Field Trip

This morning I had a Skype date scheduled for way early. :-/ But my alarm didn't go off, so not only did I miss the Skype date, I was late to breakfast too. Because I was late to breakfast I ran into a monk that I otherwise might not have. He and I talked the other day about a Tibetan soccer tournament that was to be held here in Dharamsala. We both expressed how we wish we had the free time to ride to town to watch the game. This morning he came up to me and told me the Emory study abroad kids were going to watch the game! I was all like "shucks!"... but he said I should just ask to go!

On my way to make sure everything was prepared for today's lectures I ran into the man in charge of the Emory group. He invited me again. I told him I was worried about being a bad TA. He said I needed to come. Welp. I ran up to the classrooms and asked around. I was allowed to go!

We packed up into the car at 9am. The drive is beautiful, again. Tea fields are spread out everywhere along the way. We arrived in town. The sign said, 'Men Tsee Khang'. AKA, the 'Tibetan Medical & Astrological Institute'.

The first building we went into was the Astrology office. I don't believe in astrology, but they did. So they told us everything they do. They need your date, time, and place of birth, Plus a brief medical history in order to produce a horoscope. This horoscope could be one year long to one lifetime long. So I just don't believe any of this. Anyway.

Then we went into the museum area! This was much cooler to me. Many MANY different plants were out on display for us to see. Each plant seemed to have be labeled as the cure to several disorders... for instance- one pill was said to fix leprosy, epilepsy, and gastro types of disorders. The guide explained that Tibetan Buddhist belief revolves around balance. In medicine's case- balance of the body. He explained how Western medicine is made to only treat one problem... which may unbalance the body. He said it is necessary to keep one's body balanced, so these pills aim to help with all-around health. The area from which each plant is picked is a big factor in it's usage. For instance, if one has a fever- it would be necessary to use a plant that was harvested from a high-altitude; these are plants with a cooling nature.

Next we visited the pharmacy factory! The VP of Emory was with us... so we were allowed in even though no visitors are ever allowed to enter. Yippee!!!
This place was pretty bomb. All sorts of sorting and all wraps of wrapping were taking place here. Pills were sun-drying and plants were grinding. It looked like a Tibetan Willy Wonka factory.

Then we had tea in the Temple. His Holiness the VP of Emory sat on a couch apart from all of us. Anyways. People asked questions. Basically Buddhism is about Mind + Body (and also the release of suffering). Science and Buddhism can coexist easily because science seems to complement the Buddhist teachings very well. For instance, today a lady told me a story about how a monk she taught about cells in biology told her that ancient Buddhist texts emphasize eating well because their are millions of tiny sentient beings living inside of you that you are responsible for keeping healthy. The monk told her that her science class proved this text! Cells in the body need energy and nutrients to function to keep him going!
Another thing I wanted to point out really quickly is that His Holiness is known to have stated that if science ever disproves a teaching in Buddhism then the teaching will need to be revised. Well would you look at that.

Then we had lunch. It was during this time that I became friends with the VP's daughter. She is a very cool person. Who will never read this blog.

Then :-D soccer game!!! We trekked some way up the mountain to a large stadium with a dirt field and no stadium seats... but dug out dirt seating on. Like, the field was in a valley that they dug out of the ground, so all the seats were on the edge of the hole. Get it?? So yeah, the place was PACKKKEEDDD. We struggled to find good seats. Lol we didn't. Then it started to rain. And by 'rain' I mean 'serious hail'. Therefore- I climbed on top of a roof that had some covering. These players were GOODDD!! It was the championship match of the Tibetan Gold Cup between two teams that I have know idea who they are, but I do know that one team is made up of refugees from Nepal and one team is made of refugees from India. We voted for the Indian team. The weather was so bad at halftime that we decided to leave. This was a scary walk down a slippery mountain.

I bought things to be blessed by His Holiness tomorrow. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you- we are having a private audience with the Dalai Lama tomorrow. I'm just an under-qualified lucky batch. *shrugs*

Love ya'll.