The China adventure continues - Beijing now on an (almost) clear day with the sun out and the crisp cool winds taking a break, bright and early we all gather for Chogyal Rinpoche's public meditation teaching across town. Situated in a quaint building right across the street from the famous Summer Palace, a light washed room wonderfully decorated with flowers and calligraphy on the walls is brimming and full by 9am.
More than 100 have come to hear Rinpoche speak, his unique brand of meditation instruction that includes psychology as well as group activity has everyone riled up, fully involved and participating from the get-go. As usual Rinpoche is exploding with energy and humor, it’s all in Chinese but one doesn’t need to speak the local language to see the obvious joy on his face, anyone can see clearly that he adores teaching, and they all look to be as excited to be here as he is. This is a tight knit community, everyone seems to know each other, happy to see one another, and excited that Rinpoche is back once more to teach. The welcome we received here is truly remarkable, even for me as a simple photographer I am treated like a special guest - everyone is extremely friendly, anxious to come over and introduce themselves, and perhaps even laugh generously as I try my best with my few, few words in embarrassingly broken Chinese. I am really touched by their soft presence, their kindness, and their openness - regardless of how far I am from where I’ve come, we seem to see eye to eye here, with nothing held back, and they made me feel like one of the family right away.
During the lunch break I took a run off to see the Summer Palace, and like all landmarks I have seen so far it is teeming with tourists at all hours of the day. I am one of hundreds toting a camera around my shoulder, almost to the point of embarrassment as I try and hide my apparatus from view and just try and enjoy the scenery and ancient buildings without drawing too much attention to myself. I have a new friend with me, Chen, a fellow photographer from the event who joins me for our quick lunch break dash. We ended up enjoying ourselves a little too much, as we actually got a bit lost in the maze of walled off gardens and towers, and we had to run back so as not to miss the beginning of the afternoon session. After the course we were once again treated to a wonderful group dinner, by none other than our gracious host for the course, Miss Lee. She is the sweetest woman you’ll ever meet, flamboyant, boisterous and hilarious, and it turns out she owns the whole building and the restaurant below, and gifted the entire day for the group to enjoy. On top of that, it was her own birthday today, so she generously decided to host everyone for her own party and to honor Rinpoche - so yet again out comes the cake, birthday singing commences and festivities galore. Cheers and hugs, several local songs I didn’t know but sang along to anyways, some of the best Chinese food I've ever tasted in my life, and so many toasts my knees have already given out from standing and sitting repeatedly. What a beautiful day, a day well spent.
Meditation and the Summer Palace, who could ask for more in a single day - this tour is off to a great and roaring start!
