Tibetan New Year's Eve

The energy around the Stupa is brilliant !! I have a theory - that all the hopes and dreams of millions of locals  over the last thousand plus years has just expanded layer on layer until it is almost tangible. On the other hand our churches now seem very empty, the energy is only an echo of the past. You can still feel it if you really empty your mind. But this place is buzzing, like an electrical cable. Tonight there was a big ceremony as the monks blessed offerings of sweet things and then distributed them amongst the pilgrims, some of whom would have travelled for days to get here.  We watched the distribution which turned into a bit of a bun fight,  and at the end one of the monks reached out to Dennis to give him a packet of biscuits. Dennis thinking others needed them much more than him, tried to decline. I took them, with the monk making it clear they were really for Dennis. The reason I took them is that it is considered wrong not to accept a gift of kindness from the monks. Dennis then redistributed them to one of the local street children. So all was made good.  Earlier on this afternoon it was like Christmas Eve at home, all the locals rushing around last minute shopping. The gift of choice seems to be a pot of wheat. This is to represent flour and to bring plenty of it in over the coming year. We bought one as a gift as we have been invited to a Bon celebration early tomorrow morning, followed by a lunch at Chhewang's sisters. So as a gift we bought a pot of wheat, strange I know, its like being given a Poinsettia at Christmas. But I understand the sentiment of it, and we feel privileged to be invited into someone's home on such an important day. We are currently in a local restaurant - Flavors, being waited on by little people. We have had a lovely meal and look forward to tomorrow. Happy New Year from Bouda Stupa xxxx