The Visiting Lama: An Eventful Week-Chodrak Dawa
Hello again! I am writing to you today in good spirits to share what I experienced when the lama came to visit our village. He was formally greeted and welcomed by all. It was picturesque to see the village come alive with prayer flags, chalk drawings and offerings for the lama. The entire experience was extraordinary and humbling, I hope everyone gets to have this once in his or her lifetime. The lama came bearing protective amulets for the ritualists that were dispersed amongst members of our community. We all gained something positive from these amulets. Equally, he generously contributed to fund the building of a printing press at the nunnery, after having understood that it suffered some damage during the hailstorm. This is a very exciting development as it will be the first of its kind in the area. There is also more great news for us doctors, as the lama also contributed with the building of the medicine factory that I mentioned in my last entry!
I would like to share some of my thoughts in a more detailed way with regards to the lama’s visit. Aside from being one of the most spiritually enlightening experiences of my life, it was also very eye-opening in terms of the topics that the lama discussed. The theme of the discussion that he led was Vajrayana Cosmology. He compared the micro and the macro world and highlighted that we are, as humans on earth, but a minuscule portion of an infinitely large universe. He continued by saying that the Buddhist universe is comprised of many inconceivably large universes. These universes are in different stages of formation; yet exist together in a dynamic way. The Sakyamuni Buddha is the one who is in charge of these processes. The lama also mentioned something that deeply resonated with me: that the universe and the worlds it contains appeal and appear differently to all individuals. Some people may see a circle, while others will see a square. This idea can also be transferred onto the concept of karma. All individuals possess a different view of karma and, by consequence, share different opinions on what is good and bad. His speech was so powerful that it truly made me question my own existence in an endlessly vast universe…
The air in our village is full of excitement as a result of the establishment of a printing press and a library in the nunnery. The nuns, who now will not have to labor nearly as much to create texts, very warmly welcomed this announcement. This is a revolutionary occurrence as we will be the only village in our region with such a modern piece of equipment. The printing press essentially consists of, to my understanding, a machine that evenly transfers ink onto cloth or paper. It is both a time and effort saver. The introduction of such a luxury to our village will create endless opportunities for us. The scholars will be able to record their research; the doctors will be able to document tantric medicinal practices and the ritualists will have a means of recording sutras as oppose to the alternative strategy, orally. Going along with the printing press, the library will serve us as a locus to store these scriptures.
We are so fortunate to have had the lama come visit our village. As mentioned above, he was extremely generous with us and we are now able to build a medicine factory. This is undoubtedly a demanding project, needing the help of all village members. I am confident that everyone will come together in the spirit of bettering our community. The basic architectural structure of the medicinal factory should be in warehouse form. I am envisioning it as an open and organized space. I think this is a great initiative for our village as it is important for us to have one centralized location where people can go to be prescribed medicine. It will also serve the purpose of a depository. With a properly established medicine factory, our community will be able to thrive in the field of medicine and be the leading village in our region. There will certainly be a myriad of advantages to having a medicine factory in our village.
It has surely been a very eventful week in our village! We can only hope for more positive experiences like the ones mentioned above. I think everyone in our sangha is going through the same learning curve in terms of finding and rediscovering ourselves after the damage of the hailstorm. We have learned to embrace dukkha while attempting to escape it. By acting justly, as I think we have so far, we will be able to escape samsara.
