The Worst Toilet in India

At the Dalai Lama’s temple, Natalie and I came to the toilets at the outer end of a narrow corridor near the monks’ dorms. There were two doors, and Natalie pushed the first door open; indeed a stupendous stench assaulted my olfactory senses. She had warned me that it was a disgusting toilet with no flush, and although it had a faucet, the water wasn’t working. But while we walked downstairs, she pointed out that squatting is more ergonomic and not using toilet paper is environment-friendly (the thought has certainly crossed my mind frequently).

In the Worst Toilet in India, there were piles of excrement in the stool, and the wastebasket was overflowing with used tissues and other paper products, and there was even some shit amid the paper that had spilled onto the floor. “The Worst Toilet in Scotland,” as seen in the heroin film Trainspotting, is luxurious in comparison. This toilet is certainly an example of working with aversion.

We returned just in time for the beginning of the Dalai Lama's translator's 4 pm talk, which had to do with how all material things are suffering by nature (that includes gross toilets), and everything has emptiness.