FEBRUARY
/ MARCH 2004
SNAPSHOT NEPAL
To the Lama and the Three Jewels, I pay homage.
Here I have laid out my impressions of only some of the places we visited on our
pilgrimage. Many more sacred and precious sites were not included due only to the
constraints of paper. Any and all merit accrued from this effort I dedicate to the goal of attaining enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Tashi Oser
In London A larger-than-life
Buddha Amithaba statue
Sits serenely overlooking the river Thames.
A precious gift from Japan to England.
Would that I had enough enthusiastic effort
To spend my life benefiting beings
By making offerings to this image
And resting intently my joyful gaze
Truly, no one there would be to blame.
This Buddha Amithaba statue, in itself
Is worth a trip to England.
C L O U D S
More CLOUDS and then through the CLOUDS
Green hills and mountains …
Green hills and mountains and plowed fields…
Green hills and mountains, plowed fields and then small wooden houses
Scattered here and there…
Finally our plane lands.
The birds-eye-view simplicity of the land hints at its sacredness.
In the country of Qatar,
The desert's ominous isolation…
Dharma anyone?
Our hotel had five-star accommodations,
Five-star dining and five-star service…
Gopal, our room service waiter
Worked five days a week
And went home only on the weekends
An hour and a half away
Walking.
Most mornings at 4:30 AM
Our Lamas and the Sangha
Walked about three blocks from the hotel
To recite prayers, light butter lamps
Ring bells, spin prayer wheels
And circumambulate Bodhnath Stupa;
Then dedicated the merit
For the benefit of all beings.
In the mornings soft darkness
With phenomena glowing golden
In the light of hundreds of lamps burning butter
Had someone said we were in 7th century Tibet
This person would've been quite believable.
Mahakala sees you first!!!!
The wrathful statue's pitch black and all-seeing eyes
Undress you
Naked
Devotees pack food offerings
Into wrathful Mahakala's mouth…
In such intimidating circumstances, one may forget
That one is from the West.
The statue commands respect.
Shakyamuni Buddha
In one of his previous lives
Offered his life at the top of a mountain
To a starving Tigress with five cubs:
This site is known as Namo Buddha.
How to find that place in one's heart?
And a fun time was had by all...
On Saturday November 15th Sangha members gathered to celebrate both the happy return of the travelers to Nepal and to wish Lama Padma Karma a very happy birthday.
Twenty five Sangha members gathered at Darbar Indian restaurant in Branford for a grand feast then continued on to Sharon and Jack Knies’ house for cake and to share the photos taken on the pilgrimage to Nepal.
Everyone brought their photos. Paul Amendola brought his laptop and presented a slide show of the photos that he took as well as photos that were taken by Jeff and Donna Lord and sent down on a CD for viewing. They were all great and everyone had a wonderful time reliving the experiences or sharing them with those that didn’t make the trip. It was the general feeling that most were ready to go back again by the end of the evening!
LEARNING
BY WATCHING, THE LESSONS OF OUR TEACHERS
When I first offered to help Lama Padma Karma Rinpoche with the arrangements for our Nepali pilgrimage it was because I could see that he was tired, and I knew that I had a few skills that he might find useful. I had helped to organize group trips before and I was pretty smug in my thinking that I can do this, I can help.
What this did was to expose me to a whole world of lessons that three months later I am still only just beginning to realize that I learned.
In his book, "The Words of My Perfect Teacher" H.H. Patrul Rinpoche reminds us that serving the Lama is one of the most precious offerings that we can make. Our Teacher's are our mentors. It is through their precious teachings, whether spoken or witnessed that we proceed upon the path to our awakening.
I was able to watch Lama Padma Karma Rinpoche serve his teacher daily for close to three weeks. It was evident in his every action from the moment we walked into the Hyatt in Kathmandu until the day we parted with Lama Tsondru Sangpo at the Indian border crossing.
At the Hyatt, Lama Padma Karma Rinpoche would not allow his teacher to be roomed in a room that was below his. He worked with the Hyatt staff and arranged for Lama Tsondru Sangpo to be moved from the third floor to the fifth. Rinpoche waited for Lama Tsondru Sangpo at each meal to be sure that he had everything that was needed. He made sure that he always had his favorite beverages stocked in his room and he raced out after dinner most nights to make sure that Lama Tsondru Sangpo got into the spa area without any hassles (those of us who were there know about some of the spa hassles we experienced!) Then every day, when we were all tired from our excursions I saw both of my teachers race out of the hotel on missions to obtain the precious objects that the Center needed, or personally select the fabric for our practice robes, the precious statues we purchased for our shrines, the precious substances that were then to be put into our statues. The amount of work that they did each day was mindboggling! Buying silver, arranging for the silver to be shipped, arranging to have protective bags made for the Dudjom Tersar instruments that they also searched out and bought. Every moment Rinpoche was watching and working to make Lama Tsondru Sangpos life easier.
I know that there were times when I felt "left behind" or when I was jealous of the time they spent together, I wanted my teacher to pay attention to me, to seek me out or sit with me at dinner every night. All the time knowing that I was getting much more attention than other practitioners by nature of the job I was doing helping to coordinate the group, I still wanted more.
The good news is that I was lucky enough to begin to see the lessons as they unfolded. I was able to notice that my teachers were showing me how to increase my merit by serving others. I didn't always do a good job of it, and I am not proud of some of the complaining that I did but I am so very happy that I had these opportunities and hope that I continue to be able to learn from the lessons of my precious teachers.
Padma Wangmo
NOTICE
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE AS MANY FLYERS AS POSSIBLE REGARDING THE THANGKA
PAINTING CLASSES AND TIBETAN SCIENCE OF HEALING IN PLACES WHERE
PEOPLE WOULD APPRECIATE KNOWING THESE SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE.
TREASURE
VASES
Lama Tsondu Sangpo has brought back from Sikim, India, some very
special treasure vases (Bumpa) that are filled with precious substances
and blessed in a sacred mandala. These treasure vases are placed
in one’s home to encourage good health, prosperity, long life,
merit and the conditions necessary for good dharma practice. If
you would like one of these treasure vases to place in your home,
please contact Khandro Karma Drolma. The cost of the Bumpa is $75.00.
All proceeds go to maintaining Gonjang Monastery, a school dedicated
to passing on the precious dharma and the sacred art of Thangka
painting.
FINANCIAL
SUPPORT
Please remember to support the Center on a monthly basis so that
we can maintain our financial obligations. We depend on these contributions
to support our sacred text acquisitions project, acquire objects
of devotion, support lineage teachers, contribute to the well-being
of other monasteries, provide space for sacred art classes and Tibetan
medicine clinics, and many other dharma activities. May all sentient
beings have an opportunity to rediscover their enlightened state.
