A hot sunny day today after a glorious evening sky yesterday – this is maybe what I will have to look forward to if the uni placement to the top end comes through in another month. Yes – it seems possible that this Nepal trip will be cut in half due to a less than perfectly timed email from the Field Work placement supervisor. I headed off to Nepal with plans to return to a Melbourne city-based placement in November - albeit a bit of a late start – but now this has turned up. So perhaps I will be in Darwin by this time next month.
In the meantime I continue along as usual spending some time meditating, doing a very little environmental work for Sayadaw, emailing, reading and having the occasional foray out into the wider world beyond Panditarama’s gates. There have been some changes around the temple area while I was away and not all to the local people’s liking. A “Master Plan” was designed for the Lumbini area by a Japanese architect Kenzo Tenge, now deceased, many years ago and there has been slow progress. Now there is a push by a number of people and groups, including UNESCO, and particularly a Japanese contingent who want to see the architect’s plan for Lumbini completed. However, some of this has recently involved moving the businesses of local people to a less accessible and less pleasant area located quite a distance from the main pilgrim site/tourist attraction. And the taxi drivers also have less chance of picking up business. Already there has been a protest delegation to the Lumbini Development Trust office, quite a bit of general disgruntlement and lots of discussion going on around the traps. From my perspective the new situation is definitely much less appealing as now my favourite tea shop, where I used to enjoy having a cup of masala tea under the shade of huge mango trees, is gone. It seems to me that the local people have been marginalized and were not consulted as to their needs and wishes – let alone me! Now it’s too late for them unless they resort to strong measures, which probably would cause them even more grief. I just hope they can retain their livelihood. I sent an email to the Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Lumbini Development Trust expressing my concerns – most likely to little avail. So another lesson in anicca (change) – one of the 3 universal characteristics of all phenomena in Buddhist teachings – the other two being anatta (non self) and dukkha (unsatisfactoriness).
Yesterday afternoon I went with Birjesh to Bhairahawa, for my first shopping trip of this visit (perhaps my one and only!), and as well as the usual buffalo carts, bikes, motor bikes, buses, cars, vans, goats and cows there was an elephant lumbering along the road on its way to some business of other. Bhairahawa was reasonably pleasant that day – a bit of a breeze to relive the humidity – at least in the shade with an icecream and a pomegranate as refreshment it wasn’t too bad. I enjoy heading out and getting around the local area and with the monsoon in force the countryside is a beautiful verdant green.
Here the monsoon rains come sporadically, with many days of hot humid sunny weather before some respite brought about by rainfall, which may be a heavy downpour or a constant few hours of showers. I enjoy either – both for the coolness it brings and its soothing sound. This monsoon is more along the lines of a Broome one than a true tropical monsoon where there is rain most days. And it rather feels more like the build up time – with hot and humid weather and little respite.
No internet at the centre for the last week so a daily trip to the local village to check emails and organize latest travel plans has become part of my routine. I seem to have caught a bit of a flu and feel the heat more what with slight fever so took a rickshaw one day but found I have preferred getting back on the bike to enjoy the breeze that riding creates. It is a cumbersome process to try to organize the changes required to get back to oz and onto Darwin flights and get in touch with uni on a computer that fades in and out with the change in power - a good lesson in patience.
Yesterday escaped the oppressive heat of my room and the centre’s enclosed walls, which seem to keep the heat in and breeze out – and walked to the Korean temple. There is a huge high ceilinged meditation hall/shine room and I was hoping to find a bit more coolness and a change of scene. It was an opportune visit and perfect timing as I ran into two friends from my last trip – an English woman Sandy (called Santi here by the locals as it is a more familiar name - & means peace) and a Melburnian, Gwen – both teaching for a local Dalit (untouchable) NGO. I had a brief chat with them as they had things to do but we organized to meet up later. In the meantime I went and sat up in the shrine room but found there was a cooler spot by the well where I could catch a bit of a breeze and by entertained by a passing parade of locals coming to cool down and get a drink. I came back when Sandy and Gwen were having their evening meal (included brown rice! A rare sight here in Nepal) and we sat on the verandah, I regaling them with my latest adventures in oz as they ate. It was so good to have normal conversation – without the contrast its difficult to fully appreciate how different this feels from being ensconced in the meditation centre absorbed with the daily machinations of Panditarama politics, the environmental issue and my own internal chatter.
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