9/30/07 Lavaur France

Nalanda Monastery

Well, today is my last day at Nalanda. Tomorrow I take the train back to Toulouse where my cousin Cynthia will pick me up after she gets off work and take me back to their home in St Lys on the other side of the city. I will spend a few more days with Cynthia and her husband Jean-Yves before finally saying goodbye. Then begins a month of travel to London, Berne, Verona, and Rome.

How to put the three months of my stay at Nalanda into perspective? That's a tough one. Basically I learned how difficult it was to put my wants and needs secondary to the harmony of the whole. I hope I followed the Dalai Lama's advice "help others or at least don't harm them." I could either do this with regret, with anger, with selfishness. Or I could just let all those emotions go and just do it to do it. I guess it was refreshing just to let everything, all MY wants and needs go, and focus on the harmony of the monastery. It was an experiment in faith, that in return the monastery would take care of me too. And for three months, it worked. Not perfectly, but it worked.

I got practice with compromise, self-sacrifice, tolerance, letting go, mindfulness, and most of all, patience. I was able to meet men and women on a personal level from all over Europe, from all sorts of backgrounds. And don't get me wrong, it wasn't too serious. It was a lot of fun, living life "with" people, really sharing time together.

For example, it was a laugh riot when Thubten joined us for our weekly soccer game, playing in his monks robes and boots (a few people accused him of hiding the ball under his robes). Or the night I tried in vain to explain, in my beginner Spanish, the intricacies of a English-language suspense-scifi thriller we had been watching to the Spanish-speaking monks. Or all the times I attempted to speak French with Fabiane, failing oh so bad. I'd have to admit that most of my one-on-one experiences with people here at Nalanda usually put a smile on my face. Life was definitely slower here, which allowed us to enjoy those special moments as they happened instead of zooming through life missing everything.

And I did get to learn skills and have opportunities to do things I don't normally do. I got to see how molds are made. I enjoyed making plaster castings. And maybe I will get to use my gold-leafing skills someday. But besides these 'tangibles', I got to put my mind and my hands to work on all the little details to help Nalanda. Yes, if I wasn't here, I'm sure someone else would have done similar work, but I'd like to think I put a 'Jim' twist on it using my own style so to speak. And, some day I hope to return, to see the finished gompa and shrine, to see how my work helped bring it to completion.

I am happy I took the opportunity to volunteer here, to live here, to be part of this monastery, even if only for a little bit. But only time will tell what seeds it has planted in me and what fruit it will bear in my future.

Here are just a few of those wonderful people of Nalanda that I call friends now.

Tendar		Ani-la
Losang		Losang Gendun
Jean-Francois & Toine
Tess		Dundub
Tenzin		Fernand
Darwin, Miguel & Luis
Yves		Yonton
Sherab		Thubten
Dave & Michael
Tarchin		Dorje
Tsultrim		Andre
Estela & Sixta
Fabiane		Simon
Francoise		Balaam
Losang Thubten, Jim & Zopa

9/24/07 Lavaur France

Nalanda Monastery

One of the last things I have done while here at Nalanda was to go on a 7-day fast. I made the decision after talking with another monk, Losang Gendun who is on a month-long fast. One thing that he said struck me was the fact than almost a billion people have no choice but to live each day hungry. I looked up a few facts just to see:

* ¾ of a billion people go to bed hungry
* 4 million people die each year from hunger related causes
* One child dies every 5 seconds from malnutrition

So, with these startling facts, I decided that I would fast for a week, seven days, only drinking water and tea. My goal was to understand, even if only minutely, the feeling of hunger in order that I would not forget those in the world who have no choice. The one advantage to doing it here, doing it now, is that in the monastery we are not bombarded by all the 'food' advertising. There is no TV, no radio, no magazines or newspapers. And when I told others about my fast (only because people who didn't know kept offering snacks and cookies to be generous), all were supportive. No "That is crazy. Why would you want to do that."

My only other experience with fasting more than a day was twenty years ago when I fasted for three days as part of an outdoor educators course in Kenya. Like this time, I was backpacking in the countryside of Kenya, so I didn't have any of the normal food "reminders" that a person is subjected to in modern life. But our attitude was different then, as it was more of a challenge than any lesson in world hunger.

I think the first day was the hardest, just because my stomach knew our eating schedule wasn't following our normal habits. I worried about the third day because others told me that was the hardest, but when it came it didn't seem that bad. Or at least not as bad as I expected.

One thing that did surprise me is that, after the first few days, being around others who were eating didn't really affect me as I thought it would. Sights and smells didn't really trigger a 'hunger' response. It was as if 'hunger' was now in my mind and not in my stomach at all.

It did in fact change how my sense of smell and taste worked. For example some of the teas I drank just didn't taste right now, and water usually tasted wonderful. But when the wonderful aromas wafted out of the kitchen, I was happy to tell the cooks that I appreciated the smells even though I wasn't going to eat any of the food.

By the fifth day I think I knew infinitely more about hunger than I did before. When you are hungry, your body knows something is very, very wrong. It felt like I was in a constant bad mood, but it was caused by my bodies imbalance instead of emotional problems.

I began to see how difficult daily life would be for someone whose world was constantly colored by this feeling, this malaise. They would still have to get up in the morning, do everything they needed to survive another day. How could a child learn in school with this hunger robbing him of the joys of education. How could an adult appreciate all the people around him as his body screamed for attention. It was like your whole life was seen through distorted gray glasses. Even for me during this fast, trying to buy some train tickets online just seemed too difficult because I couldn't concentrate.

I wrote much this journal entry on the seventh day because I didn't know how all this viewpoint would change once my belly was full again. I wouldn't say it's something everyone one should do, but it would be a blessing if, when you feel hungry, one of your first thought is of others who are experiencing the same thing at the same moment all over the world besides what you're going to eat to satisfy that hunger. Because when you take that first bite, it is so wonderful, the tastes and textures. Most of us are so lucky not only in what we eat, but when, how often, how much, and how many varieties. But even something simple like a peanut butter sandwich is life to someone who is hungry.

Even on the morning of the eight day, when I was officially over with my fast, the power of the mind was evident. The whole morning, from the first time I stirred in bed, taking a shower, getting dressed, heading down to the kitchen, I was in a great mood even though I hadn't eaten yet. Just knowing I was going to eat something was enough to change my whole outlook.

And just for the record, I did loose weight but I wouldn't recommend this method as I think it took pounds away from everything everywhere, just not as much from my midsection as I would have liked. And second, I did eat too much breakfast for my first meal (but I kept happy thoughts of the lunch I was going to eat later in the day).

Jim eating a wonderful lunch

In the past, I've volunteered at a soup kitchen for the poor and also worked at a food pantry that supplied food to organizations dealing with local hunger. But now, when I do those things, and I will keep doing them, it will be with a slightly different viewpoint. Maybe with more mindfulness in what I am doing and for whom, maybe with more compassion than pity, maybe with more understanding.

So for me, I will try to eat a healthy diet. While at the same time, appreciate how fortunate I am, and work to helping others become fortunate too.

9/22/07 Lavaur France

Nalanda Monastery

And the tour continues.

And the other important building of Nalanda is the workshop. A lot of the work here is related to building the new gompa. There is a huge woodshop along with many storage areas for various building materials and hardware. And one of the art studios is devoted to working on the 1000 Buddha statues that will be places on the main shrine in the new gompa. Tsultrim runs the tsa tsa workshop, making tsa tsa (small holy statues/objects) molds that are sent all over the world, along with designing new statues and objects that can be produced here at Nalanda.

Dundrub painting the eyes of the Buddha

Tess repairs the Buddhas before gold-leafing

Tess said she has half of these done already

Yves airbrushing ceramic glaze

But the most striking item in the workshop is the huge statue of Tara. Bertrand was asked by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to create a statue of Tara for the Buddhist Center in Osel Ling near Granda Spain. He has been working on the stature since 2001 and it is now complete. The next stage is to have molds of all the pieces made, then cast pieces in bronze, so they can be shipped and reassembled in Spain. More information can be found at TaraProjects.org

Tara, "mother of liberation"

Monk/architect/builder Jean-Francois working

But it's not all work here at Nalanda. Every Saturday night is movie night where everyone can watch a current DVD. For a little exercise, Friday is reserved for a soccer match. And then there are those normal things like birthdays to celebrate.

Losang Thubten & Zopa waiting for the movie to start

What kind of movie are you watching?

Sherab is 57 - Happy Birthday

Too much cake and ice cream

The pampered life of a monastery cat

9/15/07 Lavaur France

Nalanda Monastery

Well, I've been here at Nalanda for ten weeks. Can you believe it? So, I guess I should be pretty familiar with the place and I decided I should finally take you on a tour.

Nalanda is an old estate called Rouzegas just outside of the small town of Lavaur. 'Rouzegas' is still part of the mailing address. No one seemed to know much of the history of the place, only that it had fallen on hard times when it was purchased for the monastery over 25 years ago.

The property is bordered on three sides by corn fields and by the River Argout. To get here, you follow a narrow country road that parallels the river to the entrance of Monasterio Nalanda.

This must be the place

The long driveway bordered by majestic trees

You will pass by the stupa

Like many other religions, holy objects help bring about a positive-imprint on the mind to a devotional person. A stupa symbolizes the 'enlightened' mind of the Buddha and the potential 'enlightenment' in everything living. Many people come to Nalanda only to cir-cumambulate the stupa, repeating mantras/prayers.

To me, it was important to take care of such an object for them. So, it has been one of my off-hours projects to work at the stupa. Besides trimming the trees and planting new flowers with Tess, almost every night I water the new green grass circling the stupa.

A lot of the layout of the monastery has been modified using the principles of Feng Shui. So, the entrance is in the back of the main building, facing the river. And there is a peaceful fountain near the picnic table just outside the door.

Rouzegas

A few gather under the magnolia tree

The main foyer has display cases of all the various religious statues and tsa tsa's made in the workshops here at Nalanda. Besides these, there are books, small Buddha statues and incense available for donation.

Welcome to Nalanda

The ground floor has the administrative offices, dining room and kitchen, and the gompa. The second floor houses the library and several rooms for visiting teachers and guests like His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The top floor is were many of the monks live.

Dundrub and volunteer Micheal cooking lunch for everyone

Lunch is usually eaten in silence

The Dalai Lama has stayed in this room twice

The gompa is were prayers and teachings are held

Much of the use of the main building will change once the new gompa is completed. Besides the buildings, the property has extensive grounds. To help supplement the food budget, there is a large vegetable garden maintained by volunteers. And there are numerous smaller gardens for places of quite contemplation.

The vegetable garden

Huge wind chimes

Tsultrim sits overlooking the river

And the tour continues to the workshop...