The Comings and Goings of The Lama (Nov. 5)
Having survived my trek to the next village to visit my supplier, I arrived back to the village in time to get something to eat and rest for the next day as it was sure to bring some excitement with the Lama visiting.
It was early in the morning when I heard the caravan of the Lama passing by house going into the village. I awoke in daze and began to get dressed. After all, I wanted to see what the Lama who was so greatly anticipated would bring and teach to the village. Having gotten dressed I decided to swing by Chodak’s house to see if he wanted a lift into the village to see the Lama. I assumed he would already be waiting at the monastery for the Lama but I decided to swing by his house anyways just in case.
When I arrived at Chodak’s home I noticed his horse was still in his stall which only meant that Chodak was at home. Surprised, I knocked on his door only to be greeted by a sleepy young man with a confused look on his face. “Chodak”, I said, “you realize that you’re missing the Lama’s visit. I just saw his caravan go past my house on their way to the monastery. You better get dressed and follow me if you want to see this teacher”. Without saying a word, he got dressed with urgency and mounted the back of my horse. Sometimes talking only prolongs action and I think that is why Chodak didn't scream or curse but just got dressed and followed me.
On our way over to the monastery, Chodak and I began to discuss some possible things the Lama might discuss. Some of the issues that we brought up were the role of material objects in ritual practices and what does it mean to destroy illusions of the mind[1]? “Well Tenzin”, he said, “everything is mind and from mind comes good and evil. The dharma (teachings) is meant to highlight this point”. “Are you saying that good and evil and don’t exist but are only in our minds?”, I said. “I’m saying”, he said, “that the mind is behind all illusions and that a Tathagata (authentic one) realizing this doesn’t see distinction anymore”. “This”, I said, “is the first thing I think we both agree on since I’ve known you”. Before we knew it we had arrived at the monastery.
Having done our formal greetings Chodak and I said to one side. Almost the whole village had shown up to this event. The Lama’s name was finally revealed to me even though I’m sure Chodak knew it but I never bothered to ask him. Lama Khenpo Sodargye[2] was his name and his talk and teachings were actually more insightful than I had anticipated. He was humble and didn’t have any sort moral superiority about him like many other holy men I had encountered. He discussed, among other things, the Buddhist view on cosmology which was more fantastical than I had previously thought. Of course, this view was hard to take as reality but I think that was the point. The fantastical nature of Buddhist cosmology was meant to bring to light that the cosmos are perhaps so incomprehensible to the human mind that whatever means we try to grasp it by be it science or the Kalachakra (Buddhist time-cycles cosmology) we will never really get there.
Once the Lama had finished his talk, he announced that he would be donating a printing press to the library in the nunnery. This was good news as I overheard one of the healers in the village named Chodrak Dawa[3] talking about how poor the conditions in the nunnery were as compared to the monk’s accommodations. This devotion to knowledge reminded of an injunction in the Lotus Sutra regarding books which reads as follows: “If a good man or good woman shall receive and keep, read, and recite, explain, or copy in writing a single phrase of the Scripture of the Dharma Blossom…that person is to be looked up to and exalted by all the worlds, [and] showered with offerings fit for a Buddha…Let it be known that that person is a great bodhisattva[4]”.
As soon as he came, the Lama and his caravan departed from our village. Chodak seemed satisfied with the wisdom imparted to him and I had a new perspective on cosmology. As we left the monastery, we were approached by a village elder who was asking about buying some tools from my workshop. “Why do you need such tools good Sir?”, I asked him. It turns out that the village elders were organizing an expedition to the cliffs northeast of the village into a series of caves to try and discover some ancient Buddhist texts. This sounded like an adventure that I could hardly pass up.
[1] YouTube, “Destroyer of Illusions: The Secret World of a Tibetan Lama”, URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPB75kgZ64.
[2] Official Website of Khenpo Sodargye, URL: http://www.khenposodargye.org/.
[3] Medium.com Writer: Corinne Haddad (Chodrak Dawa), URL: https://medium.com/@corinnehaddad.
[4] Kurtis R. Schaeffer, The Culture of the Book in Tibet (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), pg. 5.
Bibliography
1.) Image URL: http://www.urbandharma.org/images1/buddha-teaches-dhamma.jpg.
2.) Kurtis R. Schaeffer, The Culture of the Book in Tibet, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
3.) Medium.com Writer: Corinne Haddad (Chodrak Dawa), URL: https://medium.com/@corinnehaddad.
4.) Official Website of Khenpo Sodargye, URL: http://www.khenposodargye.org/.
5.) YouTube, “Destroyer of Illusions: The Secret World of a Tibetan Lama”, URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPB75kgZ64.
