two weeks ago, i went with mom, earl, sherry and elle to bylakuppe which is a tibetan settlement near mysore. even though india has a population of 1,129,866,154 in a space 1/3 the size of the USA, the government still has found room to donated to help the tiban people maintain their culture. bylakuppe, near mysore, is a settlement which includes a series of temples, private residences, shops and guest houses. when i first came to mysore it was possible for anyone to just show up and visit, but the indian government has since declared it a restricted tourist zone which meant that this time we had to get permission from the local police before going. anyone wanting to stay overnight needs to get permission from the main office in delhi.

not including the thai buddhist community which i am surrounded with during most of the year, this is the second buddhist community that i’ve visited during the past year, both of which are maintained by people in exile from communist governments. thich nanh hanh’s formed his sangha in plum village france when he was exiled from vietnam (he recently has been allowed to return to vietnam to teach) and the tibetian people have formed many settlements around india (and the world) ever since the chinese invaded their land. while both communities share similar roots, they seem to have gone in very different directions. thich nhat hanh and the dalai lama have been recognized as the two most well-known buddhist monks in the world and both have traveled and taught all over the world. much of buddhism’s current popularity in the west can be attributed to them.

umm …. so, most of that information can be found on the web. where i wanted to go with this post is that i think i’m slowly getting over my fear of monks. well maybe it’s less of a fear and more a feeling of intimidation. it almost seems silly to say that i’m afraid of someone who has about six possessions and is committed to a life of non-violence and being truthful, but for some reason i’ve felt this way for a while.

i think part of the intimidation comes from my own issues, mostly wondering why i’m not a monk. i could always become one, but i realize it’s not my karma this life around. whatever karma i built up in the last life, it doesn’t seem to be pushing me to become a monk in this life. i’ve often heard people complain that they met guruji so late in his life, that the shala is always packed and that (especially now) they get no attention from guruji. in many ways, it’s a similar issue. it’s my karma in this life that brought me to guruji. even though i met him late in his life and that he probably doesn’t remember me, i still need to be thankful that i met him and found his teachings. it’s really the same issue with monks, instead of being intidimated by them i should find a way to be thankful that i get to study their teachings.

when i meet monks, especially ones my age, i wonder why they are able to give up so much and focus on their practice 100% of the time. monks abstain completely from sex and from entertainment and i really wonder how someone my age can do that. i wonder what past-life karma lets them dedicate their lives to practice this time around.

the buddha worked to form communities of monks and nuns close to lay-communities and taught that the two communities need to support each other. he taught that the monastics need to set a spiritual example for the lay-community and that they lay-community needed to provide financial support to the monastics. the more time i spend with monastics, the less i feel intimidated by them. i have a feeling that it’s something i’m going to need to work on for a while.

i shot the photograph above using my panoramic camera and fujichrome 400 slide film which i cross processed. the original image was over-exposed so lowered the light levels in photoshop some. it looks much better bigger, click on it.