22 over 7 = [aspects and concepts of matter and energy / form, flame, light, space, image and imagination]

South Asia '08, part six:
Bodhgaya bonus

There's going to be quite a bit more from Mahabodhi Temple (and other locations), but I will have to construct panoramas in Photoshop and upload videos when I get home. In the meantime, some bits and pieces...

Part five...Part seven

South Asia '08, part five:
Bodhgaya and beyond

After a day of rain and a day of cold (with an autorickshaw ride to some cave shrines in between), we made our way west to New Delhi.

Our train departed from Gaya, about 10 km north of Bodhgaya village. Our pre-arranged taxi to the station was almost an hour late, but we arrived in enough time to jump onto the Mahabodhi Express (which takes 16 hours to reach its destination).

From the tuk-tuk:

From the train:

Part four ... Part six

South Asia '08, part four:
Varanasi to Bodhgaya

We left Varanasi for Gaya in the early, early hours of January 22. When the plan for this trip changed from a solo excursion to a trip for two (and then three) in December, I insisted that one way or another -- coming from or going toward Kathmandu -- I wanted to be in Bodhgaya in time for the Full Moon.

Not that I had an intention of participating in ceremony, or because I thought that there'd be some special manifestation or inspiration to experience (well, OK, that was part of it). I simply wanted to make a time-lapse photo of the Moon above the Bodhi Tree at Mahabodhi Temple.

As it happened, of course, it was overcast on that afternoon and evening. But that didn't matter at all by that time, since I was so emotionally wound up and laid out because of the mass prayer event that was underway at Mahabodhi that day.

Back in December, I'd read that one of two Tibetan Buddhist sects (the Nyingma or the Kagyu) was going to have its several-days-long prayer festival at Bodhgaya during the time of our visit. Exiled and resettled monks and nuns from around India, as well as "professional" practitioners from Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese and other countries' monastics institutions, typically gather in Bodhgaya during the late winter. This gathering coincides with the lunar new year and other Buddhist holidays. It also provides a warm-weather retreat for those who live in northwestern India and Nepal.

Anyhow, I thought that it would be the Nyingma who'd have their monlam ("wish path") when we arrived on January 22. In fact, it was the Kagyu, which was touching for me since I'd practiced and studied under that sect when I was first introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in '99 and 2000. Seeing and hearing and walking among so many people focused on the sadhana, as well as being overwhlemed by the size of the temple and earnestness, intense feeling that circulated around the complex... It was a trip, to say the least. I was moved (to tears) and just walked around and around for a couple of hours. It seemed, so much more than the return to Sedona in June, like a culminating event for my life (or an even longer duration of time and experience).

Obviously, these few photos aren't all that I produced that afternoon. We've been on the move again, and I'll get to the rest from Bodhgaya in due time.

Part three ... Part five

South Asia '08, part three:
Varanasi revisited

Part two ... Part four

South Asia '08, part two:
Kathmandu to Varanasi

We made one trip into Kathmandu proper, but we didn't feel compelled to return. It was sort of like Cairo: The Hassle from salespeople and guides, traffic from five directions, bored kids and underemployed adults hanging out on the centuries-old temples, staring at all of the tourists (like us) who milled around in their markets and backstreets. The Durbar Square complex is chock full of historical Hindu architecture, but you'd have to be a student of such things to get a lot out of it.

It was much better in Boudhanath, where we had our acommodations. More videos from both locations will come after we settle in in New Delhi (or perhaps when I return to Korea). I'm writing this from Bodhgaya, where the power has gone out and the generators have kicked in three times in 10 minutes. But that's the least important thing to mention about Bodhgaya (more in part four).

Anyhow...

We left Kathmandu (Boudhanath, really) on the 19th and flew to Varanasi. The city is replete with temples to Shiva, to whom the Hindus credit the city's founding and activity. Many people go to Varanasi to see something of the "real" or "old" India. Many go to study religion, practice meditation or reaffirm their belief with a baptism in the holy (but unfortunately septic) Ganges River. Many go to Varanasi to prepare to die. After death, the corpses are taken to "the burning ghat" to be creamted while family members perform the necessary rites.

Varanasi is a hive of alleys and corners and alcoves, full of the faithful and foreign tourists. Music and song emanates from the temples at almost all hours of day and night. There's caution given about crime at night, and I'd say that that caution ought to be heeded (although it would apply to many parts of India)... but what's more important is the texture and sound and smells and views that one will be able to take in there. It's humbling and silencing and inspiring all at once.

From Kathmandu and Boudhanath:

And then from Varanasi:

Part one ... Part three

South Asia '08, part one:
Kolkata to Kathmandu

Hello. As I write, I can look to my left and see the southwestern face of the Great Stupa at Boudhanath through the window. We arrived in Nepal on Wednesday, after three and a half days in Kolkata (the former Calcutta) in NE India. Here are some of the photos from...

10th-century statue
of the bodhisattva Tara
at Kolkata Indian Museum

The Maidan

The flower market near Howrah Bridge, Kolkata

The Indian Botanic Gardens

Boudhanath Stupa

Kumari Palace in Kathmandu

The area around Durbar Square in KTM

Boudhanath Stupa, once more

We will depart for Varanasi, India, tomorrow.
Perhaps I'll get some of the videos online before then.

Part two

Ghats and wats on the horizon

My Lady Friend and I will leave for India,
Nepal and Thailand this weekend.

Major stops will include Kolkata, Kathmandu, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, New Delhi and then Bangkok. We'll stay in BKK until the beginning of February, then I have to return to Korea and teach for a minute before the Lunar New Year. My Lady Friend and a friend of hers will commune with elephants or laze on the beach (or both) in my absence.

Five faces of the Sun

I was clearing old files from my external drive
and found some solar-probe videos
from 2000 to 2002 (or '04).

For current imagery, check out SolarSoft, SpaceWeather, Hinode Solar-B, and SOHO... as well as the site for the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE).

Morning Moons, once more

These were the first.

1080px version

Mars and Orion outshine
the background stars

Now this is how the scene that I shared last week would have appeared, if 4.5 million people didn't live nearby.

Follow this link to see and read more about Orion.

Healing songs
and botanical
technology

In D'autres mondes (Other Worlds), documentarian Jan Kounen "journeys to the Amazon to investigate the mysteries that surround tribal shamanism as well as the entheogens/hallucinogens employed in indigenous Amazonian practices.." There are also interviews with numerous Western researchers who attest to the healing potential of the substances used by the Shipibo-Conibo tribes, and how those substances (as well as the tribes' environmental ideology) can heal and teach modern society.

See this bit also: "A medicine hunter on a remote path to cures." Unfortunately, much of the focus is on how much money people have made and might make in future from plant medicines used by traditional societies.