October 5, 2000 - Lhasa, Tibet - Part One

In Lhasa, we have done pretty much the same thing for the past three days. Taking it easy, visiting temples, and being tourists.

We went to visit the Jokhang temple, close to the hotel. I returned there yesterday evening to watch the monks chant and to meditate. It was a total trip. Recurring closed visions soaring through psychedelic visual landscapes. Buddhas, Shivas, Taras, revolving in cosmic stardust. Swirling chasms of energy opening space fields and cosmic void fields. Leading me to somewhere; but I never seem to get there.

Yesterday we went to Jampa Thongdol Buddha Monastery. We had a good journey. Miles took his drawing pad. Everyone loved his drawings. A big crowd of Chinese tourists gathered around him, while he drawing. There was just us and Chinese tourists. Miles had this crowd of people around him, watching him draw. Everyone was having fun. John was joking with everybody. Soon John and Miles were posing with the tourists, one or two at a time. John and Miles are total hams, cheese balls, an they are lapping it up. Pretty soon they had Stirling posing with them too. It was so amusing to watch.

All the monks, asked John if he was a boxer. You know John is built like a boxer, and he keeps his head shaved. John and Miles are treated like movie stars by a lot of people in Lhasa.

Those guys love to have a good time. They are out looking for girls and a place to party. It’s vacation time, and they are enjoying themselves. But they are also very tuned into the local culture, the spiritual world, and the problems here. They were telling me how all of these white, American, yuppie people that are here in Lhasa are snotty with them. Like they don’t see John and Miles as spiritual or they aren’t here to be spiritual. But John and Miles are spiritual and they happen to have spent a lot of money to come on this vacation. So why shouldn’t they have some fun, and everyone else can keep their, "I am holier than thou" stuff to themselves. The truth is, their Party Boyz persona has helped them break the ice with some of the local people, and let’s them get closer to the true culture.

John was telling me about these heavy spiritual Buddha dream he had last night.