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Dear friends and family, i have been wanting to
write a long newsy letter for the last few months, so
here i finally am.....after being for three months in
magical rishikesh, coming to dharamsala was culture
shock. i remembered a sleepy little hill town ten
years ago, when there were only 5 westerners in town.
but since then, the dalai lama has become famous and
buddhism has arrived in the west. so dharamsala is
"in". and if i wasnt committed to working on the
tibetan relief project, i would be "out". anyway, its
been a great experience. even if the town has gotten
so commercial,(so i got to buy great tibetan
artifacts), and theres so much dust and fumes, i try
not to go downtown. i live tucked away, in a monastery
guest house, with a small balcony overloooking those
majestic himalayas, with the snow covered peaks. and
all day and nite , i hear the monks chanting and i
love it. one major problem, was dharamsala had a very
mild winter, (no snow), therefore when spring arrived,
there was no snow coming down those mts. to create
water coming out of the tap. so for two months, i
(and everyone else) lived without running water. i
received a bucket a day from the river. let me remind
you all, what we so take for granted back home.....the
tibetan woman next door to me was always hanging
clothes on the balcony to dry. i asked her where she
gets the water from to wash them and she said, she
walks a few miles to the river, to wash her clothes.
and she gave me a big smile. oh , i remember the time,
i had a dead fly in my tea, and i complained to the
waiter and he was so concerned that the fly
died....so since i am here, i have had a private
(group) audience with the dalai lama. he is so sweet
and joyful, and funny. i have also had a private
audience with the karmapa. and the dalai lama was
teaching daily for l5 days. thousands of monks and
tibetans and westerners from all over, arrived in
town, including beggars from all over india. it was a
scene. so crowded, and no water. everyone smelled. but
when you entered his monastery, and sat with him, all
was so serene. the monks prayed and chanted, and then
the rains came, and the mud, and now we have running
water from the tap. oh did i mention, the electricity
goes off every nite. so i learned to live by candle
light. we had a jewish buddhist festival in town.
rabbis and jewish teachers came from israel and the
u.s.a and they made a SEDER for passover. hundreds of
people attended. when i left at l.am. the seder was
still going on. they gave me a box of matzoh. it was
interesting to see hassidic rabbis in their black
robes, next to tibet monks in their orange robes,
walking around town. there are some great little
restaurants in town for tibetan or indian food, and
also quiche, crepes, pizza, apple pie, and chocolate
cookies. a meal is about a buck....i found a wonderful
massage therapist and twice a week i go for my bliss
treatment. ($6.60)...there are also acupunturists,
magnetic healers, and of course tibetan herbal drs. i
went to yeshe donden. many of you probably know and
used him. he used to teach at omega, and was the dr.
to the dalai lama. when i went to him, and took the
tibetan herbal pills, and bite down on one, and broke
my tooth. so my worst fear of having teeth problems in
india became my reality. i was recommended to use this
dentist that many westerners use. a price for a crown
is $44. i wouldve had it made here, except for a
complication, i decided to wait until i get home in
the u.s.a.to have the tooth fixed. its interesting to
see the elder tibetan women walking down the st. with
prayer beads in one hand, chanting, om,mani
,padme,hum, wearing traditional tibetan dress, AND
also wearing nikes, backpacks, and fleece jackets.
buddhism has come to the west, and look what we have
given the east. so what do i do everyday. i work
here. its been a priviledge, to be involved with the
tibetan relief project. thank you ananda.....we help
about 75 tibetans here in this area, and i have met
them all and its been an incredible time being with
them. there are babies and young children who we pay
for there school fees. older students are able to
study thankga painting. we provide aid for monks and
nuns and a nomad school in tibet. we help some
elderly and many young couples with children. many of
these people are refugees, who have left therefamilies
back in tibet, walked across the himalayas to get to
dharamsala. life is so difficult for them here. but
life back in tibet under chinese occupation is also
awful. so many have been in chinese prisons, tortured.
they arrive here frostbitten, many loose toes,
fingers. like we have A.A, meetings in the u.s....here
they have ,tibetan torture survivors meetings. there
arent enough jobs for all the tibetans that arrive
here, and when they do work, the average job pays
about $25. a month. a good job pays about $50. a
month. there are so many westerners here, helping out.
teaching english, or computor skills to the tibetans.
and so many tibetans are able to survive by having
sponsers help them. by the way, for the many of you,
who have sponsered a tibetan, i want to thank you so
much. it makes such a difference in their life.....so
as difficult as life is here for them, they love to be
in dharamsala near his holiness, the dalai lama. i
live right down the road from his monastery and go
everyday to sit and chant with the monks or walk
around the kora, the circle path around the temple
with fabulous views. want to know more about tibetan
life, i can recommend two very interesting books. one
is called sorrow mt. by ani pachen. the other fire
under the snow by palden gyatso. ...........so, i
leave here in two weeks and fly to miami (speaking of
cultural shock),i will visit my mom and have air
conditioning, hot running water, a toilet that
flushes. but you know i dont really care about that.
what i care about is having fresh berkshire air, and
organic fooods......thats what i missed the most and
of course all of you.......i am really excited to see
everyone.....i will miss life here in rishikesh and
dharamsala, it is filled with a spirit, that is
missing back in the u.s. as dick, calls it "THE BREATH
OF INDIA". and i will miss so much walking with the
cows and monkeys too...........
- Sultana |