupa. Today it was hot.

           We got wakened up several times last night by mosquitos, so I hadn't meditated much this morning before I got on the cable car chair to the Japanese Stupa at the very top, and I found that wee journey very pleasant and soothing; rocking back and forth.

            We sat in the caves near the top where Buddha's main disciples meditated and I believe someone gained full enlightenment there in the long ago. But around there you have to walk up a long, sloping, wide, reddish path and the beggars had largely disappeared from there, the place where I naively created my own we bit of Beatlemania, started by giving one beggar a biscuit. But they haven't got rid of the folk hustling malas and maps and whatnot. But the place has improved. Anyway, there should be a place to get hustled and you should be left alone at the holy bits. But it did not take anything away from the good feelings of just being there.

              The Heart Sutra! I love the Heart Sutra. I got my daughter, Roz, to read it out by the river at the Samye Ling when we put some of her mum's ashes into the river. Along with the De Profundis. That's all I want at my funeral, those two.

               The lama told me that one of her pals popped her clogs while praying at the Stupa in Bodh Gaya, and was cremated there. The lama is seventy now and I'll keep my eye on here when we're in Bodh Gaya!! So far almost so good. Eric, who organised this pilgrimage, fell a few days ago, and he is built like a bear and guys like that shouldn't trip. He did his ribs in a bit, and today he felt sick from something else and had to bail out at Vulure's Peak. There hasn't been much sickness so far so touch wood.

              We're here for another two nights. Tomorrow breakfast is at six thirty since we are going to do stuff with some Bhutanese folk. I missed them today due to coming back here and having a wee kip instead of having lunch with the rest. After that, I just follow on as usual.

               Due to the way the meditations are going .... this is the time of my life. I love being on this pilgrimage. I'm even enjoying being in the land of no blue skies, due to the pollution. Olaf said the pollution in New Delhi was only fifteen percent from motor cars, the rest being from factories. But you never see any factories as we travel along the roads, so ....