Choices and Consequences

(Many more pictures on Facebook)

Opted out of the tour programme for today and tomorrow, the last two full days in Leh. This means missing oout on the worlds highest motorable road, the Khardungla Pass (5578m) - which would have been a new personal altitude record (though only by 78m); the Samstaling Samemanling Monastery; a ride on a Bactrian camel; camping out overnight; a gala dinner; a market, and Chamba Monatery. Instead, I chose to pay about an extra £150 to pay for a replacement room to the one I am not using on the tour, and to hire a driver for two days, and miscellaneous other expenses; to have to wake at 04:45, and leave the hotel at 05:00 for a (very pleasent) 20 minute drive; spend an hour shivering in all the clothes I had with me in the pre-dawn cold; spend the next six hours in direct, unshaded Himalayan sunshine at altitude; be packed in a space so small that I was touching the person behind, to my left, and to my right, with only my little backpack separating me from the person in front; so tightly packed that change of position was virtually impossible; to walk to the car in the car park at 12:30 and get out of the car park only at 13:45, with the drive to the hotel getting me back at 14:15; all in preparation for doing exactly the same thing tomorrow.

It was SOOOO worthwhile, in order to hear the Dalai Lama teaching. I don't know how many people were there, though I made fairly good guesses that there were two - three thousand foreigners, about a thousand nuns and about two thousand monks. My guess of the total number of people there was between 30 and 80 thousand, with a belief that it was nearer the latter figure than the former. This was a fantastic day, though it was a little disconcerting to hear the translation start (I paraphrase) "As I was saying when I was last here, three years ago....."

Ladakh

Arrived in India on Saturday, and to the hotel in Delhi. Very luxurious hotel - I could have thrown quite a decent party in my bathroom. Following day on to Leh, Ladakh with an excruciatingly early start - 03:45. The airstrip at Leh is short, bumpy, at altitude (3500m), and the approach wends its way down and round valleys. All in all an interesting landing. To the hotel, and then, against the advice of the guides and locals, walked up to the town, and had a look round and orientated myself. Found the temple in the centre of town and there learnt that the Dalai Lama is going to be teaching eight kilometers away on two days just before we are due to fly out. An opportunity.

One job leads to another

After getting back to Milton Keynes from Cambridge, I needed to do housekeeping and maintenance on my boat. So today I went up to Yardley Gobion (about an hour away by boat) to get diesel and a pump out. I loaded up with 169 litres of diesel which is the most I have ever put in the boat at one time. This was not entirely surprising, as I last filled up at Peterborough on the way to Cambridge. Since then I have gone to Cambridge and all the way back to Milton Keynes. En route the dilapidated state of the boat's paintwork was massively evident to me, and since it was such a nice day, I determined to restart work on the paintwork when I got back to base.

The paintwork on the roof is so bad in places that I am going to have to strip it back to bare metal. So the first thing I did was to go out and buy a band sander and a lot of bands. I also bought some other bits and pieces to assist in the paint preparation.

Got back and started tackling areas of the gunwales that I had previously prepared that had deteriorated since I did them. To do this I had to run the generator. It is quite a long time since I last ran the generator and first I had to fill it with petrol. Then it took quite a while to actually start it. As usual I connected the generator to the battery charger whilst I was working. Part way through the day the battery charger started resetting itself, which is usually a sign that the charge to the battery is interrupted. The last time this happened, it was a sign that the generator's oil was dirty and needed changing. I did not get to this today, but is definately something for tomorrow.

Anyway, got to applying the primer, and went through the three quarter full tin of metal primer I had. So tomorrow I'll need to get some more.

Finally, I started packing up and putting tools and materials away. In the process I noticed how filthy I was - oil and petrol from the generator; primer; coal dust from tools I got out of the storage area under my tug front which tends to get covered with dust. This led to me having to clean the generator externally. It also showed that I would need a bath and a complete change of clothing. As I went to store the generator I tipped it, and spilt petrol in the boat - this is not a good idea. It meant that I had to clear this up immediately.

So half a dozen jobs down; another half dozen jobs generated.

Tai Ji Summer School

For a large number of years the Nei Chia association, of which I am a member, has had one or more summer schools, lasting between three days and a week. I am going to the one being held at Rugby. Today was the first day of the summer school. As seems to have become a tradition, the weather during the day was good.

It was good to be doing practice in a group again. Working in a group always seems to benefit all participants whatever experience they have.

The desirability of routine

While I was doing the CELTA course, I was working to an (arduous) regular routine. This involved, among other things, getting up early, driving into Cambridge, doing an hours Tai Ji practice and then working on course work. I was then working hard all day, which is something I haven't done for quite a while.

The routine, the regular practice, and the hard work all proved to be good for me - I felt better, I was operating effectively, and I was happy. Getting back to my permanent mooring, without the enforced routine has also involved me lapsing back into fairly formless daily activities. The routine, the practice, and the hard work all go.

So although I know that these things are good for me, I don't do them without an imposed routine. How do I provide myself with the motivation to do the things I like, enjoy and are good for me? A mystery.

Preparations for Ladakh

Today was spent travelling down to London to attend a meal (in lieu of a formal briefing) with Master Travel, who are organising the trip I am going on in August. I am going to Ladakh, the very northernmost point of India, and formerly one of the independent Buddhist kingdoms. It is high altitude - most of the trip is about 3400 metres, but we do go over one pass at 5578 metres. I had arranged to pick up my passport with Indian visa at the meal. There were only three of the party (of eight) plus a couple of people from Master Travel. The restaurant they had chosen was a good Italian restaurant near Waterloo. A very pleasant meal and discussion.

After the meal I went down to the South Bank, and found a spot to have a large glass of red wine, while I wrote a few emails. This was not made easier when I found that I had not transferred my address book to the new netbook I was using, so had to find the email addresses of the friends I was writing to by roundabout means.

I then wended my way back to Euston, and back to the boat. A easy going gentle day. The only other thing of note is that I have, at the prompting of one of my friends, joined Facebook, and this blog is now being fed through to that network.

What is Normal?

I am now back on my permanent moorings in Cosgrove. I came up the River Nene really rather quickly doing some long days to do so. The limiting factor when I am cruising is my own stamina, and how prepared I am with foods that I have on board.

Now the CELTA course is over, I am having to reconsider what I am going to do in the future. All the advice I am currently getting suggests going with the flow and accepting whatever comes. This is fine, but in spite of a lot of attempts I am not very good at either recognising the flow nor going with it. Certainly my tentative plans for Tibet at best have been put on hold for at least a year; at worst it is not meant to happen.

What is Normal?

I am now back on my permanent moorings in Cosgrove. I came up the River Nene really rather quickly doing some long days to do so. The limiting factor when I am cruising is my own stamina, and how prepared I am with foods that I have on board.

Now the CELTA course is over, I am having to reconsider what I am going to do in the future. All the advice I am currently getting suggests going with the flow and accepting whatever comes. This is fine, but in spite of a lot of attempts I am not very good at either recognising the flow nor going with it. Certainly my tentative plans for Tibet at best have been put on hold for at least a year; at worst it is not meant to happen.

Return to Milton Keynes

Since Friday I have exited the Middle Levels and have been travelling up the Nene. I have been travelling for fairly long days, and have reached Rushden and Diamonds Football Club, where there are some extensive moorings, and facilities, and the shops are within walking distance. The very hot weather has broken, with some light showers of rain and temperatures in the low 20s rather than the 30s.

After the CELTA course

I have just started to journey back from Burwell, where my brother lives, and where I have been moored for the CELTA course I was attending in Cambridge.

I have gained a lot from the CELTA course, but none of the things I booked the course for. The course is very intensive - during the week I was working 16-18 hour days; with weekends being somewhat lighter - only 12-14 hour days. Even so, I found that while I could deliver the required standard of teaching English as a foreign language, I could not deliver according to their four week timetable. As a result I withdrew from the assessement process at the end of the third week - but not from the course. This means that I can refer to myself as CELTA trained, but not CELTA certified.

I then cruised down the Burwell Lode to the pub at the end of it. This was so weed encrusted that I took two and a half hours to do four miles. Yesterday I entered the Middle Levels (the Fens) ready to cross them to Peterborough tomorrow. Today I crossed most of the Middle Levels, ready to leave the Fens at Peterborough, to start up the Nene again.

Pictures from the River Nene

Mill and lock complex.





Old mill converted to hotel.

Travelling to Cambridge

I have obtained a place on a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) course in Cambridge during the month of June. I decided that, since the course is billed as extremely intensive, I would take my boat to Cambridge and moor there for the duration of the course. So I have spent the month of May travelling from Milton Keynes to Cambridge. By car this is a 1 1/2 hour journey. By boat it is an eleven day trip. I started off on the 2nd May and arrived at my destination on the 21st May, having spent some time at various points en route.

The route by boat is up the Grand Union canal as far as the Northampton Arm junction; down the Northampton Arm (17 locks); onto the River Nene and down virtually its full length to Peterborough; then from there into the Middle Levels (Fens) to the junction of the Middle Levels with the tidal Great Ouse; across the tidal bit (only half an hour including the locks at either end); and then up the Great Ouse, through Ely onto the River Cam; down this river until I got to Reach Lode; down the Lode to Burwell Lode and then along it to the end of navigation. I am going to be based in Burwell for the duration of the course, as my brother lives there and he has been able to arrange for me to moor for the duration at a friend of his, who has property in Burwell. This does mean it will be a 20 mile journey into Cambridge each day, which I could do without, but it also relieves me of a number of domestic chores which is a benefit.

The journey down the Nene is very pleasant, but it does go on and on - it took me several days to traverse the river. It is difficult to get to food shops until one gets to Peterborough, and the locks are slow (particularly for a single handed boat like mine) but it was an enjoyable trip. When I got to Peterborough I moored for a few nights at Peterborough Yacht Club, as I was going off the boat for a few days, and I wanted to ensure that the boat was secure while I was away from it.

Moving on from Peterborough into the Middle Levels is a change of pace, though I did go through the Middle Levels effectively in one day, which was faster than I had anticipated.

I got to Ely, which from the river is a beautiful location, where I did some food shopping, and a pump out. Then up to Burwell, with a few hiccups where I moored on the public mooring for two nights before backing the boat onto my brother's friend's mooring. This is up a little creek, and the four hundred or so yards took me 50 minutes to back up. Narrowboats do not steer in reverse, and it is a tedious and painstaking process. Moored up, connected up to electricity; and started to prepare myself for the course next week.

Buddhist Experience Week - cont.

During the first night I spent at Samye Ling, somebody using a hair dryer set off the fire alarm at 05:45. The alarm is very sensitive, and painfully loud. Anyway as a result of this I got up in time for the optional prayers. I did not attend these, as it had been made clear the previous evening, that the view of the monastry was that this service was for those who had sought refuge (the taking of vows to abide by the Buddhist way of life). However it did set the pattern for me, and I was up early for each day of the course.

The meals were all vegatarian, and superb. Breakfast was fruit, porridge, and toast (except Thursdays for some reason - a vegetarian fry up); Lunch was the main meal, with very substantial portions available - a main dish and a sweet - all fabulous; the evening meal (not taken by most of the monks and nuns) was soup and toast - usually a proper soup - ie one in which a spoon would stand up.

The meditiation practice sessions proved to be a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. I have always regarded my Tai Ji as a form of meditation, and as a result that I was fairly well practiced in meditation. I was unprepared for how physically tough I found it; the meditation itself did have correspondances with my Tai Ji - particularly those moments of Tai Ji (very rare) when I am totally in the moment, focussed, yet open and aware and my Tai Ji is just no effort. I did find the Buddhist seated meditation had moments like that. I also found, over the course of the week that I was doing more regular practice of my Tai Ji than earlier this year, and that the Buddhist meditation was a very good preparation for my Tai Ji. Doing the meditation put me in a appropriate state of mind, relaxation, and focus; all of which enhanced my Tai Ji.

The teaching sessions were interesting, though I had gone to the week determined to live the experience rather than gather information. This was based on a couple of lessons I have learned from my Tai Ji. The first is this sort of training and development can only be learnt by repetitively doing it. The second is that during the development of my Tai Ji, I have taken lots of notes (books and books of notes) but rarely referred back to them. As a result I took no notes; and concentrated on what was being conveyed. Some of the information was familiar - I have had a passing interest in Buddhism for some time. More significant was the delivery of the material. All the teachers, had the feel of teaching from real personal experience in depth and a great personal understanding of that experience. (There was one exception to this - at least for me.) Their transmission of experience was invaluable.

The whole of the course conveyed what I think of as what a monastic life SHOULD be. It suggested to me a Christian monastry devoted to the teachings of Christ, rather than the precepts of Christianity. (I was not aware at the time I formed this view; that Christ's teachings contained any prohibitions at all; I have since learned that they do contain one prohibition - on divorce). The teachers, organisers of the course, and the monastic population all were focussed on the precepts of Buddhism, and provided plenty of evidence that this focus was derived from the experience of Buddhist practices. There was one comment, in the middle of general conversation, that summarised this for me. The monk I was working with during the work sessions said that if he had a clash with another of the monastic community, he made a point of working with and for that person as soon as possible.

The contrast between this and my perception of Christianity was marked. Christianity is obviously theist (a concept that has no meaning for me); it is based on the starting point that man is born sinful, cannot earn salvation, which is only available by grace, and is a mass of prohibitions, injunctions, and proscriptions. By contrast Buddhism came over to me as non-theist; based on the starting point that all sentient life has within it, Buddha mind, the ground state of the entire universe; and is not based on any equivalent set of imperatives. This is not to say that Buddhism does not have rules; but they appear to be training rules that individuals undertake voluntarily to facilitate practice. The basic precepts are:
1. To refrain from taking life (non-violence towards sentient life forms)
2. To refrain from taking that which is not given (not committing theft)
3. To refrain from sensual (including sexual) misconduct
4. To refrain from lying (speaking truth always)
5. To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol)
Again my take on these are that if one adopts these rules personally, then the only person who will be let down by failure to abide by the precepts is the individual who took vows to abide by them.

Altogether a much more rational approach to life than that of any of the theist approaches.

The other activities on the course included details of the construction of the Stupa; a tour of the grounds; a presentation by ROKPA (the charity that I am in touch with regarding volunteering in Tibet); and general get togethers for those on the course.

The one thing I haven't touched on was the Chenrezig puja instruction. I will probably come back to this later.

All in all a very impressive week. I am glad I booked to go on the course, even though I thought I was doing so only to get in touch with ROKPA. It proved to be valuable, interesting, and enjoyable.

Buddhist Experience Week

Early this year I decided that I would try to spend a considerable amount of time in Tibet. I started investigating volunteering opportunities and came up with a couple of possible organisations who had operations in places of interest, and who had jobs that looked as if they could use my skills and experience. One of these was an American based charity which had posts in Kham, but the other was ROKPA - the charity associated with Samye Ling. This charity's work is based on supplying food, and providing education to orphans and the children of single parent families, in Nepal, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Tibetan areas of China. While its objectives are less well matched to my skills than the American charity; they do have the overwhelming advantage of being UK based, and thus far more accessible than the other one.

My motivation for going to Samye Ling was sparked by this investigation, and a general interest in all affairs Tibetan, and some interest in Buddhism. I booked the course up convinced that this was my only motivation. However, I got more out of the week than I anticipated, and it made me realise that my motivations were much more extensive than I thought when I booked the course.

The timetable for the course was:
06:00-07:00 Green Tara Puja (prayers) - optional
07:00-08:00 Breakfast
08:00-09:00 Guided meditation practices
09:00-11:00 Work period
11:00-11:30 Tea break
11:30-12:30 Teaching
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00 Activity/teaching
15:00-17:00 Free time
17:00-18:00 Teaching
18:00-19:00 Soup
19:00-20:00 Chenrezig puja & instruction
20:00-21:00 Cafe (some activities and some nights)

On the first evening we were all given a choice of work assignments - with the option of changing these every couple of days. I opted for maintenance, as likely to be the hardest physical work on offer. I wanted something that would leave me physically tired, as it is easier to switch off the mental racetrack I sometimes get on as I try to go to sleep. In the event I enjoyed the work so much that I opted for this work for the whole of the week.

The jobs I ended up doing during the work period included helping shift sheet steel and scaffolding poles, going with the monk who is the caretaker and health and safety officer for the site to feed the (pet) yaks they have at the monastry, helping him lay out an iron gate that he is making for Holy Island (where the long term retreats are held), clearing up scrap metal, putting boxes of files and papers up into one of their attics, collected a band finisher from one of the monastry's other sites, used the band finisher to take the sharp corners off the metal work on the gate, shifted some waste timber from their camp site, erected a safety fence to keep the public from an earth and rock dump, and shifted various bits of timber. All in all an interesting set of jobs that fulfilled my aim in selecting that work.

I found the monk, to whom I was providing a small amount of unskilled labour, to be a very interesting character. Built like a brick outhouse (or something similar), he is heavily tatooed down both arms, which are visible when he is in his monk's robes, and a genuine artist with metal work. Metal that he was working just seemed to become what he wanted it to be, without effort. He has taken life long vows as a monk. He also has a great sense of mischief, and regaled me with stories of the funny situations he has been in, or created. A nice guy to meet and work with.

to be cont.

Samye Ling

I arrived at Samye Ling as described in my last post. I got my key, and went up to my room. The first thing that I saw when I entered the room was this delightful sight.





I took these photos before doing any unpacking or sorting myself out. When I had unpacked I did my usual thing in any new place. I went for a wander about the grounds of Samye Ling. It is a very extensive place, with the temple, a Stupa, a lamp house, dining and workshop block, building works as they build (slowly) phase two of the temple area, a formal gate, lake, vegetable garden, several houses, multiple cells for the permanent residents, a cafe, a Tibetan shop, at least two residential blocks, the original house - which now functions as administrative offices, charity offices, residence for some of the monks, library, and common room - a barn, multiple small workshops, a carpentry shop, and a metal workshop. The whole grounds are bounded by the river - a river along the boundary, with another river joining it at about the midpoint of the grounds.







The area the monastry is situated in is one of the biggest comercial pine forests in the country. It is in a hilly area, with quite large hills. The hills are heavily weathered, as a result of the site's proximity to the west coast of Scotland. As a result there are quite a number of temporary roads cut in the forest for the use of the lumber industry. As a result of all these factors, it is apparently quite easy to get lost in the area, when walking. I did not leave the main site for the duration of the week.

The information I had received before the week included the timetable for the week, and the monastic timetable. These made it clear that it was as was to be expected - a monastic timetable - prayers and meditation early - the main meal being at lunch time - work sessions in the morning - free time in the afternoon - and more prayers and meditation in the early evening and after the meal.

I picked up on this timetable at the evening meal, which represented the start of the week.

More on the actual week to follow.

Lake District to Scotland

My travels up to Scotland were via Blackpool, for an ASL tournement, and then to the Lake District for a few days walking. Most of the photos I took in the Lake District were spoiled by something on the lens - probably a strand of material or similar. However one of the pictures I took was OK and it is attached below.


The descent from Hindscarth as seen from just above Buttermere.

On the Friday I departed from the Lake District, having packed my voluminous luggage. Because I was attending multiple types of events - an ASL tournement, a walking holiday, and a week's stay at Samye Ling, learning a little about Buddhism and meditation - I had had to pack a lot of gear. This included computer and photographic equipment, and walking kit. The journey was fairly uneventful, and took much less time than I had anticipated. As a result I got to Lockerbie at about midday, and found a truckers stop which provided fairly good food, at a ridiculously low price, and connectivity so I could get my emails and check out the route over the last few miles.

I finally rolled up at Samye Ling at about 14:30 and unpacked and started the week's stay there. This is the subject of my next post.

Recent Experiences

I have just finished a chunk of travelling about the country for a variety of purposes. I started off by driving up to Blackpool for the 2009 Heroes ASL Tournament. My play record at the tournament was dire - win:loss ration of 1:3. It was enjoyable, but I do find it somewhat intense. Some of the scenarios were good.

After Blackpool I had decided to spend some time in the Lake District, as an alternative to driving all the way back to Milton Keynes and then from Milton Keynes to Scotland. I drove up to Borrowdale and stayed in a hotel there for four nights. I got a shock driving from Keswick to Borrowdale on two levels - I realised that it must be 15 years plus since I was last in the Lake District. In my 30's I used to go to the Lake District on a very regular basis to stay in my friend Simon's parents' cottage in Seatoller in Borrowdale for walking weekends. The shock was compounded by the road being familiar. My skills do not usually extend to recognition of geography.

Over this period I went for a number of walks, all of which I have done before. The first I did was Catbells, on the afternoon of the day I got there. It is a lot more worn than when I was last there - it is now like a motorway up the hill. It was here I got my second shock of the few days I spent in the Lakes. I am older, fatter, and unfitter than when last I was here. The second walk I did was about four hours; up Catbells, Maiden Moor, High Spy, to Dale End Tarn, and then returning by the same route. The last walk I did was to drive up Honister Pass nearly to the top, and then strike directly up to Dale End. Then Hindscarth and onto Robinson, in order to drop down nearly to the bottom of the pass and then walked back up the pass. I underestimated how long it would take to walk back up the pass - about one and a half hours. As a result the total walk took me about six and a half hours, which left me tired and not up to walking on the last day I spent in the Lakes. As a result the last day I spent in Keswick doing emails and other low key activities.

Then I went on upto Samye Ling Tibetan monastry for a week. Description of this will be in another blog entry. After the week there, I started to drive back to Milton Keynes, which took a lot longer than I had thought it would. I realised at about 16:00 that if I were to continue I would get back to the boat in the dark, after the time that running generators is allowed, and that the boat would be cold (no stove lit, and the boat having been deserted for over a fortnight) with no food and the bed unmade and ... As an alternative I decided to stop the night at a motel in Sheffield.

More to follow.

Mad March Plans

One of the things I am planning to do during March is to spend a week at Kagyu Samye Ling Buddhist Monastry in Scotland to see what it is like. As a result I have added this destination to the list of my links.

Picking up coal

The first opportunity to get the coal I needed was Wednesday. I was not looking forward to the trip, anticipating ice on the canal, and miserable weather. In the event the weather going up to Stoke Bruerne was very good; the trip was ice free, due to the River Tove being in spate; and the whole journey an example of how good it can be to cruise in the winter if the conditions are good. The River was flowing so fast that it took me 90 minutes for the return trip including getting into the arm where I moor, and actual mooring. As these latter activities normally take about 10 minutes and the journey from Stoke about two hours (plus or minus five minutes) the fact that I saved around 25% of the journey time shows just how much the river was flowing. It turned out to be a very enjoyable day.

Winter Coal

Just before the real winter weather arrived, I realised that my coal supplies for my Rayburn range were getting very low. I therefore placed an order for half a ton of coal with my usual supplier. There is a stoppage during February on the Stoke Bruerne locks, so we made arrangements for him to come down to the bottom of the locks in his van (along a very poor quality track) whilst I took the boat up to the same place.

The morning I was due to go up to the locks was the day the temperature had really dropped, and there had been a second bout of snow. I started off and got about three hundred yards before coming to a halt due to the thickness of the ice (about one and a quarter inches). Phoning Mike (my coal supplier) I learnt that he was not able to get down the track due to the weather conditions.

Since then we have been trying to arrange another delivery without success. I am getting very low on coal!

Meanwhile I wandered out to take some photos of my permanent mooring in the snow and here they are.

Ice in Winter

Over the Xmas and New Year period, when it has been so cold, my boat has been frozen into the canal. The ice built up to about an inch thick. This is only a problem if it goes on for a considerable time. If it is frozen up for a long while, then getting water and diesel. and getting rid of sewage becomes an issue. People often ask me if I can break the ice with the boat. This can be done, up to a point, but there are a number of downsides. Firstly breaking ice only works up to about 3/4", and breaking ice creates a lot of noise - think fingernails down a blackboard at 100 times the volume - that transmits through the ice and water and can be heard from about a mile away. Breaking ice also wears the bitumen paint on the underside of the boat, which is a protective layer. Finally, and most importantly, breaking ice puts a lot of pressure on the hull doing the breaking; and as the boat doing the breaking goes along it puts a huge amount of sideways pressure on other boats as fractures in the ice transmit along the ice. This pressure can be so extreme that it can sink a wooden boat. Owners of wooden boats often find that putting straw bales in the water around the boat provides protection against the pressure of ice.

Being ice bound also tends to make me house bound, but this time the weather, apart from the temperature, has been classic winter weather - glorious and clear and icy. This has been particularly the case when I have been coming back to the boat late at night. Some of these nights have been marvellous, with a large moon.