Meditate...Yoga...Meditate...Buddhism...Meditate

Sunday, August 26^th

Our Buddhist meditation and yoga weekend was interesting. The meditation and Buddhist teaching was interesting but a lot of it was a repetition of what Our Buddhist meditation and yoga weekend was interesting. The meditation and Buddhist teaching was interesting but a lot of it was a repetition of what I have already learnt. I also did not enjoy the monk’s method of teaching. He was trying a more philosophical approach and trying to make us think about things. Question what is real what is not, how do we know what is real. He asked us to define ourselves; he asked us what we thought happiness is etc.. All very great questions that promote discussion only he laughed at and argued every answer by every person. It was intended to make you think but for me it was making me angry and I felt he was treating us like idiots. I know this was not his intention however I couldn’t get beyond the emotions it was stirring up.The yoga was extremely basic so it was disappointing. Five of the group of 13 of us left after the first night as they had come primarily for the yoga.I really enjoyed the meditation teacher. He did some yoga and several meditations with us every day. It was a good experience and I hope I can continue it at home and bring some of the yoga exercises to my own students.

We are learning that ants and small insects are everywhere however as part of our Buddhist weekend we made a promise not to kill anything. The bed was comfortable; there were two main toilets for everyone to share and three showers (two of which were in with the toilets, this is very common in Nepal). No towels were provided so now despite Hailey’s criticism that I always over-pack, I’m glad I threw one in at the last minute.

They have power outages here in Pokhara just as they do in the rest of Nepal however this place is well set up with solar panels so it is less noticeable.  It seems only certain things turn off. Nobody seems to rely on electricity for cooking, as everything stays open. There are however certain foods that cannot be prepared when the electricity is out.

I learnt over the weekend that hotels in Pokhara are as cheap as 150Npr, which is about $2 per night. The meditation centre that we are staying at right now only charges 200Npr per night (about $3). We booked our hotel for Monday night through a travel agency in Kathmandu. We are paying $20. Per night! I’m thinking it had better be a palace! I guess that’s not very Zen of me is it after a weekend of meditation, Buddhist teaching and yoga. I don’t even want to know how much we should have paid for the paragliding.

Noise bugs – There is some kind of weird bug in Pokhara that attaches itself to an object and then vibrates. They make a tremendous amount of noise. Like a metal gear that needs oil?? Or breaks that need to be replaced?? Anyway it goes on for a long period of time and then just stops.

We said our goodbye’s Sunday night as Monday morning we were heading out first thing to go paragliding. I received several compliments/comments that it was very nice to see mother and daughter travelling together and participating in this weekend retreat together. Made me feel good about myself and the choices I am making.