Since I last posted (last Friday; it's now Wednesday), it's seemed that so much has happened in my own small life, as in the larger world.

I've seen His Holiness twice, for one thing. On Saturday, I attended his half-day public teaching on the Jataka Tales. That morning, I rose well before dawn and joined a small flow of people headed for the Tsuglakhang Temple Complex where he lives and sometimes teaches. I was early enough to gain a spot just a few meters in front of his seat. I then waited quietly for about an hour and a half as others filed in, before His Holiness arrived. While waiting, those of us who are not Tibetan speakers were guided to tune into a temporary FM radio channel set up to carry the simultaneous English translation of the teaching.

Finally, the Dalai Lama, along with many attendants, slowly walked out from the back of the Temple to take his seat before us. As he arrived, we all jumped to our feet to salute him. As with any very famous face, one feels a physical shock at seeing his face in person. In the Dalai Lama's case, it also is a special feeling to be in his presence, especially in the company of so many of the Tibetan people whom he leads (there also were plenty of foreigners and journalists present).

Although the stated subject of his talk was the Jataka Tales--ancient teaching tales used to make Buddhist points meaningful to ordinary people--he spent relatively little time on that topic, and instead addressed what he knew were concerns of his own people and the world at large. As you probably know, he recently proposed to devolve his political authority and retain just his spiritual authority over the Tibetan people. As I understand it, his close advisors have agreed, but the exiled Tibetan Parliament is discussing the proposal and some members remain reluctant to approve it. The Dalai Lama pointed out that it was not until the Fifth Dalai Lama (he is the 14th) that the Dalai Lama was given political power. He also pointed out that "China has a Dalai Lama problem" and that there could be more opportunities for fruitful negotiations with that country if discussions were not tightly focused on him. He also emphasized that "independence for Tibet is not an option at present," encouraging his Tibetan listeners to think in terms of working for greater autonomy for Tibet rather than independence.

After he finished speaking and retired back into the Temple, I found myself with my usual mental chatter completely silenced, and mind spacious and calm--such is the effect of being in his presence. I made my way slowly out of the Temple along with the other attendees, and then just continued walking, up the road to the village of Dharamkot, and then higher and higher up into the hills on another winding road until I finally arrived at a Hindu temple a few kilometers uphill, where I found beautiful views in all directions and a little tea stall with refreshments (wherever you go, there's always a tea stall in India!).

I returned back to town in the late afternoon and then strolled over to Llamo's Croissant Cafe, where you can watch a Tibetan-themed movie in an upstairs room each evening. I decided to have dinner there and watch Seven Years in Tibet. It was a through-the-looking-glass experience to have seen the present Dalai Lama in the morning, and then to watch a depiction of his much younger self on screen in the evening.

Monday, I breakfasted in one of my favorite cafes (Gakyi). It's become a favorite because for somehow it's easy there to have conversations with other diners. I learned from someone at the next table that a new series of English-language classes were starting that day at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. So I hurried down the hill--the library is about half hour's walk below McLeodganj--and signed up for two classes. I'm now taking a 9am class in Beginning Tibetan--at the very least, I thought, this experience should help me empathize with my English students--and an 11am class in Tibetan philosophy. The latter class is focusing initially on Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend, a classic Mahayana Buddhist text. In this letter, Nagarjuna, a great Indian sage, writes to his friend, a king, to offer guidelines for successful Buddhist practice as a busy layperson.

I adore both classes. The teacher of the philosophy class is erudite and makes his points humorously and kindly, so that each class feels like a particularly wonderful Dharma talk (a fellow student told me that our teacher is the Director of the Library). The teacher of the Beginning Tibetan class is an Ani (nun) who drills us patiently and energetically each day in the fundamentals that we need before we can begin to learn words and grammar. So far, we've been learning to read and sound out the letters and vowels correctly, via drilling over and over. She has a remarkable ear for hearing when our pronunciation is a bit incorrect--often the case, because Tibetan includes some sounds not found in European languages.

This morning, as it happens, I saw His Holiness again, though very briefly. As I was walking from Mcleodganj downhill towards my morning classes, I noticed many people along the sides of the road. Huh, I thought, they must be waiting for a bus, and I returned to my own thoughts. A few minutes later, though, a young Tibetan hesitantly greeted me: "Good morning, Madam!" I returned his greeting. After a pause, he added, "Do you know His Holiness is coming?" He explained that the Dalai Lama was traveling that morning to lower Dharamsala. I realized that I was the only person walking along the road, and that everyone else was standing and waiting. I stopped to wait with my kind informant by the roadside. Within a minute or so, we heard sirens, a police vehicle then passed by us, and then we had a brief glimpse of His Holiness in the passenger seat of the next car.

So my morning is spent in my own learning projects. Then I walk back up the steep road (it's great exercise!) back to Mcleodganj for an afternoon of English teaching involvement. I'm still observing and sometimes assisting in the intermediate English class that I'll begin teaching next week, and I'm beginning to prepare the initial lessons I'll teach. Happily, Lha has a library with many good references for English teachers and students. A difference from the volunteer English tutoring I do at home in Seattle is that while the goal of the Seattle tutoring is to help people to communicate effectively--with grammatical correctness being a lower priority--grammar is heavily emphasized in the classes here. I was given a list of grammar topics to cover, and in some cases (e.g., the perfect tenses) have been quietly reviewing topics to be sure I can teach them accurately. All in all, it's been a good review for me.