Writing in the window of the Palace Museum, a beautifully redecorated royal building in Patan's (a the southern of the three cities making up Kathmandu) Durbar Square. There are these wonderful window benches here in the cool, latticed windows giving way to the cheerful square below where unseen I can watch children playing and hawkers preying on the occasional tourist. The attendant just woke me from a nice nap here on one of these round arm pillows. Patan is the quietest part of Kathmandu - origional Newari culture is strong here (the more Asian looking yet Hindu native inhabitants of this valley before the recent conquering of this area by the Gorka king some generations ago which brought with it a lot of Kashatriya caste people from the central mountains).

Arrived yesterday evening and met up with Shane and Heather. Had a nice dinner with them at an Italian restaurant in Thamel - poor Shane is still sick since his return flight to Pokhara: constant diarrhea.

Delivered my visa extension papers to the government ministry this morning and found out it is one month or nothing when extending: no unit of extension shorter than a month can be purchased.

Shane read me the foloowing passage from Herman Hesse's "Siddartha" that he found clarifying and I also quite like it since it answers well our American tendency to always need to have a plan or goal as it were even in our spiritual pursuits.

"When someone is seeking" says Siddartha to Govinda "it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking, that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the the thing he is seeking because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with this goal;

But finding means to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, o worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal (of enlightenment) you do not see many things that are under your nose."

Other quotes from "Siddartha" that struck me: "wisdom is not communicable" and "every sin already carries grace within it."