Overstaying my Welcome at Karme Choling

Karme Choling is certainly a peaceful place, where time slows down considerably. Even though I’ve been here two days, it feels like a week, and not just to me.

Last night, I made some new friends among the Buddhists here, and they invited me to join them on Sunday to see Bread and Puppet, a political, anarchist puppet show in Vermont’s far north. That would involve me staying two more days, which I can normally do, as I make my own schedule.

But today, when I asked, I was told that I shouldn’t stay by the management. And it wasn’t that I had done anything wrong. My presence, although benign, is a distraction. Everyone else here is either working or in a program, and having people hanging around, even quietly, creates an opportunity to lose focus. And, as I was told by one of the people in charge, there is a tendency among some to become “loose” in their practice.

While it hurts to be told to leave, in a way it makes me respect Karme Choling more. It shows a dedication to mission, even at the point of seeming inhospitable. And I get that. If Karme Choling allowed different forms of “looseness,” that would make the quiet path to enlightenment that much more difficult.

But I did get some good audio for a podcast about activist Buddhism, which doesn’t take a hard stand on any issue, which seems to be the antithesis of activism. I’ll post it quite soon, as audio editing takes a lot of time and battery power, and it’s easy to fall behind.

So, goodbye Vermont and hello New Hampshire!