-40°C

The Bodhisattva of Compassion

This statue is at the Bodhgaya stupa. Outside the small temple are perhaps twenty monks all meditating and reciting 'om mani padme hum". Very nice atmosphere!

Bodhgaya Market

Green Tara

Here is a picture of the Green Tara image built into the Bodhgaya stupa. It is said to have great blessing power.

My new gau

A gau is kind of a portable Tibetan-style shrine. I bought it in Bodhgaya, India the main Buddhist pilgrimage place. The Buddha inside it was bought in L.A. at the same time that I took monks vows in 1988 and was blessed by Kalu Rinpoche.

Another opportunity to give

No lights!

Judging by the color and style of robes I would say this is a fully-ordained Thai Buddhist Monk. Let me know if I'm wrong!

Asking- Bodhgaya, India

I gave her a hearty chunk of bread and she was very pleased.

dharma food

Tibetan-style bread baked with the imprint of an endless knot.

Break time

That's pollution not snow

Another mode of transport.

Reading the Kangyur [words of the Buddha]

The Kangyur is a collection of books that can only be read in a day if the job is shared by many people. So, each of the monks has a few pages that they read in unison. It gets done in about half an hour this way.

Auto-rickshaw with monk

Back in Canada but more India pictures for a while.

Backpack Shmackpack

I regret

... to inform regular blog viewers that my camera has picked up a virus and I can't access the pictures on it right now. I'll sort it out when I get home and start posting again then. In the meantime happy holidays from Bodhgaya!

Part of the assembly at the Kagyu Monlam

i met a tourist on the way to school

Saifur asks me to critique his portfolio

First Day in India [this time]

Fields from the plane on the way to Kolkata

... and traffic on the taxi ride into town.

Horror Show

horror show mannequin freaks me out every time.

Body Warp anyone?

I like how in Thailand everyone takes off their shoes before entering.

Thai sunsets don't match the ones in the far north

http://dondrup.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post.html

Sunlight through bamboo and mosquito netting

This group of students accosted me...

to interview me for a class project.

From the meditation retreat

This monk insisted that I take our picture and get a copy printed for him too. I just dropped it off for him.

Made entirely from recycled tire

A well-respected tree

The sun is strong even in November

Not even if you say please...

A slow day

I'm not quite sure what's for sale

News from Thailand

I didn't sweat yesterday!

Wat Phra Singh

Dancers

Lots of groups of teenage dancers practicing routines in the Bangkok public park. Why not? Much nicer than indoor practice except for nosy farangs.

Guardian

... seems to be in a good mood though.

Mahamudra Temple cat

Inside the local temple

Lying down on the job x2

Sweaty guy or Sawadee ka?

Sometimes the Thai greeting of sawadee ka sounds more like sweaty guy to me. I wonder why?

My first pedicure

On the way there

Wat po

The huge reclining Buddha at Wat Po Bangkok, Thailand

Walnuts

It took five minutes to pick a 4 lb. bagful of walnuts off the ground in my yard. They taste great when they are raw and undried as long as you don't mind spending the time to peel the bitter skin off.

It's cooler and easier to look after

A Strange Picture I Drewed in Art School

My fortune

Who is loonie?

"Loonie surges to a new thirty-year high"

What I want to know is: who is Loonie and where did he buy his stash?

Garlic Fest

Work Partyers at Senge Ling

Missing from the picture: Cameron to the left and Derek to the right.