Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 328

"I’ve been fixing watches in this chair for almost sixty...

"I’ve been fixing watches in this chair for almost sixty years. It required a lot more skill in the old days. Now I pretty much just replace batteries."

(Dharamshala, India)

"We practiced for about thirty minutes before he actually called...

"We practiced for about thirty minutes before he actually called my parents. I pretended to be my mom, and tried to think of all the reasons she’d object to us getting married, and he practiced his rebuttals. The actual call was a lot easier than the rehearsal."

(New Delhi, India)

Seen in New Delhi, India.

Seen in New Delhi, India.

"I’m going to be an astronaut. There’s another world...

"I’m going to be an astronaut. There’s another world out there. And I want to go there."

(Jammu, India)

"Everyone appreciates her more than me. If something goes wrong,...

"Everyone appreciates her more than me. If something goes wrong, I’m always blamed for it. And mom lets her use the computer much more than me."
"That’s because I watch educational videos and she plays games."
"That’s not true, last time she was on the computer, I saw that she was playing a game."

(Jammu, India)

"When my children are settled, I am going to retire and devote...

"When my children are settled, I am going to retire and devote more time to my meditation. Every time you meditate, you get a little further from the world. You become more and more like the lotus, which grows in the water, but never touches the water."
"So what’s the benefit of withdrawing from the world?"
"Meditation is like a glass of juice. I can describe the glass of juice to you. But you’re not going to know the glass of juice until you taste it."

(Jammu, India)

Today in microfashion…(Pathankot, India)

Today in microfashion…

(Pathankot, India)

"I have a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. Now I want to learn...

"I have a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. Now I want to learn as many languages as possible so I can teach as many people as possible."
"What do you think is the most important thing that people can learn from Buddhism?"
"Compassion. Everyone suffers and everyone needs happiness."

(Dharamshala, India)

"Before I went to the protest that day, I stood in front of a...

"Before I went to the protest that day, I stood in front of a picture of the Dalai Lama, and I swore an oath: ‘If I am arrested, I will not give the names of any of my friends.’ They put me through eight months of interrogation. They burned cigarettes on my face. They made me stand in ice for four hours, until my skin froze into the ice, and then they pushed me forward. They gave me electric shocks on my tongue. They told me they were going to kill my father and mother. After eight months, I had a trial. Two guards stood next to me when I testified, and they hid electric shocks in my sleeves in case I said something they didn’t like. I was sentenced to four years. Sometimes I’d get so hungry I’d eat toothpaste. And sometimes I’d get so thirsty, I’d drink my urine. When I finally got out, I weighed 39 kilograms."

(Dharamshala, India)

"It was March 5th, 1988. There was a prayer festival that day,...

"It was March 5th, 1988. There was a prayer festival that day, so we thought it would be a good day to protest. It was entirely peaceful. We were only shouting three things: ‘Long live Dalai Lama,’ ‘Free Tibet,’ and ‘Bring Dalai Lama Back to Tibet.’ First they fired tear gas, and then they started shooting. A girl standing next to me got shot in the heart. We ran into the temple, but they came in and kept shooting. I saw three young boys get thrown off the roof. I was shot, but I managed to escape, and two Tibetan doctors helped remove the bullet. One of the doctors worked for the Chinese army, but she still helped me as a Tibetan. Soon there were posters of me hanging up all over town. They said I was a dangerous monk. My friends dressed me in women’s clothes. For a week, I wore lipstick and rings and long hair. But at one point I tried to visit my mother, and that is when they found me."

(Dharamshala, India)