Bir

 
 
 
 

I have been in Bir for about a week, staying at the Deer Park Institute. I had not booked accommodation here, and for some reason that really puts them in a spin – I think someone forgot to tell them this is India. It is run in a very western style, with rules – and on one level I really enjoy that, it is clean and very cheap and a lovely environment to spend time in. There are so many monasteries in this small area, and one of the big ones being Sherab Ling, the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche. I had the good fortune to be able to attend the Red Hat ceremony last week,, where he also gave the Milarepa empowerment. I seem to be just following my nose and somehow am managing to land up with great experiences. I was really just looking to see what the red hat ceremony was about, thinking that it might just be some sort of festival occasion where they wear red hats. I managed to find my way to Sherab Ling from Bir, despite being advised to take a taxi because I would get lost – I noticed my stubbornness really come to the fore then... LOL! – I walked for an hour through villages, a school, wheat fields, rivers and a forest. It was a lovely walk. When I got there, the monastery was overwhelmingly huge and I was unsure where to go, so I asked an Australian chap if he knew where this ceremony was happening. He pointed me in the right direction but told me that it was not open to the public so I wouldn’t be able to attend. I decided to go check it out anyway, as I had walked all this way, I wanted to hang out there a bit even if I didn’t get to see the ceremony. When I got there I went to the registration office to ask if I would be allowed to attend this ceremony and they said yes and directed me to the fourth floor of a very new building. It felt like i was in a five star hotel, it is designed in a figure 8 with two semi-indoor courtyards. I say semi because they have a tent-like roof and the birds still have access to the ‘inside’. I stepped inside the shrine room and gently made myself a seat, being careful not to take someone else’s place who had been there for the teachings the whole week. When Tai Situ Rinpoche arrived, we all stood in respect, and those who do prostrations – which appeared to be everyone in the room except me – did their prostrations before sitting down. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Rinpoche teach in English, as so far i had heard only Tibetan teachings, with the occasional translation. Tai Situ RInpoche has a sense of humour, and I found him quite funny and down to earth. The red hat ceremony was where they brought out these two beautiful hats to be worn by the Rinpoche, and he seemed to alternate between the two. The one hat was worn at the beginning and he kept taking it on and off because there was a thread on it that seemed to be annoying him. Then they brought out what I imagine is ‘the’ red hat, and he had to hold it on his head all the time to prevent it falling off. At the end of the ceremony we all lined up to be blessed by him and to receive the Milarepa empowerment. The whole teaching and ceremony lasted about 3 hours. I then walked back to Bir, through the forest and wheat fields, over the rivers, through the villages and school – and the boiling heat.
I have done a lot of resting while here, but I also taken a hike to the waterfall which is about an hour up hill – oh how I am learning to tolerate the up.... Once again, I had a dog following me the whole way. The waterfall was lovely, with clean water and a decent sized plunge-pool, big enough for swimming in, and freezing!!! But I got in, and managed to make use of my bikini. It is the walking to places which I find so interesting, as it takes you into the heart of the local villages, and you really get a good view of what life is really like. On some level, this walking through the local villages reminds me of South Africa. The people are really friendly and they appear relatively happy. The lifestyle is similar, and the vegetation is very familiar as well. So I am feeling at home here in a way.
One of the people i have met here convinced me that I should try and have an audience with the Rinpoche, so I called on my way back from the walk to the waterfall and his secretary said that I could come for an appointment at two – which was an hour and a half away. So i continued walking back to Deer Park, had a quick shower and then took a taxi to Sherab Ling. There was a long wait when I got there, and then when I got to see him, he was very tired, so I just offered a kata (white silk scarf), and greeted him briefly before leaving. Even though it was a very short meeting, it felt good that i had that personal time with him.
From Bir I took a short trip to Rewalsar (see next blog entry), then back to Bir for a catch up day, and then I will be heading back to McLeod to catch the bus to Rishikesh.