Reincar-what?-tion

First off, thank you to those of you who have commented!
Aunt Lee - I'll definitely work on those recipes for you. You're going to need to stock up on the bok choy.
Aunt Jana - You absolutely SHOULD travel here. I feel like you and Jeff would especially appreciate Indian and Tibetan culture.
Katt - I'm so jealous (in an un-attached Buddhist way) of your 10 year India Visa. You go stamp that thing for real!

On another note, I sent my mom an email the other day detailing a philosophical conversation I had with a few friends of mine. I think that's my actual favorite part about being here - when my friends and I hang out, we don't talk about boys (often) or what parties we're going to this weekend or complaining about an upcoming test. It's all bowel movements and Buddhist philosophy. So worthwhile! For example, this weekend, we went up to Mcleod Ganj and noticed the altitude had a real affect on us when 2 beers turned us into blundering idiots. Instead of running down the streets yelling like the stupid Americans we are, we got into a heated discussion about the concept of "emptiness." It was the most educational hour I've had yet. Anyway, I sent my mom this email because I felt she should know my thoughts on the subject of reincarnation and compassion (ideas which are sure to change as I spend more time here). She recommended I post it here too for our friends and family to take from it what they will:

"Yesterday I got into quite the discussion with my friends Elinor and Lara. It started off with me disagreeing with Nirvana and the goal to feel things without "passion" on the path to enlightenment (sorry if this sounds hokey but there is a point). Lara, who was raised a Buddhist, explained that it was just a translational thing and it doesn't really mean feel things without passion so much as not becoming so attached to a situation that it tears you up when it steps out of the realm of your control. Anyway, the conversation then moved into Elinor and I also disagreeing with the idea of reincarnation (which is more complex than I can just explain to you in an email). Elinor and I agreed that it was too hokey to buy into but decided on our own idea of reincarnation. I informed Elinor of my belief (derived from my background in neuroscience) that once we're put in the ground, that's it, nothing comes after death, and that's why I can't keep my mind open to reincarnation. However, together with Elinor's view, I think I can buy the following: Elinor's view is that a type of energy (for lack of a better word) is passed on when you leave your mark on someone, such as people who have a profound influence on you, be it your parents or some random person you bummed into on the street. She said that before her grandmother died she told Elinor that she'd always be watching over her. Elinor, of course, doesn't believe that her grandmother is actually watching over her but her impression of her grandmother, her character, and her influence certainly does live on as it has shaped Elinor as a person. So, in a way, her grandmother is retroactively always looking over her and, in a way, she has been reincarnated IN Elinor and wherever Elinor leaves her "energy". Insofar, I can buy it. But it still left me with a "we're not living for an afterlife, whats the point." If you figure that one out, let me know.

BUT what the conversation finally morphed into was a discussion of life from our parents' perspective. We figured out that while we have been here in India so far, we have had little motivation or desire to talk to anyone but our parents. India has really highlighted who is important to us in our lives and we are truly worried about how our relationships will change when we get back to our respective schools in the states. We will have been thinking on this whole higher level for so many months and this thinking is invisible to everyone - so we'll be the same to them when we get back. (...) But, the point, which I'm straying from, is that you [mom and dad] did a good job with me. Elinor, Lara, and I talked about how it might have felt to have your first child pop out and not having a clue of what to do, how a mother's love is the perfect example of compassion, which is at the heart of Buddhism and what we struggle to understand everyday since we touched down in India, and how ridiculously awesome people and mentally awake and sharp we are and are continually becoming because of our upbringing. It just amazed us that people without a clue (even if you DID have a clue) could have produced such a worthwhile person (and I'm not tooting my own horn, it was just part of the discussion reflecting on the type of person who would willingly spend a semester rolling around in the dirt in India). Anyway, I told Elinor what you [mom] said to me so many millions of years ago, which HAS had a profound impression on me. You said "my life started when my children were born." This line alone helps me believe that a life of compassion and hopefully inner peace (yes, more hokeyness) IS possible, which is the main reason why I've crossed the world. And Elinor told me that her father used to look at her and say "if I died today, I'd die happy. I have passed on what I need to in you." Both of these examples directly support the ideal of compassion that is so paramount in Buddhism and that reincarnation, by Elinor's and my terms, is completely possible.

Elinor also told me that the best day of her life, which occurred in the past semester, was when she stopped looking at her parents as strictly parents and more as best friends. I see the truth in her statement, but for me, such a transformation of thought makes you [mom] and dad not just parents and not just best friends but more than either combined. I want you to know that I love you very much and that if, god forbid, you die today, you can die happy.

Love you more than the sun and the moon and the stars,
Stacey