From Brahma to Buddha, Fall 2009

I cannot imagine a greater contrast between two cities than that of Delhi and Leh. Delhi is an explosion of sights, sounds, and smells. Dogs, cows, lights, shops, stalls, markets, rickshaws, autos, cars, bikes, birds, trash, voices, and more than anything people, all around and blending into each other. The place is simply alive. Leh, on the other hand, is quiet, peaceful--alive in a very different way. The locals are relaxed and friendly, with easy smiles, and everything around us, from the gardens to the pale sunlight to the Himalayas guarding the horizon, is born of humanity and communion.

A few of us had a very interesting talk last night. It started as a discussion of the slowly broadening modernization of Ladakh; morphed into a discussion about capitalism and consumerism; took a turn into a philosophical discussion of selfishness, good, and evil; quickly grew to concern the nature of man and what separates him from the rest of the planet; drew in topics of consciousness, intention vs. consequence, instinct vs. cognition; and spun quite out of control from there. It was easily the best night of the trip so far, and I feel that those of us who participated in the exchange chalked up another level of depth to our building group relationship. Similar such talks to come, I hope...

I've had so much mint tea in the past two days, it's leaking out my eyes and ears.