“After every storm the sun will smile; for every problem there is a solution, and the soul’s indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer.”
Hello again!
Although I’d like to greet you on a more happier note, unfortunately the hailstorm hit my village worse than was predicted, or even anticipated. The hailstorm was then followed by torrential rains, which caused many of the houses, fields, temples, and even our sacred monastery to become severely damaged. Even those who thought they could escape by finding refuge in caves experienced the harsh side effects of the hailstorm. Due to my hectic schedule, and limited experience in travelling down as a new inhabitant of the village I was unable to retrieve the two amulets’ that were sold in Deer Park to protect us from the hailstorm. Luckily those who were able to retrieve the amulets were well protected, and I am thoroughly and consciously happy for their well-being. In avoiding negative thoughts towards others I am attempting to hinder the bad fortune that comes from the concept of karma. If we our meant to suffer in our countless re-births, it may be a direct result of our negative deeds or thoughts towards others, and so I’d rather accumulate good karma in this birth by being happy for others around me. Now back to the damage that was done in our village firstly crops, key infrastructures, and most importantly our very own BRIDGE was thoroughly destroyed.
What makes me sit up and worry every night since the storm, is not only the amount of damage that was done, which of course must be addressed immediately, and I’m sure my good townspeople feel the same anticipation and need to restore our beautiful Himalayan village, but I also wonder what more could have been done by all of us to avoid this storm, and potential deadlier ones in the future. After talking to the other nuns within the monastery I have learnt that although extremely hard to master and rather complicated, the practice of hail protection could have been utilized to hinder the storm, or at least limit its harsh side effects. Hail protection in Tibetan religion is both a social practice and meditative one, as it involves visual and prognostic acts. Hail is understood to be brought by malicious spirit-figures, and it becomes the business of the hail master to prevent these spirits from accomplishing their goals, and although there are a number of complex rituals and items associated with this specific practice, many of us nuns could have taken some pre-cautions and protected our inhabitants to the best of our abilities. As the great Lama Khetsun Sangpo has stated, “these methods would work for anyone who had the ability to, man or woman, American or not, and anyone who had the ability would be respected.” In short the hail protection practice has two main parts: the prior and higher activities, which are geared towards achieving enlightenment, and a number of latter (and lower) activities, which are specifically linked to hail protection. Furthermore, besides the amulets, the hail protection practices, I believe that if each individual in the village had followed the parts of the noble eightfold path, like so many of my fellow nuns have, with rich speech, we could have all refrained from engaging in gossip, and in turn avoided the disastrous results of the hail storm. As mentioned earlier many of the village people were running their mouths wild about gossip concerning evil magic, and the ability of our neighbours to cause the impending hailstorm due to their negativity and wayward thoughts.
As a result of this type of gossip a ritual should have been immediately chanted amongst as many inhabitants as possible, to hinder mi kha (malicious gossip). For example one could focus on the ritual “Turning Back of Malicious Gossip” by master Padmasambhava. The formula Hum hum! Bhyo bhyo! In the second line of this composition is concerned with exorcistic ritual, and is used to eliminate evil or polluting influences from our surroundings. Since gossip has the ability to attach to any one of our possessions, the ritual goes through the main areas of the household, eliminating gossip from each corner or object. Being a novice nun, it is clear that I have much to learn from my religious texts, and although the hail storm was indeed one of the most devastating disasters that has hit our village, I think it allowed me to become stronger both mentally, and physically, to continue to excel in my scholarship, and in the future become aware of protective rituals and acts to guard my village people, who have become like my family, and have graciously accepted me into this new life.
Now to return to more impending matters as I continually do get side tracked, the case of much needed resources, after the disaster hit, must be addressed immediately. The monastery itself was hit rather badly, and even one of our fellow nuns garden was completely destroyed. I along with many of the nuns am going to try and clean up the monastery to the best of my abilities, and hopefully find some fruits and vegetables that are salvageable. Stepping outside of the monastery has been rather painful, as I can see the village is in painful ruins, and many of the homes have been severely damaged or simply destroyed. The fields of many farmers are also destroyed, and as winter is soon approaching we must find a way to gather as many resources as possible to brace ourselves for what could be a relatively cold winter. Most importantly, the bridge, which allows my fellow inhabitants to come and go from the village as they please, has been swallowed up by the storm. This is an extremely serious matter, as our mere livelihood depends on the bridge, and without it traders cannot trade resources, nor can we send for help or give help to our surrounding neighbouring villages. Although not a simple task, we must re-build the bridge, and it will require the assistance and generosity of many of my village people. I am giving what I have as a secondary skill in terms of my building resources, and whatever little knowledge I can provide for its repairs.
And oh dear! I have also just learnt that we must get the bridge fixed in a more faster fashion, as we have just gotten word that the village adjacent to us has been stricken by the grave NAGA ILLNESS! Although I myself am neither a doctor nor a ritualist, and may just be a simple novice nun, I have read enough about the naga illness to provide some feedback to my fellow doctors and ritualists who I believe should make the trek over to the neighbouring village, to save the people from this gruesome disease. I believe that the people in the neighbouring village would benefit from the applaudable talents and knowledge of our doctors and ritualists who come to the monastery often to explain their various skills, after prayer. The naga illness as I have learnt, comes from humanity’s ability to create cruel thoughts. The serpent-spirits “nagas” as a result can easily cause their poisonous effects to transcend on people, and due to this, the horrible disease of leprosy manifests. In Tibetan mythology it is believed that the nagas are the main source of all bad spirits, and all demonic spirits that cause horrid diseases such as leprosy arise from them. This also highlights the idea that nagas arise from ignorance, rather than desire or hatred. Clearly with my miniature introduction of this grave disease, it should become apparent to all the villagers, that it is more than necessary to provide help to our neighbouring village, as the naga illness is not a diminutive disease that can merely be diminished by a quick chant or prayer.
I have no clear answer as to why the neighbouring village has been consumed by the naga illness, but I have learnt that the illness can be brought upon individuals who upset the spirits with any form of negativity. However, as I am continuing to learn karma good or bad, is not easily restrained, and one cannot merely leave behind the consequences of their thoughts and actions from this life, or countless others. Furthermore, I believe that all of us are experiencing the consequences of dukka, which showcases are deepest desires and attachments, and if we can merely offer our generosity to those that are suffering as we all are in one way or another in the circle of samsara, we could possibly heighten or generate good karma in our own village. I urge my fellow doctors and ritualists then, who may have mastered various somatic medical therapies to cross the bridge, and help cure this mental disease, that has been generated by these grave and dangerous demons. I on the other hand will focus on mantra and meditation along with the other nuns, which has proved to be effective in some cases. On a side note before I head off to sit through meditation for my neighbouring inhabitants, ritualists I have just read can help create special mantra pills, which are made by lamas and can be empowered by us nuns with the force of blessings of hundreds of thousands of mantras. With the rolled mantras then, the ritualists could make pills, to cure our friends.
I bide my friend’s good luck, and remember you will all be in my prayers.
