Thanks to the Lama
The Great Lama has finally come to our village, a day that gave my life new meaning and merit. So much preparation went into making sure everything would be perfect for his arrival, in the wake of recent tragedies, I was starting to worry our village would not be able to pull through in time. Since we have recently experienced the devastation of a hailstorm and the spread of the Naga illness, our recourse have been scarce and our people have been scattered, dedicated to different projects. The builders were busy rebuilding all that was damaged by the hailstorm, including homes, monuments, buildings, and the bridge. The farmers worked to replenish our crops and fields in the hope of regaining a stable food supply with enough to serve the visiting lama and his congregation and to act as blessings to offer him. The traders have worked hard to ensure we get the supplies we needed, slowed by the bridge’s destruction. The scholars worked hard on the invitational letter to the lama, which was well received. The letter respectfully praised the lama by describing his great qualities in depth and offered extensive gratitude and appreciation for the time it took him to consider the invitation. The other artists and I have successfully completed the mandala drawing and paintings of the lotus and eight auspicious signs – a task I outlined in my last entry.
The ritulists (ie. nuns and monks) have had the most work to do, which is why I have chosen to help them as my secondary skill. Despite my lack of experience in the field, through observation, I have studied their methods and feel that I have gained enough insight in order to play a part. Their main focus is on empowerment rituals, such as lighting smoke fire offerings. By burning juniper branches they can expel demons from the area and purify the environment. These fires must remain lit continually throughout the duration of the lama’s visit in order to maintain this purity and ensure positive energy. The ritualists also make themselves available to those in need, offering what spiritual guidance they can. They advocate for the adoption of positive actions of mind, body, and speech — helping individuals to remain in favour of the spirits, and to prevent any future illness or harm that could result from displeasing or offending them. Along with the healers, the ritualists also contributed to the recovery of victims suffering from the Naga illness, saving the lives of many. They encouraged intense meditation that in turn would reveal which past actions of the victim caused their illness. Once targeted, the ritualists were able to preform specific rituals that were able to right these past wrongs, usually pertaining to the problem of attachment. The healers were able to speed the recovery process with medicinal herbs that relieved certain aliments and symptoms.
Because all the villagers have been busy attending to such important matters, the ceremony dedicated to the lama’s visit was the perfect event to unite us as a village once again, bringing us together as a true sangha, in the spirit of faith and dharma. Before I get into the details of his visit and teachings, I first want to highlight what this experience signifies to my community and myself, in that, the unity created by his visit represented a ‘bigger picture’ of life, that we all must act in accordance with, and for the sake of, one anther. Thus, to actually see the manifestation of spiritual perfection, right before your very eyes, to witness the ultimate achievement and actualization of a human being in the flesh, was so magnificent, words could barely begin to describe the experience – one that left everyone in awe of his presents and wisdom. I now feel closer to the dharma than I ever have before. There he was in the flesh, a bodhisattva, an enlightened being, one who has chosen to remain in Samsara, the cycle of life and death, in order to help others escape it. He proved to be more than just a qualified teacher, one who is pure and all knowing of the dharma; but furthermore, one who practices compassion and peace limitlessly; one who is so humbled by his weariness of the world, and deep care for others, that he took a sacred vow to spread his knowledge and lead his students on the right path to nirvana. Much like the four sights of the Buddha, recently I have witnessed so much suffering and sickness at the hands of negative forces, that I am constantly reminded of two major Buddhist themes: impermanence and suffering. Yes we have lost things, but nothing that cannot be replaced, nothing we should allow ourselves to get attached to and mourn. Focusing on the past is only detrimental to our recovery. These are lessons of strength I have taken from the great Lama’s teachings.
The ceremony was very traditional and proceeded smoothly as planned. As the Lama approached the monastery in his vehicle, the village folk gathered along his path singing and chanting mantras and prayers suited for his arrival – specifically, the heart sutras. When sung together, the chants created a beautiful spirit of melody, making us feel as one. Most people would wave to him as he passed and play their musical instruments with purpose- it was all very noisy. The Lama was brought to the steps of the monastery where he was greeted with cheers of joy from all the villagers. He was helped off with his shoes and had an umbrella held over his head as he crossed the mandala painting of the eight auspicious signs at the base of the steps. Because I had designed the central lotus, great honor was washed over me. He began to mount the steps and proceeded towards his throne where he would give a speech to the community that I will never forget and that the villagers would talking about for decades to come.
The length of the ceremony can vary, depending on how in-depth his teaching/speech goes; how smoothly and efficiently the offerings and blessing move along; how many breaks he needs; and finally weather or not he allows any interviews. Luckily for us, the lama could sense our desperation and went into extensive detail with his teachings and offered opportunity for us to ask questions regarding dharma practices. These questions were not to be personalized in nature because the lama did not claim to be a psychologist or therapist; but rather, he was a master of meditation, giving the best answers in regards to dharma practices. I cannot remember every detail of the speech in full, however, I will do my best to recount: The Great Lama first greeted us, saying that he was pleased to be here and that hearing the reciting of the Heart sutras brought him happiness. He told us that the focus of the Heart sutras is the fourfold explanation of emptiness, and that each morning he would sit and contemplate emptiness and its’ relevance to our everyday lives. He explained how some thoughts were conducive to peace of mind while others, such as emotional thought, would disturb it. These emotions are the cause of suffering and disguise themselves as qualities possessed by ‘things’. The problem, however, is that ‘things’ are not what they appear — a notion we can only come to know through the understanding of emptiness. He also spoke of intelligence serving as not only the distinguishing characteristic of the individual; but at the same time, as the universalizing characteristic of all humans, in that it acts as a connective pool of knowledge we all share and are existentially linked to. Thus, the individual’s scholarly pursuit is important in its role of expanding the mind and educating oneself, in order to avoid ignorance and have awareness of/add to this pool of knowledge. In overcoming ignorance, we gain wisdom. He went on to speak of existence itself and how the Tathagata is different from the other psycho-physical aggregates. Finally, he ended his sermon with a section on the function of peace at the center of humanity’s core. He made the point that as humans we are social creatures, meant to live together in harmony or society, whereas, the tendency to be selfish establishes the opposite of this harmonic ideal. Thus, to think only of oneself will bring about suffering– causing a constant state of internal turmoil where the individual is constantly anxious and suspicious of others. This state will begin to cause stress and will undermine the individual’s physical well being. That is why our intentions are so important, because they are the roots of our actions, they create positive and negative energy that directly affects our well-being. Thus it is in our best interests to act selflessly.
