Hello Dalai

Political Sign about the Stolen Panchen Lama

Statue to those that  self-emollition 

British Church from Raj

Beware of Bears in India

Lord Elgin Grave

The Jewelry Counter

The Muslim Husband

Tibetan Monk

Our guide met us and took us to the Dalai Lama’s Temple that is across the street from our hotel. By coincidence today is the 42^nd anniversary of what the Tibet in Exile call Democracy Day. It is a major holiday. We first went to a Tibet Museum. It is extremely political. Tibet has a very tortured past with many wars. The point of the museum to us was to establish the fact that Tibet was always an independent country, not part of China. The museum mission is centered around the brutality that the Chinese have brought to Tibet, destroying their culture and religion. The Chinese government has also moved lots of non-Tibetans to Tibet making Tibetans a minority in their own country. They prohibit the teaching of the Tibet language in the schools. Scott reminded us that during the Cultural Revolution the Chinese also destroyed their cultural heritage. However the destruction in Tibet continues un-abated till today.

The museum also features a very vivid and shocking video of the self-emollition (setting oneself on fire to kill one self as a form of political protest) that have happened in Tibet. I had assumed the deaths were monks protesting; but in addition to the deaths of monks, ordinary people are performing this form of sacrifice. The Dalai Lama and the Tibet Government in Exile does not promote this act but they definitely use it to make the point about the hopelessness that Tibetans feel. There are signs around Dharamsala about the missing Panchan Lama who is another spiritual leader who the Chinese took away. No one knows where he is being held. I felt much more political awareness in Dharamsala then I do spirituality. I am sure there is a spiritual side, but the signs you see are all political. There is nothing bad about that, this is a Government in Exile, I was just surprised.

We then went to the actual Temple adjacent to the Dalai Lama’s residence. No cameras are allowed. Thousands were gathered there for political speeches. We listened for a while then left. Interestingly most of the speeches were in English, so I assume they are for foreign consumption.

We drove to an old deserted Christian Cemetery to observe the grave of Lord Elgin, who was governor of India and died in Dharamsala and was the grandson of Lord Elgin who took the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon.

We drove back to the city through the very busy traffic and went shopping. It was very interesting. We went to a jewelry store that also sold rugs. A most unusual couple owned it. The wife was Israeli who came to Dharamsala after serving in the Israeli Army. Many Israelis after service apparently come to India, to chill out, get high and get over the pressure of their military service. Her husband was from Kashmir and was a Muslim. So here in the Hindu / Buddhist town of Dharamsala a Jew and Muslim met and fell in love and got married. It is quite a story. We spent a lot of time in the store; they displayed all kinds of jewelry and rugs. In the end we didn’t buy anything but felt uplifted by their story.

A few days ago while visiting a Hindu Temple, I bent over to take my shoes off (required for entry in a Hindu Temple) and my iPhone fell out of my breast pocket and its screen shattered. It still works fine, but the screen is a mess and I have been worried it would either cut me, or fall off leaving the iPhone inoperable. I use the phone for both calls and taking all of the pictures on our blog. I used to carry a camera but the iPhone camera is so good there is no need for a camera. I went to a local phone store today near the hotel and a man said he could replace the screen for me. I debated and decided to leave the phone with him. I said I would pay him an additional 100 rupees ($ 2.00) if he would deliver the repaired phone to our hotel. He said he would bring it about 8pm. Cathy, Tom and Scott were aware of this and as we were eating our dinner, and the clocked past 8pm, then 8:30 they started to tease me. I had given an iPhone 5S, the latest model, to someone I didn’t know, how crazy was that. The man appeared about 8:45 with my perfectly repaired iPhone. Between the Jewish wife and her Muslim husband, and my iPhone being repaired and returned by someone I didn’t know, maybe the Dalai Lama’s aura has touched Dharamsala.