Visiting Lama

There has been a lot of talk around the village of a lama coming to stay at our monastery; he is currently in the village across the river. This will be excellent for our community as we have gone through hard times since the hailstorm and all of us need to refocus our minds on the Buddhist teachings. The scholars of the village are writing a letter to invite the lama to visit us from the neighboring village where he is staying now. I am not learned enough to contribute to writing this letter but I know a little bit about the form of the letter from my ritual studies. The letter will begin with a poetic verse praising the lama. The body of the letter is also poetic using honorific terms to refer to the lama and humbling the writer of the letter before him. Then the letter will outline what will be involved in the lama’s visit and what offerings we have for him. Then we will end with the Tibetan year, 2141, and the Western year, 2014. I am excited to see a finished copy of this letter to learn more about writing in this style.

I am studying Buddhist ritual in addition to building so I have been reading a lot about the rituals involved in inviting and hosting the lama at our monastery. First the letter will be sent to the lama and if he accepts we will receive a letter of acceptance. If we receive the letter of acceptance then we must prepare the temple according to Buddhist ritual. Since I am only studying ritual and not a ritualist I have been given very simple jobs to learn and perform. First I must sweep the temple and the outside stairs and clean and fill the offering bowls. Then I will clean and refill the butter lamps with fresh wicks and melted butter. The ritualists will prepare torma, elaborate sculptures made of dough, because these are difficult to make. Then I will make sure there are cushions on the throne and ensure the lama’s private quarters where he will be staying are clean with fruit and flowers. The ritualists will prepare chalk drawings of the 8 auspicious offerings and I will unroll a red carpet. I am really learning a lot about ritual from the lama’s potential visit. Even if he doesn’t come I will have gained a lot of knowledge and I have centered my mind back to Buddhist teachings.

If the lama does come to our village, the day he arrives there will be lots to do. My main job is to build and light smoke fire offerings of juniper branches and make sure these are burning for the entire visit, I have learned that these fires purify the environment. We have never had a lama visit before so I am sure everyone in the village will come to welcome him in the procession. Monks from the neighboring village will accompany the lama to our village where our community will be waiting on motorcycles and on foot. They will be holding scarves and musical instruments such as horns will be played as the lama approaches. It will be an exciting time for everyone if the lama decides to come! The lama will arrive in a car, as he exits the car an umbrella will be held over his head as we walks to the temple. The lama will remove his shoes and enter the temple and the chanting and offerings begin.

The part of the lama’s visit, which I am most excited for, is the teachings from the lama, which he speaks about in his speech to the community. I have never heard a lama speak before so I am not sure exactly what to expect. The teachings will be on an important part of Buddhist teachings, possibly love and compassion or the noble eight-fold path. I will definitely make sure my husband and children hear the speaking of the lama as I believe it will be beneficial to everyone in the villag e. After the difficult last few months, with death of villagers and destruction from the hailstorm, these teachings will be vital in centering our minds. Last week we rebuilt the bridge with help from us builders and resources from various villagers. It is a very good thing that the bridge was quickly rebuilt as this is the same bridge which the visiting lama will be travelling over. I have purchased a prayer flag from one of my fellow builders. The money from this purchase will go to support the lama’s visit. I will be contributing my time to rebuild the temple and I hope other villagers will contribute money, food, offerings and the many other resources which will be required if we are to host this lama and give him everything he requires during his stay.