Sister Yeshe

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.

An enormous appliqued tapestry at the Dolma Ling Nunnery, Dharamshala

After the translator’s teaching on emptiness and the lack of inherent existence, I went out into the temple’s courtyard and tied my two clusters of multicolored string to ropes in the foreigner’s section. The ropes hold up tent-like structures here and there.

I went to Chonor House and entered the little shop connected to the restaurant and visible from the patio/balcony where we eat lunch. The shop contained beautiful, handcrafted clothing and other things, mostly made of fabric. I bought three gifts: stuffed toy animals, all with a Tibetan theme. Two were tigers, one wearing a traditional male costume and the other wearing a traditional female costume; the other was a panda with a Tibetan flag on the back of its vest. When I finished my purchases, I met up with the group at the balcony for dinner.

Sister Yeshe is a Tibetan Buddhist nun from Australia, and she joined us at dinner. She’s working with organizations that support nuns, mostly Western, and also Buddhist Dalits.

“Connecting with the energy” of nature — that’s a phrase care of Sheila. Pat and Gill (the funny British sisters) have been talking about a study showing that plants grow better if…