Today we were blessed with a later start than normal and we took advantage of a little leisure time to venture out in to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city filled with dynamism. Today there were two running races happening in the city.

We happened upon the aid station of The Seven Hills Race - a great race up Edinburgh's hills in and around the city. Going in no particular order each contestant must check-in at the top of each hill to finish. Sounds like a blast!

On the way down from one of the scenic hills we bumped into an old friend of the Run, Harashita.

He was quite keen to escort the torch out of the city and send us on our way south in to the rollings hills of southern Scotland. Thank you Harashita!

And we were on our way into the vibrant green farmland greeted by sheep and cattle all along the way.

These lovely ladies provided a splash of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy and slightly chilly day.

A rare glimpse of Apaguha - our tireless captain and primary photographer.

Our Scottish team members have been excellent hosts. They have brought heaps of enthusiasm

and relieved much of the stress of navigating through a foreign country. We have been extremely grateful for their hospitality!

Our nature-filled miles finished at Kagyu Samye Ling - the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Europe.

Akong Rinpoche so kindly blessed the Harmony Torch as we arrived.

Our gracious host, Marianne Dreyfus, was overjoyed to hold the torch and welcome the runners.

We were then invited to participate in the afternoon prayer and meditation. The temple was marvelously ornate and deeply peaceful.

All sentient beings were welcomed with open arms and open hearts.

Akong Rinpoche blessed each member of the team and the assembly. He later offered each team member a lovely silk prayer scarf.

After the meditation we lit the torch outside and passed it to all who wished to make a prayer for peace and harmony.

Uranta writes: "Renato and I met in 1989 at Samye Ling when Renato was preparing for his long retreats. Now 22 years later, he runs meditation classes in Haly. By chance, he was here with his group, and a fond friendship was rekindled." Renato - from Italy - was instrumental in organizing a wonderful group of Italians to join us for 5 to 10k the next morning.

Many of us walked through a large hall of prayer wheels which are all filled with millions of prayers for peace and harmony.

The temple generously offered comfortable rooms to rest our weary bodies...

...and a delicious bowl of soup for dinner. Thank you so much for so deeply embracing the World Harmony Run. Our experience was unforgettable.

Atulya

It has been 10 years since I have spent a significant period of time on the World Harmony Run. In 2001 I was a member of the American WHR team for the entire 4 month journey. I learned so much through that experience but haven't really felt the calling to come back out and participate again...until now.

The WHR is such an intense event to take part in as a member of the team. I am equally as afraid as I am honored to do this. It took me out of my comfort zone 10 years ago, and that was in my home country. Now, on my 4th day in Scotland, I am surprised at the level of struggle I am encountering within myself. Perhaps this is why it has taken my 10 years to make this commitment again. The amount of personal growth opportunity is staggering and growth is often painful.

In only 4 days I have been faced with some of the darkest parts of myself all piled together....my soft body that suffers from the cold and rain and my old negative mental patterns making themselves painfully apparent. My mind is telling me over and over again that I am never good enough. This type of thought has been fairly quiet ,or dormant even, for the past several years but in the “right” circumstances I see that it is all too ready to emerge once again and struggle for dominance.

My challenge is to realize that they are just thoughts, not true just because I am thinking them. And, I am not my thoughts. If I identify too strongly with them the suffering becomes much more intense. I remind myself throughout the day to be present...to release the fear of the future, the fear that I don't have the capacity to do the run, and the most disturbing, the fear that I haven't made any progress at all in the last 10 years.

This takes much effort and just as I feel myself ready to allow my collapse into emotional instability , to sink into self-indulgent suffering, we arrive at the Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, our resting place for the evening.

It is amazingly peaceful here. I walk the grounds and discover treasure after treasure. I feel that I am receiving comfort and support from God by what I discover. I visit the Victory Stupa which is dedicated to world peace. “Victory” signifies victory over negativity, which is transformed into postive energy. I then walk around the prayer wheels. Traditionally Buddhists make aspirational prayers while turning the prayer wheels, thus making a personal connection with one's own positive energy as well as sending the powerful blessing of the prayer wheel into our world.

By evening I feel grounded again. I actually feel positive. I feel ready to face myself again...perhaps with a little more understanding and a little more love. I smile a little because this actually sounds a little like progress.

Teekhnata

 

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The World Harmony Run proudly supports the International Year of Youth (IYY) and the International Year of Forests (IYF) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.

See the recent Youtube video on African experience which illustrates IYY slogan "Our Year Our Voice"  International Year of Youth - Zambia World Harmony. They surprisingly mention Presidents and UN Secretary-General in a unique way! 

See also the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) Centre support for IY of Forests.  ... Convention for conservation of forest biodiversity. (more)

 

– Atulya and Teekhnata

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Distance: 60 miles

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Balavan Thomas (Great Britain), Shobhavati Davies (New Zealand), Shyamala Stott (Scotland), Dhavala Stott (Scotland), Amalendu Edelsten (Australia), Shraddha Kurzemniece (Latvia), Lenka Svecova (Czech Republic), Uranta Kane (Scotland), Abarika (Czech Republic), Atul Arora (India), Teekhnata Metzler (USA), Atulya Berube (USA)

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

Gallery: See more images!

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