Taiwan...

Je ne comprends pas le chinois, timpudong, but that's alright

I like the food

And warm welcome

I photograph trees

many trees

many many trees

Then Rinpoche got sick

He was warmly welcomed

wonderfully cared for

watched over

And prayed for all

The Wonderful Doctor Perng

Lovely nurse Fiona

And the good man who brought food

Delicious food

And the enchanting Dr. Anna Li who helped behind the scene in every way

and Peggy

Head of the ward, Miss Huang

and the Grand General of the hospital's Nursing Staff with her entourage

and...

many

many more...

Rinpoche spoke of the difficulty of meditating on taking on the pain of others, particularly when confronted with so much suffering

Though he surely did so

While doing his exercises

and walking through the ward

and resting between laps

The treatment was successful!!

It was time to go

Say bye bye

And on our way with Nita who made our stay so comfortable, and Mr. Lee who did the needful

And return to Changhua

where Rinpoche continues his treatment

and welcomes well-wishers

while I resume my pursuit of trees

Awaiting my visa…

I wish you a Happy Year of the Fire Monkey, which I recently celebrated while awaiting my visa in New Delhi. The wait, imposed by the Government of India every five years, is always initially painful and frustrating. However, as I apply Shantideva's wisdom of doing what I can if there is something I can do, but not worrying, and accepting that there is nothing I can do if there isn't, and not worrying, I eventually relax and enjoy the wait. Here are some of the pix taken during my wait. 

I lived very comfortably in the rooftop flat of my godfather's home...

I made my way down the stairs each morning

Ganshyam took care of us, cooking and serving

with help from Savitri

I went for walks, photographing the grand trees of Friends Colony

and its beautiful wiring

and watch cricket, which I still don't understand

I'd stop for tea and biscuits

and I sometimes went beyond the Colony's walls... to Chhatarpur temple complex where I met the statue maker

visited bookshops

watched office workers preen

stylish youth pose

and a Kashmiri lady await her tea beside the grand Jama Masjid

I visited the Buddhist temple of some followers of B. R. Ambedkar, the author of India's constitution who converted to Buddhism in the 1950's

His followers revere him as much as they do the Buddha

And of course there was Delhi's the wildlife

which I shall miss.

Hello from South India...

Lovely Karnataka

With its many ladders to heaven

Excellent boarding houses

with kind room service

Welcoming churches

and roadside tire repair facilites

weighing stations

and natural beauty

where lions roam free

as children play

twirling away

and frogs delight

among the deer

and holy men

young

and old

and in between

Karnataka's a splendid place!

where women still wear saris

and men wear lungis

and internet pervades

Happy New Year!

Photo: Tenzin Choejor