I have had two Sanskrit classes with Vinaya so far since I came to Vietnam. I called her when I was at the airport in Tokyo and it was good to check in with each other. I’m very excited to finally get to see my teacher after nine months even though we see each other almost every day on Skype. I’m not entirely sure whether we’ll focus on a text but whatever it may be I know without a doubt that I will receive a first rate Sanskrit education from her. She’s been truly an incredible teacher and I feel extremely lucky to have her. Going to India to study Sanskrit, like any endeavors undertaken in India, is really sometimes a mixed bag. The first person who taught me Sanskrit in India completely ripped me off and taught me close to nothing. The second person was decent but nothing compared to Vinaya. She’s been reliable and trustworthy, and for the past nine months alone, I’ve called her way before dawn so that she can teach me Sanskrit. India is ahead of San Francisco by 12.5 hours and for at least half that period of time I’ve called her at 5am so that we can have classes. With daylight savings, I woke her up at 6am. I mean can you imagine anyone having that kind of time, patience, and devotion to their student that they are willing to lose sleep in order to teach? Vinaya is very dear to me and somewhat like my second mother for without her I am literally nothing. The progress that I have made this year alone is due to her committment to me.
Now that we will meet in less than a week, I would like to learn how to speak Sanskrit and many other things from her about this sacred language. Even though I have said earlier that I will not ruin my vacation this summer by focusing on my studies alone, I will probably devote at least a couple of hours a day to studying. Last year, I think I spent close to four to six hours to ward my mind from dwelling on some bad experiences that I had. We still have to figure out who will be teaching me Pali since the other teacher is backing out from her earlier promises. But even that endeavor requires a little more study time on my part but I’m willing to go easy on it since my main focus is to have fun this summer and plenty of it.
Heck by the time I come back to America, I will be transitioning out of Zen Center and probably be looking for a second job to keep up with the cost of living in SF since my wages have been flat for the past five years. But really I welcome the challenge. If I had to compare myself and how much I have to toil to earn a living in America, it pales in comparison to the amount of sheer hard labor that people in poor countries have to go through. Many people in this world, unfortunately, work harder than I do and what they earn is a pittance to what I make even though my pay is hardly considered a living wage in SF. But the irony of it all is that while I hardly make any money, for some crazy reason or another I just feel that it’s right to go traveling in the summer and especially to go to India to devote myself to Sanskrit. I am fond of the timeless wisdom that I so naively imagined many years ago that I would find in modern day India. Maybe I am chasing after a dream which will someday haunt me for the rest of my life as I whittle away my “productive years.” Or maybe I'm just fooling myself and that there is truly nothing special at the end of this long journey. What I have learned from my travels is that there is nothing more rewarding in this lifetime than knowing myself and one of the best ways to do that is to observe this human life and the myriad people who share this very same existence. Unfortunately, people living in poor countries as much as they would like to travel cannot afford to and understandably enough there are more dire things for them to think about. But on the other hand, people who live in wealthy countries are somewhat reluctant to because they have mortgages to pay and families or other social responsibilities that take up most of their time. Nor do I feel that I have the wisdom of Socrates who never traveled outside of Athens but knew very well about the human condition.
In terms of accomodations, Vinaya has finalized for me an apartment that I will be staying in which is close to where she lives and close to an Olympic size swimming pool that I am dying to swim in. Ever since I have been a health freak the last three years, I’ve noticed how much physical exercise changes my mood completely. I started biking to work in order to save money, and then learning how to swim the last couple of years, and then just recently took up running two months before my trip. Abbot Paul Haller many years ago suggested that I should take up on some kind of exercise and at first I didn’t think much about it but ever since I started biking, the love for physical activity never stopped. I was afraid that in India I would not have been able to do any of those things because Indian streets are notorious for it’s lack of sidewalk, and well the streets are pretty deadly enough to walk on much less to run on. Furthermore, running in 90 plus degree temperature is not what I call fun.
I have left for Saigon Saturday morning and even though it has been a short visit with mom, I think I will come back next year. Despite the fact that I’m always indoors and never get to explore the town very much, I really enjoy some of the aspects of this small town where I was born. The people are very friendly and there is a sort of laid-back contentment too among the townspeople and the food is always a good enough reason to come back to my hometown.
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