There are many things that mark the passage of time, most notably seasons, travels, direction of the wind, strength of the moon, and the setting of the sun. Yet I can’t think of a better boundary of time than the beginning of a journal. I must admit that I stopped the woven palm leaf journal in a curious spot, but it was becoming too cluttered, crowded, and complicated for a simple guy like myself.

I am at a cafe in Patan Durbur Square, stirring coarse crystals of sugar into my Nepalese black tea. My mind drifts as so many minds have in the centuries of this historical plaza. So many tourists come to photograph the monuments yet I always wonder how many of them take the time to sit on the steps, close their eyes, and let the hypnotic sounds of children transform their minds into the times of the past.

Back to the times of the Mallas, when families feared for their sons lives as they departed to the Gorkha region.

It makes so much sense to me that life is circular (spiral -theta, really), but then why is their death? Does theta have a certain interval stopping point, or pause that we don’t know about? I have absolutely no idea what I was talking about with this theta thing - sounds like I was reading a cheesy metaphysical book about math and philosophy. I have pretty much accepted a Creator and the concept of “reincarnation” - for lack of a better word - also seems completely logical, yet the idea of Moksha, Nirvana, heaven, hell, whatever the hell you want to call it, still seems like a human explanation based on fear.

Language would also be a very interesting study - for it is the limitation we’ve created to express our beliefs. And those limitations have caused a great deal of troubles and wars. For it often seems a statement without hypocrisy is not possible. Take for instance the Buddha’s teaching of impermanence: if life is an infinite circle of rebirths than within infinity we find permanence. Yet if there is a Nirvana (pari nirvana), moksha, etc. then there too we have permanence.

This cafe is the same cafe I ate at with Fabyan, Liran, and Smadar during the celebration of Krishna’s birth. It is quite a different scene now however compared tot he mad rush and late night extravaganza.

Today is the last day of the polluting Vikrams. During my walk over here I saw many more electric vehicles and only one tempo. East Timor is still going through tons of troubles, but with Australia’s, Malaysia’s, Thailand’s and maybe even the U.S.’s help it looks like they will gain their independence from Jakarta (Indonesia) soon enough. My parents are still planning on buying the house in Bali. A hurricane (Floyd) is destroying the Carolina coast and killing many. Another crazy lunatic went nuts and shot a bunch of people in Texas. Just of the top of my head: Atlanta - the stock investor - Colorado - the high school shootings - L.A. - some crazy guy - Portland - the school shooting - and now this nut. Rightfully so, gun control has become the hot topic of the upcoming election. This Texas shooting is politically particularly interesting because current Texas governor and Republican front runner, George Bush has been the one candidate lax on gun control - especially hand guns. The shooting could be quite a boost for Gore, who Fran says will be visiting Nepal shortly.

Yesterday, after school, Adam and I walked to Thamel together. It was the first real conversation we’ve had and it was real interesting. He said that the Semester Around the World students were changing plans - first visiting Nepal and then Russia. He wasn’t told why, but later read that there have been a number of bombings in Moscow lately. He also told me about an interesting book he read. It showed how all the ancient cultures of teh world were all based on Mathematics. Part of this is the Japanese symbolism behind the Tea ceremony. Definitely somthing I’d like to read. Besides reading Nepal, a Survival Guide, I picked up a non-fiction enjoyment book at Pilgrims called Hippie Dharma. It’s written by an Indian Army and Navy captain who interviewed hippies in Nepal, Bombay, and Goa. I’ve just finished [the section,] Kathmandu - boy would it have been interesting to see it back then. I still very much want to do the bus trip down South America.

Typed: 4/15/2004 @ 10:15