My Suggestions on Inviting the Lama

While I was eating my breakfast, someone knocked my door. When I opened the door, I saw our village’s postman with an exciting face. He handed me a letter and said that I had to read it; everyone in the village received the same letter and they were now discussing its contents. After he left, I opened the envelope and took out the letter. It was a letter written by our village head, he said a very famous lama was staying in a nearby monastery, and since our village had not received a Buddhist teacher for quiet a while, we needed to seize this opportunity to invite this lama to our village. The village head also outlined the importance of having a Buddhist teacher by saying that no one could attain perfect Buddhahood without a proper teacher and instructor. He said that our village had been attacked by the hailstorm not long ago; it was now the time for us to have a Buddhist teacher to tell us how to follow the right paths, how to perform right rituals, and how to conduct proper meditations. All these are essential to achieve Buddhahood, and by achieving Buddhahood, we could get rid of the samsara and avoid sufferings brought by changes, like the hailstorm, forever. Moreover, the lama was able to answer private questions; if anyone had any problem from any Buddhist text, this was the chance to solve these problems. Therefore, inviting this lama to our village would benefit each individual as well as the entire community. The village head finally warned us that if we failed to invite this lama, Buddhahood could not be achieved and we might suffer in short future from all other kinds of evil changes, ten times worse than the hailstorm.

After explaining the significance of inviting this lama, the village head went on by distributing the works that were necessary for the invitation. First of all, all the scholars in the village were required to compose a letter of invitation. In order to make this letter to be attractive and sincere, someone good at calligraphy were also summoned to write it. Then, the artists were told to prepare chalk drawings in front of the entrance of the village temple. They should draw 8 auspicious offerings, namely lotus, conch shell, dharma wheel, endless knot, offering vase, umbrella, gold fish, and victory banner. Farmers were told to prepare food as offerings, since during and after the ritual performance, tea and sweet rice would be provided to both the lama and people who attended the meeting. Traders like me were told to make donations in the form of gold and money; the village head said this was not necessary, but it was a custom to offer money at the end of the meeting as a way to say thanks to the lama for his teaching. Lastly, all villagers were called to participate in cleaning the temple where the meeting would be held, weaving kha btags, preparing other offerings such as the five-colored braided cord that was said to represent the five Buddha families and Buddha activities. Apart from all these preparations, on the day of the lama’s arrival, bsangs mchod at the gates of the village temple needed to be performed, all of us would need to line up by holding our kha btags to welcome the lama.

I was totally confused after reading this long letter, simply because the preparations and ceremonies were too complicated. I decided to gain a more direct understanding of this procedure by watching a video recording of a lama’s visiting. I went to one of my friends’ house that had a TV and DVD player, he also happened to have a video on the same kind of event recorded by himself a few years ago in a nearby village. After we watched the video together, I was shocked. I decided to write a letter in response to the village head, requiring him to re-consider inviting this lama mainly for three reasons. Firstly, I saw in the video that the lama that village invited came by sitting in a luxury Audi SUV car. Many monks that accompanied him had iPhones and iPads, which were very expensive smartphones that our villagers had never seen. All these did not align with what I originally thought a lama should appear. I did not know where they got enough money to buy all these things, but one thing was for sure — the amount of money and wealth they obtained was far beyond that was necessary for their survival. Also, they apparently did not spare the money to people who desperately needed them; otherwise they would not have all those luxuries. I was not saying that the lama we were going to invite was also like the one in the video, but we should make sure first, and we definitely should not offer gold and money to him, food and drinks were sufficient. I have heard that Gautama Buddha used to be a prince living a luxury and comfortable life; it was due to the sufferings of those poor people he saw on the streets, he gave up his life as a prince and finally achieved enlightenment. Now, a lama, whose duty was to transfer the Buddha’s holy teachings to ordinary people, asked for donations in the form of gold and money in order to live in a way that the Buddha himself abandoned, what was the logic in this? Money and gold should not be offered.

Secondly, it seemed like our village head presupposed that this lama was a good teacher. Again, I suggested that we should make sure first. Although a Buddhist teacher was important to an individual and community in achieving Buddhahood, examining the teacher first before following him was also very important. This lama should have qualities such as being pure, knowledgeable, and generous. His teaching and language should also be pleasant; the empowerments he received that brought him to spiritual maturity should be flowed down through a continuous lineage. I admitted that these requirements were too strict, but one had to pursue them in order to become a good teacher worth for our invitation. Last but not least, the invitation required the collective work of the whole village. We had just recovered from the hailstorm; we needed to save food and energy for the coming winter, it was not a wise decision to waste our food and energy on this event. We should better weave more clothes rather than the greeting scarves.

I rushed back to home to drop all these ideas down and posted the letter to our village head as soon as I finished it. I was hoping that I could change his mind, at least to make him go and check this lama before formally inviting him. If he was truly a good teacher, I would be happy to invite him, but since so many things were unsure, decisions should not be made in such a rush manner.