At the Bodhi Tree of Enlightenment: Bodhgaya, BiharFrom the Maha-parinibbana Sutta, Part V 16-21; Digha Nikaya 16: "There are four places, Ananda, that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence.What are the four? "'Here the Tathagata was born!'This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. "'Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment!'This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. "'Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma!'This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. "'Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!' This, Ananda, is a place that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. "These, Ananda, are the four places that a pious person should visit and look upon with feelings of reverence. And truly there will come to these places, Ananda, pious bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, laymen and laywomen, reflecting: 'Here the Tathagata was born! Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened in unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment! Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the Dhamma! Here the Tathagata passed away into the state of Nibbana in which no element of clinging remains!' I've just returned from pilgrimage to the four sites sacred to all Buddhists: Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar and Lumbini. It was an amazing experience. Over the next month or so, I hope to create a website that documents my journey to these places, which are located in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (both states in north India) and Nepal. We also visited other areas not necessarily on the traditional pilgrim route: Delhi, Varanasi, and Kathmandu. I'll post that part of the journey here in the coming days. UPDATE: My Indian colleagues only today (1 February) received the postcard I sent them from Bodhgaya on 18 January. That's Bihar for you. I guess my parents will receive theirs, sent the same day, after I've retired.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 1/31/2006 03:25:00 PM| |

 
Dear Reader, I’m taking a brief hiatus from Prince Roy’s Realm and everything else. For the next three weeks I will be out of contact, as much as is possible, with the mundane world. On a purely personal level, this will certainly be the highlight of my almost two years in India, and is a major reason that even though India did not make the top ten in my bid list, I was very pleased to get assigned here. I’ll return at the end of the month, so please check back after 30 January.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 1/10/2006 11:15:00 AM| |

 
End of an Era One of the main attractions of the diplomat lifestyle is the opportunity to move around every few years to different countries and experience various cultural environments. For someone like me, this is perfect. Even back in the US I have rarely remained in one place more than a few years: as the tagline explains, I’m something of a nomad. But there are drawbacks. Probably the most obvious is the effect it has on friendships. In the Foreign Service, you can count on people constantly rotating in and out of a post. In many cases, by the time you get to really know and appreciate someone, they’re off and gone to another assignment. Or you. This aspect of the Foreign Service reminds me a lot of the Army. Of course, back then I was 18 years old, not long out of high school, and so didn’t think that much about it. The difference is that unlike the Army, which has so many personnel that you really do never see the person again (including the fact that most return to civilian life after their first or second enlistment), the Foreign Service is a rather small, exclusive group. Chances are you’ll run into colleagues again and again, either at another overseas assignment or on a stateside rotation. Even if you don’t, you’ll almost certainly meet someone else who knows them. Still, it’s always tough to separate from friends. H-Bomb and I are classmates from the same Foreign Service orientation class, the Mighty, Invincible 116th. We didn’t really know each other all that well during our 8-week course. The 116th had over 90 members, and during classes we sat in alphabetical order, so H-Bomb and I were on separate sides of the room. After class ended for the day, we didn’t socialize all that much either: we lived in different parts of town, plus I’m married, so I normally went straight home to Spicygirl. We got to know each other better after Flag Day, when we found out we were headed to the same post. He arrived in Chennai a couple of weeks before I did. Well, he’s leaving later this month. Unfortunately I won’t be here to see him off, because I’ll be out of town. I’m sad to see him go, because we’ve become close friends over the past two years. For one thing, we have a common affinity for Marty Scorsese movies and frequently use them as metaphors to explain our surroundings. Trapped within us are two wiseguys desperately trying to escape. Secondly, our post has changed dramatically over the past 2-3 years. H-Bomb and I found ourselves in the weird situation of being caught in that transition, not quite of the old, and not part of the new. It’s hard for the new guys to relate when we reminisce about the former work culture, because it has completely changed, in some ways for the better, in other ways not. There is an explicit delineation between the time that we arrived at Chennai, and the next group of JOs that followed us several months later. It’s very interesting. Friday marked our last workday together in Chennai. And as we usually had lunch together, it was our last lunch here too: “We’ll have a few drinks, get a bite to eat…” A shout-out to Some Guy From Tulsa™ for taking this photo. The lunch you see there is delivery from the Galloping Gooseberry. They do ok Italian food. I recommend you stick to their red sauce pastas, which are actually quite nice. H-Bomb vouches for their lamb lasagna. I brought that bottle of wine to mark the occasion. Later on we went to a couple of popular Chennai nightspots, the Leather Bar and Dublin. The first is the Chennai approximation of a pub and the second is a club. Tarun and Vinay joined us: Madrassi Posse, Midnite Marauders: Tarun, Vinay, H-Bomb and PR I'll never forget how he traveled all the way from Chennai to Hong Kong so he could attend my surprise birthday party last September. That still blows me away. I'll probably see H-Bomb at least once again before he leaves, but if not, our times back in DC will overlap, so I'll definitely pay him a visit sometime in the summer. That may be just the occasion to hold a second Super Strong competition, only this time between Indian and US malt liquors!
- posted by Prince Roy @ 1/07/2006 08:15:00 PM| |

 
Spicygirl left last night, but I doubt she'll put this down as one of her most memorable holidays. What a rotten break: She arrived on Friday December 23 and I get sick on Sunday, Christmas Day. I end up missing almost the entire week from work, and even now I have yet to rebound. I was miserable company the whole time. The last time I had a cold/flu was late May 2004 and it was about three weeks before I completely recovered. I got the flu shot in November, so hopefully it won't be so drawn out this time. It's hard to say whether I caught something that has been making its way through the consulate recently, or if it is something courtesy of Hong Kong via Spicygirl. I'm going with the former, since I know for a fact people there have been ill (and still they go to work), while Spicygirl told me she has been in good health for some time. For whatever reason these respiratory infections take a lot more out of me than they do most other people, and just linger and linger...I can only hope the New Year gets better from here...this provides added impetus for me to fulfill my New Year's resolution to take much better care of myself, but in the meantime, can anyone suggest their most effective magic cure that will get rid of this thing once and for all? UPDATE: Thanks for all these great remedies! I'm in no rush to have to try them, but I certainly will when the inevitable happens. The Southern Italian/Sicilian in me is especially interested in the garlic cure. The Louisianan and Sichuanese (osmosis and/or former-life for the latter) is all ears when anything [hot] 'pepper' is mentioned. My own favorite tonic is the one I used years ago. Once, when I felt something begin to invade my system, I drank an entire bottle of red wine. I felt great the next day (and while undergoing the treatment) and the symptoms disappeared entirely. Unfortunately, I've never been able to duplicate that success. Perhaps this cure is label/varietal-specific? I failed to note the particular vintage at the time, so all that's left is to continue the experiment. I tried again this last time, starting off with some white in the afternoon and finishing with red that evening, but nothing doing. Back to the drawing board...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 1/02/2006 03:45:00 PM| |