{"id":4334,"date":"2018-01-31T18:43:31","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T00:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevetibbetts.com\/?p=4334"},"modified":"2022-06-11T22:21:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-12T03:21:40","slug":"sopa-choling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevetibbetts.com\/sopa-choling\/","title":{"rendered":"Sopa Ch\u00f6ling"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
Family email sent from Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 2016<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Hi everyone:\u00a0 I’m writing this from the bar at the Alt Hotel in Halifax. Tomorrow I’ll head back to Minnesota. \u00a0The next day is election day; good luck to our side. \u00a0I’ll drive down to\u00a0Madison on the 13th of December.<\/p>\r\n I flew into Halifax about two weeks ago and had a nice dinner with Larry Mermelstein and Tingzin Otro. \u00a0Tingdzin is a westerner, but was a monk for many years and kept the Tibetan name he was given on ordination. \u00a0Larry is director of the Nalanda Translation Committee, Trungpa Rinpoche’s translation group. \u00a0Tingdzin has helped with some things over the last 20 years so, I wanted to treat him to dinner.<\/p>\r\n The next day I was picked up by a shuttle at the Alt Hotel. \u00a0The shuttle was not much more than some guy’s rusty brown van with a magnetic sign saying “NS Shuttle” slapped on it. \u00a0We drove north for a few hours to a small town called Baddeck. \u00a0About halfway there we stopped at a Tim Horton’s for gas and a break. \u00a0The shuttle driver had a thick Newfoundland accent. \u00a0When the van came to stop he said, “Wee-a be hyah abut fie minna. \u00a0Fie minna. \u00a0An a-settul up hyah wi can.”\u00a0\u00a0(“We’ll be here about five minutes, and settle up here, we can.”) \u00a0I got out of the van, reached into my wallet, and pulled out 70 Canadian dollars. \u00a0He turned to me and I handed the money to him. \u00a0He smiled and said, “Yr tiched yu illbu. \u00a0Ya tich ya illbu wen ya hanno moni ti mee-ah!” \u00a0I said, “What?” \u00a0He pointed to his elbow.\u00a0\u00a0Then he held out his arm and touched his elbow. \u00a0I got it then–he had said, “You touched your elbow when you handed money to me.” \u00a0I picked up that habit from working for the Naropa Study Abroad groups in Asia. \u00a0It’s regarded as a gesture of respect to touch your left hand to your right elbow when you hand money to someone. \u00a0He recognized that. \u00a0I said, “So, you worked in Asia?” and he said, “All over: Kuwait, China, Philippines.” \u00a0We had a nice conversation on our way north after that, but I couldn’t understand much.<\/p>\r\n He dropped me off at the Tim Horton’s in Baddeck. \u00a0I got a grilled cheese and wondered how I’d recognize whoever had been dispatched from Gampo Abbey to\u00a0get me. \u00a0I needn’t have worried; I saw a car pull in and a 50-ish lady get out, scanning the parking lot. \u00a0That was Nancy Huszagh, the Dr\u00fcppon of the retreat.\u00a0\u00a0(“Dr\u00fcppon” is a title given to the director of a retreat or retreat center.)<\/p>\r\n We drove to Gampo Abbey. \u00a0Gampo Abbey is located at what seems to be land’s end for North America; I think the only settlement further out in Nova Scotia is the town of Meat Cove.\u00a0 Gampo Abbey itself is a house and barn converted into a monastic living environment. \u00a0It was established under the direction of Trungpa Rinpoche and Pema Ch\u00f6dron. \u00a0Pema is a famous western teacher known for a bunch of best-selling books with very sad titles (“The Places that Scare You”, “When Things Fall Apart”). \u00a0I bought Miriam one of Pema’s books when she seemed to be in some pain at college and I’m guessing that sort of purchase amounts to a pretty big percentage of Pema’s buyers: \u00a0people who want to do something for their hurting friend\/parent\/child. \u00a0(Buy a Pema book, send book, then book probably shelved, unread.)<\/p>\r\n