Moved to Tasmania to be Apart of the Philosophy Community Here at UTAS

Hi All,

Well, as most of you know, I am back in Australia after my wonderful trip to India. What some of you will not know is that I have moved from the Tibetan Buddhist Society in Melbourne to Hobart to be apart of the philosophy community here at the University of Tasmania. The move went well, and most (although not all) people were happy.

I have been here a week and have settled in well. I am sharing a house with two others only 3 minutes from the Philosophy department. So I can go home at lunch to cook, or nick back to my office if I have left something behind. Its ideal really. the environment here is simply spectacular, and am I told it snowed last night (I will try and get photos of a snow-covered Mt. Wellington at some point).

I also wish to say a BIG thank you to those who made the move possible. You know who you are   THANK YOU

Here are a couple of photos from around the university.

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Back in Australia

Well I’m back. For some of you this will be news, for others not. The change of plans is due to university processes. That is, in order to secure funding at the end of the year, I had to return home to do the required work.

I’m sorry for not blogging much while I was away but things were just too busy for doing anymore than uploading photos onto Facebook. However, I have good news by way of a youtube video of the trip. It is short and ends in what will be a day I will never forget.

I had a wonderful trip, made many new friends and got a lot of research done. Although not much writing. The Tibetan culture is a wonderful thing to experience first hand. Seeing ordinary people interacting within the context of compassion and Bodhichitta was fantastic. Even ordinary people, the man in the street so to speak, regard compassion as something to respect and cultivate. Of course this is a generalization but, in general it was true. We could learn a lot of this aspect of Tibetan culture.

I must apologize for the poor quality of the video. It looks great on my computer but not so great on YouTube for some reason.

If you can’t see the video in your email program or on this webpage go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERuSrATggk8

Anyway, its good to be home.

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Dinner and a Walk

Just got back from dinner (Tibetan Tupa and chai for those interested) and a walk with the Tibetans. Seems there is a nightly circumambulation around the Library. I guess because it houses over 1000 holy objects from Tibet.

The walk is good for me as its flat but, more enjoyable than finding a flat area to walk, is the mix of the old and young people walking together. Old ladies in traditional garb, kids with sunglasses chasing each other. It is a wonderful sight, everyone was happy and relaxed.

The ray’s of the setting sun hit the snow-mountain above us, giving for the first time, a clear view of its size and beauty. The photos I took don’t do it justice.  I’m starting to see why people come here.

Tomorrow His Holiness is teaching in the main temple in MacLeod Guand. I believe he is teaching on the former lifes of the Buddha or the Jataka Tales. So, if I end up going, I will report back then. You can see more photo via facebook.

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Dharamsala here we are

After a 14 hour bus trip I have finally arrived in Dharamsala. It has taken 3 days and I have had only a smidgen of sleep. It really is a task getting here, but that I am settled in it is starting to feel like my new home.

The room is good. I have my own bathroom, although there is no water today. I have a kettle for coffee, so the important stuff is done. India has very cheap cell phone rates, so I bought a sim card for calling home.

Just behind us is a large snow mountain. They are quite majestic and beautiful to look at, particularly for people for countries that are basically flat, like Australia. I hope to have photos once it clears up.

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Delhi Bus Station

Oh my god, not even the Tibetans know which bus to take!

I’m writing this on the bus to Dharamsala but, only after a 4 1/2 hour wait in a Delhi bus station filled with beggers, more people in one location than you can imagine, and the smell of stale urine. To say that the "Indian culture shock" is a myth is just plain WRONG!

For instance, there was a group of Tibetans going to Dharamsala on an earlier bus than me. Although they spoke no English, I soon came to realise that just like me, they also had no idea which bus they were supposed to take.

It was sheer chaos as it seems Indian bus drivers have only one rule: toot your horn to warm others of your location and do so at every opportunity. At one point there were so many buses in the terminal that there was a massive traffic jam. Literally no bus could move. It was the most incredible sight you can imagine. And the noice. Oh my god! It was a symphony of sound like nothing I’ve experienced before. A chorus of tooting bus horns, guys with whistles directing traffic. Although it seemed to me, it was not so much about directing anything, but rather, they were there to make sure the buses didn’t hit anything or anyone.

I knew I was taking an AC Volvo bus to Dharamsala. So as the scheduled departure time approached. I asked a couple of these traffic whistle guys where the AC Volvo…Dharamsala  to which one guy pointed at one bus and another to a different bus.  Likely, a little while later I met a French monk who was also going to Dharamsala and so in the end it turned at well.

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Arrived in Delhi

I’m sitting in my hotel room in Delhi as I write this. The flight was smooth although it seemed longer than the 16.5 hours. Luckily, I was able to score an aisle seat on both planes.

Walking out of Delhi airport into the waiting throng of Indians, wasn’t as bad as I had been led to believe. In fact, the Indians seem to be very kind. Having said that, my taxi driver had a bung eye which made him look shifty! I had a pre-paid ticket, but I wasn’t going to leave anything to chance so when he asked me where I wanted to go, I said to him while looking him in the eye: Centura Hotel, which I know is two minutes away from here. Needless to say the drive there was silent…was this my doing? I guess I will never know.

As I haven’t slept in 26 hours and it is still only 4.27 am I will probably leave this post here. Oh and I don’t have internet access until I get to Dharamsala, so you will probably end up reading this days later than the actual event.

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First Trip to Tassie

Today is the second day of my first trip to the University of Tasmania. The flight down here was a pleasant even though there was a false start.

I have meet some wonderful people already, including a number of other post-grad students, university Professors and of course my supervisor Sonam Thakchoe. I could get used to living here, in fact, I’ve already had a little bit of pressure by some who would like for me to live and work here at the university. My answer has been, well lets see.

While here I am staying with Sonam. He is a most generous host and has made me feel very welcomed. In fact, last night we stayed up late talking about Tsong khapa, philosophy in general, and whether there is any truth to the claim that ultimate truth is that there is no ultimate truth.For cause I have a problem with this claim, but I wont go into it here.

This morning Sonam and I had another fruitful discussion about my thesis. In particular about the the aim or motivation (not in the Buddhist sense), scope and metholody as well as how to insert these into a literature review that will need up as the introductory chapter of my thesis. I can see now that Ihave alot to learn.

I’m here til Friday afternoon

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ABC Radio Interview About the PhD Project

Today I was interviewed by ABC radio Australia about the PhD project. For those brave enough to listen to me say umm every other word you can listen to the interview here

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The First Anniversary of Geshe Jampa Gyatso’s Passing

Geshe Jampa Gyatso and me 1998. In the photo, I am offering Geshe-la a mandala as a traditional thank you given at the end of a weekend lamrim teaching. As it turned out this was near to the last teaching I received from him, something that at the time never entered my mind!

Today is the first anniversary of Geshe-la passing. I still remember the sinking feeling moments after hearing the terrible news. Immediately, the thought arose in me: I am never going to see you again! and tears fell from my eyes like I didn’t think possible.

This photo, one of four from that day, is something I hold dearly.

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Note Taking and Critical Analysis Method

Over the next while as I read through various texts and books for my PhD, I am thinking about writing/blogging in a kind of paraphrase as both a means of deepening my understanding of the text, and also as a method of documenting/note taking for the PhD.

I’m not sure if this will slow me down to the point that it makes it impossible to continue, however, as it stands today, I think it is a good idea.

The plan is, for example, I have just finished reading the first 5 chapters of Candrakirti’s text of Madhyamaka called Supplement to the ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamakavatara, dbu ma ma la ‘jug pa) hereafter “the supplement” and along with his auto-commentary. I now plan on reading Je Tsong khapa’s commentary to both the Supplement and the Auto-Commentary, and as I read through Tsong khapa’s text called Illumination of the Thought, An Extensive Explanation of Candrakirti’s ‘Supplement to the Middle way’ (dbu ma la ‘jug pa’i rgya cher bshad pa dgongs pa rab gsal), I will publish it here.

However, it will be philosophical in nature and so I add this to encourage you to continue the journey with me and as a possible method to engage the material.

“It will be difficult for you to make sense of some of the articles we’ll be reading. This is partly because they discuss abstract ideas that you’re not accustomed to thinking about. They may also use technical vocabulary which is new to you. Sometimes it won’t be obvious what the overall argument of the paper is supposed to be. The prose may be complicated, and you may need to pick the article apart sentence by sentence. Here are some tips to make the process easier and more effective” – http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/reading.html

This advice is well worth listening to however be clear that my essays here are not drafted nor carefully crafted. Please be patient with me and if you find an logic issues and/or typos please point them out.

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