Connecting with Tibet and India

I did not plan this day to have an India and Tibet theme, honesty. It simply happened.

For the first time, I faced my fear of buses and traveled via public bus to downtown. I didn’t get lost, and the bus drivers were really friendly! Toto, we’re not in St. Louis anymore.

I got off the bus and walked to the Portland Art Museum, where I attended a dharma talk by Shamar Rimpoche. He’s a member of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and he’s the second highest-ranking tulku in that lineage, right after the Karmapa. He’s not young and pretty like the present Karmapa, but he knows more and had insightful words to say. The talk was in a small conference room, and the volunteer who spoke said they were expecting a small turnout. Um, not only was every seat filled, but there were people lining the walls, standing in back (with me) and ultimately sitting around on the floor way up front. He talked about the Four Noble Truths and meditation practice. I took notes, although not on everything he said.

All in the same day, I saw Shamar Rimpoche, cooked mung dal from scratch (this is the first time I’ve ever cooked dal from scratch instead of using ready-made dal that comes out of a box or can), saw Slumdog Millionaire for the first (and certainly not the last) time, and was reading In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi and The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar. Additionally, I took the Buddha book with me to see Shamar Rimpoche, and I took The Space Between Us with me to see Slumdog Millionaire, because of course I always have at least one book with me.

Perhaps more past life memories will come back to me after a day like this.

The Hawthorne and Belmont Neighborhood

Here are photos that I've taken in my new neighborhood. People saw me wandering around with a camera and taking pictures, and they gave me odd looks. That's one way to make an impression on new neighbors.

Bamboo!

The architecture around here is impressive: here's a Victorian house with a tower, and across the street is a stucco apartment building from the 1920s.

Strangely, this looks like a governor's mansion. It's probably a commune.

I thought the plants here were at least as interesting as the house. Later I noticed that the balcony is, um, under construction.

I've seen so many beautiful flowering trees lately. Achoo.

A Japanese archway stands between a house and an apartment building. Japanese garden architecture, particularly gates and fences, are popular in Portland, Oregon.

This is a Chinese temple (presumably Zen) with gold letters on the wall proclaiming it the Buddhist Preaching Association, North America (or something like that).

Quanyin statue in the garden

The neighborhood is full of cats. This particular cat purred and rolled around on the sidewalk and let me pet her.

This is one of many cement sculpture/benches, and it has an acquatic theme. It's in the front yard of a big old house, which might be divided into apartments or might be a communal living situation.

A purple house trimmed with yellow, and with Tibetan prayer flags.

Landscaping is in. Flowers spill out over the sidewalk, like a water fountain made of plants.

This tree looks like a claw reaching up for the sky.

These stones look like Buddhist offerings to me, like on Vulture Peak in India.

A Japanese gate.

A friendly cat and bamboo.

I hope someone fixes up this big old house and moves in.

The Portland Dharma Center, or Zen Center.

Flowers like tiny bells.

This is a strange, twisty plant. (That's not the botanical jargon.)

Daphnes, with a powerful aroma. They're reminiscent of lilacs. I wonder if there's a flower named after Scooby Doo.

An outdoor mural....or impressive graffiti.

The popular Avalon Theater, a combination movie theater and pinball machine arcade. It's quite an experience.

Guesthouse with sculptures in the front lawn.

I'm not sure it's clear in the photo, but this sculpture on the gate includes a bird playing an old saxophone. It's a real saxophone.

This bright and sunny house is at an intersection that has vestiges of paint on the pavement, I think forming a sun shape that used to fill the intersection.

Murals with a Hispanic theme.

More metal fence art, and beyond that is a brightly painted Mexican restaurant and an equally bright bus.

Oozing flowers

Another friendly cat.

This yard art is amazing.

African masks made of found items, such as forks.

Goddess shadowbox. It's not really visible in this photo, but the shadowbox includes a tiny Willendorf Goddess.

Another random pretty house.

Maybe this house was painted to match the flowering trees.

Umbrella-like flowering tree

Salmon Street Writer's Group

I've never seen this kind of plant before, but I've seen several in this neighborhood.

Glorious orange

Tame Squirrels

While I was taking a walk in my new neighborhood, I stopped in front of a tree that seemed to be full of bird feeders. A couple of squirrels were on the tree, and one of them jumped down and scurried toward me. She stood about six inches away from me, looking up as if she expected me to feed her. I took her picture instead.

While I was out taking pictures of the squirrels, two people came out and I learned that they raised the squirrels. Someone found four baby squirrels at a construction site and brought them to the woman I met, and she bottle fed them. Now they eat all kinds of nuts, right out of your hand. I fed the tamest squirrel a couple of peanuts, and she scurried down the tree trunk and touched my hand with one paw while taking the shelled peanuts.

This squirrel's name is Lucinda (if I recall correctly), and she's had babies. Another squirrel was called Yoda.