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Prime Minister of the Tibetan Exile Government
I visited India and Nepal for the first time on a Buddhist pilgrimage led by Shantum Seth in 2007. The following — which I wrote in a travel journal in Dharamshala, India — is from my 2008 trip, about a year later.
Most of us trekked past the Dalai Lama’s compound on a steep and rocky path, to visit the Tibetan prime minister, or more properly, Samdhong Rinpoche, the head of the Central Tibetan Administration. We would meet him in the Exile Government’s library.
Wearing an ankle-length Tibetan chupa I frequently hiked up, I hiked on steep and rocky terrain while carrying two bags and a cushion. I wore leggings underneath the chupa; unless it’s a hot summer day, I typically wear leggings under a skirt or dress. Fortunately, Rachel was walking with me and took my cushion and a bag.
While Rachel was perfectly kind and nonjudgmental, a vicious voice in my head criticized me for shopping frivolously; if I hadn’t bought shawls, a cushion, and a hat, I wouldn’t have so much to carry. I thought I would refrain from shopping so much on this trip, since shopping seems so consumerist and materialist and, well, not very Buddhist.