Yesterday seems very far away, as if we haven't just driven a thousand miles, but have traveled in time far away even from our elusive selves. My friend said today that it felt as if everything was clearer than ever and yet totally foggy. 

We left New York Monday morning and drove down west of Washington, DC where we finally found a Motel 6 that had rooms. Lucky us! The only hotel in town with vacancies and inexpensive, too, which became understandable when the first train passed by a few feet from our windows and blew its whistle -- not the forlorn sound of a train passing in the night with attendant metaphorical jazz, but a blast that made me believe this old body was finally going to levitate. Been trying for years. Just didn't know what was missing from that practice.

There was some sleeping, of course, as I realized every time another train woke me up. So we were happy (at least I was happy) to move on the next morning straight to Starbucks. That is one of the blessings of this American pilgrimage -- the essential cappucino every morning before starting out. Or two, as the case was this particular day. And the blessings kept coming this Tuesday morning because about 30 minutes after leaving Starbucks we arrived at Kunzang Palyul Choling, Center for Buddhism in the Vajrayana Tradition, where Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and the sangha have built many stupas and built them in beautiful parks and grounds outside Poolesville, MD. There is one large stupa (over 20 feet high, I think) near the main house where we found shrines and a very nice store. Then you cross River Road, climb some wooden steps (being worked on by Ani Yeshe Dolma that day), follow a path through the woods, and find 10 more stupas. That's how many we saw that day and there could be more either already built or planned for the future. This was one very hot day, though, and after about an hour we were relieved to get back to the main house and some good air conditioning.

Here are some photos:

Stupa by the Main House

Just to prove we were actually there, this was taken while circumambulating the stupa.

This beautiful Guru Rinpoche statue looks out from the opening in the 'gau' of the stupa. 

These are only three of my photos and there are many more that I'll post in the next few days. Right now, though, we are in the last hotel of this leg of the pilgrimage and it's late at night (for me) so rest must be had before the last 7-8 hours of driving tomorrow. Maybe when home I'll be able to express how extraordinary this part of the American Buddhist Pilgrimage has been and how much I'm looking forward to continuing on in the next few months. 

On the road in Dharma,

LKC