Monday, October 13, 2008

Sydney June 2008 (Sydney & Sunnataram)

Date: Sat 7June - Mon 16June
Itinerary: 7-9June (Free & easy, Sunnataram forest monastery -2 nites),
10-15June (Dalai Lama's teachings)

Sydney & Sunnataram

With miles redemption on star-alliance, i got a free return ticket via Singapore airlines to sydney. Over in sydney,i bunked in at my aunt's place, and was pampered with fresh fruits and fresh eggs in the mornings. The resident hen actually lays eggs, n i got to eat some of her eggs..wow.

I made a trip to sunnataram forest monastery (this is my second trip), and was re-acquainted once more with the beautiful place by the cliff of bushforest. Phramana and Sayadaw, and Kim were so busy working on new activities and ideas for the Gratitude Pagoda. i soaked in the good country air, and in-between helped with chopping (veg) and washing in the kitchen. One day, we saw such a beautiful sunrise right out of the kitchen window, and Carmen(a visitor/volunteer) commented e kitchen has one of the best views from the building. It was such a brilliant red, she had initially thought it was a forest fire!



posted by cloudz1 @ 1:04 AM 0 comments

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Sydney June 2008 (HH Dalai Lama's Teachings)

Date: Sat 7June - Mon 16June
Itinerary: 7-9June (Free & easy, Sunnataram forest monastery -2 nites),
10-15June (Dalai Lama's teachings)

HH Dalai Lama's Australia Teachings, Dome@ Olympic Park


HH Dalai Lama's teachings was for 5 days, with a Chenrezig initiation on the morning of the 5th day.
The Teachings were commentaries on "The Stages of Meditation" a 9th century classical text by Kamalashila. The contents were philosphically in-depth. As a balance, there was also a large amout of time for Q&A, often questions were related to our daily lives. HH answers are typically very spontaneous, practical and humourous. The event was extremely well organised, with a quick and efficient security checks. At the teachings i attended in india in 2007, it typically takes security 1-2hours to clear, but at Sydney, it was a matter of minutes. My reckon, best practises gleaned from organising the olympics in 2000 and well-provided infrastructure.

Australians love the Dalai Lama, and with such a warm welcome and genuine enthusiasm to learn, HH would very likely visit and teach in Sydney again.

posted by cloudz1 @ 11:55 PM 0 comments