Freaky globalization

As in Nirvana so is Samsara.
Do not think there is any distinction.
Yet it possesses no single nature,
for I know it as quite pure.

As Nepal is a little pissed of by the newly apointed vice president, Paramananda Jha, who gave his oath in Hindi language, the sun is high in the blue sky, the hot humid air waiting for it's daily nourrishment of rain. Around the city sky, a few dark spots of smoke can be seen. Platic tire smoke going up signaling the announced "banda"(close the country) until the vice president apologizes. "The maoistes taught us how to fight" says my companion, "banda and strikes".
Being from the Thorai area of Nepal, flat land bordering India and Nepal, the vice president already is seen as an India sympathizer. The Nepalese people are proud fighters, they do not appreciate insult to their beloved nation.

Do not sit at home, do not go to the forest,
But recognize mind wherever you are.
When one abides in complete and perfect enlightenment,
Where is Samsara and where is Nirvana?

Banda is always in the air in Nepal. The next few monthes will be interesting to see which way New Nepal goes, under the direction of the new government.
Any little thing could create a commossion. People are pissed, as in all the poorest countries of the world, in which the rising oil prices affects directly every day life. The moonsoon being here, stable food is already more expensive, the gaz prices is yet another drop into the already quite filled up glass of discontent.

Oh know this truth,
That neither at home nor in the forest does enlightenment dwell.
Be free of prevarication
In the self-nature of immaculate thought!

On my side, everything is going as smooth as a drop of paint rolling on a baby's butt.
This week end, we organized a free benefit concert with Angel's Heaven Choir, composed of the kids from Angel's Heaven orphenage. Under the benevolent eyes of Shiva and Parvati, the kids gave a beautiful performance of traditional nepale folk songs for the pleasure of a packed Durbar Square. After the kids singing, we had a didgeridoo and jumbe show, jugglers  with a troup of french  and argentinian freaks, and finished with japanese fire dancers.
You can see Universal Peace Gathering blog entry here.

"This is my self and this is another"
Be free of this bond which emcompass you about,
And your own self is thereby released.

The show once finished and the kids put to bed, a thank you cup of lemon grass tea with Amrit, the dad to the 20 orphans, we went for a night of dancing at 1905, a very fine Kathmandu club set in a beautiful garden. It was nice to have some freak time, and even better, french freaks with whom I babble french stuff.
The event was a total success, with a local nepale TV station covering the evening, as well as a couple of politicians attending the event. It's the kind of events that warms the soul, happy to see what total strangers can achieve together when they put their hearts to it. Happy to see freaks doing their freaky dance, happy to see all those smiles, and feel the happiness entering everyone alike.

Thanks to all the freaks who participated and helped in any small way in this event

The fair tree of thought that knows no duality,
Spreads through the triple world.
It bears the flowers and fruit of compassion,
And it's name is service to others.

A month left in the Himalayas, and I already know how much I will miss the mountains when I go. Kathmandu has become a familiar city, a city I have grown to love as one of my favorite 5 cities in the world. The shit, overflow of life and horor I saw when I came first time into the city are a long gone memory. Things are never as they appear, instead, they change as we do.
The city is now filled with little dives in which to get my local treats of sweet delights and patatoe curries. Chai spots from which to look at the busy city passing by, tandori tables lit by candles when the electricity goes out. Baba rooms filled with holy smoke and musical jams, corner temples and secret fusion mantras. Even the smells have become part of life here.

The fair tree of the Void abounds with flowers,
Acts of compassion of many kinds,
And fruits for others appearing spontaneously,
For this joy has no actual thought of another.

That is one of the many reasons I have grown to love Nepal. It is unique in it's mixture and total integration of Hindouism and Buddhism. Nowhere else can this fusion be seen. As opposed to India, Nepal did not get perverted by British puritanism. The sacred mountains, once again, protected them, keeping Nepal wild and whole.
Here, the Shiva linguam becomes a meditation for the Buddha eye. Sweet and loving Tara becomes the terrible Kali.

All in one, those archetypes living in the depth of the human psyche become alive in Nepal, as Baihrav, the drunken form of Shiva, watches with a protective eye from Pashpatinath, his third eye.

Not to be helpfull to others,
Not to give to those in need,
This is the fruit of Samsara.
Better than this is to renounce the idea of a self.

The sounds of protest in the streets, horns and whistles, mixed with the kids songs from the school next door, raeggae on my labtop, I take a cup of tea with Marianne, a pop french newspaper brought by passing tourists. "Sarkozy as seen by french bourgeoisie" is on the cover of the magazine, next to his pretty wife.
"So far away, yet so close" I think as I absent mindenly browse through the glossy pages. This is the age of globalization. As some fight for their right to get a piece of rice at the end of a working day, others fight for an entire empire of bread. So goes evolution, like waves on a symphonie line, we each chant our little part of truth.

He who clings to the Void
And neglects Compassion,
Does not reach the highest stage.

And it's beautiful just like that...

But he who practices only Compassion,
Does not gain release from toils of existence.
He, however, who is strong in practice of both,
Remains neither in Samsara nor in Nirvana.

Quote from Sahara, Dohakosa.