Waking up to a strange, grumpy morning. We’re in something like Day 10 of the annual 2-3 week hiatus in the hot water supply when repairs are made to winter damage. And as we edge toward the summer solstice, because Mongolia for some inexplicable reason has renounced Daylight Savings Time, the cats mew into my barely-washed, unshaven face at sunrise, which happens to occur at 4:30AM and streams into my uncurtained, eastern windows, deaf to my pleas for an hour more of rest. Sun’s up. Breakfast time. Then I snap to. Something’s burning! I sit up and glance outside. Yes, something’s really burning. The whole city’s blanketed in thick, white smoke:
Yesterday, temperatures spiked to 95/35 and last night the collision of a careening front caused a quick, but vicious lightning storm that must have ignited the parched landscape into wildfire somewhere. I just pray it wasn’t worse elsewhere. The freak snowstorms just 10 days ago proved disastrous in Mongolia’s eastern provinces, killing 52 people, thousands of domestic animals, and demolishing hundreds of gers.
This world.
OK, let’s shake it off a bit and look hopefully forward, shall we? I had the pleasure yesterday to finally meet Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (whose story involves surfing contests and near-fatal snakebites), the American nun who heads Sakyadhita, the International Association of Buddhist Women. She is in town to tend to the details of the organization’s 10th International Conference on Buddhist Women. Exploring “Buddhism in Transition: Tradition, Changes and Challenges,” the conference will be held here in Ulaanbaatar from July 1-5. I’m very sorry to have to miss it; I just bought a ticket yesterday that will take me to the States June 29th. But I will have details very soon about local registration. I’m also hoping Lekshe will be able to accept my invitation to pop in to our final meditation workshop later this afternoon and meet the wonderful women (and handful of men) who have been studying and practicing with us this spring.
Finally, a funny picture from my recent Gobi jaunt. There really wasn’t much to write about; it was so quick and maybe you’re tired of hearing about cold Siberian winds. Anyway, here was our traveling group posed at the Shambhala gate: Ven. Chingerel, a young Mongolian nun I brought along simply because she’d never been; the driver’s girlfriend, I think; Jeff Watt, curator at the Rubin Museum of Art (and creator of the astounding Himalayan Art Resources site), towering above us all; Orna, a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley; some Dutch woman we invited to tag along whose adopted name, which escapes me, translates as “Heaven and Earth” and who explained she was directed by some sort of celestial council to go to the Gobi to undertake critical but vaguely defined work to recalibrate the universe; and a monastic impostor:
Was the recalibration successful?
Posted by: Öndör Gegeen | June 08, 2008 at 12:59 AM
I see... the usual suspect:-)
Posted by: Christian | June 08, 2008 at 04:57 AM
"Was the recalibration successful?"
Apparently. It elevated you to the status of Living Buddha, umlauts and all.
Posted by: Konchog | June 08, 2008 at 06:32 AM
Where is it that you live? It's got a great view of the UB city, when it is visible.
Posted by: Bilguun | June 08, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Hi Bilguun,
Yes, as you say, it is a nice view to the south and east, and also as you say, completely obscured again today by fire smoke. I live near Ikh Delguur.
Nice blog, by the way. I'll link it soon.
Posted by: Konchog | June 09, 2008 at 12:16 AM
Wow, Mr. Watt is a giant, isn't he? What NBA team did he play for again?
I'm glad the universe realignment worked. It's been really out of whack lately.
Posted by: Palzang | June 10, 2008 at 02:54 PM