Evidence of Duhkha in Our Village
གཟུགས་པོ་བདེ་ཐང་། (good health) from what is left of my beloved Pemakochung monastery! It appears as if the entire community is in disarray, including myself. I keep asking myself, how could this even happen to us? Have many of us fallen to ignorance and this is the result? Regardless, I assure you things will soon be resolved, and we will be able to focus all efforts on the noble eightfold path.
Unfortunately, even though I reside with the Sangha in a Vihara monastery excavated into a rock cliff, I was not completely unaffected by this grave disaster and the monastery has been flooded. It is safe to say that no one can escape the wrath of gossip or the anger of Gods and my hubris was utter stupidity. Knowing how essential the Sangha are to the function of preserving the Buddha’s teachings and providing spiritual support for our community, I am deeply concerned about this issue. I am currently working with the original builders of the Pemakochung monastery to drain the flood and fix the damage done to the structure. Upon this endeavor, we came across an unwanted disruption (like what usually happens in this village).
Not only have many of our houses been severely damaged and fields destroyed, but also the flood washed out our bridge. Obviously, without this only access to the surrounding villages, resources will diminish and we will not be able to accomplish our trading. As everyone knows in our community, Buddhism and trade hold a very close relationship. This is largely due to the fact that our Buddhist monastic community rely on donations from lay supporters. Since our monks and nuns are required to denounce all worldly possessions, they are dependent on the lay community to supply all basic necessities. These basic necessities usually are received through trade. If the action of trade is not available, the lay people cannot donate to the monastery and receive religious merit (punya), which is typically shared with all beings (sarvasattva). There is also the other side to this issue where the builders, artists, traders, doctors (like myself), scholars, rtiualists, etc, will not be given proper sustenance to continue their contribution to our village. I do not even want to think about what this could cause.
Taking this major speed bump in our Buddhist practice into consideration, the builders and I have all combined resources in order to repair the bridge and resume the necessary trading. As expected, it was a bit of a struggle to produce enough resources from all the builders in the village to complete this task, especially since many find themselves in such desolate situations. Eventually, we were able to put enough together and the bridge is now fixed. My mind has been put to rest knowing that our trading can once again continue. But of course, knowing that our lives are surrounded by Duhkha, I should have realized that this was not the end to our suffering.
I have heard word that in the neighbouring village, a naga spirit is attacking all the villagers. I am not quite sure how they disturbed this demon to the extent where it needed to cause harm, but something clearly needs to be done. In Tibetan medicine, a psychiatric disease, such as a naga illness, appears when the mind and the wind it produces are agitated, causing it to function abnormally and alter the person’s mind and body. Potentially, the spirit may have entered the bodies of the villager’s through the ring fingers and went to the heart via the ear consciousness channel. This is extremely dangerous as it invades the mental consciousness and rules the dominion of the body and mind. I have spoken to a doctor I work closely with, Chogyam Dorje, and we have collectively decided to aid the village, especially since one of the 10 positive actions of body speech and mind is helping others. He spoke of rinchen rilbu (precious pills) that he will bring to the village. I also will prepare medication to cure this relentless disease. However, I think nutrition, mantra recitation, use of incense, meditation, Tibetan yoga and amulets will be of use. I think it is important to provide a variety of therapies in order to tackle both the imbalance of the mind and restore the body kingdom.
Thinking about how easily the godly realm can be disturbed by our actions and thoughts has overwhelmed me. It is for this reason that I will spend the next few days in solitude to fix my mistakes by addressing the 12 links of dependent arising. When the doctors are ready to start our quest, please come find me.
For now, remember, ignorance is not bliss!
Dainin Daeshim
