The lama’s rite of empowerment.
Early in the morning, when most of the villagers wake up and prepare for breakfast, the lama has finally arrived to our village. It was an unexpected early visit in the morning. The lama explained that he wanted to visit our village so soon that he came right after the morning meditation at 3 in the morning. The lama and the monks usually go to bed between 9 and 10 in the evening and wake up at 3. When they wake up, they practice the first meditation of the day. Sometimes if a monk falls asleep during the meditation, the lama hits the monk’s shoulders with a bamboo stick, which makes a loud clapping sound. Since the lama came to our village before breakfast, some of the villagers and monks gathered at our main temple to have a breakfast together. People who gathered at the temple also followed the ascetic way to have a meal. In the monastery, the monks are given wooden bowl and a set of chopsticks. In the beginning of the meal, one person distributes a small portion of rice and vegetable equally. Once people begin to eat altogether, they must finish all the food except for one piece of vegetable. Once they finish eating, the person then goes around and pours water in people’s bowl. The reason why people leave a piece of vegetable is to clean the bowl with it. With the water in the bowl, people take the piece of vegetable with the chopsticks and clean the bowl. Once the cleaning is done, they eat the last piece of vegetable and drink the water. Most of the villagers have never tried this ascetic way to have a meal before. However, people wanted to try to follow whatever the lama was doing.
After the breakfast, the lama went on a walk around the village. Most of the villagers followed him around and introduced the village. Despite the villagers’ great effort to welcome and offer the lama with only the best, the lama noticed that the village recently recovered from the hailstorm when he went to see the nunnery. There were some spots in the nunnery that people couldn’t fix fully especially in the library. Gratefully, the lama generously donated the resources to rebuild the library and install the printing press. He then emphasized how important the learning is. The lama said that the knowledge is not the only thing that we should pursuit. However, it will always assist and guide us out of the ignorance and the suffering.
The lama was a powerful being. Everywhere he went, people were affected by his positive qi, the energy. The lama realized that the villagers were in need of something spiritually strong so that people can rely on it religiously or emotionally. The lama decided to hold a rite of empowerment. In Buddhism, the lama is fundamental to the tantric meditation and constitutes one of the “three roots” of tantric practice. Prior to the rite of empowerment, the lama leads us to practice the Lord of the Dance, Great compassion and the union of the Blissful. I am sure that almost every villager put everything behind and came here to join this large empowerment initiation. For the empowerment ceremony, the lama led us to practice the deity yoga meditation. During this yoga, he shared the vision with us about what to focus in our lives. He instructed us to visualize how to live and what to believe when we feel vulnerable and helpless from acknowledging that we are stuck in the cycle of suffering.
I was hidden in the crowed when every person was meditating in the same yoga posture. I just followed the lama’s voice in my head. All of sudden, my inner voice and thoughts disappeared and did not interrupt the lama’s voice. With my eyes closed, I was led to the great vision, which all the people must follow for the better future of the village. I can admit this proposition with certainty because all the other villagers felt the same way. We did not know what to do when the hailstorm hit our village whether it was a natural cause or not. Also, we did not know what to do when we found out that neighboring villagers were affected by the naga illness. We could only vote on what to do for the village. We were like the floating boat on the ocean without the compass. However, we have now certainty from the vision that the lama has shared with us.
After the rite of empowerment, people looked more certain about how to live their lives. I might think that this could be a temporary effect of lama’s strong charisma. However, I know that it is our job to continue to seek for the enlightenment. Also, I must continually expose myself to great books and the lessons of the Buddha in order to overcome and face the many more sufferings in the future.
