Disposition #3: An Invitation for the Llama

Streams of sunlight peaked through the heavy cloud cover and bathed the village in spots of warmth, one of which hits me working in my barley crop. I looked up, incidentally causing me to look towards my people. It’s been a week since the monstrous hailstorm that wrecked havoc on our village. It’s also been a week since some of our fellow villagers went over to the neighbouring village and aided them in getting rid of a Naga Spirit. We have been repairing, cleaning, and praying since.

News has reached my ears of a Lama that may be passing through our village. The scholars of the town have come together to help create a proper invitation letter. It was a group effort that took a lot of patience, and in the end, turned out wonderful. The whole village is praying that he finds out invitation adequate and decides to humble us with his presence and guidance. It would be a blessing to have him visit, especially after the recent destruction.

I have recently heard that a few members of the village are getting together to prepare our temple for the coming of the Lama. The whole village is buzzing with excitement and it almost feels as if there’s an undercurrent of anxiousness that lies there. I’m glad the news about the Lama came when it did. The village needs to feel a sense of reprieve from the onslaught of bad karmic energy that’s been flowing through the villages these past couple of weeks. It kicked everyone in gear and gave them a task to do or some kind of chore to get done. Some are cleaning out the temples, some are preparing special gifts, and some, like myself, are getting food offerings prepared for the big celebration.

Working in the crops all day has been hard on my back, but when I think about the good life the Buddha has allowed us in this village the live, the pain lessens. It transforms from a burden to mark of pride that I can work hard to bring forth food to contribute to a large village gathering, such as this. Especially, after I hear the Lama speak, I will be more than happy to accept the physical burden of a bad back. The children have been chattering all day about the potential arrival of this Lama that has reached a very high level of enlightenment.

I look back towards my house and realize that I need to stop putting off on talking to a builder about fixing my house. My heart constricts in my chest when I think about dipping into my daughters fund again, and I look toward her and see her completely immersed in this conversation with another friend. You know what the westerners say about Tough Times.