Wall Street Journal Article June 9, 2008

I got this article from my brother who regularly reads the WSJ.

Dating Problems? Career Woes?
Maybe the Dalai Lama Can Help
Westerners Flock to Himalayan Hill Town
Seeking Answers to All Sorts of Questions
By PETER WONACOTT
June 9, 2008; Page A1

DHARMSALA, India -- Philip Hemley confronted a deep personal conflict. Should he continue his studies in Sanskrit and Tibetan languages or pursue his dreams of rock 'n' roll?

So Mr. Hemley headed to this Himalayan hill town in 1989 to seek the one person he believed could resolve his inner dilemma: the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.

Mr. Hemley met the Dalai Lama, who he says praised his "talent," and the rest is pop history. He decided to pursue his rock career under the name Phil Void.


Mr. Void, as he prefers to be known, is among a throng of Westerners who have come to this corner of northern India seeking guidance from "His Holiness." Some are Buddhist pilgrims. Many others are drawn by the prospect that the Dalai Lama and his fellow monks are just as inclined to dispense advice on careers and faltering relationships as they are to tackle monumental spiritual questions.

That accessibility, combined with growing Western sympathy for the Tibetan struggle and Dharmsala's cheap digs, has sparked an uptick in visitors to this town of 20,000. The number of foreigners registered at the local visa office -- not always an accurate gauge for actual residents -- rose to 342 in 2007, up 30% from 2004. The number of Americans climbed to 54 from 30.

Dharmsala has become a magnet for the spiritual tourist. Temples and bookshops offer teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Lamp-post signs advertise natural healing, foot reflexology and a weekly "Course in Miracles."

On narrow, steep streets, Tibetan monks mix with scraggly backpackers, Indian honeymooners and rapt tourists. "If I could get a good falafel here, this place would be amazing," an American college student recently told her friend while dining at one of Dharmsala's outdoor cafes.

And now that Dharmsala can be reached by two nearby airports and decent roads, it's attracting time-pressed tourists as well. That flow doesn't appear to have been hurt by the recent unrest across the border in Tibet, in which Tibetan monks have led ongoing protests against Chinese rule.

"We get these Americans who come in and say, 'Dalai Lama, I want my enlightenment. I've got 10 days,'" complains Madam Boom Boom LaBern (aka Bernadette Ludwig). A former dancer from Australia, she now runs Cafe Boom Boom the Fifth, an artsy eatery overlooking the snow-capped Himalayas.

In 1959, when the Tibetans clashed violently with the Chinese government, the Indian government agreed to accept the Dalai Lama and other fleeing Tibetans. Many Tibetans settled here because the higher elevation and Himalayas reminded them of home, and the upper half of Dharmsala became the headquarters for Tibet's government-in-exile.

When he's in town, the Dalai Lama is a visible and accessible presence. Known abroad as much for his disarming giggle as his command of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama holds public prayer sessions at the main temple and receives a wide range of visitors. He rejects the notion that he should be worshipped. "Some call me a God King -- nonsense," he said in a May interview. Instead, he has sought "opportunities to be interactive."

"You may have noticed that he'll see anyone, unless you are a complete lunatic," adds Tendzin Choegyal, the Dalai Lama's brother.

Ruth Sonam meets many of Dharmsala's newly arrived, serving as an unpaid translator for Sonam Rinchen, a 75-year-old monk who teaches Buddhism to Westerners as part of the Dalai Lama's outreach efforts. A 65-year-old Oxford University graduate, Ms. Sonam settled in Dharmsala in the late 1970s, after her two marriages fell apart. She says some students engage in jarringly intimate conversations with the monk.

"He's celibate after all," notes Ms. Sonam. "But his advice is so compassionate and practical. I feel very privileged to be a bridge."

Mr. Void has been a bridge of sorts, too. In the late 1980s, he was studying for his doctorate in Buddhist studies with an emphasis on Sanskrit and Tibetan languages at New York's Columbia University, but was equally passionate about his rock 'n' roll band. He performed with other Western Buddhists at benefits to promote Tibetan causes and at the Dalai Lama's seminars.

In 1989, Mr. Void says he traveled to Dharmsala and presented the Dalai Lama with the lyrics of a rock anthem on Tibetan independence from China. "This music thing is happening," Mr. Void remembers telling the Dalai Lama in a private meeting. "Seems like a good thing."

"Well," Mr. Void recalls Tibet's spiritual leader as saying, "you have a talent for these songs."

For Mr. Void, the Dalai Lama's nudge was "like a note to get out of school." Shorn of academic ambitions, Mr. Void embarked on a perpetual tour with a rotating roster of bandmates called the Dharma Bums, named after the Jack Kerouac novel. "It would have been great if he had finished his dissertation on Tibetan oracles and their institutions in Tibet," says Columbia professor Robert Thurman, a Tibet specialist, Mr. Void's teacher and father of actress Uma Thurman. "But it's never too late."

Tenzin Geyche Tethong, the personal secretary for the Dalai Lama at the time, doesn't recall Mr. Void's meeting, although he says his former boss appreciates the power of music to promote the Tibetan cause. Still, he adds that the practical-minded Dalai Lama values education and tends to encourage Tibetans and foreigners to continue their studies.

With his ponytail, white-streaked beard and ample stomach, 58-year-old Mr. Void stands out even in this eclectic community. Sometimes the Dalai Lama walks over with his security detail to tug on Mr. Void's beard.

In return, Mr. Void has written paeans to the Dalai Lama, also known as Tenzin Gyatso, for guiding him.

Tenzin Gyatso, Ocean of Wisdom

Can it be that I can see things in your vision?

If you want to follow, then you must leave behind

All the things that they put inside your mind

Made you blind -- blind -- blind.

The Dharma Bums Web site (www.dharmabums.org) has a "Message from HH (His Holiness)" thanking the group, which focuses on Tibetan issues, for drawing attention to Tibet's plight. While paid gigs have been few and far between of late -- Mr. Void also sells Tibetan memorabilia to boost income -- the group does play before big audiences. In 2005, the Dharma Bums performed at New York's Madison Square Garden after a Dalai Lama teaching. "He opened for us," boasts Mr. Void.

At a Dharmsala kindergarten last month, the Bums headlined an event to raise money for making Tibetan flags, which are banned in China.

Acts included a grim-faced rock band from Estonia and a young man who read expletive-punctuated poetry, accompanied by a flute. By the time the Dharma Bums reached the stage, the crowd had thinned. A drooping microphone had to be duct-taped upright. "Oh Shangri-La, where does your sun shine now?," Mr. Void sang to a folksy, guitar-driven tune.

As the Tibetan cause has gained world-wide attention -- attention heightened by the recent spate of Olympic torch protests -- the 72-year-old Dalai Lama's schedule has grown even more congested with overseas trips, press conferences and interviews. Mr. Void is concerned that he hasn't been able to see the Dalai Lama for more than a year.

The Dalai Lama's younger brother, Mr. Choegyal, acknowledges that scheduling is getting tighter. But he adds that the Buddhist leader needs to spare some time for visitors like Mr. Void.

"They have a voice that should be heard," he says.

Write to Peter Wonacott at peter.wonacott@wsj.com

Back in the USA

Well, my first part of this journey with the Monks and Nuns has come to an end with my touch down at the Atlanta airport.

It was quite an adventure getting back to the USA. The flight from Dharamsala to Delhi was as expected, save for the glorious bag of "Bingo" potato chips that I ate like a starved yard dog.

I got to Delhi at 5:00 p.m. and, as is the case with the remnants of all things British in India, the bureaucracy was incredible. I was not allowed to enter the airport until 4 hours before the flight so a man at the airport door both shuttled me away to a holding pen across the street while simultaneously asking me if he could come to Atlanta to get a job from me. I was checked and papers stamped so many times it was ridiculous.

At 8:40 p.m. I was allowed by decree to enter the airport and went through many lines with many uniformed, but unattentive, people manning the stations. During my time at the gate, I repacked my backpack and found a large 2 inch winged creature (hmmm.... a roach?? I thought) that had snagged a ride from Dharamsala to Delhi. Shooing it away, I finished my repack and ate the few items that I could purchase that I could insure were safe (a half a cup of cashews and a bottle of Snapple). Just before departure, a uniformed young lady insisted that I return to the screener to get my tag on my bag "stamped". She had me send it through the screening device again with the same person who had screened and tagged it for carry on 3 hours earlier. She didn't take notice that my backpack had the same hang tag that was unstamped and I didn't press the issue.

I had a whole row to myself on the flight to Paris and had a great night's sleep. We departed Delhi at 1:00 a.m. and arrived 9.5 hours later at 6:30 a.m.

After a quick wash up during the 3 hour layover, a very long line in Paris' security line, and then enjoying a croissant and bottle of juice, I was on my way again for the US. The 10.5 hour flight was interminably long and even though I toggled between watching movies (Juno and 27 dresses), TV (The Office which as usual was very funny), and sleeping, the time seemed to really drag on. I sat next to a man returning from Afghanistan where he trains the local police.

Arrival in the US was a bit of an "out of body experience" and I was somewhat overwhelmed. Everything seemed so easy and navigable. Never again will I curse the Atlanta aiport (well, maybe only the TSA people). After clearing customs in Atlanta, Bob met me, we got my bags, and headed straight for a hamburger and french fries, both of which I only enjoy occasionally but for some reason, I had a craving for. I did really want a milkshake since I had not had any dairy products for 2 weeks (nor any sweets) but the place didn't come thru on that. But, the burger and fries were really tasty!

It is now Sunday (I arrived late Wednesday). After doing laundry and generally trying to reorganize my body clock and my work on Thursday, I spent Friday at a productive all day meeting with the Challenge & Champions staff since our program begins in a week. Yesterday was more (seems to take forever!!) unpacking and putting things away and today I feel I am truly back on local time and am set to go.

I will continue to post to the blog about once a week as I debrief with the others on the teacher leadership team and delve more into the details of the data from my interviews.

Stay tuned
karen

Dan Rather, the Mind and Life Institute, and the Dalai Lama

I got this following email from Bryce before I left but didn't have it with me to post while at Sara College.

The email provides information on a TV special on neuroplasticity. You may have seen it on TV or, if not, you catch watch it via the embedded link. You will want to watch the whole thing or at least the first 20 minutes. In it, His Holiness speaks with Dan Rather about negative emotions and meditation and Richard Davidson's work is highlighted in which some Buddhist scholars minds are examined through technology and analyzed with neuroscience.

Here's the email. Check out the link at the very bottom and paste it into your browser to watch.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Mind and Life Institute
To: Bryce Johnson
Sent: Thursday, May 8, 2008 6:02:32 PM
Subject: Dan Rather Mind Science Report on Neuroplasticity & new book on Building Emotional Intelligence

Dear Bryce,

Dan Ratherʼs April 8 edition of Mind Science Reports covers the topic of neuroplasticity, and how scientists, with the help of Buddhist monks and the Dalai Lama, are unlocking mysteries of the brain.

The report highlights a visit to Mind and Life board member Richard Davidsonʼs research center at the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, where neuroscientist Antoine Lutz works with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche on various meditation experiments. Film footage clips are shown from the 2007 Mind and Life XV meeting held in Atlanta with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as well as footage from the 2004 Mind and Life XII meeting on neuroplasticity held at the Dalai Lamaʼs home in Dharamsala, India.

Sharon Begley, Senior Editor at Newsweek magazine, and author of Train Your Brain, Change Your Mind -- the book that came out of the Mind and Life 2004 neuroplasticity meeting -- provides additional insight into the genesis of neuroplasticity research. And the Dalai Lama tells Dan Rather, in a one-on-one interview, that he would consider participating in meditation research in the future.

Real-life success stories in retraining the brain to recover after a stroke are also included in this report.

The live stream report can be seen at http://www.hd.net/drr313.html and the transcript of this report can be found at http://www.hd.net/transcript.html?air_master_id=A5156

More traffic in Dharamsala

Now that I have a bit of time, I've been able to figure out how to embed YouTube videos into my posts. So, I've gone back and put in the short video of the main square for you to watch (check out the post with the parade picture from last week) and here's one that I ran across that exemplifies the street scene.

It's view from a motorized rickshaw that gives a good perspective on what the street traffic in Upper Dharamsala is really like. It is amazing that no one seems to have dented cars or trucks.

Checking out and heading home

Well, my work is nearly done and this is one of my last posts while here locally. I met with Bryce today to prep him so he can teach the rest of the science education lessons I designed after I have gone. I also have one last focus group tomorow from 1:15 to 2:15, a quick re-shower and, the 3:00 p.m. cab to the airport. I take the prop plane to Delhi and need to get from the local airport by taxi to the international building. I have a 6 hour layover and board around midnight for the return to Atlanta via Paris. (Just retracing my route).

The rest of the teacher leadership institute runs for three weeks beginning next Monday after the Emory faculty members (Arri Eisen, Mark Risjord and his family, Carol Worthman and Chuck Raison) leave this week. Chris Impey and his son, along with Mark St. John and Richard Sterling begin coming in on the weekend for the Teacher Leadership Institute. Gail Burd comes in the following week and then the entire summer project ends on July 5th.

Based on what the plans seem to be at this point, I won't be making a summer trip back in the future because this work will always ocur when the Challenge & Champions program takes place and I need to be in Atlanta for that. But there is more discussion about a winter event and the development of a virtual learning community so don't know when I'll be back over (imagine sometime) and/or if I will be a programmatic developer from a-far.
So, stay tuned for more info from the project as time goes by. There won't be daily posts now unless something unusual is happening but I hope to keep updating as frequently as I can and will definitely report back once I've done a thorough look at the interview data.

I hope you enjoyed my trip prep and travel blog and would love to hear back from you on your opinion of it.
See you back on the western side of the Atlantic! This sure has been an interesting journey,
karen

Last set of science class photos

More science class photos

Science teaching update

Hey all you fans of science education, thought you'd want to know that the 5E learning cycle model has come to Tibetan science. We spent time on this and science content in my sessions and the monks and nuns seemed to really enjoy that way of being taught. In Saturday's lesson on electrostatics that I designed, we discussed how students learn and what we know about high quality science teaching. We built electroscopes out of aluminum pie pans, styrofoam cups, string, straws and foil. In a later lesson on Sunday, I intended for the students to use gelatin, pieces of wool, fruity pebbles cereal, and balloons (all of which I carried from Atlanta along with the electroscope supplies) to investigate electrostatics. I had a hunch that they would not be familiar with JELLO so brought some along and I made it in the morning in the dorm kitchen.

At night we did our investigation and then worked with the electroscopes and saw some movies I downloaded from the TV show ZOOM. They got so involved that they didn't want to leave when it was time to go (even though it was Sunday evening).

I asked for a picture of all my students so there was the chaos of a holiday family photo and we then closed up for the evening. Thought you'd want to see some action shots so will include 7 pictures, one here of the group and 3 in each of the next two posts since blogger won't take 7 pictures in one posting.

The man standing next to me in the shots on the next post where I am teaching at the front of the classroom is Tenzin, one of the translators for the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. He and has been splitting the duties with three others.

In the group picture below, he's on the far left holding the pan of jello and Paldon, one of the other translators is to his left. Tenzin is a mechanical engineer by training and Paldon is a zoologist. Both studied in Delhi but their homes are here locally and they work on this project as employees of the LTWA. Karma is the third of the four translators. He's in the purple shirt holding the orange balloon in the front row. Standing next to me on my left is Geshe Lhakdor, the head of the LTWA. Prior to coming to his position about a year and a half ago, he was the official translator for the Dalai Lama. Next to him in the white t shirt is Sangye Tashi, a 26 yr old who is the organizer of the workshop logistics. Check out the next posts for more pictures.

Enjoy!

You need to watch this video

The photo above is one that I took in the main square in McLeod Ganj (Upper Dharamsala). It was a parade that was beginning on the square. My camera didn't allow for me to take a video but I did find one on YouTube that is EXACTLY the perspective I got. I was standing on the same corner that the video begins from and stood there when I was waiting for Tenzin to meet me to ride down to the college with Geshe Lhakdor before my first class I described in a previous post below. It is amazing! You have GOT to watch this.

Teaching today and starting to wrap up

In the next post, I'll update you on my teaching of the monks and nuns. We are doing an investigation with electroscopes and then analyzing the way the lesson was designed by me. I'm starting to get into the home stretch and finalizing work here to return to Atlanta.

The monsoon season normally starts in June and there's been progressively more threatening weather rolling in. It POURED rain this afternoon (as was the case on the day we went for the teaching at the Tibetan Children's Village) for about 2 hours. Tonight, as I finished up my lesson, the thunder and lightning began. We locked up the classroom in the pitch black since the lights had gone out (as was the case for the air conditioning too, unfortunately!). I made it back to my dorm room in total darkness; thank goodness for the lightning so I could see well enough to make it back without tripping. The lights and AC came on about 10 minutes later and I feel lucky that the AC and the computer are working again. There's terrible rumbling going on but at least it is not raining at the moment.

Because of the weather, I switched my flights to return a day early (same flights just one day earlier). I changed my plans because yesterday I was cautioned against believing that I could leave on Wednesday and actually make it home to Atlanta on Thursday without a glitch for a meeting with my C&C staff on Friday. C&C (Challenge & Champions) is a great middle school program that I direct for the university through our department every summer. It begins next week and our first full staff meeting was supposed to be about 18 hours after I returned if I hadn't changed my flight to one day earlier.

I guess the monsoon rains would be a bad thing when I am in that little prop plane on the way to Delhi. I was told that the Delhi flights should not be too affected by the storms this early in the season but all bets are off when leaving from here in bad rain.

I mentioned in my earlier post today that I was at the STD tea shop to place a call to Delta and that was the reason I was calling. It took too many rupees and way too much time to make this switch. It is a bit of irony that I am in India but they told me that I had to call the call center for Delta in Atlanta to make the reservation change. And of course, they gave me a number that only went to an automated system with no people to talk to. Many calls and many rupees later, I finally got a real person on the line who knew what to do. Sherry and Richard, there might be a job for you two on this situation! (Sherry and Richard are our friends who are consultants in telephone service quality. It's this kind of stuff that keeps them busy.)

If I'm lucky, the electricity will stay on long enough to read for a bit before bed.

Here's hoping the electrons keep flowing thru the wire and don't flow thru the window,
karen

Hey, this one's for Faith

Our niece, Faith has a "flat Stanley" project that we are helping with. She prepared an image of herself that her mom (my sister Barb) got laminated. Flat Faith came to us in the mail in February and we have been taking her with us when we go places this year. We photograph "Flat Faith" in locations far and wide and the real Faith gets to live vicariously through her avatar. Flat Faith is now with me in India. I thought it only fitting to have a post specifically for her and have included her pics in Dharamsala. She actually went to the teaching by the Dalai Lama but unfortunately, as you heard in my earlier post, I couldn't take pictures there. So, I got some after the event.

There's an actual strategy for getting Flat Faith into pictures. We figured out when we did this for Flat Lily, Faith's sister Lily's avatar last year. It is very possible to get all kinds of people to hold her and get their photos taken. Even complete strangers find it fun. If no one is available, then we hold Flat Faith (or Lily as was the case last year) out at arm's length and she peeps in from the side.
With no further ado, here's Flat Faith's Dharamsala day first with a cow, with some prayer flags, and with 2 goats, all on the path as we walked to Tara's home.

Working on the research

I've just finished my second round of interviews with the monastic leaders; there are 2 more that are scheduled, one for Monday after lunch and one for Tuesday after lunch. All together I will have had a chance to talk to 20 individuals which is a bit more than half of those who are here. The work is part programmatic development and part education research. For the research, I'm asking about science education and culture. The information is very fascinating (as is the input on the program development) and I can't wait to talk to the rest who are scheduled. The participants are in groups of five (so these are actually focus groups, not individual interviews) and are about one hour long. Some of the western presumptions about how we should (or should not) teach science and how we learn science are being put to the test by me as I try to determine if these ideas hold up with these expert Buddhist leader/learners. In the focus groups, we are also delving into how well science concepts and the culture of science connects (or doesn't) to Buddhism. I will be following up and collecting more data in the future.

There are 38 monastic leaders here, 5 of whom are women from the Jangchup Choeling Nunnery in southwestern India near the coast. They realized that they are about our daughter Kate's age (they were all born between 1984 and 1987) and so now call me "mom". This morning, I was making a call to Delta Airlines from the tea shop and afterward the shop owner's son took this picture of us together where they were having their morning tea break. From the left to right are: JanChup Paldon, Sonam Youdon, me, Dawa Choedon, Thupten Yangchen, and Thupten Dolma.

Science notebooks

We science educators and scientists are always interested in developing strong laboratory skills and effective use of science journals/notebooks. I thought you might be interested in a close up view of lab notes in Tibetan. I didn't want to disturb this monk to ask what he had written but will try to follow up with that later.

Hot tip!

Did you know....????

I asked Tara how to pronounce the name of the mountains in the area. For those of you in the know, the local mountains in the east of the United States go by either "App-a-LATCH-an" or "App-a-LAY-chan" and both are correct, it just depends on your preference, and mostly where you were reared.

However, these mountains are the "Him-ALL-a-yans", not "Him-a-LAY-ans". So, if you're like me, you'll use appropriate "pro-nun-see-A-shun" when you refer to them in the future.
Yours in correct linguistics,
karen

Science today and other goings on

Today, we said goodbye to part of the life science team. Alex Escobar, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Undergraduate Laboratories in Biology, left this afternoon and Rustom Antia, a Professor in Biology who is doing research on developing a quantitative understanding of the dynamics of pathogens and immune responses left yesterday afternoon.

The neuroscience unit, led by Carol Worthman, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology and director of the Laboratory for Comparative Human Biology at Emory, and Chuck Raison, assistant professor in the Mind-Body Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory's School of Medicine, began this morning and will run for 6 days (up until the end of next week). The monastic leaders seem particularly interested in neuroscience. The morning's lectures were complemented by input from Mark Risjord, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, and Associate Professor in Philosophy. Here you see some photos I took of the monastic leaders carrying out neuroscience investigations this afternoon.

His Holiness's teaching at Tibetan Children's Village School

Yesterday, I was lucky and honored to be invited, along with all of the other faculty and guests with the Emory Tibet Science Initiative, to a special teaching on Buddhism by the Dalai Lama at the Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala. We took a cab to the event. Here are three photos taken from the cab on the way there. The village had an air of excitement and was very full of people attending, hoping to catch a glimpse of His Holiness outside the venue, or listen to the event with a radio broadcast from outside the building where the teaching occured.

As you would expect, all cameras were forbidden (so I have no photos at this time) and all bags were checked. We got special badges to pin on and presumed we would be sitting in the auditorium proper with the other attendees. However, leaders from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (those who are leading this project and are those with whom we are working this week) directed us to stand to the side while arrangements were made. We walked down to a side door of the building and when we got inside, it dawned on us that we were not going to be seated with the hundreds of others. Rather, we were standing on the right side of the stage and realized that our seats were ON the stage. We sat on floor cushions on the right side of the stage with some other guests who appeared to be lay persons. The left side of the stage was filled with monks who were already seated on floor cushions. After about 10 minutes, the Dalai Lama arrived and was seated in a large chair in the middle of the stage at the front.

His Holiness spoke for about 3 hours in the school auditorium to college students who had traveled far and wide to be there with him. The upper level was reserved for the local school children. We got FM transistor radios and used our ear phones (yes, I did manage to pick up a set in McLeod Ganj when we went there the other night) and tuned to the station that was broadcasting in English. There were other translators and I could see that we were sitting near the man translating into Chinese.

After the event ended, we walked to the residence of Tara Doyle, Senior Lecturer at Emory and Director of the Tibetan Studies program in India for the University. She lives 5 months each year in Dharamsala in a home originally built by the British in the late 1800's. We stopped by a roadside stand for some produce and juice and had a very nice lunch on her terrace before heading back to Sara College at the end of the afternoon. Here you see her buying fruit from the local produce man.

Thanks for your posts!

It's really nice to read the posts that those of you have sent to me. I really like hearing from you so if you get the urge to post something, I'd love to read it! Today is day 6 of 12 so I'm beginning the second half of this summer's trip. Check out tomorrow's posting to learn about our team attending His Holiness's teaching. Stay tuned.....
ttfn

Tibetan marchers arrested today in India

At least 270 Tibetans marching toward Tibet were arrested today as noted on the street and in the Daily India News

Photo album is up

I realized that the photo album from yesterday's trip wasn't linking correctly so moved the photos to another service and recaptioned them. You can either watch the small images at the right or click on the photos to open up another window to read the captions and see the larger images.

The Kora is the name of the prayer path around His Holiness's residence and many of the photos were taken on that tour.

Learn more about mani stones and the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra that people chant as they walk the Kora. The photo album from June 4th shows many mani stones, all of which are hand carved.

Visit to Upper Dharamsala

This afternoon and evening a group went to McLeod Ganj, otherwise known as Upper Dharamsala. This town is the home of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. It was originally a hill station that the British founded in India that the Indian government gave to the Tibetans upon their exile from Tibet.

It is a hair raising 30 minute cab ride from Sara College. The roads to the town and in town are in some cases no more than 10 feet wide, the terrain is incredibly rugged (remember, this is in the Himalayan Mountains), and the bad condition of the roads makes my home state of Pennsylvania look as smooth as a pool table.

The cab drivers go about 25 miles per hour when they are moving slowly and they continually honk their horns (think the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe), there are packs of roving dogs, not owned by anyone in particular, cows roaming at their leisure and tons of Buddhists, pilgrims, and devotees walking the streets.

I took lots of photos and put them on the link to the right (there are about 36 to see) rather than take up space here in this posting. You will see the politicized environment and the local street scenes. It's amazing that so many people are shoe horned in here along every possible buildable and not buildable surface. I think the only criterion for building some place is that it is solid, not that it is flat.

We had an excellent tour of the path around the Dalai Lama's residence. In Buddhism, favors are gained by circumnambulating (walking around) in a clockwise direction around important places. The path we took was full of stupas and prayer flags found only in Tibetan Buddhism and thought to originate in the Bon religion before Buddhism took root. Our tour guide, Pii, one of the Emory Tibet Science Initiative team, said they are also called wind horses, since they flutter and send prayers out in all directions as they flap. Many Buddhists come to this path daily for their prayers counting the trips around on their rosary beads.

When we were done, we stopped into a cafe for soft drinks and lassies (a fruit drink, not the famous TV star, in case you aren't familiar) and then went to a restaurant where we sat out on the rooftop terrace as the sun was dropping behind the mountains. It was a beautiful night and what an international experience....the roof terrace was filled with young Americans who were playing guitar and a bongo drum doing a pretty good rendition of Bob Marley tunes all while being in India in the seat of the Tibetan world.

Here's one of my favorite photos: a free bird soaring among the prayer flags.

Happy Birthday Brian!

Well, I tried to use the STD tea shop to make another call today to our son, Brian but it was closed. So, will have to say a great Happy 25th Birthday, from the blog.

Hope it's a great one, Brian!

Love, Mom

Making phone calls

I was able to call home last night. There's a kiosk on the campus, it's actually called a tea shop (well, you judge for yourself) and it has an STD. Hmmm...what is that? I don't know but it's a sign that indicates a facility that has a dial out service. For a few rupees, I could step into their phone booth and call the US. It worked well, particularly since ATT said I could make international calls but I get no signal. This morning, I took a photo of the tea shop/phone booth and all around general convenience store.

Daily schedule at Sara College

Woo, hoo! Sweeeeet!I have internet access from my room! My room is one floor up and directly above the commons area-- the internet is seeping into Room 18, my dorm. So, one quick post here before heading off to the lectures on evolution that will be finishing up today. The daily schedule is breakfast at 7:30 followed by two 90 minute sessions by faculty in the morning (with a half hour tea break), followed by lunch at 12:30 and sessions beginning again at 2:30 that run until 6:00 p.m. Dinner is at 7:30. The days end with an hour Q/A and the questions that the monks and nuns are asking are stellarly insightful. It's amazing that they are so able to maintain focus on the work and content for all day each day and for many of them, do this through a translator.

Yesterday I took a photo from where the faculty sit at the back of the room so here you can get a sense of what the space is configured like. I am still getting used to this camera so hope to get some better pics to post later.

Welcome to Delhi and Dharamsala

Hey all, I made it with no big problems. Just the ususal travel stories but as promised, I did try out the "first class blow up seat" and believe it or not, it was a great ride, just as advertised. Or, it might have been the Ambien that I took just before dinner. In any case, I awoke just in time to catch the wake up call coming into Charles De Gaulle airport. You would have thought I had slept in my own bed!
One bad thing was I lost my headphones so now am without them and have to get a new set.

I caught the Air France flight to Delhi and was lucky enough to have the seat next to me empty. I arrived in Delhi at 10:30 p.m. and went through customs. It reminded me of a scene from Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory. The line up for the customs wound its way all the way to the bottom of the escalator and so there was no place to go. It was like a conveyor belt in a candy factory where the box is full at the end of the line. After some scrambling, the people behind stopped marching in place on the escalator and when I looked back, the others wisely decided to wait at the top, rather than get on and march at the bottom until some floor space cleared up. One wailing baby and a distraught Indian mom singing "jingle bell, jingle bell, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm..." and an hour wait finally put me through the bureaucracy and myriad rubber stamping. I got to the baggage claim and couldn't find my bag but it turned up just as I got into the line to report it missing.

The person from Tibetan Tours met me outside baggage claim without a problem and took me directly to the Singh Sons hotel. Talk about CRAZY!! A few hours and about 6 hours of sleep later, I was picked up and then dropped off (again by Tibetan Tours) to the local airport for the ride to Dharamsala. It was interesting that the women and men go through different screeners and the woman's one is like a dressing room with a fabric curtain. I waited about an hour and then took off for Dharamsala which is about 90 minutes flying time from Delhi.

Here's a photo of the plane to Dharamsala.

Packing and heading out

I'm posting this one last entry before catching the plane in a few hours. The weather in Dharamsala shows (check the link on the right if you haven't yet) that the temps so far have been in the low to mid 70's and evening temps in the 50's. On June 2nd (when I get there), the sun comes out, the temps go up 10-15 degrees and the weather is supposed to be clear and HOT...in the upper 90's. So much for cool weather that has been going on up until now.

Plastic bags are a great help in keeping it all organized and I'm trying to fit it all into as little space as possible. Bryce emailed a couple of days ago saying that the Air Deccan flight will charge me for the bags so I have to get some rupees right away.

I succumbed to an ad in one of the travel magazines for a blow up seat supplement. It says "travel like first class while in coach". I tried it yesterday while Bob was rolling his eyes. It seems like one of those gimmicks that will either be great or a total bust. I'll let you know. You inflate it with about 10 breaths and put it behind your back. It looks like it might take up more of the seat than me and I suppose blowing it up might create a bit of an event on the plane but at least it deflates and rolls flat to go back into my backpack if I don't like it. Once I try it out, I'll let you know if it was worth it or not.

I'm waiting curiously to see how the flight passengers will act. A doctor told me that many people are now taking sleeping meds for the flight. And, if any of them gets the Ambien sleep walking urge, I wonder if we'll have a plane that looks like the movie Night of the Living Dead. George Romero would love it! Check out the photo slide show from this 1968 classic.

Next posting will be from India presuming I can get to an internet cafe. Talk to ya soon from across the pond!

Malarone

I got started on my malaria meds today (malarone). The prescription indicator sheet noted "if you vomit this up, take another dose immediately. Can cause dizziness, vomiting, and nausea." So, I did as told and chugged it down but not with milk as suggested since I don't know if I'll be drinking milk in India at the college. I was a bit queasy all day but the projectile vomit was luckily not in the cards for me this time.

We did one last outing to the Atlanta Symphony tonight to hear Patti Austin and the ASO; she was great, sang a lot of Ella's old work and Duke Ellington's stuff. Time to pack is looming!

The Karmapa Lama's visit

The Karmapa Lama is currently visiting the United States and was in Denver yesterday. He is the third highest Lama and is a charasimatic young leader. You can catch his blog about the U.S. trip that runs from May 15 to June 2nd and learn more about Ogyen Trinley Dorge born to Tibetan nomads.

Last minute supplies and arrangements

Time is drawing short and I'm getting my last minute supplies for my trip next week. The big question is being able to fit it all into the suitcases and back pack. I've got towels, clothes, toiletries, some extra stash of peanut butter (just in case), all the extra meds, a bunch of electronic gear (interview stuff, computer, camera, phone), books to read, and just have to cram it all in somehow.

I'll be staying at Singh Sons in Delhi so hope it is a good place. I'm supposed to arrive in Delhi at 10:30 on Sunday night June 1st and will be met by someone from Tibetan tours (holding a sign with my name on it). If I'm lucky, I'll get through customs by sometime after midnight but before 2 a.m. I'll get to the hotel and then the next day will take Air Deccan to Dharamsala in the afternoon arriving on site sometime around 4:00 p.m. local time Monday, June 2nd.

A few more posts before I head out.
t minus 5 days and counting,
ttfn

OK, done with the last shots, finally

I had to get my last boosters before the trip so went back to the Travel Well Clinic to get the next round of Hep A and Hep B.

I'm down for the count at the moment with a case of the flu from last week that turned into a sinus infection and bronchitis. Those three together sent me to the emergency clinic a couple of days ago. After 2 booty shots (one per side) for steriods and antibiotics, I started to feel a bit better but have to get well so I can get on to packing this coming week.

T minus 9 and counting!

Tibetan Prayer Wheel

What's a Tibetan prayer wheel and why are they used?

Tibetan prayer wheels (called Mani wheels by the Tibetans) are devices for spreading spiritual blessings and well being. Rolls of thin paper, imprinted with many, many copies of the mantra (prayer) Om Mani Padme Hum, printed in an ancient Indian script or in Tibetan script, are wound around an axle in a protective container, and spun around and around. Typically, larger decorative versions of the syllables of the mantra are also carved on the outside cover of the wheel.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying this mantra, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion.

Learn lots more of great details beyond this excerpt from the web at prayer wheel

The Spinnakers send off-or how many kleenex's does it take...

We have a neighborhood dinner club that meets every other month. This year we have 24 members so we break into groups of 8 and each time we meet, we dine with different people. This month, the dinner was yesterday (May 17th) and Bob and I were hosts. All of the 3 dinner groups agreed to meet after dinner at one home and unknown to me was the plan to have a "bon voyage" party that had been secretly arranged.

Neighbors packed special things for me for my trip (and boy were some of them really special!). Actually I really enjoyed it and have enough kleenex to fill 20 teenage bras (just kidding!), plenty of toilet seat covers, some candy to offer to the cranky person sitting next to me on my long flights, some sunglasses, a sewing kit (never know when one will need that far off in the mountains), some flip flops (not borrowed from John Kerry I don't think...they seemed to be too small to be his),and one honkin' flashin' American flag pin (don't think I can get that one thru security but it was fun to wear). It was all packaged up in a cute box that Laura decorated as a survival kit. We did have a cool champagne toast and lots of fun. Thanks to all our great friends of the Spinnakers! You're the best!!

Buddhist way of teaching

According to Georges Dreyfus (see the book Two Hands Clapping I mentioned in an earlier posting), there are 3 types of scholarly practice in Tibetan Buddhism for those becoming Monks and Nuns. They primarily use memorization, commentary and dialectial debate.

He says typical day in a commentarial institution would go like this (page 133):

5:00 Rising time

5:00-7:00 Morning study

7:00-8:30 Breakfast and revision

8:30-11:00 Morning class

11:00-1:00 Lunch and break

1:00-3:00 Afternoon revision class

3:00-3:30 Afternoon tea

3:30-4:30 Evening class

4:30-5:00 Free time

5:00-6:00 Evening debate (See a video of debate)

6:00-7:30 Dinner

7:30-9:30 Evening study

9:30-10:30 Evening tea

11:00 Bedtime

First full team meeting in AZ this week

It was an uneventful flight to Tucson where I finally got to meet the rest of the team. I was picked up by Gail Burd, Distinguished University Professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Professor of Cell Biology & Anatomy, and Dean of the College of Science at the University of Arizona. We met Chris Impey, a Distinguished Professor in Physics at the university and Ed Prather, an astronomy professor and NASA teacher professional development specialist who was in India with the Monks last year but is not going this year. Bryce joined us, as did Richard Sterling former head of the National Writing Project , and currently on faculty at UC Berkeley. We had a nice dinner, good conversation, and the ideas were flowing.

In the morning, we caught up with Ken Tsunoda (of the Sager Family Foundation) and Mark St. John of Inverness Research for a day long planning session. Bobby Sager got on the conference call to kick things off and then we had a long day of work ahead of us.

As Mark calls it, we were identifying structures.

I view this as a cultural project, hence the name of the blog...where we are connecting the cultures of Tibetan Buddhism, monastic life, western perspectives, science, science education and leadership. And, structures are an integral aspect of culture. There is a lot to think about and plan as we embark on this multi-year initiative!

Still on eastern time, I woke up at 4:00 both days (at least it wasn't 3:00 a.m.) so had no trouble getting to the 6:30 a.m. departure back to Atlanta. I had a crazy flight attendant try to give me a shot of vodka in my juice and although it indeed was 5:00 p.m. somewhere, it wasn't mywhere so I told her no, maybe next time.

Until the next post, see ya.

Pictures of our residence

Last pictures from Tsondue. This first one is the bedroom and although it shows 2 beds, we were told we would be having private rooms so maybe one bed will be a spare

This is a picture of my bathroom in the residence hall

Here's a picture of the upstairs veranda outside of the rooms

Do I look like a pin cushion?

Did you ever really think about the number of medicines you need to take to visit India? I went to the TravelWell Clinic at Emory University's Crawford Long Hospital yesterday. OK, so I had the tetanus booster during my annual physical in February and didn't need that yesterday. But, I did get hepatitis A and hepatitis B shots as the first round....have to go back in about a month. I also got a polio booster, a prescription for malaria medication, a prescription for Cipro (in case of "Delhi Belly"), and a 4 day vaccine for Typhoid Fever that I need to keep refrigerated and take once a day every other day for 8 days.

They told me that I could skip the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine since I won't need to put myself at that risk. Evidently the risk of complications from the shot is high enough that if you are not necessarily going to be exposed to the disease, you should skip the shot....but the papers on this illness say that 30% of those who contract it die, and another 30% suffer permanent brain damage...oh, joy!

I was also told that rabies is rampant (and they don't pre-treat in any way for that, maybe need to see my vet...(just kidding)) and I was told to stay away from birds since Avian flu is traveling thru the country. (They probably mostly don't want anyone bringing it back to the US). Knowing, however, what people might be like on a long flight, you never know who will be next to you, I might rather take my chances sitting next to a bird than some who knows who on those long flights.

Off to take the next typhoid capsule...

Pictures of the residence and classroom

More pictures from Tsondue taken on site

A picture of the classroom. No need for furniture, Monks and Nuns usually sit on mats on the floor.

A picture of the residence hall where we will be staying.

How do you get from here to there?

OK, so it's a far distance to Dharamsala. There's no quick or painless way to get there so I'm making my trip arrangments. Delta Airlines says it's about 9500 miles. I can already feel the pain in my behind!

I can fly on Continental Airlines and they go directly from Newark....who wants to go to Newark??... or I can fly on Delta and do a lay over in Paris....hmmm....Newark or Paris....Newark or Paris....is this such a tough decision?

Well with a bit of searching, I'm set to leave on May 31st (a Saturday) and will arrive in Paris on Sunday morning, June 1st at 6:30 a.m. I have a short 2 hour layover, so too bad I'll miss the cafes and croissants this time.

It's just enough time to stretch my legs and reboard a new plane that will get me into Delhi around 11:00 p.m. Sunday evening. Bryce said someone will meet me after I clear customs and will take me to a hotel for the rest of the evening (what little there will be). I then take an Air Deccan flight the next morning on Monday from Delhi to Dharamsala and then a short trip down the road to the Institute for Buddhist Dialects, Sara College, the place where I will be staying and working. I'm supposed to get in around 4:00 p.m.

Will have to check out the time difference between there and Atlanta!

Pictures of the Himalayan Mountains from the Monastery

Tsondue sent the pictures

What will the Monks and Nuns be learning?

I thought I would explain a bit more today about what the Monks and Nuns would be learning. I mentioned earlier that the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative will be running science workshops. There will be a 2 week workshop on an introduction to Conceptual Mathematics followed by an introduction to the Philosophy of Science (2 days long). After that there are 3 main content areas that professors will be preparing sessions on, each of which is about 6 days long. Cosmology will be held first, followed by life science and then neuroscience. ETSI ends on June 13th. The following Monday, June 16th, monastic leaders (Monks and Nuns) will be engaged in the Teacher Leadership Institute (TLI) sponsored by the Bobby Sager Family Foundation. In that we will work on science education, science pedagogy, leadership and more science content. There will be a meeting in May for the TLI team to determine specific aspects of the 3 weeks of the TLI. The TLI will end with a celebration of the Dalai Lama's birthday on July 6th.

One objective is for dialog about similarities and differences in Buddhist and Western approaches to the universe and the mind. The TLI is working to develop sustainability so that the monastic leaders can teach and lead each other in science and science education.

I still have to determine which days I will be on site at the Monastery...stay tuned for more info!

A little history of our work

Science for Monks has been running annual science workshops for Tibetan monastic leaders since 2001. That project has been a joint effort between the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and the Bobby Sager Family Foundation . Bryce Johnson (see him in the early days photos in the link on the top right of the blog) has been the coordinator extraordinare.

The workshops have taken place in India since many Tibetans are in exile there. There's lots of historical information available about the Tibetan's plight and relocation to India about 50 years ago if you want to check it out on the web or read the Dalai Lama's autobiography for some personal and vivid details about it all. In the move, the Indian government gave land to the Tibetans to locate in Dharamsala which is now is the seat of the exile Tibetan government and home to many monastic leaders (Monks and Nuns).

This past year, the Emory-Tibet Initiative began planning for additional science workshops through the Emory-Tibet-Science-Initiative for monastic leaders. They are coordinating their work with the Bobby Sager Family Foundation which has morphed the Science for Monks to the next level with the development of the Teacher Leadership Institute. The purpose of the TLI is sustaining the science and science education effort, or in other words, developing sustainability within the monastic community.

I will be one of the leaders on the TLI team. The others are Mark St. John of Inverness Research; Richard Sterling of The National Writing Project and UC-Berkley; Gail Burd and Chris Impey, both professors at the University of AZ.

CCTV9's response to last week's video

Check out China's CCTV9's newscast documentary to last week's riots at
YouTube part 1 and YouTube part 2

Chaos in Lhasa!

We're on a ski trip and just getting ready to head home from Lake Tahoe. Bob noticed that there's a crack down in Tibet. The Chinese have stormed the monasteries.
See more at
this tourist video and
The Guardian's website

What am I reading at the moment?

I know a lot about science, science education and leadership but don't know as much about Tibet's history and Buddhism. So, I went off to gather some reading and amd finding it very interesting. You might want to read some of these yourself:

a) Freedom in Exile which is the Dalai Lama's Autobiography. It is really interesting because it provide a personal perspective on growing up as the 14th Dalai Lama and the drama of the Chinese take over and his flight in darkness over the Himalayan Mountains to India

b) Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism a primer on the history of Tibet and a detailed description of Tibetan Buddhism

c) Seven Years in Tibet written by Heinrich Harrer, one of the first Westerners to enter Tibet. He became a confidente to the young Dalai Lama and writes about his travels from a POW camp in India to Lhasa and his relationship with His Holiness

d) The Sound of Two Hands Clapping written by Georges Dreyfus, a Swiss man who entered a Tibetan Monastery and writes about the specific training that Tibetan Monks receive

There are many more books for your reading pleasure from Barnes and Noble or Amazon but I wanted to mention Snow Lion Publications as a treasure trove of all information on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

At the Ocean's Edge

So, you might be wondering why this blog has the name it does.

We will be working in Dharamsala which is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile and is the home of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.

I read about this in the book An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (more on that book later) and found it also in Wikipedia.

Dalai" means "Ocean" in Mongolian, and is a translation of the Tibetan name "Gyatso," while "Lama" is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru," and is commonly translated to mean "spiritual teacher." Putting the terms together, the full title is "Ocean Teacher" meaning a teacher who is spiritually as deep as the ocean."

You see, we will be working At the Ocean's Edge.

For a more detailed history of the Mongol King Altan Khan and his conveyance of the title to the 3rd Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso in 1578, see this fascinating history on Wikipedia

Let's get started

Hi, I'm Karen Falkenberg and this blog is a record of my work on a new initiative. I was asked by the Bobby Sager Family Foundation to be on a team of educators who will be working with a select group of Tibetan Monks and Nuns to teach them science, science education, and leadership.

I work at Emory University as a faculty member in the Division of Educational Studies and am the Director for Undergraduate Education for a large organization in Atlanta called the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience. I also do education consulting and help large and small organizations with their education efforts, primarily in science and engineering education.

So, this is going to be an extension of what I would normally do for other education entities, it's just half way around the world. What a cool project! I'm sure I will learn a lot!