Sunsets and good coffee, life is good

Last updated on: November 5, 2010 at 10:49 am by Justin Whitaker

Sunsets and good coffee, life is good 2010-11-05T10:49:00-06:00 Justin Whitaker

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Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss something you’ve lost until you have it back again. So it has been for me and my beloved (good) coffee and big pink sunsets. Over the years in Missoula, and a few in London and elsewhere around the world, I’ve loved the sight of a good sunset and have always been quick to pick up the camera to try to capture some part of its beauty.

With the cooling weather here in Bodh Gaya seems to be coming some very beautiful sunsets. The downside is that they tend to come right around 5pm now, the exact time we are supposed to be beginning our evening meditation. So it’s a bit rushed, unlike so many of my peaceful evenings back in Montana. But I have managed to snap a couple evenings, including this one from late last week.

Like so much in nature, the pace of the sunset is its own, not abiding by our schedules – perhaps natures way of nudging us to not abide by them so much ourselves.

And my second addiction, behind time in nature: (good) coffee. I’ve had this “Viennese Blend” coffee ever since my trip to Varanasi about a month ago, but the french press my folks mailed to me seemed to have been lost. So, as good coffee cravings mounted and my search in Bodh Gaya turned up no coffee makers, I began getting slightly desperate. I asked our local internet shop owner and he suggested the large electronics store on the edge of town (large meaning about 12 feet by 20 feet, stuffed mostly with flat screen TVs and refrigerators). There, on a dusty top shelf I saw it (above).

I asked the owner, do you have a coffee maker?

He said, no.

I pointed at the one behind the glass. “What about that?”

“No, it’s local quality. Not good quality.” (translation – it’s junk, you look like you want something good.)

Me: “That’s okay. Around here I’ll take what I can get.” (translation – I’m desperate)

“Okay.” (translation: okay)

“How much?” (translation: uh oh, what have I said?)

“1500 Rupees” (translation: 30 bucks; for a 5-10 dollar super cheep somewhat used looking coffee maker)

Ugh.

I didn’t have the heart to walk out, which I should have done. I didn’t even try to bargain. Such is the power of my addiction to decent coffee. $30? Fine.

So now Bodh Gaya is complete with gorgeous sunsets and my limited supply of good coffee (I’ll get a couple more pounds when I’m in Calcutta at the end of this month). Happiness.

But it kind of makes me wonder about the Buddhist idea of suffering. I don’t think I was really ‘suffering’ without these two things. I was really too busy to miss the sunsets much and the weak coffee and good chai sustained me in the absence of good coffee. So where is the suffering? I just knew deep down that having good coffee would bring me great joy (oh and it has). And as for the sunsets, a welcome surprise – like unexpectedly hearing good news from an old friend.

If I can be perfectly happy without these joys, and just even happier with them, what happens when I get my next glass of good wine or taste of really good Italian cuisine (with wine, of course)? Perhaps hedonism is encroaching on my Buddhist ideals? Or perhaps I’m just a caffeine and sunset-powered Bodhisattva? Who knows?

I heard a good story from a student yesterday about her contact with a friend who was in India few years ago. He advised her not to think about it now, not to try to understand it, just to experience it to its fullest. It’ll be 3 months, 6 months, maybe 2 years before the impact is really fully felt.

Good advice I think.

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Lhabab Duchen, Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, India

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