Living among Buddhist monks in Nepal
Most people reacted with admiration and a hint of worry when I told them I was headed for Nepal to live and teach at a Buddhist monastery for 2 weeks last month. From the younger generations I heard “that’s pretty bad ass, good luck” whereas people of my parents’ age advised me to “be careful” as I was traveling solo to the mountainous country in the Himalayas.
It turned out that safety was never really something I needed to be concerned about in Nepal. Now, in the city of Kuala Lumpur where I made a quick stop on my way to Kathmandu, I would not recommend walking alone at night as a woman, but in Nepal, all you have to worry about as a tourist is being overcharged by vendors and taxi drivers.
In fact, I met a lot of other young women who chose to explore Nepal on their own, either to trek in the Annapurna Mountain range nearby the city of Pokhara or to volunteer at various places like I did. Volunteering is a great (and affordable) way to get to know a new country, you meet lots of locals who end up giving you a much more authentic experience than if you just stuck to the main tourist attractions (with all of the other tourists) ... As far as volunteer projects go in Nepal, you will not run out of options. Orphanages and women’s homes always need an extra pair of hands and so do schools, (including those located in distant Himalayan villages) that seek out volunteers to teach English. That is how I ended up living with monks at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Kathmandu Valley.
My official role and reason for being there was to teach English to the younger monks, although that only took up between two and four hours per day. The rest of the time I was free to do whatever I wanted, including fully immersing myself in the monastic lifestyle by attending prayer sessions, sitting quietly in meditation, eating three meals a day with the monks and of course, attending tea time with everyone at 3pm everyday. This really allowed me to delve into the vibrant world of Tibetan Buddhism which it turns out is quite widespread throughout Nepal due to its cultural and geographic proximity to politically unstable Tibet. Overtime, many Tibetans fled their country to start a new life in neighboring Nepal which has made it a very multi-cultural nation. It not only shares a border with Tibet but also with India and is very close to the countries of Bangladesh, as well as Bhutan. In fact, it is so multi-cultural that the Buddhist monks I got to know at the monastery spoke four languages fluently: their first language is of course Nepali, followed by Tibetan for religious purposes, English because it is taught in school and Hindi because it is quite useful in Nepal. Their impressive language proficiency made me feel like I have some more work to do even though I’m bilingual in English and French, conversational in German and can understand some Spanish. At the end of the day though, these young monks learn four languages simultaneously from a young age which makes them ‘quadrilingual’ by the time they turn twenty.
As I mentioned, the monks’ impressive dedication to education and learning wasn’t the only delightful insight on Buddhism that I experienced during my stay at Khawalung Monastery. I quickly became accustomed to the 4:45am wake-up bell followed by the repetitive Tibetan mantra chanting until 6:00 when the Puja (form of Tibetan prayer) would start. If I wasn’t already up, the vibrant sounds of the Tibetan trumpets and bells for the next hour would ensure that I’d start my day fully present in the moment and very energized. Breakfast at 7am was always a special time for me as I was often the only volunteer to attend which greatly pleased the kids who enjoyed watching me try various (spicy) Nepali breakfast foods. Between the hot noodle soup, the rice with dal bhat and the tea momos, breakfast quickly became a highlight of my day. The best part was always trying to guess what the smirks on their faces meant every time they served me an unidentifiable dish. Usually, I’d figure it out very quickly when my lips would start burning and my eyes to water. While these moments were precious, it was always quickly time to clean up and prepare for lessons that day.
All of the monks between five and about eighteen years old are in class at the monastery for most of the day. They either learn English from volunteers, Nepali from their teachers or Tibetan under the supervision of their lamas. The older ones above eighteen years old head off to a nearby university every morning around 8:00 only to return for the evening puja at 5pm. From my conversations with them, I learned that all of the monks spend ten years studying Buddhist philosophy at an institution outside of the monastery. They call this “college” and some of them start this process when they are just fifteen years old. They also explained to me how committed they are to making a positive change in the world by spreading the word of Buddha.
However, even though monastic life is quite strict and demanding, at the end of the day these young monks are just like any other boys of their age. They love to play football, watch superhero cartoons and will randomly start moon walking in the middle of the hallway because they all love Michael Jackson. Friday afternoons and weekends are dedicated free time for them during which they can play as much as they want, as long as they clean their rooms first. The older ones are even allowed to leave the monastery and to use their phones for a half day on Saturday and all day Sunday. For the little ones, weekends are always a good arts and crafts opportunity. All I had to do was handout some paper and scissors and they would be busy for the next hour making Batman face masks, origami swans or paper airplanes. When they would get bored with that, I would have a swarm of monks asking to borrow my phone to watch Hulk videos on Youtube or the most recent FIFA world cup game. Alternatively, others would challenge me or each other to chess tournaments and do that for two hours. Weekends were definitely very special because with no teachers around, every corner of the monastery became filled with laughter and action. Some of their favorite action games include wrestling, kungfu fighting and chasing each other which makes for a very entertaining and fun-filled day.
You would think that they wouldn’t be thrilled for Sunday evenings when they have to go back to reciting Tibetan mantras but I never heard any of them complain or even look the tiniest bit annoyed. They are literally the most positive boys I have ever met, in fact, when they realized how sad I was that my time with them was coming to an end, they told me several times to “not be sad, be happy.” This was always said without any explanation or how-to, it is simply how they live and I am so grateful that they managed to instill that mindset in me during the short time I spent with them. They have been and continue to be such an inspiration for me and they have become my Nepali family.
For those of you who are interested in meeting and teaching these amazing young monks or in helping them through a donation, the monastery is called Khawalung Tashi Choeling in Kathmandu Valley and I would be delighted to answer any questions you may have.
Namaste
