Vairochana issue 02

Vol I

l

Issue 2

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September/October 2011

THE GREAT ILLUMINATor

The eye of new awareness

The Correct Way of

Buddhist Meditation An Introduction to

The Kopan Monastery The Future Doesn’t Hurt.... Yet Ven. Matthieu Ricard

Cover Story

The Boudha Mahachaitya

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion Kanak Mani Dixit

Editorial I owe a great debt to Khenpo Jorden la and Sir Kanak Mani Dixit for their generous contribution. My profound thanks to both of them for taking time out from their hectic schdule. Many thanks to all who has been of help in some ways to bring this second issue of “Vairochana” to life.

“Vairochana” is an invitation for you to wake yourself from the sleep of passivity, the delusion of ignorance and resignation into which our culture has lulled you and to begin to look through the eye of new awareness and awaken your innate divinity and a sense of Appreciation. Our actions have a huge impact on the world around us, so does the way we speak to others.With right speech we are more likely to cause positive reactions that will benefit us as well as the other people. The expression of respect can be through body, right speech and mind.

In this modern age of instant gratification, declining morality, cultural upheaval, family instability, and global chaos...like a donkey chasing a carrot on a stick, we are forever pursuing an un-attainable goal, chasing after impermanent pleasures, enslaven to consumer culture of increasing desire and satiating it, believing that happiness is a result of Acquisition.

Disconnected from a sense of deeper purpose of life. Virtue of compassion, patience, tolerance and equanimity are in very short supply.

We live in a world that’s moving at such a fast pace and there’s so much to distract us, it’s no wonder we burn out. So Slowing Down...stepping back from one’s life and from habitual ways of thinking and connecting to your surrounding is the first step in the process. The relevance of Buddha’s universal teachings are the more relevant as over two millenniums. The essence of the messages of the dharma could work like a mindset changer, it may be our most precious resource, the need of the hour to stay United in our cultural diversities in the ethnic and caste mosaic that is characteristic of our country, Nepal where people from more than 101 ethnic groups with 92 spoken languages call it home. Nepal where Lord Buddha was born.

Sarva Mangalam!

Pasang Sherpa

Vol I

l

Issue 2

l

September/October 2011

THE GREAT ILLUMINATor

The eye of new awareness

The Correct Way of

Buddhist Meditation An Introduction to

The Kopan Monastery The Future Doesn’t Hurt.... Yet Ven. Matthieu Ricard

Cover Story

The Boudha Mahachaitya

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion Kanak Mani Dixit

Publisher & Editor in Chief Pasang Sherpa Editor Milan Shakya Contributing Editors - Dr. Khenpo Ngawang Jorden - Kanak Mani Dixit - Ven Matthieu Ricard - Timothy Leonard Advertisements & Contact vairochana.boudha@gmail.com Mobile No: 9721307751

www.vairochana.com

contents

design www.curvesncolors.com Printed at Jagadamba Press CDO Regd. 207 / 068 Vairochana: is published bi-monthly. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy without written permission. Vairochana is not responsible for statements expressed in signed articles or advertising claims.

Unless otherwise stated, the opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of the writers or the sources mentioned, and do not reflect the opinions of, nor are they endorsed by the publisher or the editor.

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Editorial 3 The Boudha Mahachaitya The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion 6 The Correct Way of Buddhist Meditation

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An Introduction to The Kopan Monastery

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Interview with Charok Lama Rinpoche “Teenage Rinpoche”

20

In Conversation with Boudha Area Development Committee

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Editor’s Choice

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Once Upon A Time In Nepal

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The Future Doesn’t Hurt... Yet

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Five Jina Buddhas Purification from the Afflicted State of Samsära 26

Cover Story

The Boudha Mahachaitya

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion

6 | w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

Kanak Mani Dixit

T

he Boudha Mahachaitya is great

two stories of the hotel be lopped off for

in the most literal sense of the

the violence it did to the heritage site.

term – for more than a millennium,

However, as the area from Chabahil

until the Shah-Rana era, it was the largest

to Boudha down to Jorpati has been

human-made structure in Nepal Mandala,

so completely built up that the hotel

the valley of Kathmandu. And yet, for its

no longer constitutes an intrusion.

massive plinth, the three terraces leading

Incidentally, the Hyatt has done its

up to the gigantic dome topped by the

penance, so to speak, by devoting a

13-stepped finial and gilded parasol,

real-to-life exhibition of the rock chaityas

Boudha did not overwhelm with its size.

of Kathmandu Valley in its lobby, curated

Until just two decades ago, the Great Stupa on the Lhasa road out of

by the conservation architect Niels Gutschow.

Kathmandu stood alone amidst the vast landscape of rice paddies that sloped towards the Bagmati below

From lake to Stupa

Gokarna. True, Boudha was visible like

One can imagine this area as the loess-

a luminescent bulb from every corner

laden lake bed of the primordial loch that

of the Valley, but except for those who

was once Kathmandu Valley, with only

came right up to the chaitya through its

the hill where Swayambhu Mahachaitya

ring of tile-roofed houses, the size was

stands remaining above the water with

undermined by the distance. In the late

its mythical lotus bloom. As the great lake

modern era you do not get to appreciate

diminished into several smaller water

the stupa’s girth due to the urban sprawl

bodies, one of them was caught behind

that has robbed the vantage for the naked

the ridgeline of Gokarna. The Valley floor

eye or the photographer’s lens. Only from

was taken over by woodland, a vestige

the air or up close, from the terraces of

still remaining in the Gokarna Reserve

next-door restaurants, can you appreciate

Forest nearby. Over three thousand years

this great dome.

ago, the forest would have been cleared

When the Hyatt Hotel was built nearby in 1999, the architects did injustice to one of the oldest shrines of the Valley – the massive structure diminished

for paddy agriculture. Urban habitation began in earnest, titled the Bagmati Valley Civilization by the engineerconservationist Hutaram Vaidya.

Boudha. Back then, my own unsolicited

With prosperity and urbanization, the

recommendation was that the upper

people needed sites for devotion and w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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obeisance. A hillock to the south of the Gokarna gorge, upslope from the Bagmati, evolved as such a place.

According to the Vamsavali chronicles, the stupa was consecrated by Lichhavi King Manadeva (464-505 CE). The fifth century was the time of stupa building in Nepal Mandala, when the domes at Chabahil and Swayambhu were put up. Boudha’s original shape may have been like the Ashoka-era grass mounds (thudva) found today at the cardinal points around Patan, at Pulchok, Gwarko and Lagankhel. Some sources link the stupa to the Buddha Kasyapa, whereas a Tibetan monk reported in the 18th century that the bones of the King Amsuvarma (who ruled 605-621 CE) were interred here.

Located conveniently on the trail heading out from Kathmandu city towards Lhasa, the stupa’s mythology simultaneously developed along Newar Buddhist and Tibetan Buddhist lines, with midhill communities such as the Tamang also extending reverence. After disappearing from the chronicles for nearly a thousand years, we are told that the Eighth Situpa Rinpoche arrived twice from Tibet, in 1723 and 1748, to repair and restore Boudha after finding it “covered with dirt, sand, etc to the point that it became invisible.” Tibetan nobility and clergy, and rulers from as far afield as Mustang and Sikkim, looked to Boudhanath as a place of worship, often commemorating

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Š Thomas Kelly

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© Mani Lama

© Narendra Shrestha

their battlefield victories with a gift of

Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959 brought

devotees from Kathmandu, the midhills

restoration. The current dimensions and

great economic energy to the Boudha

and high valleys, and Tibet. Today, the

shape of the stupa are said to be the

area, which became a veritable Little

devotees come from across the seven

work of a visiting Tibetan lama in 1821.

Tibet as various denominations located

seas. What the eyes of the Great Stupa

their headquarters-in-exile in the vicinity.

are telling us is left to each of us to

Then came the rush of urbanization after

interpret!

During the Malla era, a hereditary line of Tibetan caretakers looked after Boudha, which was also known as the Khasti

the 1980s.

chaitya and also as the Bya-rung Kha-

Manadeva would certainly fail to

Kanak Mani Dixit is the editor of Himal

shor (“permission once given cannot

recognize Boudha’s surroundings of

(South Asian) and the publisher of Himal

be taken back”) Chaitya. The Tibetan

today, and the same would hold for

Khabarpatrika based in Kathmandu,

caretakers were removed after the

Ekai Kawaguchi, and even Toni Hagen,

Nepal. Highly respected as a journalist in

Nepal-Tibet war of 1855-56 during the

the Swiss development expert who

the South Asian region, Kanak’s related

reign of Jang Bahadur. It was then that

explored Nepal during the 1950s. Hagen’s

interests include children’s writing and

the Chiniya Lama lineage took over as

photographs of Boudhanath take us back

translations. He is also the Chair of the

caretakers.

to what the place would have looked like

Film South Asia documentary film festival,

at least two centuries previously.

among the best known film festivals in

Over the centuries, the Boudha

South Asia.

Mahachaitya remained a vital part of the

The eyes of Boudha have seen the eras

Himalayan Buddhist cosmos, but it is

come and go. Today, they look out over

Reference: The Nepalese Chaitya:

absent from the march of political history

the flat-top concrete jungle. Yesterday,

1500 Years of Votive Architecture in the

of Nepal. We know that Ekai Kawaguchi,

they studied the seasons play out on the

Kathmandu Valley, by Niels Gutschow,

the Japanese monk-explorer, was

rice paddies - the plantings, harvesting,

1997

hosted by the Chiniya Lama in 1899. The

threshing and drying. Earlier there were

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Meditation

The Correct Way of

Buddhist Meditation - Dr. Khenpo Ngawang Jorden 12 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

MEDITATION FOR SPIRITUAL WELLBEING

I

n common English usage, according to the Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, the word “meditation” is used to describe the mental act or process of reflecting or pondering upon a subject, and is also used to describe acts of devotional contemplation.

In Buddhist usage, the word “meditation” is used to translate the meaning of the Skt word, “bhavana”, which Tibetans translate as “sgom”, a term which means: to become familiar with, get accustomed to, or become acquainted with.

Meditation, as a process of familiarization, is an indispensable part of practice in all the Buddhist traditions.

Buddhist meditation is always preceded by: listening to teachings and contemplating on their meaning.

The practitioner first learns a subject through listening to the teachings of qualified masters. Next, the practitioner contemplates the topic of study through the intelligence of their mental consciousness. Then, with the proper meditation posture, known as the Seven Postures of Vairochana, one settles the mind upon the resolved point and familiarizes the mind with it. (There are many texts with extensive explanations and descriptions of these aspects of correct meditational posture.) This is what Buddhists call the practice of meditation.

The practitioner first reflects upon the obstacles to effective meditation and their antidotes.

An initial obstacle is laziness,

which prevents one from engaging in meditation in the first place, and obliterates one’s motivation.

The antidote for this laziness is to reflect on the impermanence of one’s life, and to develop enthusiasm for meditative practice.

Forgetfulness is another obstacle to meditation. This obstacle is experienced by those who have already received instructions and engaged themselves in meditation, but do not remember all the instructions at the time of practice. To overcome this, one needs to receive more teachings and to seek clarification from one’s teacher.

The next obstacles are the two extreme states of “mental sinking” and “mental excitement.”

These obstacles only occur when one has already entered into the habit of doing meditative practice, and has already overcome physical discomfort.

By now, one will already have become familiarized with the object of meditation and faced the obstacle of “gross mental sinking”: a depression in the intensity of the mind’s clarity, a form of internal distraction which is often mistaken for meditation.

The meditator will notice a sense of stability, thinking it is the development of meditation, when in fact it is “gross mental sinking.”

With this obstacle, the mind will not have much clarity, nor will it any longer be distracted by any

external object: there is mental stability, but without any clarity.

In other words, it is a mental stagnation.

“Subtle mental sinking” takes place when one has mental stability with clarity, but no intensity. This, most common obstacle is mistaken for true “calm-abiding” meditation.

Here one must “tighten” one’s awareness, in order to avoid the problem of “looseness”, which has caused the lack of intensity.

“Mental excitement” is the agitated mind which involuntarily pursues external objects.

Whether one’s mind is pursuing virtuous thoughts or not, this pursuit should be stopped, because the mind is “derailing” from the object on which the mind should be placed.

Then there is the obstacle of not applying the antidotes when necessary. If one does not recognize the obstacles with mindful awareness, one will not use the antidotes. Therefore, one must be fully familiarized with the potential obstacles that may occur in one’s meditation, and know the exact antidotes to use in each case. The remaining obstacle is that of over-applying w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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Š Shishir Maharjan

My doctrine is to think the thought that is unthinkable, to practice the deed that is not doing; to speak the speech that is inexpressible; and to be trained in the discipline which is beyond discipline. Those who understand this are near; those who are confused are far.

The way is beyond words and expressions, is bound by nothing earthly; Lose sight of it to an inch or miss it for a moment; and we are away from it forever more.

- Buddha

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the antidotes, or applying them when it is not necessary.

In the first part of the meditation practice, the practitioner engages in an investigation, called “analytical meditation”. After one has reached an analytical conclusion concerning any topic, one practices to place the mind one-pointedly on that conclusion, until the mind becomes inseparable from it. The actual meditative practice of one-pointed concentration is known as “meditation of placement.”

There are nine stages in the development of “placement of the mind” These are:

7) perfect calmness: if the mental forces antagonistic to meditation, such as covetousness, arise, one should make the mind calm down, by bringing the mind back to the object of meditation 8) one-pointedness: though one has applied the methods which discard both sluggishness and unruliness, if one’s mind does not proceed into one-pointedness then, one should place the mind upon that non-proceeding, itself 9) placement in a state of equanimity: by the power of familiarization one will be able to enter into a state of meditative absorption without the need of effort

With attentiveness, we repeatedly check on our state of body and mind, and through attentiveness, we notice the mind wandering.

When we notice our mind wandering, we 2) continual placement: since it is not purposefully bring our attention back, through possible for a beginner to meditate for a mindfulness. Mindfulness is a mental factor long time, one should place the mind upon of un-forgetfulness, regarding a subject on the object for a short period of time, and which one has focussed, having previously refresh that placement continually become familiarized with that subject.

3) correction and placement: if one’s mind is Through placing the mind in this way, in distracted from the object of meditation, many short periods, with short intervals in one should recognize the distraction and between, one will experience tranquility and re-direct the mind back to the object of will be free from the danger of deviating from meditation the correct way of meditation.

4) perfect placement: in order not to let the mind wander, one gathers the mind Dr. Khenpo Ngawang Jorden is the Principal together upon the object of meditation, of the International Buddhist Academy, in through mindfulness Tinchuli , Boudha. His wide educational 5) placement in a subdued mental state: experience includes the comprehensive through fondness for the good qualities of study of monastic ritual arts, (Ngor meditative absorption, if “mental sinking” Monastery, Sikkim) post-graduate monastic or excitement arise, one should subdue college philosophy studies, ( Sakya College) the mind by applying the antidotes and an M.T.S. and Ph.D (Harvard) He has 6) calmness: if one’s mind becomes unhappy taught at universities around the world, and received his current post from His Holiness due to distraction, one makes the mind the Sakya Trizin, and the late Most Venerable calm, by directing it towards the object of Khenchen Appey Rinpoche, Khenpo meditation Jorden’s revered teacher.

1) placement: placing one’s mind on an appropriate, unmoving support, such as an image or painting of the Buddha

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Introduction

An Introduction to

The Kopan Monastery

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T

here is a spectacular monastery of Kopan perched majestically on the hill north of the historical

and sacred Stupa of Boudha. For the first time, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa with their western students came over to this hill in 1969 AD. Kopan Monastery had its origin in the Solukhumbu region of the Himalayan mountains in Nepal. In 1971 AD, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama, Künzang Yeshe, a yogi of the small village of Lawudo, made the dream of the previous Lawudo Lama of building a monastic school for the local children come true. The school was called “Mount Everest Center.” Twenty five monks migrated from the school in Solukhumbhu district to Kopan in 1971 AD because there was a very harsh climate at an altitude of 4000m. Under these

conditions, one couldn’t study in winter.

Now Kopan monastery is flourishing with about three hundred and sixty monks, mainly from Nepal and Tibet, and a spiritual haven for hundreds of visitors yearly from around the world.

There is a nunnery called Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery just nearby housing about three hundred and eighty nuns. Both the monastery and the nunnery are under the spiritual guidance of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and the care of the abbot, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lhundrup Rigsel. Besides, they are the branch of the FPMT (Foundation for Preservation of Mahayana Tradition).

FPMT is a network of some 140 centers and activities world-wide, articulating expressions of the Buddha activity of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

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Monastic Life Monks and nuns from the very early age of seven come from all over Nepal and the Himalayan countries such as Tibet, India, Bhutan, Sikkim, and even Mongolia to this Gelugpa monastery, one of the best in Kathmandu valley, to receive a classical monastic education (bshad grwa).

The students undergo intensive training on the traditional philosophical subjects and debate on them later. A small tantric college under the supervision of teacher from Gyumed college (rgyud smad) in South India was established some years ago, where rituals subjects such as torma making, chanting, and ritual dance are taught and tantric texts are studied. Additionally the monks and nuns gather twice a day for prayers (smon lam) dedicated to the well-being and happiness of all sentient beings.

A fully fledged geshe (dge shes) study program has been established. This enables the students to complete most of their philosophical studies at Kopan, before moving on the the Monastic Universities in South India for the continuation of their studies, and higher degrees.

The newly established Tantric colleges

houses about 60 monks studying tantric rituals such as making sand mandala, making butter scultpure, arranging initiations and prayer ceremonies. They also study the tantric texts in details and learn how to assist those wishing to do retreat.

Not all monks are interested in pursuing a scholastic career. After finishing grade ten in the monastery school, some of them continue their monastic life by offering service to the monastery in a variety of ways. Those who wish to dedicate their life to the pursuit of religious activities may do so under the guidance of qualified teachers and meditation masters.

Preserving the religious and cultural heritage of Tibet There are different ceremonies, festivals and rituals performed in Kopan monastery around the year. These even include the observance of the annual rains retreat (Skt: varsavasa) during the summer months, and the observance of other monastic disciplines and rituals.

In this way the tradition of the Buddha’s teachings on monastic discipline (Skt: vinaya) are upheld and safegarded properly.

The Four Great Days of Sakyamuni Buddha called in Tibetan sangs rgyas

kyi dus chen bzhi are celebrated through prayers and spiritual practice according to Tibetan calendar. The four great days are 1. the 10 Days of Miracles (cho ’phrul chen po’i dus chen), 2. Buddha Jayanti (sa ga zla ba) or the great occasion of manifest enlightenment (mngon par byang chub pa’i dus chen), 3. the great occasion of turning the wheel of dharma (chos kyi ‘khor lo bskor ba’i dus chen), and 4. the great occasion of the descent from the devas (lha las bab pa’i dus chen).

At the end of the Tibetan year there is an extensive purification rituals (bsangs chog) which entail recitation of prayers and performance of ritual dances, while the negative actions of the year are symbolically burned in a huge bonfire.

In December the anniversary of Lama Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism is celebrated with a procession of lights.

Khachoe Ghakyil Ling - the Kopan Nunnery In 1979 AD Lama Yeshe invited nuns to Kopan so that they could study Buddhist teachings there. For them he built the nunnery called Khachoe Ghakyil ling (mkha’ spyod dga’ skyid gling brtsun dgon) next to the main monastery.

The nunnery has more than three hundred and twenty nuns, from Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Nepal.

They participate fully with the monks’ philosophical studies (mtshan nyid) and debate (rtsod pa) as well as following their own practices.

An International Centre for Study and Meditation From the very beginning, both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche envisioned Kopan as a place of study (bshad grwa) and meditation (sgrub grwa) for both the Himalayan Sangha and for their many foreign students. In preserving this tradition to this day, Kopan has become a unique place, a meeting place between East and West, between religious and worldly life.

Kopan has truly been an oasis for the thousands of foreign visitors, who, tired of their materialism and hungry for something more, have made the place their home for weeks, months, even years. Regular meditation courses have been held at Kopan since Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This intensive one month introduction to Buddhism became the 18 | w w w . v a i r o c h a n a . c o m

model for the meditation courses now held throughout the year at Kopan.

Kopan offers an extensive library with books in several languages as well as an audio and video library. Tibetan as well as Western Sangha (monks and nuns) are available for private talks and advice.

Full board and accommodation is available to visitors throughout the year at a very reasonable cost. The income generated from this becomes an important part of the income of the monastery, and help in providing free facilities to all the monks and nuns.

A Member of the FPMT Kopan Monastery is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).

The FPMT is an organisation devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.

FPMT provides integrated education through which the people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility.

FPMT is committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. The organisation is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsong Khapa of Tibet as taught to us by FPMT’s founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

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Interview

Interview with

CHAROK LAMA RINPOCHE

“TEENAGE RINPOCHE” Ven. Charok Lama Rinpoche Ven. Charok Lama Rinpoche is the reincarnation of Charok Lama, a contemporary of the Lawudo Lama Künzang Yeshe from Solu Khumbu district of Nepal. The Lawudo Lama Künzang Yeshe was the previous incarnation of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Since Charok Lama was discovered by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and recognized by Thulshik Rinpoche at the age of two years, he lived at Kopan Monastery in Katmandu until the age of 8 when he joined Sera Je Monastic University in Southern India, where he is a candidate for the Geshe degree. Ven. Charok Lama speaks fluent English as well as Tibetan, Nepali and Sherpa. Rinpoche can also converse in the Hindi language. The team of Vairocana had an audience with him in the Kopan monastery where he shared his feeling and words of wisdom in a gentle and very engaging manner.

Rinpoche gave insightful answers to a variety of questions that demonstrated a level of maturity that revealed fleeting glimpses into his holy mind.

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“Lobsang Palmo Nawang Rinjen Gyatso Rinpoche” an official member of the Sera monastic community was recognized at the age of two by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and conferred the honorific title “Rinpoche”, which in Tibetan means “precious”, normally reserved for recognized, reincarnate Buddhist Masters. Charok Lama Rinpoche’s previous incarnation was a friend of the Lawudo Lama, Künzang Yeshe who was Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s previous incarnation, and they both lived in the same area in Solu Khumbu region of the Himalayas.

When he was two years old, he was taken from his Himalayan mountain in the Solu Khumbu region to live as an ordained monk to Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu. By the time he reached the age of nine, he had already presided over three formal enthronment ceremonies, namely Latchi, Sera je and Tsawa Kamsten. Since then, Charok Lama was admitted to Sera Je Monastic University in Southern India. There he follows a strict regimen of intensive study, memorizing scriptures & classical Buddhists texts, receiving oral transmissions, debating & attending daily pujas. Following is an exclusive interview taken by the chief editor with Ven. Charok Lama Rinpoche:

Q. Rinpoche. Have you ever thought of going to college as others do?

and it is one of the only means to share it with others.

Q. Had you not become a monk, what would have been your ambition in life?

CLR: I have always thought of going to outer university to study and understand the modern world, the people living in it, the new ideas, the ethics they apply in almost everything from the spiritual world to our materialistic world plus the views of the great people, so that I can approach the ethics based on the universal principal and somehow amalgamate it with the great religious philosophies and ancient wisdoms. This will help to authoritatively pave a universal way for the people to understand the path of liberation, which I haven’t figured out yet, ha ha ha (laughter)......

Q. What are the good things you like about being a monk?

CLR: Had I not become a monk I wouldn’t have been who I am today. Therefore, I wouldn’t be familiar with my ambitions.

Perhaps I would have kept doing what I am doing now had I not been a monk. I don’t know.

Q. Do you think monks are lagging behind by not getting modern education that is provided in the school?

CLR: Yes, in a way it is true because in general it is very important for the monks to understand the world if they really want to help the world and humankind, or teach them, right? His Holiness (the 14th Dalai Lama) has mentioned in the monastic colleges how imperative the modern education is and how it plays a big role in keeping Buddhism animate

CLR: As a matter of fact, I have no particular likes, so to speak. I try my best, and give my best effort. The best thing is that I have no regret of having become a monk and regret with my studies, my life and with what I have done and in particular, in sharing the things I know with others and getting different ideas from them on deep things such as impermanence, emptiness and so forth.

After all, they are all knowledge, and the important thing is to know how to grasp them.

Q. What are the things that you like about a life in the monastery?

CLR: It is diplomatic, peaceful, mute and you get all the time in the world to think, or for a lot of other monks, to meditate and so forth.

Q. Rinpoche! What are your hobbies?

CLR: I like swimming and listening to music, in general I am more of an inward person.

Q. Today’s younger generations are not merely leaders of the future, but are key partners of the present as well. I would like to know about your thoughts on the crucial role the youth must play in shaping the future?

The youth are becoming more lethargic and lazy. But they have potential. In short, things, thoughts, ideas, views, ethics, time and people are changing. The route is to accept the change and not to expect too much of them. The youth are more open minded, free thinkers and easy going. So adopting the changes might brighten the way for them. Expectation from them is a blind way to getting them to develop or convey out what they have in them. Well, that is what I think, never expect too much and keep your spirits up to compromisingly accept whatever they have done, so as to bring every small light into this world.

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Homage We pay homage to the Precious Guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche who as a Bodhisattva has been tirelessly working for the benefit of all sentient beings trapped helplessly and ignorantly into three kinds of suffering, i.e. The Suffering of suffering, the Suffering of Change and the Suffering of conditioned existence.

We from the depth of our heart pray that you recover from whatever illness you have which you have been taking as an opportunity to practice the exchange of self with others. Dear Precious Guru Lama Zopa, once again we pray that you get better soon. May you live long without any kind of illness to guide us all sentient beings.

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6 2 1. Portrait of Zina Rachevsky, an eccentric Russian heiress who became the Lamas’ first Western student in 1966. In 1968 she was ordained as a novice nun, and in 1969 she helped the Lamas found what would later come to be known as Kopan Monastery in Nepal.

2. The first bricks to build Kopan Gomba, 1971 3. The construction of Kopan Monastery, 1972 4. Year 1972 5. The outdoor dining tent @Kopan, 1972

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6. Western group meditating on Kopan Hill, 1971

Books

Editor’s Choice

Art of Happiness Author: Dalai Lama A Tibetan spiritual leader’s guide to dealing with everyday human problems and achieving happiness. It addresses issues such as: the sources of happiness: desire and greed; marriage and romance; resolving conflict; facing our suffering; overcoming anxiety: anger and hatred: and finding balance.

Tibetan book of living & dying Author: Rinpoche Sogyal

The City of Joy Author: Lapierre, Dominique Made into a movie starring Patrick Swayze, this is the inspiring story of an American doctor who experienced a spiritual rebirth in an impoverished section of Calcutta.

Shantaram Author: Roberts, Gregory David Based directly upon the experiences of its author, this is the story of a man who escapes from prison in Australia to arrive in Bombay where he works in a first-aid station and smuggles drugs and guns.

What Makes You Not A Buddhist Author: Khyentse Dzongsar With Wit And Irony, Khyentse Urges Readers To Move Beyond The Superficial Trappings Of Buddhism--beyond The Romance With Beads, Incense, Or Exotic Robes-straight To The Heart Of What The Buddha Taught.

And After He Explains What Makes You Not A Buddhist, He Kindly Explains What A Buddhist Is. The Author Is One Of The Most Creative And Innovative Young Tibetan Lamas Teaching Today.

‘What is it I hope for from this book? To inspire a quiet revolution in the whole way we look at death and care for the dying and the whole way we look at life, and care for the living’. Written

by Buddhist meditation master and popular international speaker Soygal Rinpoche, this highly acclaimed book clarifies the majestic vision of life and death that underlies the Tibetan tradition. It includes not only a lucid, inspiring and complete introduction to the practice of meditation but also advice on how to care for the dying with love and compassion, and how to bring them help of a spiritual kind. But there is much more besides in this classic work, which was written to inspire all who read it to begin the journey to enlightenment and so become ‘servants of peace’ working in the world.

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Global Warming Effects

The Future Doesn’t Hurt.... Yet Ven. Matthieu Ricard Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk, an author, translator, and photographer. He has lived, studied, and worked in the Himalayan region for over forty years. Matthieu Ricard is the main coordinator for Karuna-Shechen, a charitable non-profit association with branches throughout the world.

Karuna-Shechen provides education, medical and social services, care of the elderly, and assistance to individuals in need.

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Interdependence is a central Buddhist idea that leads to a profound understanding of the true nature of reality.

Nothing in the universe exists in a purely autonomous way. Phenomena can only appear through mutual causation and relationship. The understanding of the laws of interdependence naturally leads to an awareness of universal responsibility, as often pointed out by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Since all beings are interrelated and all, without exception, want to avoid suffering and achieve happiness, this understanding becomes the basis for altruism and compassion. This in turn naturally leads to the attitude and practice of non-violence towards human beings, animals and towards the environment.

The Buddhist idea of non-violence is not

passive: it entails the passionate and compassionate courage to actively protect life and the environment. It nurtures a global vision of respect, care, and fulfilment.

Unchecked consumerism operates on the premise that others are only instruments to be used and that the environment is a commodity. This attitude fosters unhappiness, selfishness and contempt.

On the other hand, the Buddhist view that all sentient beings are endowed with buddha-nature and the universe in which they live is a buddhafield, shape a culture of harmony and contentment.

The vast majority of Tibetans have never heard of global warming, although it is a well-known fact that the ice is not forming as thickly as before and the winter

temperatures are getting warmer. In parts of the world where there is access to information, most of us are aware of the impeding danger of global warming and of the lack of serious measures taken by political authorities to address it. Even the “Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change” that warned of the catastrophic economic impact of global warming had little impact on decision makers. It is not as if more facts are needed; the evidence is striking enough.

People usually only consider changing their way of living when they are forced to do so by circumstances, not by rational and altruistic thinking. But in the case of climate change, once the dramatic events have occurred, and people become motivated to change things, it will be too late. react strongly to immediate danger but it is difficult for them to be emotionally moved by something that will happen in 10 or 20 years. They will rarely be motivated to change on behalf of something for their future and that of the next generation. They imagine ‘Well we’ll deal with that when it comes.’ They resist the idea of giving up what they enjoy just for the sake of disastrous long-term effects. It is uncomfortable to drive a smaller car or be careful with water use or sunbathe judiciously. Their actions are based on not being inconvenienced now.

The future doesn’t hurt – yet.

In Nepal, for example, it is generally known that an eight-magnitude earthquake could cause 50,000 fatalities in a few minutes. On a daily bases, no one wants to plan based on a reference to an earthquake that happens on average every 50 years, even though it is now 20 years overdue. So, houses keep getting built that are not earthquake proof, with no thought to the future eventuality.

The only solution to the climate issue is for governments to adopt powerful new policies, even though they will not be popular at the moment. This requires a trans-national consensus and political will. For instance, the governments of most civilized nations have abolished the death penalty because it has been shown to be inefficient as a deterrent to crime, even though opinion polls show that the majority of people still are in favour of it.

When I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2006, there was not

much discussion about what might be done to prevent the Arctic from melting.

In the last few years, however there has been a genuine increase of awareness about the causes and outcomes of global warming. There is now a substantial movement to recognize and take action on climate change. However it takes time for scientific knowledge to be implemented in public policies. It took 30 years from the time it was clear that smoking causes lung cancer to the point when political and legal action was taken to forbid smoking in public places in many countries. Still, in countries such as China, chain smokers can freely continue to poison everyone in a bus or a train, without the slightest restrain.

The Europeans are advancing with their renewable energy programs, but in the large Asian countries, change is barely beginning and will require major shifts in policies and financial investments. It is difficult to expect poor truck drivers in Nepal to stop using their old vehicles that emit clouds of black soot exhaust.

That would deprive them of their basic livelihood.

In Europe people change their cars every five years.

In Nepal, they keep them for 25 years because they don’t have the resources to buy new ones. Who will give free electric cars and efficient solar cookers to all these people? Who is going to pay for all that? How are we to offer biogas to a billion people in India?

The Chinese government is building a super-ecological island where everything will be zero-carbon, in an effort to show off their technology. Meanwhile, they are doing just the opposite in the rest of the country, buying SUVs in frenzy, and polluting the air and the rivers in such unprecedented ways that it even triggers popular revolts in cities where toxic fumes and waters are harming people.

The Chinese government’s approach to environmental issues is most often ineffective and chaotic. For example, the authorities’ limited attempts at reforestation in Tibet are usually irrational.

They plant trees on level land near rivers, whereby Tibetans engaged in agriculture

are displaced. Mountainsides are not reforested, because it’s more difficult to do so. The wrong species of trees are used simply because it’s easier. This doesn’t halt the erosion of the slopes, but does deprive people of their crops. In the few remaining large forests, clear-cutting can continue. China might wake up to the implications of global warming and glacier retreat on the Tibetan plateau once the problem worsens.

The major constructive influence now on environmental actions is the European Community’s implementation of changes.

If America joins this initiative, it would instigate overall change. A large-scale adoption of wind power and other alternative source of energies in the US could have worldwide significance.

Within ten years they could make

substantial investments in renewable energy. As time goes on it will become less expensive. That’s how technologies evolve. A DVD burner cost $5000 when they first came to market. The oil billionaire, Boone Pickens, is a case in point. He has put several billion dollars into wind power. Did he do it for the money? “Of course” he said, “the oil business is just mad. Renewable energy not only makes sense but it can make money as well.”* Even from the point of view of a hard-core Houston oilman, it makes sense. This kind of person can be an enormous help to shift perspectives in other business people’s mind. If the USA begins to act, that could be a social tipping point for meaningful reduction of carbon emissions.

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Five jina Buddhas Purification from the afflicted

state of samsÄ ra Milan Shakya

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The Lord Sakyamuni Buddha, out of compassion taught three vehicles, Sravakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna and Samyak Sambuddhayāna.

Samyak Sambuddha-yāna is also called Mahāyāna. It leads all sentient beings from the suffering of samsāra to perfect Buddhahood. Mahāyāna is further subdivided in two ways, the vehicle of perfections (pāramitāyāna) and the Mantra vehicle (mantrayāna).

Pāramitāyāna is a causal vehicle (hetuyāna) and Mantrayāna is a resultant vehicle (phalayāna). The indivisibilty of method and wisdom is called Vajrayāna.

Vajrayāna utilizes skilful means to transform the five poisons, viz. desire (rāga), hatred (dvesa), delusion (moha), pride (mada) and envy (mātsarya) into wisdoms. This is mentioned in the Guhyasamāja Tantra, “Teachings that transform desire, hatred and ignorance are the vehicle of Vajrayāna.

Central to the principles of Vajrayāna Buddhism is the mandala of the Buddhas of Five Families (Skt: pañcakula; Tib. rigslnga), which are mistakenly called “Dhyāni Buddhas’ or sometimes even ‘Imaginary Buddhas’. They are the real Buddhas, but in Vajrayāna, they are visualized and meditated upon in their Sambhogakaya forms. So, the Five Buddhas represent the transformation of five poisons or delusions into purified state of five wisdoms. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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Vairocana Buddha Vairocana is one of the five Tathagatas symbolizing all pervasive wisdom (skt. suvisuddha dharma dhatujnana). This wisdom is like a torch which illuminates the uncovered reality of wisdom dispelling the thick darkness of ignorance (moha). So Buddha’s teaching is a great illuminator (vairocana) which instantly dispels the darkness of ignorance .

Vairocana Buddha always resides in the Akanistha heaven. He is white in color and is shown in Bodhyanga mudra. His vehicle is a pair of lions symbolizing lion’s roar of dharmadhatujnana which terrifies all wrong views.

He can be recognized through white disc or dharmacakra which cuts all wrong views. He also represents the purified form (rupa) of five aggregates. In Vairocana abhisambodhi sūtra, Vairocana was none other than Sakyamuni Buddha himself, who manifested in such a form to teach Vajrayana Buddhism in Akanistha heaven.

Aksobhya Buddha Aksobhya Tathagata symbolizes Mirror like Wisdom (skt. adarsajnana) which means the wisdom like space, all pervasive, without periphery and without characteristics. He is the essence of purified form of hatred and consciousness (vijnana) of five aggregates. Just as a mirror reflects every visible object impartially so the nature of our mind reflects every knowable (Skt: jneya; Tib: shes bya) free of any construct and partiality. The image of Aksobhya Buddha is generally placed in the East in the Stūpa because he resides in the eastern Buddha field called Abhirati. According to Aksobhya Buddhaksetravyuhalankara sutra, he also spent many kalpas practicing perfections until he became known as the Buddha Aksobhya with his own Buddhafied called Abhirati in the east.

Aksobhya Buddha is blue which symbolizes permanence that is changeless just as the sky. This signifies the changelessness of Dharmakāya wisdom. He shows earth-touching gesture (Skt. bhumisparsa mudra) and rides on the throne of an elephant symbolizing the steadfast nature of his Bodhisattva vows.

Ratnasambhava Buddha Ratnasambhava symbolizes wisdom of equality (Skt. samatajnana). In Suvarnaprabhasa sutra, among the

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four Buddhas who descended on earth from the four Buddhafields at four cardinal directions, like east, south, west and north. The Buddha from the south was Buddha Ratnaketu, later called Ratnasambhava.

He is yellow in color. He belongs to the Buddha family of Jewel. He is placed in the Stūpa facing south. He shows varada mudra with his right hand. He holds wish-fulfilling jewel in his left hand kept on his lap.

He also represents the purified form of the defilement pride . He rides on the horse throne symbolizing that he ferries over the suffering sentient beings with full vigor. He resides in the pure abode of Ratnavati Buddha field.

Amitabha Buddha Amitabha Buddha stands for the wisdom of discriminating awareness (Skt. pratyaveksanajnana).

With discriminating wisdom we realize non-production or non-origination of all things. He also represents purified form of desire and perception (samjna) aggregate.

Amitabha Buddha is red in color. He is represented in the stūpa facing west. He rides on peacock symbolizing that he can take away the suffering of others just as

the peacock eats poisonous plants and yet his tail shines forth.

Amitabha in Sanskrit means immeasurable light or limitless light. He resides in the western land of unlimited bliss (Skt. Sukhavati). He is assisted by two bodhisattvas’ viz. Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamprapta.

When he was a Bodhisattva he was called Bhikshu Dharmakara, he made 48 vows to build an adorned land of unlimited bliss. Buddha presides over the Bhadrakalpa i.e. Fortunate Aeon. He always exhibits Dhyana mudra. He belongs to the Lotus family.

This symbolizes that Buddha‘s welfare activities are untainted by the afflicted world just as a lotus grows in muddy water while its blossoms remain stainless.

With his extensive vows and great compassion this Buddha has ferried over innumerable sentient beings.

The recitation of the name of Amitabha Buddha is a common practice in China and Japan. In Tibet too, devotees recite very often the prayer to be reborn in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

Amoghasiddhi Buddha Amoghsiddhi Buddha represents the All Accomplishing Wisdom (Skt. krtyanusthan jnana).

He also represents the purified form of jealousy.

When one realizes All Accomplishing Wisdom one can perform every Buddha activity spontaneously without any conceptual construct.

Green in color, Amoghsiddhi is represented in the Stūpa facing north. In Suvarna-prabhasvara sutra he is named Dunduvisvara Tathāgata from the northern Buddhafield. He rides on Garuda symbolizing that he can spot the serpent-like delusion from a faraway distance. A serpent with seven hoods and an umbrella is depicted on the backdrop. He exhibits abhayamudra showing that by following the Bodhisattva path fearlessness is gained.

Afterword: The Practice of Vajrayāna or Tantra is secret and hidden, requiring a perfectly qualified guru and his empowerment reinforced by the authentic unbroken lineage. So it must be understood that by just going through books on Vajrayāna and literally understanding their meaning cannot make you a Vajrayāna practitioner. Furthermore, practices for achieving activities of pacification, increase, control and fierceness are taught in Vajrayāna in a secret way because those practitioners with impure motivation would harm both themselves and others.

If the mental continuum has not been ripened by the practices common both to Sūtra and Tantra Mahāyāna--realization of suffering, impermanence, refuge, love, compassion, Bodhicittotpāda, and emptiness of inherent existence-- the practice of the Vajrayāna can be harmful through one’s false assumption of an advanced practice inappropriate to one’s capacity. w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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Photologue

I am no longer living according to worldly aims and values. This should be reflected upon again and again by one who has gone forth.

Š Shristi Rajbhandari

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I am the owner of my kamma, heir to my kamma, born of my kamma, related to my kamma, abide supported by my kamma; whatever kamma I should do, for good or for ill, of that I will be the heir. This should be reflected upon again and again by one who has gone forth.

My very life is sustained through the gifts of others. This should be reflected upon again and again by one who has gone forth.

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© Pasang Sherpa

“When an accomplished being leaves this world, his body does not exist anymore: to show that his mind dwells unwavering for all times in the Dharmakaya, a Stupa symbolizing the enlightened mind of all Buddhas is erected.”

H. H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

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Š Pasang Sherpa

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Interview

In conversation with

Boudha Area

Development Committee

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From a top a raised body, with blue and yellow and green prayer flags fluttering around it, the peaceful eyes of the Boudhanath greets you and at the same time, beckons you to protect the stupa just like it has been protecting everyone under its eyes.

The Boudhanath Stupa, included as one of the World Heritage Sites, carries both cultural and religious importance and hence must be protected and treasured.

To ensure this, a separate body was formed by a group of motivated residents in the Boudhanath area back in 2053 BS. Established officially in 2057 BS under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Boudhanath Area Development Committee’s main objective lies in the preservation, promotion and development of the Boudhanath Stupa and its vicinity.

Currently, the organization is run by a team of members who have been chosen through an election mechanism with Dipendra Lama as the President and Tsering Dorje Lama as the Executive Director. Both have been fulfilling their positions for two years now. For more insight into the committee’s works, future projects and roadmap for the betterment of Boudhanath, we caught up with Tsering Dorje Lama, one morning. Read the conversation below: What are some of the things that the committee has done in the past?

Instead of talking about the past, I would like to focus on the present. I believe yesterday’s problems have been solved and now we need to overcome a new set of challenges. It’s not about what has been done or not done in the past but what we will be doing in the future.

What are the plans and projects that the committee will execute this year?

We take out our budget every year and this year we have a total budget of 3 crores and 49 lakhs. One plan that we have laid out for this year includes the restoration of the Ghorlisang pokhari (a pond in the Boudhanath area). Although the pokhari area has been maintained up to some extent and has been made into a park, it hasn’t been fully taken care of. We will be further improving it and facilitating the pond area. We hope to also make the pond habitable by fishes so that we can allow the Buddhist ritual of dropping fishes in a pond, at Ghorlisang pokhari as well. Another plan we have is to also build a dharmasala – a refuge for people who want to spend some time in the periphery of the stupa.

© Mani Lama

Preserving Developing, and Promoting

Boudha Stupa Also, the wall with the praying wheels has a bunch of electrical lines behind it which have now worn out and are a danger to everyone. We hope to change them as well. We shall be doing these types of work along with other awareness programs for the locals, with the budget that we have for this year.

What are some of the difficulties that the committee has to face when executing its plans?

Firstly, we work under the government.

This means that we have to go through various procedures before a project can actually be executed. This obviously takes quite some time. Second, there are other bodies looking after the various aspects of the Boudhanath area and there are instances when the power-sharing and authority issues prevent us from doing what we want to and need to do, although it is for the good of the stupa and everyone associated with it. There is also some degree of a communication difference between the institutions due to which the development of the area is being affected.

How supportive is the local community towards the decision and the plans of the

committee?

The local community has always shown its support towards what we do. In fact, the local community actively participates in our initiatives and interacts with us to help develop this site. But, having said that, I think, some people have yet to understand what a heritage property is and what it means to be counted as one of the heritage sites of the world by a body such as the UNESCO. Outside of the Boudha community, it is a sad fact that there are still some people who live in Nepal but who have no clue about Boudhanath.

Has the committee initiated any programs or workshops that will help the local community to understand the importance of this heritage further and to make efforts to preserve it?

No, the committee has not made any efforts as such, yet. This is because, we want to develop the area and make a huge progressive mark first so that we can gain the trust and confidence of the local community. Once we have been able to do this, we will then go on to take steps towards bringing forth activities and ideas that will help the community understand w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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the heritage better.

Shambhu Adhikari has been with the committee as the account officer for seven years now. During these years, he has witnessed the change in the Boudhanath area closely, and has a clear insider’s view about the committee. We have a brief conversation with him as well.

Before any event takes place around the Boudhanath area, it has to be approved by the Boudhanath Area Development Committee. What types of events are encouraged?

We usually give approval to events such as awareness programs and activities that will contribute to the society.

Commercial events such as concerts are usually discouraged. However, we have conducted cultural programs on some specific occasions. We also allow programs that touch environmental issues to be held in the area. Recently, Earth Hour was successfully held here.

What message do you have for the business community (hotels, shops, etc) in the Boudhanath area?

The business community makes their livelihood from the tourism of this heritage site and hence depends on the heritage. Since it is, in a way, taking something from the heritage, it is their duty to contribute to the development of the heritage. People should not just be money-minded. Rather, they should think about how they can help and make Boudhanath area better for themselves and for everyone else.

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How has the development of the Boudhanath been in the past few years?

What are some problems that you have seen the committee face during the years?

There has been a drastic change.

The stupa was restored three years ago. Before that, the condition was very delicate. After 1993/1994, there has been a great inflow of tourists which means that along with the benefits there have also been harms done. The locals were not aware about the crucial need to save the heritage but now slowly they have gained that consciousness.

There are some policy level problems as well some casual problems we face in a daily basis.

Like mentioned by our executive director, there is and have been certain problems between the various entities due to lack of communication. This has had a negative effect. But overall, the committee has done well. Even the response from the public has been positive.

The eye of new awareness

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Travelogue

Once Upon A Time in

Nepal Timothy Leonard The path brought him to Bhaktapur, Nepal.

Namaste means I salute the light within you. It is the daily Hindu greeting between people with your palms and fingers together raised toward your eyes in a blessing. Smile.

Offerings, Hinduism, calm fresh air in a fresh morning. This shift of spirit energies, consciousness. Temples, endless dawn processions of women in radiant rainbow orange, green, blue, shimmering, yellow, red saris bundled inside morning mist. Fog water vapor.

A woman offers rice, yellow and orange flowers on a pavement Shiva. Ointments, prayers. Blessings.

A man clangs a gigantic brass bell. Sound resounds through the temple square. Deep echo.

No traffic. No pollution. Cool fresh air. Limited electricity access. Daily power outages are the norm. Ironic considering Nepal has the second highest water volume energy source on Earth.

It is an ancient town, filled with Hindu temples, daily rituals, ringing bells, flowers and incense

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offerings, old hand carved wooden windows, brick homes, brick streets, tiled roofs, vegetable and fruit life street market squares, amazing flowing sari and shawl rainbows, gentle people. It’s on the old trading route from Tibet to India.

There is no home plumbing. If you need water you go to the community well. You drop your plastic container down brick shafts. You haul it up hand over hand. You pour it into narrow necked brass or copper urns. You drop it again. You haul it up.

Repeat until urns are full. You carry them on your hips through narrow brick alleys filled with friends and families. At home you filter it. You boil it. You drink it. You use it for cooking, washing clothes, bathing. You return to the well. Women and girls do all the water hauling, heavy water lifting and daily manual labor. So it goes.

An old caretaker man lies on his back inside an erotic temple with 24 carved images of playful sexual pleasure. He welcomes devotees covered in their piety, devotion, shadows, offering flowers, oil flame light, petals, incense, foot worn stone paths. Interiors.

Ring a bell, many bells, fingerprints wear down stone. Human gestures vibrating bells across a

valley.

Endless brick factories fill the Sudal valley. Humans living in brick shacks, using water, clay, wooden forms, creating gray bricks. Sand, dust, hand labor, coal fired smokestacks, piles of coal being crushed, hauled on backs to fire. Fire gray red. The scope and density of men, women and children pouring their lives into their daily effort.

This massive element of people surviving.

You walk on streets made of bricks, seeing brick homes rising to blue sky.

Brick by brick.

A mandala. Centering the universe with non-attachment. The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind. I have no reason to despair because I am already there, sings a Nepalese child.

In the street life of Bhaktapur is Pottery Square. 250 people from immediate families make clay, create pots, piggy banks, animals, bowls, living art, dolls, bells, oil lamp bases, and cooking containers. They dry them in the sun.

They slow fire them using straw fuel in large kilns.

“We live here as a family,” said a girl, 12 with her twin sister. “My father makes piggy banks. My mother moves them into the sunlight.” A potter uses a heavy staff

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to get his wheel turning, rotating faster and faster until it is a blur. He shapes a pot.

Finished products are sold locally, throughout the Kathmandu valley and exported faster than light.

There was huge lake surrounded by mountains in Pokhara and every afternoon wet, smiling, happy kayakers would carry their equipment home.

Paragliding is also big business. Fly with eagles.

Wild rivers in Nepal welcome riders and explorers. Many Europeans are intent

on hiking and trekking. Lots of hippy types from Europe and Japan and Israel.

Looking for bliss in a chilled environment.

Yoga and meditation.

The Annapurna circuit runs $1200 for 21 days. People say it’s hard but worth it. Shorter less challenging treks in the area run 3-6 days. I met an older Swiss man who said he’d been coming to the Annapurna area for 27 years. Now with a bad hip hop rap he doesn’t trek anymore. Besides, he said, It’s way to commercialized. This is true given the over abundance of tour, trek and outdoor companies in Pokhara.

I spent a lot of time with the Tibetans.

The majority escaped Tibet through the

Himalayas as far back as 1959, many died in Nepal from the heat, settling in green valleys near P, lived in tents, built homes, raised families, cut wood, wove carpets and expanded their opportunities.

Their communities are clean, well organized white cinderblock homes, lovely gardens, wild roses, prayer flags in the wind and mountains. The carpet business has faded. They have a monastery, school, clinic.

I climbed Himalayas using only my eyes, protected by glittering mirrors. Humans don’t do the Himalayas. The Himalayas do humans.

The unemployed Nepalese teacher, hustling 10 million visitors asked, “Do you know what NEPAL means?”

Big business? Economic survival?

Mountains? High altitude sickness?

Adventure travel? Peak experiences?

Meditation?

Whining, demanding Chinese?

Sitars and raga symphonic structures?

Extensive deep raging rivers?

Riding an elephant looking for extinct tigers?

An old woman collecting and loading cow shit patties into a wicker basket for home fire fuel?

Chakra, crystal healing?

light comes from within.

A Chinese woman walking with her Nepalese lover, both measuring the ground with the eyes feeling the inevitable end of a quick painless short term physically satisfying fix?

You gotta love a Nepalese tourist town when residents have a local transportation strike. One day. No formula racing cars, blaring horns, buses, motorcycles, diesel belching noxious tractors, broken Chinese dump trucks, mini-vans, maxi-vans, amphibious assault vehicles, tanks, armored personnel carriers, jeeps, school buses, or any combustion engine requiring petrol.

Shops are shuttered. No school. It’s a free holiday. Yoga and meditation classes are cancelled. Proceed at your own risk.

Stoned out ragged travel casualties?

Big fat culturally insensitive white Europeans wearing fancy expensive climbing gear as their Sherpa guide in flip flop sandals carrying the world on his back runs up the mountain, leaving them in the dust?

Young Israeli cowboys fresh from mandatory military service staring at a sacred cow shitting in the street? 15 million Nepalese women on their hands and knees mopping floors with a dirty rag because mops are too expensive?

Rolling fuel shortages because a) the government wants to increase demand b) India reduces supply?

Limited daily electricity? Nepalese must pay for electricity they do not receive.

“Not exactly,” said the teacher refreshing his lost hunger for money.

“NEPAL means Never Ending Peace And Love.” Oh, said a traveler, I thought it meant No Electricity Power and Light. The

Happy kids ride their bikes. Up, down all around. They crash and burn. They laugh. They share guiding gliding secrets.

People stroll main street. They stare into deep dark caverns with vacant eyes.

Shadows whisper, eat an apple. Birds sing. The town’s lone singing smiling mad minstrel serenades sweet tranquility.

The incomplete yet fulfilled specific concrete hard red brick hammering echoed across a green Nepal valley near Bandipur.

It wasn’t a hammer. It was a machete.

A man chopped trees. His son trimmed branches. He severed sections into four-foot long pieces. His mother stacked them, wrapping them in bundles.

They collected wood all day. They rested at noon. They ate rice mixed with vegetables and potatoes. They shared bananas. They drank water from a stream.

They napped in shade. They carried the wood up mountains on their backs and home before dark.

Yellow eagles circled overhead. An infant cried in a brick home. Children in blue school uniforms wearing ties walked home along a red dirt road. Laughing.

They passed a small wooden tea shop overlooking a valley. A 20-year old girl worked at her sewing machine. She

sewed large hearts into a white bed spread. The lace pillow cases with hearts were finished. Marriage bed dreams.

Her parents had an arranged marriage.

Her father is an electrician. Her younger sister ran away. She married a boy from another caste. He is a cook in a tourist town. They had a baby. Her older brother studies hotel management in the city.

Another brother is in high school.

I have a 1% chance of meeting a guy with a good heart, she said.

I am renewed in the flow. The road is made by walking.

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Government of Nepal Ministry of Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture

Boudhanath Area Development Committee Bouddha-6, Kathmandu

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Third issue of

will be dedicated to Lumbini, the birth-place of Lord Buddha.

I’d like to request contributors amongst the readers to share their images and articles on Lumbini.

Would be greatly appreciated!

Sarva Mangalam!

w w w. v a i ro c h a n a . c o m

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