The lama has decided to visit our village!
On my way home from the neighboring village, I came across a couple of traders that told me the lama was heading for the direction of my village! Before I was able to return, I thought it is necessary that I stayed there for a while. There was a monk in the village with the naga illness to help us with the rituals we needed to help us respond to the naga spirits. We were able to help most of the people, but we unfortunately experienced a death. I decided to stay for the death ritual because I had never experienced one before. In the nunnery, we were taught from the book of the dead about the transitional state between life and death, bardo. For those who are realized, death is a chance at liberation, but for those like the man who died due to the naga spirits, death is a terrifying experience in the intermediate state. The monk of the village was there to guide the man through this state into the next life. Only a person that is fully realized will be able to escape Samara while in the bardo. This reminds me of the importance of the lama to a community like this one and my own. The man’s house was decorated and the monk recited from the Book of the Dead to help guide him. I learned about the importance of the many deities within the Book of the Dead that are painted on a set of cards, and that are used to help the monk guide the man. I was unable to stay for the entire ritual since it took many days to complete.
Death reminds us of the emptiness of all things. The texts remind us that there is death everywhere and that the body is borrowed (Mahayana yoga text). The body is a fragile form that is constantly changing. Experiencing this death ritual reminded me of this, so I think it was a good idea for me to stay here while it was happening.
It was then time to make my way back to my village to see the lama that is visiting us. When I got home, I saw that many had already started to prepare for the visit! I even saw that some people from other villages have come to hear the lama’s teachings. The nuns gathered together to make a mandala offering for the lama so that he may give us the teachings that we need in the village to help us on our paths. We may also give the lama the mandala offering when he is done to show our gratitude. Since I have a passion for art, I also helped with the chalk drawings of the right auspicious symbols. My favourite one to draw is the Lotus Flower, which represents purification. It is important to purify the mind and the body in order to seek liberation. We drew the chalk symbols on the ground in front of the monastery. The monks in the village play a larger role in welcoming the lama to our village than us nuns do. It was in the monastery that the lama gave his teachings. As the lama arrived, people gathered along the road where he was travelling in from. They held white scarves to give to him as offerings, and once he was in the the monastery, he was presented with all the other offerings that my village prepared like the mandala that my nunnery prepared. It was very elaborately decorated, and there was a throne prepared by the builders of my village for him to sit on has he gave the teaching. One of the teachings that we received involved stories from the Jataka. These are stories of the Buddha’s previous lives.
Lately I have been thinking about the future of our village and I would really like to participate in the expansion of different types of facilities that we should build. Perhaps I would like to start a clinic within the nunnery, or many a library that we can use to help our community. Having either of these things would help our village. Perhaps having the lama here will bring us good luck and will bring our village good things for the future.
