* May 19, 2012, 8:00 AM ET
BY BARBARA CHAI
Sanjay Austa for The Wall Street JournalThe majestic Dhauladhar mountains, and Dharamsala.I've tried more than once to write this concluding post for Blogging to Nirvana, but it hasn't been easy. We returned from Dharamsala, India - where we met the Dalai Lama and studied Buddhism - in late March. But it may as well have been last week.
I didn't want the journey, or this blog, to end.
Since coming back, my husband and I have looked into meditation retreats and classes that are in New York. At home, we hung up the Tibetan thangka paintings and prayer flags that we brought back with us. I wear my meditation beads that the Dalai Lama blessed. We play Tibetan chant music when we want to relax. And every now and then, I open a dresser drawer and touch the white kata scarves he blessed us with, as a reminder that we were really there.
When I set out, I asked myself, what is Buddhism? What would immersion in a Buddhist environment, and meeting the person many consider to be the living Buddha, teach me?
I learned that I could relate to Tibetan Buddhism far more easily than I expected, even though I was raised a Chan Buddhist. Tibetan Buddhism is highly structured and intricate, with many more levels and layers than I could fully understand, but I haven't felt overwhelmed by it so much as eager to learn more. For example, visiting the different temples in Dharamsala, it seemed the number of bodhisattvas (enlightened beings) just multiplied in Tibetan Buddhism; as if the religion spawned new offspring when it crossed over into Tibet, and the progeny flourished. I tracked down a book in a cramped Buddhist literature shop that explains all the different bodhisattvas and their multiple guises.
I witnessed the commitment to Buddhism by nuns and monks, and admired their ability to adhere to their faith day after day, after day. I also learned that a panoramic view on top of a hillside does wonders for the mind's ability to focus and meditate. Particularly when there are Himalayas included.
I was also reminded of the unexpected blessings and the unexpected compromises of travel.
I will never forget meeting the Dalai Lama. His smile, his voice, how he gestures with his arm, the touch of his hand in mine. For nearly one hour we discussed ethics, education, and why helping others helps yourself. Toward the end of our meeting, he emphasized the benefits of meditation.
But it was his gestures of compassion that have stayed with me the strongest - his gift of the scarf, his taking my hand as we exited the room, and his last words to me as we parted: "Bye! See you again."
The Dalai Lama's message is to train ourselves in warmheartedness, and it isn't just talk. He walks the walk, with the gentlest of gaits. After experiencing firsthand the depth of his compassion, cultivated over a lifetime of study, I am inspired to continue taking the first steps down the same path.
Related Article: Passage to India-And the Dalai Lama
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