sansara : phowa and nothing else

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Travels / Phowa and nothing else

02.03.2011 : Honkong, Honkong

(published on 22.10.2011)

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My experience of attending buddhist courses shows that the best is not to plan anything else during its time. Do not try to finish any other tasks, do not hope to see the city in the breaks, you even have to choose just one of spend enough time with your friends and have enough sleep. It's also the best to life in a hostel that nobody knows and nobody else stays: this way if I even decide to miss the first session I am not obliged to explain this to anyone. The hostel I rent was very nice. There was gread view right from my bed if dormitory.

It cost around $15, expensive but okay for Honkong. This is me with new hairdo covering forehead and consequences of food I should not have eaten.

You could even see a bit of ocean in between houses. Also you could see how space is utilized in Honkong: not a single square meter is left empty.

This kind of place to live can easily cost more than thousand dollars per month, maybe even two especially with the terrace.

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There is nice cool and foggy weather in Honkong in beginning of March. Finally I can take trouncers and long sleeved shirts out of my bag along with shawls and gloves.

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First lecture starts about 6pm, it's already getting dark and first lamps are lit.

I walk to North Point pier to get ferry to the place where Phowa is taking place. My first trip is during sunset.

Half hour later boat docks and all the windows in skyscrapers are already bright.

And the streets are dark.

Whenever I am looking for a certain place very first time it takes at least half hour or even more of roaming around. Especially if it's buddhist center or a place of a course. The lecture has started already, I am lake as usual. And Lama Ole looks very well next to Mahakala and Buddha.

I go to back side of the hall since it's not my first Phowa. Moreover my friends from Bulgaria are sitting there. Sitting or laying. This is Lora from Ruse.

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This is also Lora, this time facing the viewer. Hello!

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And this is Nicolai - the man who's got no financial problems. So cute! "iPhone does no take good pictures so I decided to buy some DSLR to take pictures and courses and upload photos instantly..." - he said and got himself Nikon D3s. Good camera, why not, fast, quiet, just for buddhist courses. But then thanks to people like Nikolai people like me can publish their photos half year after the course and nobody bother us since they've seen other photos already.

Nicolai managed to combine Phowa course and business so was very busy but yet few times he found enough time to take me out for sushi.

Miroslav was another old friend I've taken picture of.

I wanted to see more of Honkong too but my wish was rather abstract. So I was satisfied with what I say on my way to the course and next to it during the breaks.

Bus stops in the city where every square meter is precious are just poles with bus numbers.

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These are roadsigns.

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Chinese hieroglyphs.

And other elements of urban interface.

Including identical gray windows.

Columns under overpasses.

Skyscrapers in fog.

And bay full of boats and ships. But last time I took much better pictures of it.

This time there were not many of arcade like corridors between skyscrapers, another part of the city.

But then I took quite a few street portraits.

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I like the stare from the background here.

Here I like color of oranges.

Twins in pink coats are reason why I took this one.

A girl with a phone deep in her thoughts is what I like here.

She was so deep in her thoughts that I could get very close to her :)

But I could walk around taking pictures only in the day, evening lectures would finish so later that we hardly could get last train back to our hotels.

Blessing was especially long on the first night. Lucky those who could pay $100 per day for hotel ten minutes away from the hall. Blessing on the first night and party on the last night were two times when I regretted I stayed where nobody else is staying: no one to share taxi with just in case. On the last night I managed to get to that expensive hotel for few hours and sleep till metro starts but I had to leave earlier on the first night thinking I would have other opportunity to get my blessing later. And I've had.

There were many opportunities and I've used them quite a few times to clarify everything that used to worry me.

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And share everything I wanted to share.

The course was relatively small. Bigger than first time but nothing compared to courses in Russia. This is view from the first row.

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And this is view from one of last rows where I used to sit normally.

I could see Lama like this.

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However, I could easily get closer.

Ole explains Dharma helping our understanding with gestures and facial expressions :)

Lots of wisdom and lots of joy.

I have to explain a little bit what kind of course this way in case you don't know. Phowa is one of 6 yogas of Naropa, it's meditation of transferring one's consciousness to Pure Land after death or, speaking briefly, practice of conscious dying. When you die your mind leaves the body through one one its openings. Upper ones correspond to birth in higher realms as gods, demigods and humans. Lower one would bring you lower rebirths as animals, hungry ghosts and beings in hells. Either positive of negative - it's still karma. It's believed that if the mind leaves the body through aperture on top of the head then it would be able to choose next rebirth consciously and free from karmic obscurations. It's not yet full liberation after death as there still would be tendencies in the mind, but then the rebirth would be such as removing them and keeping in touch with Dharma would be easier. That's why we do special meditation to push the energy upwards and make a little opening at the top of our head so that we could use it as an exit at the moment of death. Don't confuse Phowa with teachings on Bardo where all the things happening after death are explained. These are different practices.

As the course finishes Lama Ole and his helper Katy look for signs on heads of newcomers - there should be distinctively painful points with a drop of blood.

It's quite an exiting process! But usually everybody's got a sign.

I'll tell little bit more of the hall where the course took place. It's was Shamar Rinpoche's center "Bodhipath" once again, it moved into newer, bigger space. Everything is decorated in Tibetan style mixed with bit of Chinese here. Note strange vases shaped as elephants next to the altar.

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There are many flowers and huge portraits of Karmapa and Shamarpa on its walls.

Our Diamondway center has also moved to another building but it wouldn't be enough for the course. It's very nice that two centers of the same city keep good connection. Some cities don't have it unfortunately...

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Dharma is now spreading towards China. Meditation texts and Lama Ole's book "Great Seal" have already been translated to Chinese. Ani Pema who used to translate Ole last year has been replaced by Chinese woman from local Sangha.

There was a customary party after the course. Lama Ole's attention is demanded every second here as well. Now he is doing Mo - special Tibetan fortune telling - to advice my friends better solution in their complicated life situation.

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What party is possible without drinking and dancing? Special Lama Ole's ability is to open the space and fill it with bliss, to unite people and make positive connections between them glow stronger. Same Nastya who gave me some hard moments earlier also went to Phowa. She took refuge and now would most probably become a part of our mixed sangha. She and Kostya make up very beautiful couple, it's obvious that they love each other a lot. All the confusion that took place in Pattaya was only a purification before the course. Let them be happy together and reach Enlightenment together with all the living beings. Concerning me: I didn't stay in Honkong any longer and flew back to Bangkok immediately after the course - loaded with all the positive impressions.