Day 15 - Leh — Felix Ast

I'm in Leh. The capital of Ladakh.

And I didn't really sleep well. Waking up in the middle of the night, thirsty, which is really common due to the altitude, and then due to my cold I also had to clear my breathing channels from time to time, and then, there was the energy of the building. Something, was just off.

Thu I wanted to change my hostel. It was not bad or anything. The vibe was just not mine. It was too fast for me. Many foreigners, most of them seeking the normal places, and it was loud. It was a great - and the correct - place to get started. To hear about what they did, how to navigate this place, and so on and so forth. But deep inside, I knew, I gotta leave.

Where to?

That would remain an open question. I really struggled to find good accomodations in Leh which felt right. There were two categories, either the premium hotels, where I'd not feel too comfortable either because I'd be alone, or the hostels/homestays which had many flaws themselves. The one I was staying for example didn't have warm water, even though they advertised it.

So I checked-out at 10:00 AM. I wanted to start, when a couple of dudes came down as well and we started playing table tennis. It was a fun time, one of them I didn't know:

Pradeep

A writer. Poet. Scholar. At table tennis though he and his Taiwanese teammate, which reminded me in so many ways of Robin, didn't shine as much. We won 4 to 1 in sets or something. I don't know how that happened because the Taiwanese guy was actually quite strong. But winning was not my goal of playing anyways, I just wanted to have a good time and that we had.

After playing for at least two hours, Pradeep and I were in the lobby talking. He didn't expect me to be a deep thinker, but all changed after approximately three minutes when I used the word "consciousness". Then he truly opened up. he was putting three things in a really nice manner:

AUM

First, he was sharing something about Om. He said it's actually not written Om. It's four characters, written A U M ... and then ... space:

AUM .

It actually describes two planes of existence. The horizontal one, and the vertical one.

A U are the horizontal ones, the x axis. From A on the left describing Matter. To U on the right the subject. Matter is clear, the subjects are we, the ones doing something. M and silence are the vertical planes, the y axis. M at the bottom, the sub-consciousness. To the silence at the top. It again says, the more powerful energies become, the softer, the more silent it will be. That way of putting the silence into the AUM I thought was a kinda cool way of looking at it. He continued saying, most, and it's not good or bad, right or wrong, move in the horizontal plane. Since AUM also describes matter as the big illusion it's another layer of a very interesting, a very deep symbol and magnetic sound.

We were talking various things, one of them was something very very deep:

Wanna have food?

He was like, nono, he is not hungry. But he joins. "Not hungry" was good, because in the end he ended up eating more than me. To be fair though, it was good veg Biryani. That's anyways something I noticed right away. The veg options are really good here. Before coming already I decided to be vegetarian here.

Experience is Subjective

Good thoughts love good food. And as I was sharing insightful stuff for him, two more points I take with me. One was about Experience. Even though I knew everything is subjective we were discussing experience and consciousness.

He said "How come we define what things are?"

"For a dog a flower appears different, right?" "For a cat colors appear different, right?" "For every being, EVERY BEING, matter appears differently."

"So how come we start believing we are right?" "So how come we start believing we know what's right?"

"See.

A blue jeans is not blue. It's blue, for you!

A food is not tasty. It's tasty, for you!

Water is not cold. It's cold, for you!

Light is not bright. It's bright, for you!

Nothing is good or bad. It's good or bad, for you!

Nothing is right or wrong. It's right or wrong, for you!

In essence, everything and everyone just is.

Our perception is subjective. Once we realize that, it starts being clearer why it's all an illusion, doesn't it?

It's what we perceive, but not what truly is. And going deeper, moving away from A and U, moving from M into silence, allows to perceive the real nature of things."

What shall I say, what he said resonated. Whether right or not for everyone, doesn't matter.

And last but not least, before departing he shared one more story. It's an ancient story. It accompanied me over the next couple of hours:

The story is about a son who wanted to know it all. A son who wanted to make his father proud. A son who wouldn't stop until he had achieved his goal.

In order to learn everything there about this world, he went into all corners of the world, learning every single bit he could find. He spent years and years and years living like that. Becoming smarter and smarter and smarter Getting more and more knowledgeable until there was just nothing anymore he could learn. He knew it all.

Triumphant he returned home to his father, proclaiming:

"Father, I know it all now. Ask me any question and I will give you the answer."

The father was shocked. "How could my son become that arrogant? How could he think he knows all?" So he wanted to teach him a lesson and asked a simple question:

"What is the one thing, if you know it, you know everything. And the one thing, if you do not know it, you know nothing."

His son was perplexed. Considering everything he learned. But eventually he had to admit: "Father, what a question. I do not have the answer. But don't worry, I will find the answer."

And the son would set out on a quest once more. After months of searching he returned again. He was frustrated. He came home without an answer. He had to accept the fact he doesn't know everything.

His father asked him, "Son, do you see how arrogant you've became?"

"You've collected knowledge, but wise you've become not. You've collected knowledge, but the one thing which would have helped you to make use of it, you have not learned."

"I must admit that you are correct. I am sorry father. All I wanted to do is to make you proud."

"Son, there is nothing you could do to not make me proud of you. You are more than I could have ever hoped for in a Son, so learn this."

"The one thing which makes you understand everything if you know it. And the one thing which makes you not know anything if you do not know it, is..."

...

"Yourself."

That's the story. And I love it.

I just have a feeling the world will hear more from Pradeep. He knows too much. Sees too much. Cares too much. We took the image and then we split ways again. He was headed back to the hostel. I was headed straight into mystery.

I wanted to find a new accomodation, and I also got the clue to visit the Ladakhi Buddhist Association (LBA), to find out more about my plans to stay and join remote Monasteries for some insights.

And so I was walking and walking and walking and walking.

I'd call this officially my first proper hike in Ladakh. Just that it was not in the mountains, it was in the main city of Ladakh, while I was getting used to the altitude. And honestly, I think that's pretty neat, after all did I get so much more connection and orientation where I was actually staying.

For accomodations I checked online but honestly, there was nothing which was clearly calling me. It was actually kinda tough to find anything which works so naturally, I was being pulled away from the city. But for the first couple of days it was my safe harbor from which I could figure out how Ladakh works. I had shortlisted a couple of stays but I had to look at them in person and see how I like them. Perfect, since I wanted to find the LBA, and both could be combined.

The Ladakh Buddhist Association

All it took, was a stroll through the city center. Nothing which is too crazy, Leh has like 300.000 inhabitants. From my first hostel into the city it was like 25 to 30 minutes of walking.

The fun part started afterwards, online I found nothing about the LBA, neither about the location, nor opening times. I asked and asked and asked. And got pointed into different directions constantly.

"Ahhh yeah, it's at Polo Ground."

At Polo Ground then:

"The LBA, here? Nono, you have to go back to the city center at the postal office."

At the Postal Office:

"Who pointed you here? The LBA is at Polo Ground."

Polo Ground is a huge parking place, and not even the locals at Polo Ground had a clue where to go. See for yourself:

It was so well hidden, not only for me, that a buddhist nun joined me on the quest. Last but not least I found two young folks, one of whose mom was a city guide and she would guide him on the phone to the place. That easily took them thirty minutes of their time but for them it was not even a question. Really kind. And here is the shocker:

The LBA was not exactly at Polo Ground, it was a little bit outside of it, up the stair of some random building, hidden behind a school. And ultimately I found it. But only god and the most dedicated know how to find that place:

And I was dedicated. Visiting monasteries was not the only reason I went there. What exactly I had in mind I kept as secret until now. I was asking Dad if he wanted to have the blessings of monks. He said yes. What he did not know... I got the opportunity to not just meet any monk. But THE monk.

Since I'm going to actually meet him, I can now say it.

On 17th of August, I'm having an audience with his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

I applied to get blessings for Dad, and for Light on German. My slogan was "Deserving comes from Serving." They accepted.

The moment I heard about Dalai Lama visiting, just 9 kilometres away from me, I knew I had to try. I knew, that would make my Ladakh visit even more special.

To actually get to the appointment though was slightly more effort than just searching half of Leh for the office. Because what happened at the office, was actually kind of bizarre. First of all the officer didn't really help me. He just pointed me towards an e-mail address where I can request the rest. But second of all, it seems like I came after office hours. And the officer just stayed because of something... surprising.

I was sitting there. A man came. Opened his bag. And in the bag, was another plastic bag. I heard the plastic sound while he was pulling something out. I smelled the cardamom taste of chai in the air. The light was relatively dim, and I heard people outside of the door waiting.

Just a moment later I saw what was in the bag of the bag.

Two stacks of 500 INR bills, at least 10cm thick. That's a lot of money. The man didn't appear to be that rich. It rather seemed he was donating all he had for the sake of Buddhism. Who knows what will happen to that man. My guess after such a divine effort: Instant enlightenment.

Or maybe it does not work that way?

Finding A Stay

From the point I was now, one of the homestays I shortlisted was nearby. So I went there. and the streets got tighter and tighter and tighter.

Until there was no street anymore. And no homestay.

I thought, hmm, it's quite late already but I still got some energy. Only challenge was, the other shortlisted accomodations where opposite of the mountain. I liked it. I was practicing for the real mountains. With all my luggage, in the 65L backpack.