Meinoud in Bodhgaya

Meinoud in Bodhgaya
Originally uploaded by mjrijnen

I uploaded some new pictures of India plus Thailand. The latest pictures of Me you can find by clicking on this picture.

India is a small world

Today I met Lisa and Vinod, Vinod was my flute teacher in Dec 2005 and 2006 i also met them later in April 2006.

 

They got married, very nice. Today I stepped into star hotel (restaurant) i met Momo. 

Momo is a Japanese guy who works in the Japanese veg Restaurant in Mcleod Ganj, he is also a vipassana meditator and I met him many times during Vipassana sessions in Dharamkot. 

 

It is more then 1,5 year ago that I was for the last time in Varanasi, but so many local people remember me and know my name..this is very positive. I only stayed then in Varanasi for a mere 6 weeks orso.   Varanasi is a great and amazing place.

 

happy Durga  

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Happy travels,
Ohm shanti, shanti, shanti
Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
From Amsterdam to India by bus and train

Back in Varanasi

This morning i arrived  in Varanasi, the last time was somewhere in Feb 2006, it is amazing  the people at Vishnu guesthouse and some other people still remember. Well I stayed here for 6 weeks orso during dec 2005 and and bit of Januari 2006.  It feels good to be back, i just love this friendly place.  

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Happy travels,
Ohm shanti, shanti, shanti
Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
From Amsterdam to India by bus and train

Under the Bodhi tree ( Bodhgaya, India )

Being silent under theBodhi tree, is being silent inside and from the outside. Even if there is noise on the outside, silence on the inside makes sitting and being very beautiful. Every morning around 7 am  I go to the Mahobodhi temple to sit under the Bodhi tree and meditate for an hour or so. It is a very peacefull way to begin the day.

 

Everybody enjoys the tree differently, some meditate, others chant the lotus sutras, Tibetans prostrate, some read. Some are chatting on there mobile phones, read a newspaper, speaking loudly etc... there are many ways.

 

About 13 days ago I arrived in the early morning in Bodhgaya, it rained a lot. Checked into Rahul guesthouse, i believe this is one of the cleanest guesthouses in India.  My first impression of Bodhgaya was a busy town with many Pilgrims.. not so nice. In the next few days Bodhgaya becomes really nice it is not the town that was changed but i became more relaxed on the inside. When i arrived the were many Indian  Pilgrims for some kind of festival in Gaya, so they also visit the  Buddha sides. In the Bodhi temple they do some kind of ritual with ghee and ? and with that they make a prasad (gift) for the shiva Lingam. The shiva lingam is within the Bodhi temple complex.  Now most Indian Pilgrims have left Bodhgaya and one again Bodhgaya is very peaceful till the Tibetan influx... somewhere around December.    

 

 A few days ago they cleared all the stalls around the Bodhi temple complex, also long standing restaurants with the nicest food are gone like Mohamed Rest. with yummy spinach cheese momo's. Also the chapati man was gone the 10 rupee breakfast my favourite place to eat a very good and simple meal with choka (potato with mung Dal and spices) and he cooks with very less oil.   With that some 1000 people lost their income.  

 

Last night we said goodbye to Rob and Jennifer a very nice couple from the US. They went on a elephant safari.

 

I nearly forgot but my evening meditation is in the Japanese Temple, zazen, just sitting with walking meditation for about one hour this was a very good experience. They also correct someones sitting position. Now i can sit with my back very straight and still comfortable.  

During my stay in Bodhgaya i read the following books:

 

A matter of honour by Jeffrey Archer

Present moment wonderful moment by Thich Nhat Hanh

The teachings of the Buddha by Dharma master Chang Hsing

 
Happy travels,
Ohm shanti, shanti, shanti
Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
From Amsterdam to India by bus and train

Calcutta

For the first time after 20 February I'm back in India. I stayed more then 7 months in Thailand for mostly Yoga, meditation and also to learn Thai massage.  It is good to be back in India, this country is very alife and vibrant.  On 29 Sept in the early morning i took a Druk Airways flight (only 2 hours) to India after spending the night in Bangkok airport. This new airport is at night very, very cold you have to take winter clothes with you.

 

Arriving in Calcutta we changed some money (no ATM) and getting a taxi via the prepaid boot for taxi was very straight forward. After a search along some very cheap and dread full hotels i found a dorm bed in Hotel Paragon. Good atmospere a mixture of Japanese, Koreans and Americans a lot of them working as volunteer in Mother Teresa House of the dying. 

 

Compared to Bangkok, Calcutta is life and full of people of different ways of life from beggars, hand pulled riksja's  to car owners. People who have them self only to people drinking coffee in Barista. This is Calcutta.

 

Calcutta surprised me in many ways, i heard horror stories about Calcutta, the hassle etc.. but nothing like that. The streets are very clean, there are sidewalks, working traffic lights, beautiful clean parks, underground etc.  The Indian food mmmm, delouses sandwich's, bataru Chola, masala dosa's, paneer rolls etc.  Plus there is Barista for yummy Capachinos and AC, Oxford Bookshop for Organic Tea and books plus a Bollywood movie star called Devinand presenting his latest book and there is Flurry for amazing Chocolate balls which kept me going for another half day.

 

Calcutta can be very British with many monuments from that time, like the Victorian Memorial, The St Pauls Cathedral, the glass window is amazing. This church could be copy from any English church the only different is I'm in India. The neighborhood B B D Bagh  with the many old english buildings. Then there is at Kali Ghat mother Teresa's house for the dying..and of course the Kali temple. Mother Teresa's house of the dying is impressive but i peaked inside and made a small donation. In the hall there are old people dying and some western helping out...

 

Calcutta surprised me there are not many beggars on the street, there are my shoppers, but then again I only saw the centre of the city.

 

On the 2 of October i took a evening cab to Howrah train Station (built by the British) i saw many people living on the street. This view is so familiar with the rest of India. 

 

At 10 pm my train left for Gaya only 12 km outside of Bodgaya my next destination. 

 

some links:

 

Calcutta

St Pauls Cathedral

Oxford Bookshop

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Happy travels,
Ohm shanti, shanti, shanti
Meinoud
http://www.rijnentravel.blogspot.com
From Amsterdam to India by bus and train