I hope you haven’t been too anxious awaiting word from me. In my last letter we were still reeling from the effects of the hailstorm, isolated from neighbouring towns and in quite desperate straits. But rebuilding is underway. Anil and I contributed 10 lengths of bridge cable, then 15, and finally 20! Fortunately others in our village did the same and, as a result, you will be glad to know that at least we are now reconnected to the wider world.
Grieving, healing and repair continue on other fronts as well. I was unaware that the hailstorm had caused fatalities until learning of it from the village yak. What a tragic loss! I am particularly upset by this as it has triggered painful memories of my own dear wife’s death several years ago. How clearly I remember that day! Her doctor explained to me the dissolution of the five elements of her physical manifestation as her animating winds ceased their normal flow. In the following days, I worried constantly about her existence in the bardo; the thought of her confusion and fear upon awakening there tormented me. Imagine the disorientation of that state full of light and sound! I am full of compassion for my neighbours who are currently enduring this pain. Our monastics are reciting prayers to provide guidance to those in the bardo and to request their quick descent into favourable births. Anil and I have visited the surviving relatives to provide what little comfort we can.
So it is with heavy hearts that we continue the repair work on our damaged home. Progress is slow but we now have a roof over our heads again. We have also offered to help fellow-builder Simay rebuild her tool shack and local scholar Lavender repair her small home. Some days the work seems endless yet progress is being made.
Given all this misfortune, I feel strongly that we would benefit from a visit from the famous Lama. He must come; we are sorely in need of a spiritual guide. And he is metaphorically ‘right next door’ in the neighbouring village perhaps providing succour to them during their naga illness. Although I am a builder, I want to do all I can to facilitate the Lama’s visit. Using my secondary expertise in scholarship, I have donated 10 scrolls and written a draft letter of invitation for presentation to the Lama’s secretary. Hopefully our village scholars will add to and improve upon this first attempt. Even if the Lama does not accept our invitation, I regard my efforts as important opportunities to offer dāna to both him and to my community.
However, I remain hopeful that the Lama will come. He appears particularly adept in both wisdom and compassion, a teacher who is truly worthy of being followed. The teachings say that measurement of a teacher’s worthiness can be distilled into a single question, ‘Does he have bodhicitta’, the compassionate and transformative commitment to the enlightenment of all sentient beings? This Lama’s reputation is indeed beyond reproach; he is ‘the real deal’. Identification of a teacher of this calibre is exceedingly rare and we should spare no effort of body, speech or mind in our devotion to him. I am reminded of Sadāprarudita who cut flesh from his own thigh in order to make an offering to Dharmodgata. Or of Milarepa’s forbearance during his many trials on behalf of his teacher, Marpa. Imagine the skill and determination required to build a tower, demolish it, rebuild it, abandon it, then build a temple. Up, down, up, down… as a builder myself I shudder at the prospect! Such devotion is awe-inspiring and our paltry observances and donations seem embarrassingly meagre in comparison.
Yet perhaps we can somewhat atone for this if the Lama deigns to accept our invitation. I have neither a motorcycle to adorn nor a horse to ride so I’d be unable to accompany the Lama on his approach to our temple. In my opinion, some of our neighbours have gone a bit overboard in this department in the past but you can’t fault their enthusiasm. (I’ve included a picture below so you can see what I mean). Instead, Anil and I would eagerly line the roadside of the lama’s route.
I can also collect juniper to burn during the bsang ritual to purify our temple from our recent impure deeds. As a community, surely we have sufficient accumulated wealth to contribute offerings of food and create decorations for the temple. Anil would probably be thrilled to help with the chalk drawings of the eight auspicious offerings but I don’t know if children will be invited to participate in this. He may have to be satisfied with throwing his khata on the hood of the Lama’s car or — wouldn’t this be wondrous! — with offering his khata to the Lama personally in the line-up after his dharma talk.
I fervidly hope that all of this will come to pass. Our future prosperity and (more importantly) our development along the spiritual path likely depend on it.
