Leaving Ladakh
So our stay in Ladakh has almost come to a close. It's hard to imagine that we've only been here for a month. I feel that I've learned so much and grown in so many directions. My family in Phey really redefined for me what it means to be part of a family. The care and responsibility each member of the family felt toward each other and, even me, really blew my mind. It's really a shame that that kind of nurture has nearly dissapeared in the west. Exposure to such awesome and stunning natural formations really effected me here in Ladakh. The trek was an opportunity for me to really connect to myself and nature. The memories of gurgling streams, joyous mountains, and bowing trees carry with them a feeling of peace.
If I were to compare my body to the infinite empty space,
It is an existence as small as a particle of dust
My heart feels the empty space in its entirety and embraces it.
With each and every breath
I become one with the empty space.
Just as there is an empty space that exists outside my body
There is one that exists inside my body.
Since both empty spaces are connected
We are tightly embracing the empty space from inside and out.
All living things have their noses buried deep into this empty space
Receiving life from its greatness.
If the great empty space outside falls ill
It only follows that the small empty space inside falls ill.
One of the most important things that I've come to understand better from being in Ladakh is how important my own actions are and how they effect the world around me. Realizing, on some level, my interdependence with the rest of the universe really stimulates in me a desire to positively affect the world.
Lauren