Pikey Dan's Page

Well, I took my basic refuges and precepts yesterday, along with Shiv Lal (our rickshaw driver). It was a brilliant experience! Though I'm not Amida school, it was seeing buddhism in action, while I've been on this project, which has affirmed that buddhism is the path for me. I've had buddhist sympathies for a long time but, seeing how Sahishnu and others devote themselves to the wellbeing of others has made me realise that this is what I've been looking for for so long.
It was an honour to be w… Continue

Well, we've been here over a month and a lot has happened in such a short space of time! The classes are growing every week...and it's getting harder and harder to get rid of the non-buddhist kids when we switch over to the dharma lessons. I'm learning the ropes a bit more too, but everything goes so much smoother when Sahishnu's taking the lead! I just don't have her presence or classroom management skills under these conditions...but she just sweeps in, takes the helm again and saves the day.… Continue

We've just finished another week here...and what a week it's been!

The classes this week have been fantastic, and I could hardly sleep on Sunday; I wa on such a high after our class at Ambedkar Colony. We started the day early (up at 6am), so we could be sure to make it to Madan Mohan's for 8, to attend the first service at the new temple. It was really good to see a service at the temple, with Dharma talks from lay people from the community, and from Sahishnu. After that we had to rush back to… Continue

Yesterday we went to Ambedkar Colony, where we taught a class of about 20 kids, at Mudan Mohan's, with a few adults floating around in the background. We had a very active class, with lots of songs and jumping about, backed up with worksheets. The whole experience was made much easier thanks to Shiv Lal (our rikshaw driver) and, when we started the Buddhist studies, he rushed in to join us, and even the grandpa joined in and had a go on the singing bowl.

After class had ended, Mudan reappeared,… Continue

Today we had our first day teaching, at Lakshmi Gardens. It was absolutely brilliant! I loved every minute of it, and was so impressed that the kids were so interested and responsive...it really goes to show that kids are eager to learn and that Sahishnu's teaching techniques are incredible (she later told me that they'd only started learning any English last year...and they've had 6 months off since then!). Poor Sahishnu had to walk a long way today, but we've got our transport sorted out with… Continue