In addition to the farm and restaurant, Sangam also
runs a travel agency and so there are sometimes foreign guests who come through
the Farm House. Today a Chinese Buddhist nun accompanied by some friends came
from Singapore. They are in Nepal to provide aid to schools in remote villages.
I helped make care packages that will be going to the children tomorrow.
Along with the Chinese guests there was also a young
Nepali guide who was with them. He and I talked for a while. He lived in France
for some time, studying French culture and also Buddhism at University there. We
talked about the current state of Nepal and the rapid Westernization of the
region. We also talked about what it means to balance a dual cultural identity.
We talked also about living in the West versus living in Nepal, and how
difficult it can be to feel at home in either place. I asked him what home
meant for him. He told me that in Buddhism they say that Heaven is in fact
everywhere and in every place, it is simply a matter of seeing it.
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