Nephew Eric is in a long retreat at a Buddhist monastary in Mirik, India. He started in February of 2005. They have finally settled on the auspicious date to end the retreat: September 9, 2008. The usual length for a long retreat is 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. But those held at monastaries such as the one in Mirik generally run longer. The participants are part of the process to decide the most auspicious day to end the retreat. The picture above is of Eric's retreat group. You can easily identify Eric, who is the only white guy in the picture! Those standing in the back are distinguished visitors. I believe that the Karmapa is standing directly behind Eric. He is the head of Eric's line of Tibetian Buddhism. The Karmapa excaped from Tibet not that many years ago. To learn more about that, read Music In The Sky.
When I heard that Eric would do his long retreat in Mirik where they speak only Tibetian, I thought of the credit card commercial: "3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days of only speaking Tibetian... PRICELESS!"
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