Meditation, Blessings, and New Opportunities

Warning: LONGEST BLOG POST EVER.

The last 3 days have been absolutely amazing. Yesterday, we woke up at around 8:30am, and we checked out of the Chonor House after a very tasty breakfast. We had hired a driver from the hotel, and we left the Chonor House at around 10:30am to head down to the Sherabling monastery, which is about 2 and a half hours from McLeod Ganj in the mountains. Before arriving at Sherabling, however, we stopped at the Norbulingka Institute for Tibetan Culture, which is about 2-3 km from the main town of Dharamsala. Named after the Dalai Lama's past summer home in Tibet, the Norbulinkga Institute is concerned with preserving the culture, arts, and traditions of Tibet. Upon our arrival, we were given a tour of the property, which was quite cool. We started out in the guesthouse, and we were then taken to the temple, which was amazing, as most Buddhist temples are. We were then taken through the various studios, where the Norbulingka students make all kinds of artwork, from incredibly intricate and elaborate Buddhist paintings, to fabrics and sculptures. It was amazing to see the work that went into the artwork, and it was even more incredible to hear about the training programs that last up to 12 or 13 years! Anyway, we enjoyed being at Norbulingka very much, and we were thrilled to find out that they had a room available for the next evening. After booking that, we left again in the car to head over to Sherabling.

The drive to Sherabling was about 2 more hours, but it was worth every second! First of all, the scenery was amazing, but that turned out to hardly be the most impressive part. Immediately upon our arrival, we were welcomed by the monks in the office, and we then explored the complex for a bit. Inside the main temple, we found that a ceremony was taking place, which included a great deal of beating of drums and chanting. Of course, we were apprehensive about entering, but the monks were insistent that it was ok and that we should go in. Reluctantly, we entered the temple and sat down in the back. Soon afterwards, we were finally assured that it was ok when three young monks approached us, greeted us, and poured us tea. We immediately felt welcomed, and we sat in the temple observing the ceremony and meditating for about 20 minutes. It was a very enjoyable and peaceful few minutes.

After the ceremony, we walked over to the bookstore and crafts gallery situated a few hundred yards from the temple. There, we met a monk named Choi-phel (we couldn't pronounce it, so we just called him "Cheerful"), who offered to meet us at the prayer hall later that evening and give us a private tour of it. He was really friendly, and as it turns out, he's only 20 years old, but he's been a monk at Sherabling for 13 years, and he hasn't even seen his family in that entire period!

Throughout the afternoon (before Choi-phel's tour of the prayer hall), we visited different buildings within the complex, including the monk's retreat center, where monks go at a certain point in their training. The retreat center is quite small (maybe 5 or 6 thousand square feet), and it basically includes dormitory-style rooms, a courtyard, and a prayer hall/temple. The retreats last for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days. During that period, the monks do not leave the retreat center, and they are not allowed to communicate with one another in any way (they can't even look each other in the eyes!). They basically spend all of their time meditating and praying, with little else occupying their time. Obviously it takes an incredibly strong mind to participate in one of these retreats without going crazy!

We met up with Choi-phel before dinner, after exploring the entire complex, and he took us through the beautiful prayer hall, describing each of the sacred objects and monuments. He also allowed us to take some great pics, which we of course appreciated very much. It was great to be there and to learn about Buddhist practices, and it was absolutely amazing to learn about monastic life. In fact, for one reason or another, at the monastery I kept being reminded of my years at St. Mark's School in Dallas. I guess it's the fact that they're a bunch of boys in uniforms, they're studying and in class a lot, and it's more similar of an atmosphere than I ever would have guessed. Anyway, after the tour of the prayer hall, we went back to the guesthouse for dinner, and afterwards we basically relaxed and chatted for a few hours before going to bed around 11 or so.

We woke up at about 6:30am on Wednesday morning, as we had plans to meet up with Choi-phel at 7:30. We met up with him after breakfast at the prayer hall, and he was kind enough to take us to all of the different small puja (meditation and prayer) halls throughout the monastery. Each room was dedicated to a different Buddhist deity, and there was a monk in each room doing a puja. It was really cool to see all of the different settings for prayer, and we felt very lucky to have met Choi-phel. After seeing all of the puja halls, Choi-phel took us to his room, which is very much like a dorm room. We sat there for a while, and he showed us his books, his pictures, and some of the assignments that he had completed on Tibetan script...It was very impressive, especially since he had red check marks all over his pages, indicating that he was getting good grades! Once again, I couldn't help thinking about the parallels with St. Mark's and American education. Very cool stuff.

We left Choi-phel's room, and we headed over to the office, where we sat and chatted with the "administrative" monk (I can't remember his name). He gave us each a CD of the Sherabling monks chanting, which apparently won a Grammy in the last few years! I haven't listened to it yet, since I don't have a CD player, but I'm looking forward to playing it when I get home, as I'm sure it will be great for relaxation and meditation. After leaving his office, we walked over and checked out the nun's retreat center, which was very similar to the monk's retreat center, and we left the monastery soon afterwards. Overall the experience at Sherabling was absolutely incredible. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend a day there, as it was both an educational and a moving experience. I hope that I'll have the chance to go back there one day, maybe for a retreat (probably more like 10 days than 3 years) or just a visit for a week or so.

We left Sherabling at about 11:00, and we headed back over to Norbulingka for lunch. While Dev was taking care of some travel arrangements on the computer, Jesse and I wandered over to the shop to look at some of the limited edition etchings of the Dalai Lama's life. We each ended up buying a few, and as it turned out we bought some of the very last ones ever to be made! I am really excited about these, and I can't wait to get them framed and put them up in my apartment at home. We rushed through lunch, and quickly hopped in the car to go to the Gyuto Tantric Monastery, where the 17th Karmapa Lama (pictured above with the Dalai Lama...FYI, I obviously didn't take this picture) was holding his public audience. We were told to come the monastery at 2:00, so we showed up at 1:45. Dev had spoken to Lama Phuntsok, who works closely with the Karmapa, and we had been assured that we would have a few minutes for a private audience with the Karmapa. When we arrived, we asked for Lama Phuntsok, and we were told that we could speak to him after the public audience was over. The public audience was very quick, although it was a cool experience. We had brought our katas (white shawls that are traditionally presented to high lamas for blessings), and we were all set to go. There was a woman in line who asked us if we had an extra kata, and of course we didn't, but Jesse generously gave her his own kata. I'm quite sure he earned some good karma for that action. After entering, we sat on some cushions in the prayer hall, and there were teachings being played over the loudspeakers, first in Tibetan, followed by an English translation. After the teachings were done, the Karmapa came out, everyone stood up, and we began to file towards the Karmapa. It was very cool to see him, and even though he's only 21 years old, the Karmapa's presence fills the room. Jesse and I had each brought our stethoscopes to be blessed (great idea, Jesse!), and we held them in our hands as we approached the Karmapa. When we walked up to him, he handed us a red prayer string as a blessing. He blessed our katas, and although he didn't gesture to our stethoscopes directly, or to the prayer beads that we had brought, we basically considered them blessed after that. We were moved pretty quickly though the line, and the actual moment in front of the Karmapa only lasted for about 2 or 3 seconds. Even so, we felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to be in his presence and to receive his blessings.

After the Karmapa's audience was over, we stood outside for a while waiting for Lama Phuntsok, and when he arrived, we were told that it would be impossible for us to have a private audience with the Karmapa that day. All of us were disappointed, especially Dev, since he had to leave the very next morning and wouldn't have another chance to meet the Karmapa. Lama Phuntsok gave Jesse and me his cell phone number, though, and he told us to give him a call so that we could try to have a private audience with the Karmapa on Friday. Jesse and I were very excited and hopeful about the prospect of a private audience! Dev left a few questions with Lama Phuntsok, and he promised to pass the questions on to the Karmapa and pass on his response to Dev.

Anyway, as we were standing there, a man who had been in the public audience saw me holding my stethoscope and walked over to me and asked me if I am a doctor. When I told him that Jesse and I are both medical students, his eyes got as wide as saucers, and he proceeded to tell us about a project that he and his family are involved in at the Gyuto Tantric Monastery, where we were! As it turns out, his name is Jan, and his parents are retired doctors from Dusseldorf, Germany. After their retirement they had come to Dharamsala, and while they were here they met with the Karmapa. They told the Karmapa that they had a great deal of medical equipment, and they asked him for his guidance in how to use the equipment. The Karmapa meditated on the question for a few days, and he subsequently had a vision of a clinic and a hospital that would be associated with the monastery and serve the residents of the region, including both monks and the poorest residents of the local slums. Jan took us through the clinic, which is currently run by nurses (there are no doctors yet), and he described the plans for the hospital to us. We talked with Jan for about 20 minutes, and we went into the office to meet the people at the Gyuto Tantric Monastery who are working on the current plans for the hospital. We asked Jan what we might be able to do to help, and he told us that the project is still in its early stages and that we can help by spreading the word and being creative. We exchanged contact information with Jan and with the people at the monastery, and we came away quite excited about the idea. It was a wonderful coincidence that we met Jan, and Jesse and I both feel so lucky that such an amazing opportunity seemed to drop into our laps!

Since then, Jesse and I have had a number of conversations about the project, and we are both excited about doing something back home that will contribute to the new hospital. The hospital won't be ready for another 3 or 4 years, so by that time we will be doctors and will hopefully be able to help with medical care at the monastery. In the meantime, we both want to do whatever we can to contribute to this cause, and we've been brainstorming quite a bit. We've been extremely excited since meeting Jan, and we feel like we are in a great position to help. We're looking forward to putting some work into this project when we return home.

Anyway, after leaving the monastery, we felt great, having received the Karmapa's blessings and having found such an amazing opportunity. We returned to Norbulingka, and even before getting settled in our room, we met some more interesting people! The first was a woman named Shadi from Canada. She had been in Dharamsala for about 3 weeks in order to follow the teachings of HH the Dalai Lama, and we had also seen her at the Karmapa's public audience. We spoke for a while, and she also introduced us to Vanessa, who is a public health student in England. We made plans to meet for dinner a few hours later, and we went upstairs to relax for a bit. At dinner, we heard all about Shadi's experience with Tibetan Buddhism (she has studied for a number of years and recently took her Bodhisattva vows), and it was very interesting to hear her describe some of the very deep ideas that are central to the religion. We also discussed India's public health with Vanessa and Hope (the other girl in her program), and it was a very enjoyable dinner. We were very glad to have met all of them, and we made plans to have dinner the following night in McLeod Ganj. Finally, after a long but incredible day, we went to bed around midnight.

On Thursday morning, unfortunately, Dev had to leave to go down to Chandigarh before heading back to Mumbai to meet up with his family. We woke up at about 6:30am to see him off, and Jesse and I went back to bed pretty much right away after that. It was a bummer to see Dev go, as both Jesse and I really enjoyed having him along. It was great to hang out and travel with Dev, and I'm glad we got to meet up. Anyway, after he left and we went back to bed, Jesse and I got up at about 10:30am, hung out for a bit, and had lunch at Norbulingka before heading back to McLeod Ganj. One funny note about the taxi ride...hanging from his rear-view mirror, our cab driver had a pin of the Texas flag. When we asked him about it, he told us that one of his regular clients from the U.S. had given it to him. Looks like Texas pride has gone global! Anyway, after arriving back in McLeod Ganj, we took care of some logistical stuff, like getting our bus tickets to Delhi, reconfirming our flight to Moscow (the first leg of our flight home on Monday), and of course calling Lama Phuntsok to see about getting a private audience with the Karmapa. Lama Phuntsok told us that all of the appointments for Friday were booked up, however, but after explaining to him that we were leaving and wouldn't be able to come Saturday, he agreed to squeeze us in for a few minutes and told us to come to the monastery at 10am. Of course, we were quite excited! After all of that was taken care of, we went into town, hit up the bookstore, and shopped for some crafts, etc. Basically we didn't do much. We did, however, get some momos (dumplings) from the street, and they were really good...mmmm. At 6:30, we met up with Shadi, Hope, Vanessa, and a new friend Christopher (from France), and we headed out for Japanese food. Again, dinner was a lot of fun, and afterwards we headed back to the Chonor House for tea and dessert. We had a nice time, and we exchanged contact information with everyone before saying our goodbyes. Afterwards, we were again exhausted, and we headed back up to the room for a while to read before bed.

This morning, we woke up at 8:00am to head over to the monastery to meet the Karmapa. After a quick breakfast, we grabbed a cab, and we arrived at Gyuto Tantric Monastery at exactly 10am. We called Lama Phuntsok, and he told us to go to the waiting area where he would come and get us. We went over there, and we again met some very nice people, including a couple from Phoenix, a woman from Dallas, and a woman from Canada. The subject of katas came up, and when Jesse explained that he had given his away, the woman from Canada immediately pulled out her extra kata and gave it to him. Talk about karma! After a while, Lama Phuntsok came in, and after giving our passports and passing through the normal security checks, we went to stand in line to meet the Karmapa. We were in the very back of the line, and for some reason still unkown to us, one of the lamas came over and pulled us to the very front of the line! We had no idea why it happened, but we weren't about to argue. We were led down a series of hallways, up some stairs, and at a certain point we were asked to take our shoes off. We were then led up some more stairs, where we then waited outside the Karmapa's room. Jesse and I were both quite nervous, since we had no idea how to act in front of the Karmapa, but luckily the couple from Phoenix was right behind us, and they explained to us the proper method for prostration and presentation of the kata. After a few brief moments, Jesse and I were led in for our private audience with the Karmapa.

As we walked in, we saw the Karmapa sitting on the other side of the room, and the only other person there was his translator. We walked over and began to perform the prostrations that we had learned, but it was pretty clear that we didn't know what we were doing. The Karmapa smiled and gestured to us to get up, that it was ok, and he took my kata from me (I was holding it completely wrong) and placed it around my neck. Even though we did everything wrong, the Karmapa didn't seem bothered at all, as he seemed to realize that we intended nothing but respect. After completing the formalities, we sat down on our knees in front of the Karmapa, and we were invited to ask him a question. Jesse and I took turns speaking, and we explained that we were medical students from the US, that we had met Jan, and that we wanted to help with the hospital that the Karmapa himself had envisioned. Jesse handed him the flyer that we had been given, and we asked him for his guidance on how we might best contribute to his vision. The Karmapa looked very focused and serious, and after a few moments of contemplation, he replied to us (through his translator). He said that since the hospital is located in a remote place, there is a real need for people that are trained in using the medical equipment that they have been given. He asked us to help bring people over to help with medical treatment, as well as to help train local doctors. Jesse and I were both very appreciative of the Karmapa's response, and we thanked him, bowed to him out of respect, and left the room. After thanking Lama Phuntsok, we left the temple and walked over to the clinic. We spoke to the monks in the clinic, took a few pictures, and we left with a clearer idea of what we can do to contribute to this cause.

Afterwards, we headed back to McLeod Ganj, and we basically haven't been doing much since then. We checked out of the hotel, had lunch, and did a bit of shopping, and we've now been at the internet cafe for the last few hours, as evidenced by this record-breaking blog entry. We're off to Delhi on a 12-hour overnight bus in an hour or so, and then back home on Monday. Not many adventures left! Keep checking the blog, though, since I'm sure I'll be full of wrap-up thoughts. Thanks for reading this entry...I know it's been a long one!