Meetings with remarkable woman!

Rashmi 

 Friday 28th June 2013...the penultimate day!

And what a day its been culminating with a ceremonial send off at the end of the MIDSON general meeting! I was presented with scarves, flowers  gifts and so many kind wishes and farewells!

I'm feeling both sad to be leaving but also looking forward to going home, and I'm sure I'll be back one day. I wish all the good and remarkable woman of MIDSON the best of luck in their mission to bring midwifery to Nepal and improve the health and well being of mothers and babies!

Amongst Buddhists

Last weekend, I went to visit Bodhnath, Asia's largest stupa, on the edge of Kathamandu a place I  visited 27 years ago. As I stepped through the gateway that led me from the noisy busy street, I found myself transported as if back in time and place to Lhasa in Tibet as I was swept along with the circumambulating Tibetans , murmuring mantras and spinning prayer wheels as they walked around the stupa , the pungeant smell of Tibetan incense hanging in the air.

Such a contrast from the frenetic energy of the streets outside to the calm ambience of the lanes around the stupa which although thronging with people and small shops and cafes still maintained the spiritual feel of the place.

"Historically, the stupa was an important staging post on the the trade route between Lhasa and Kathmandu and Tibetan traders would pray here for a safe journey before driving their yaks on to the high passes of the Himalya"(Lonely Planet Guide).

Most of the Tibetans living here are refugees who fled their country after the Chinese invasion in 1959.

With my trusty 'Lonely Planet' in hand I sought out a place to stay for the night and ended up in Shechen monastery guest house which I found down one of the wee alleyways radiating out from the hub of the stupa. This gompa was established by Dilgo Khyentse Rimpoche and today has a thriving community of over 300 monks. I had once stayed in another retreat centre founded by Dilgo Rimpoche in India and read his books so I felt immediately at home here.

The pathway leading to the guest house.

As the skies grew dark and heavy with rain I stepped inside the main prayer hall of the monastery just  as the monks were settling themselves on their cushions for their evening puja. I sat at the back in the shadows on the cool marble floor and closed my eyes...ah how blissful to be here in the quiet space of the mediation hall, the golden Buddhas and Boddhisattvas gazing down on me with their benevolent smiles, surrounded by beautiful murals painted by artists from Bhutan, adorning the walls. 

As the thunder rumbled outside and the rain began to pour, the monks began chanting their deep throated gutteral mantras, growing in intensity and volume and culminating with a sudden crash of cymbals and banging of drums and blowing of horns, the sound flooding my whole body and being, bringing me most fully to my senses and setting my heart a quiver. A most cathartic experience!

Just then, a young monk came by with a giant teapot and poured me a cup of delicious hot sweet tea.

My Buddha it was good... I could have sat there forever savouring this precious moment!