A New Beginning for My Village ☺
Hello again! So of course from my last entry you must know that the Lama’s visit was a huge success for my village! On top of all the knowledge he provided us with, he has also graced us with more of his kindness and generosity, that almost puts me at a complete loss of words. For one the Lama left my village people with protective amulets, and has also donated funds for both a printing press, and the development of a new library, which I am beyond ecstatic about. He has also given us funds to support a building project for a factory, which should be quite interesting, as I’d like to further work on my secondary skill in this field. The new library will be built within my home at the nunnery, so being able to watch the project go underway, while lending a hand almost everyday will be a whole other experience in itself. The Lama was able to award us with these gifts, when he heard of the doctors in our village, who had put their own desires and anxieties aside, and travelled to the next village to help the people there cure themselves of the naga illness. The doctors were indeed successful, and because of their help we have been rewarded with such honorary gifts! His visit has left us with so many new things to do, and new projects to implement, but I couldn’t be happier, as this is something to be celebrated after all the horrid events that hit us over the last couple of months.
With the money donated from the Lama, the renovations will hopefully occur quite smoothly at the nunnery, and with that comes new books! Just thinking about the new library being built, and the printing press coming under construction, has plastered me with a permanent smile on my face. I believe that the nunnery will soon become very well ordained, and well decorated with the amount of spiritual books and accessories, that are coming its way. For scholars, such as myself having both a library and printing press, is almost like a dream finally coming to fruition. I think in general the project is quite important to the nunnery, as many people do not view us, as being as well equipped as the monastery, where the Lama ceremony was also held. As a monastic individual, I believe it is important to consider the value of both arenas of worship, and to also consider us on the same par as our fellow monks. Overall the project should bring some type of reverence, and respect to my fellow nuns and our nunnery, especially because we know how much work will have to take place, in order to actually bring our dream to reality.
Recently I was thinking about how fascinating I found the Lama’s visit, in terms of the history of cosmology he gave a few of us insight about. He reminded us that even today the calculations and theories recorded within the “Kalacakra” are quite accurate. This specific source, which highlights the philosophies and meditation practices of the tradition, is considered one of the most difficult types of practices, as it is talking about how to learn the dharma without renouncing the world we are inhabiting. The teaching of the cosmology is also in turn reflected in the teaching of the inner world. The Lama taught us, that by understanding and being mindful of the external world, colorful and huge, we will come to understand our inner world, and by finally understanding our inner world, we reach the goal of illumination. One question that I began pondering about and then subsequently asked the Lama was how do we deal with the attachments we possess in this world of ours? He suggested that if we do indeed have attachments, it is quite simple, in the sense that we don’t need to cling to them excessively, as more desire and hatred results in more suffering.
Both myself and a few other nuns were quite lucky, as we received a special teaching from the Lama on Buddhist cosmology, by staying behind for a little while after the rest of the villagers had dispersed. In this special training, the Lama explained the Tibetan concept and understanding of the nature and structure of the universe, which is not something I tend to think about when conducting my scholarly research on a daily basis. It is always interesting though to come across new research, which hopefully we can start adding to our new library as well, so that other village people in their leisure time can have access to material, just as fascinating as this. As the Lama explained with the Tibetan Buddhist cosmological view specifically, there are a plethora of countless, infinite, number of universes. These specific universes often vary in size, shape, and configuration. Each universe then withholds countless Earths, Suns, and other celestial bodies, that are moving in intricate ways, and then start to become groups in a number of combinations. The Lama did say that understanding this type of idea concerning the universe is quite mind boggling, which I wouldn’t disagree with, as sitting there and trying to absorb the information was almost mentally tiring, but then as a scholar if there’s no challenge in your research/findings really what’s the fun in it? One last thing the Lama said that almost blew me away, was the idea that the universes move through a type of four-stage life cycle. After they are expanded, the universe becomes destroyed by fire, which makes me wonder when in this lifetime are we expected to hit this stage?
