[JPM Travel Journals] INDIA and NEPAL 01 Intro to India Holi Holy Vrindaban The Sadhu in Taj's Shadow Pushkar's Respite A Sitar & a Vespa in Udaipur The Clean-Bombing of Mumbai Goa Beach Hippie Sighting Tours Unequal Vision in Benares Everest, Out the Window Into Their Thin Air Anna Purr Now Within You Without You Rishikesh Part 2 Amritsar: Bold, Gold His Holiness of Dangerous Liasons Delhi Visit #5 New Delhi Turns to New York [ PHOTO ARCHIVE ]

His Holiness of Dangerous Liasons 15 June 01 Dharamsala/McLeodganj, India. Today I attended a public audience and got to meet the Dalai Lama. It was a total circus two days ago going through the formalities to register to meet this great soul.. but it worked out and this morning we went to his residence and the excellent monastery complex. He glows, he looks just like the warm, kind man in all the photos and films you see of him. It was really a fine moment. It went all too quick. I wanted to ask him which of the Three Stooges was his favorite, but I forgot. Bhagsu Village. (just above Upper Dharamsala/Mcleodganj) Dharamsala is a very odd place. Very touristy, and not near as non- India as I hoped it would be. A lot of Tibetans here, but not enough. They are just a beautiful people typically and I feel like this is perhaps one of their only real homes, if even in exile, so long as China continues to dominate and oppress their mother country. HH The Dalai Lama and the Tibet Govt in Exile are all here, most of the traders and shops are Tibetan, and its a very soulful place. It being one of the only places in India that isn't five thousand degrees farenheit, there are a lot of people here visiting. Its indeed a resort or a colony of some sort. The first night I stayed in a family's guesthouse on a hillside, 3 km walk uphill from the town. Gorgeous views.. I was in a small personal simple room with a hard bed. Now I've moved downtown and am in the thick of it in McLeodganj (Upper Dharamsala.) I splashed out and have a $4 room with lots of windows that actually close and 24 hour hot water, hey, even my own bathroom with my own fancy asian potty. Well, its not that fancy. Ate at a Japanese place tonight, first time I had Japanese in about four months. It was really great. The place donates all its profit to Tibetan refugee funds. How excellent is that? Alas, now I must escape into the evening and formulate some more plans... see how it goes. I was thinking about signing up for a 7-10 meditation or buddhist course with a monastery, or possibly getting level one certification and training for Reiki method healing/therapy. There are a lot of masters here and its a pretty interesting thing.. though I don't know how much I follow or understand it yet. Until again.. forgive me, for I just don't have the composure for sitting at a computer right now. Delhi Visit #5 >> ©2001 JPM. All photography and writing copyrighted.