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By Avery Monson
Back when we departed from the San Francisco airport, I knew absolutely no one going on the course trip and had only heard stories about Nepal through my dad's own experiences. I was going in completely blind. Nepal seemed like a chaos that made me think, “What did I get myself into?”
But as the trip continued, I realized that Nepal was beautiful and organized chaos -- you just have to become fluid. We used the term “fluid” a lot as a group -- what I soon learned is that Nepal (and Buddhism) is fluid. There is no need to rush and cause stress; we are only on this planet for a short amount of time, so why not move at your own pace.
The "Trekkers" at Australian Base camp. (Photo credit: Soren Peterson)
Selfie with Phakchok Rinpoche! (Photo Credit: Richard Trinh)
When we met Phakchok Rinpoche, he talked about how we can get more appreciation and love out of life when we realize the impermanence of our world.
When I first learned about the concept of impermanence, it was hard to fully understand the impermanence of ourselves. But, as the weeks dwindled down and we said more and more goodbyes, the sad impermanence of knowing people became real. The impermanence made me more appreciative of the time we had together -- it was better than no time at all.
PhakChok Rinpoche was right: the more we acknowledge our own impermanence, the more we love every moment in life because every moment is important.
Every little moment with the students that we were working with was important. That is the difficulty with kids -- they remember the little moments that we tend to miss. Whether I mispronounced a word or made a weird face, those kids remembered and would like to hold it over my head in a fun way.
When we read, “To Hell with Good Intentions,” by Ivan Illich, we learned that to have a good interaction with the people we are teaching, we need to be consistent. Although we were not at the schools for a long time, I put effort into being consistent in every moment, to really listen to the students about their wants and needs.
Our trip to Nepal will always be in my heart.
Every person we met was incredibly giving and kind to us, from vendors on the street to Karma and her five sisters.
I am so thankful to have had the privilege of being able to go to Kathmandu and Pokhara, and I hope to carry Nepal with me forever.
Selfie with Khenpo at Karmas Restaurant in Pokhara. (Photo credit: Khenpo Kyunkhyab)
Guide Madhu and some of us SMC students at Australian Base camp (Photo Credit: Lillian La Salle)
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