even to the meanest
Yes, I'm fine, of course. I am nowhere near Mumbai. I am in Jammu & Kashmir, but on the other side, the peaceful side - Ladakh. I am in Leh.
From Kathmandu, my plan was to go to Delhi and from there get an overnight train ticket to Jammu, where I could find a 12-hour bus to Srinagar, where I would spend some time before traversing the mountains to Leh. I left buying a train ticket until the last minute (I spent a few days in Delhi) and then got a string of random warnings from people not to go to Kashmir. I have a particular type of superstition (not the right word, really) and despite no evidence of danger I decided to swallow my pride and totally change my plans and go to Ladakh via Himachal Pradesh to the east.
Ironically, just hours before leaving Delhi I ended up having to defend my non-logical decision to this Kashmiri entrepreneur who entangled me in a long discussion about Kashmir as he tried to persuade me to go. "You had the right idea before, bro [sic]" he said. So I came to Leh with intention of gauging the situation from here, where many people arrive through Srinagar, and to possibly return to Delhi through Kargil, Srinagar, Jammu, etc. I really wanted to go to Srinagar for several reasons. No more. Somehow this feels like a close call. The chances that I would have been one of the foreigners blown up are very slim, of course, but had I gone the other way I would be there right now and would be hiding in some hotel room figuring out how to discreetly get a jeep out of there. No fun.
And I'm really disgusted by these bombings, both up here and in Mumbai, disgusted in a new way, somehow. It occurred to me that one of Bush's many crimes has been his robbery of our ability to passionately condemn attacks such as these without seeming to align ourselves with his putrid, rotten designs.
To all the terrorist bombers, including Bush, I offer some words I recently read here, a passage that resonated with me particularly strongly this week. This is something Buddha said in talking about killing living creatures -- cows, spiders, ducks, rabbits, scorpions, and certainly fellow humans:
"Of life, which all can take but none can give,
Life which all creatures love and strive to keep,
Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each,
even to the meanest..."
From Kathmandu, my plan was to go to Delhi and from there get an overnight train ticket to Jammu, where I could find a 12-hour bus to Srinagar, where I would spend some time before traversing the mountains to Leh. I left buying a train ticket until the last minute (I spent a few days in Delhi) and then got a string of random warnings from people not to go to Kashmir. I have a particular type of superstition (not the right word, really) and despite no evidence of danger I decided to swallow my pride and totally change my plans and go to Ladakh via Himachal Pradesh to the east.
Ironically, just hours before leaving Delhi I ended up having to defend my non-logical decision to this Kashmiri entrepreneur who entangled me in a long discussion about Kashmir as he tried to persuade me to go. "You had the right idea before, bro [sic]" he said. So I came to Leh with intention of gauging the situation from here, where many people arrive through Srinagar, and to possibly return to Delhi through Kargil, Srinagar, Jammu, etc. I really wanted to go to Srinagar for several reasons. No more. Somehow this feels like a close call. The chances that I would have been one of the foreigners blown up are very slim, of course, but had I gone the other way I would be there right now and would be hiding in some hotel room figuring out how to discreetly get a jeep out of there. No fun.
And I'm really disgusted by these bombings, both up here and in Mumbai, disgusted in a new way, somehow. It occurred to me that one of Bush's many crimes has been his robbery of our ability to passionately condemn attacks such as these without seeming to align ourselves with his putrid, rotten designs.
To all the terrorist bombers, including Bush, I offer some words I recently read here, a passage that resonated with me particularly strongly this week. This is something Buddha said in talking about killing living creatures -- cows, spiders, ducks, rabbits, scorpions, and certainly fellow humans:
"Of life, which all can take but none can give,
Life which all creatures love and strive to keep,
Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each,
even to the meanest..."
posted by Michael M. at 8:54 AM
1 Comments:
Michael,
I couldn't agree with you more.
I am so disgusted in a way that creates the illusion that I somehow align with Bush....HELL NO!
I am saddened by the level of hatred in some people in this world.
I am glad that you are ok.
I love you dearly.
Daniel
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