Disposition #4
The whole village feels lighter. The Lama’s visit was an experience that the villagers needed to make them feel safe again. He was an extremely knowledgeable Lama, and was able to grace us and lift our spirits.
People brought offerings for the Lama, wishing to bestow upon themselves good karma and acknowledgement from him. He had a gentle voice, the kind of voice that reminded me of my fathers. Although gentle, it rung with truth, resonating in the ears and minds of the villagers who had gathered around to listen. This fact, on its brought, caused me to be entrapped in everything the Lama had to say. He was not very tall, but confidence rolled off of him in waves, making him seem larger with love and life. His kind eyes and smile were inviting, causing even the shyest child to want to get as close to him as allowed.
From his teachings, I learned even more things about the Buddhist religion that I can pass onto my daughter, and that she will then pass onto her children, when the time comes. One of the things I learned was that monks and nuns take it upon themselves to feed the preta, or Hungry Ghosts. They say that preta has huge abdomens that held up my fragile skeletal bodies. This is to represent that they may have died from starvation. Whenever they come close to what they think is water or food, it turns into something inedible. The monks and nuns make it their job to feed the preta to help ease their suffering. This was something I had never known, and now I feel even more respect towards them, if that’s even possible.
I also learned that, according to a creation myth, humans used to have the life span expectancy of eighty thousand years of life. This was very shocking for me hear, and I listened intently. I learned many great things from the content of what the Lama was talking about, but I also learned a lot about what it means to be in his position. He keeps calm at all times, but is a powerful figure to behold.
It was a huge celebration, when the Lama finally arrived. There was loud music playing and people smiling. Villagers has to line up on both sides of the road, so that the Lama may take what is given to him and what he chooses without feeling crowded. Every type of villager had something to offer. Some of my fellow followers had herbs, spices, and vegetable to offer. I saw some beautiful tormas which were prepared by the artists, and the temple was spotless after all the hard work some of the villagers had done cleaning up and arranging lamps and cushions where the Lama would like.
It had been a beautiful day, full of smiles, food and laughter, and this put me in a reflective state about the creation myth. We still have so far to go before we reach a state of humanity that is like the heavens, we are still on a downwards spiral towards a ten year life expectancy. This is when the world will fall into a constant series of war, famine, and destruction. After these darks times, humans life span will steadily grow back up to eighty thousand years. As humans, it is in our nature to suffer because we are the third form of rebirth. Therefore, there is no reason to complain about it. We should, instead, trust whole-heartedly in the Buddha and follow in his footsteps, in hopes of escaping samsara.
It was amazing to have the Lama visit our village after such a disastrous couple of days. It brought hope and happiness back to the village, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
