Written by Samantha and group
Today was our first day exploring Boudha. One highlight of our exploration today was sitting inside the Maitrya Thanka Gallery and Nirvanic Art Studio talking to the artist Maila Ghising. From him, we learned about the Wheel of Life, Mantra of Compassion, and the Kalachakra Mandala (Wheel of Time). In the Kalachakra Mandala, the five physical elements are represented through colors. Green is space, black is air, blue is water, red is fire, and yellow is solids. We bought two works of art from Maila Ghising before leaving the stupa and roaming around without much of an idea of where we were going. Wandering into different fabric shops, traditional clothing stores, and restaurants, we luckily ended up back where we started and found our way back to the stupa by asking people for directions. We finished our expedition with some delicious chicken and vegetable jhol momo on a rooftop restaurant overlooking the stupa. What a cool day. Missing you all! Can’t wait to share what we will learn.