Me, Myself and Dalai

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So who'd have thought it, I've been in India less than a week and I've already come across the Dalai Lama himself....twice! I think that is what is officially classed as not going to have happened back in England!
The reason I've met him, nay even been taught by him, is because he is currently giving his annual spring teaching in Mcleod Ganj, which is where we have travelled up to from Delhi. It is absolutely beautiful in Himachal Pradesh. Waking up to a stunning view of snow covered mountains (and these are only the foothills of the himalayas!), bright blue sky with eagles soaring over you and forests which made even the awful overnight bus from Delhi worthwhile.
When we first got here we were met by Nyima, the local Gap agent, who took us to a guest house to dump our bags. Whilst we were there we saw a tibetan man wearing the traditional Chuba, a Kind of man dress, and Nyima told us he had only recently arrived form Tibet over the mountains, an extremely dangerous journey not least because if he'd been caught the Chinese would certainly lock him up and possibly just kill him, so that he could attend the teaching. That was so humbling as it really gives you an appreciation of how awful the situation is for Tibetans. There are literally thousands of Monk and nuns here for the teaching so the narrow streets of Mcloed are awash with red and orange robes, it is really surreal.
We spent the rest of the day finding our way around and attempting to register with the local police. This was our first brush with the notorious Indian beaurocary and corruption. The policeman kept us waiting most of the day whilst Nyima was forced to suck up to him and give him a bribe before he would do anything for us. He was so cocky as he knew, and abused, his little bit of power; that left a very bitter taste in my mouth.
The next day me and Rachel got up in the very early hours to go to the Dalai Lama's temple for a puja celebrating a 2550 year old Prayer Festival. It was so interesting to watch. It started with some very deep chanting that sent a shiver down my spine. The Dalai Lama came out in a procession of high lamas under a brightly coloured ornate parasol to the front where he was sat in a throne-like chair. The ceremony consisted of a series of prayers and an introduction to buddhism given by the Dalai. We had a Fm radio so we could hear an english translation (unfortunately the translation wasn't very good and didn't make much sense in parts) but the battery ran out towards the end. I didn't mind because it allowed us to listen to him talking in Tibetan, which is a really soothing sounding language. Then at the end they cleared a path back towards his house, which is in the temple grounds, and we were in the perfect position as we ended up on the front row so he passed literally half a metre from us.
The next day all five of us got up and attended the first day of teaching at the temple. This was much less ceremonial but still very interesting. I got the sense that I could have taken much more from it had the translation been better but I was still surprised at how much i could understand and relate to. I have heard many people say that he is a very good teacher on every level be it a deep philosophical one or a more simplistic level and my experience definately backs that up. I was really glad to have been able to go to part of the teaching but after too days of sitting cross legged on the hard ground I feel bruised all over! They are pretty hardcore these tibetans who will do it for all 11 days without flinching!

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