Living With Tibetans 1977

FIRST MEETING WITH TIBETAN LAMAS - APRIL 1977

After corresponding for 18 months with an old friend of mine who had taken ordination as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, at his invitation I went to Nepal and travelled overland with him for his full ordination in the Himalayan small town of McLeod Ganj, which is just above Dharamsala. This is a very long distance from Kathmandu in Nepal, across the plains of India, from Delhi to Patankot by train and then in rickety old buses straight up to McLeod Ganj in the Himalayas. I travelled through rugged and glorious Himalayan passes with waterfalls that look as if they are falling from the clouds and then down, down, onto the plains of India. From there we went to Sarnath where the Buddha taught, and stayed for a while - personally, I didn't want to leave! Then up north to Delhi and further north again to the Himalayas and finally to "Little Tibet" or McLeod Ganj, where the Tibetan people and H.H. Dalai Lama live in exile from their Chinese occupied homeland of Tibet, even to this day.

Kopan Monastery lies in the foothills of the Himalayas. Kopan was rudimentary back then, but so very peaceful, loving and beautiful. One day I strolled into the courtyard which was empty of people, but several water buffalo were there eating out of huge troughs. I tried to walk quietly past them, but one did not like me at all and began chasing me - I ran as fast as I could up to the higher hill and round a sharp corner, where I had fortunately lost him and myself too. Not knowing precisely where I was, I headed back in the general direction of the Gompa, still slightly out of breath from my escape from the water buffalo.

Suddenly, a savage barking froze me in my tracks! My mind pictured one of the Tibetan Mastiffs somewhere in the bushes and I certainly did not want to meet one of them without a Lama being about!
Gingerly I walked on, then arrested in my steps as I came upon a small wire pen semi-hidden in the trees. Inside the pen was the most remarkable dog I had ever seen. He stood proudly and strongly, barking at me, while behind him his 'wife and children' stood back as she protected their young.
These were the first Lhasa Apsos I ever saw. My heart was captivated by their eyes which reminded me of the soft, alert and gentle eyes of the Kelpies I had grown up with at home in Australia. But they were small! I had never liked small dogs, but these were so very different to anything I had ever seen or known before. They belonged to the Abbot, Lama Thubten Yeshe who was not there at the time.


	The Himalayas ring the entire valley, but they are mostly cloud covered in this photo.
One of the many breaks on the journey by old bus through the Himalayas in Nepal - you can see the roofline of the chai (tea) shop to the right. A 'cup of chai' is served in a beautifully made unglazed pottery cup that has no handle - when you've finished drinking you throw it on the ground and smash it. It is perfect for the environment, but difficult to do with such a dear little cup!

INDIA

I was amazed to see this camel train, right in the centre of the large city of Benares! This is taken coming out of the huge train station complex, where one is jostled by beggars, vendors and men offering horse and cart 'taxi' rides.	A beautiful beggar boy in Benares. I loved the beggars, old and young alike - so many had eyes that radiated love. I never felt repelled by beggars and don't understand why people treat them harshly. There is no 'social security' available, so what else can one do if they are mamed or cannot work?
From Benares we travelled by this wonderful little horse and cart to Sarnath, just 9 miles from Benares. A bumpy, fun ride, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The horse is so tiny in comparison with our horses in Australia.	SARNATH, INDIA VEN. GESHE JAMPA TEGCHOCK Geshe-la invited us to his house for tea. When he opened the high metal gates there was a raucous sound of dogs barking and to my amazement there were so many Lhasa Apsos I could not count them - over one fifty! Geshe-la turned to me and smiled, then laughed and clapped his hands and they all obediently ran to the wide verandah and piled one on top of each other. Three piles of Lhasas along the verandah, like little pyramids - what an amazing sight! I knew then I would never forget these dogs. As Geshe-la pounded the huge wooden, carved butter churn for tea, a small Apso puppy ran into the kitchen, somehow getting through the door. Geshe-la smiled and laughed as it stood on its hind legs and he gave it a tidbit and spoke to it kindly in Tibetan. The little pup did not even look at us as we sat around the huge kitchen table, it just took its prized possession in its mouth and ran outside again. Geshe-la was love, laughter and total kindness all in one.
The Deer Park at Sarnath Park where the Buddha taught. They say these are of the lineage of the original deer that were there thousands of years ago when Guru Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha) taught here for forty years.	I have no surviving photos of all the journey in between Benares (Varanasi) and up to Delhi by train, where we then travelled once more on the famous Indian railways to the tiny town of Patankot. From there we took an old bus which ground and grated its way slowly up the Himalayas in Northern India through seemingly impossible passes, to the small town of Dharamsala.
Sign at a shop right in the middle of the jungle, miles from anywhere! Notice the old stone which has been painted with a Hindu religious icon - that's the beauty of India, wherever you go someone has painted something with a holy image. And the sign: "YOUR SERVICE IS OUR PROFESSION"!	Another shop in the jungle, this time closer to Dharamsala and advertising "POSH HOSPITALITY". The entire shop is made from tin cigarette packets!
	After changing buses again at Dharamsala we travelled straight up the mountain to the tiny town of McLeod Ganj where His Holiness the Dalai Lama and many of the greatest Lamas to escape from Tibet, reside. It is called "little Tibet" and it all seemed so beautifully familiar - like coming home.

McLeod Ganj was once a British Raj hill station where the British would come in the heat season to get away from the intesity of the heat on the plains for some respite. There is still a little Anglican church there, called "Church of the Wilderness" and it is attended on Sunday mornings by some elderly British people who remained on after the Raj Empire ended.
	VEN. Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, the Spiritual Advisor to HH Dalai Lama. He was the resident Teacher at the Library of Tibetan Archives and Works at that time. He later went to live in Dunedin, New Zealand where he passed away in the late 1990s - a sad loss to the world.
Ling Rinpoche was the most remarkable living Buddha! He owned the large Lhasa Apsos and lived up the mountain from the village of McLeod Ganj.	I met HH Serkong Rinpoche in Kathmandu, but he also lives in Dharamsala, where I saw him again in 1983. It is said that he was the "model" for Yoda in Star Wars and one can certainly see how! He owned two magnificent white Lhasa Apsos, who were quite incredible guard dogs.

NEPAL AGAIN IN 1977 - THE GREAT LAMA THUBTEN YESHE

My personal Teacher and one of the greatest Buddhas of all time.

Lama Yeshe went out of his way to find me in Australia only a few months after my arrival back from my first trip. Lama promptly invited me to return to Kopan Monastery and so kindly offered me personal teachings and meditations.

Although given only months to live in the early 70s, Lama Yeshe went on benefiting other people right up to his death in 1984! He not only taught the meaning of permanent happiness, he showed it in every word and action.

At that time, Lama Thubten Yeshe was the Abbot of Kopan Monastery and after his death at only 49 years of age in March, 1984, Lama Zopa Rinpoche took his place as Abbot.
Lama Zopa said of Lama Yeshe: "Lama was always so incredibly busy, he never stopped working for others. At Kopan, for example, he would always look after everything. He would look after me, all the boys, even the kitchen, the library, right down to the dogs. He was so busy yet he even washed the dogs and looked after the puppies who were sick." Lama Yeshe had a heart problem from rheumatic fever as a child and his heart was twice that of an ordinary person, yet he continued to help and care for others as if there were nothing wrong with him physically!
So it was that in September of 1977 I set out once more for Kopan Monastery.

This time I travelled via Singapore, Thailand and then stayed for a week (visas not permitting more) in Burma. I loved Burma! Staying in The Strand Hotel on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, where Somerset Maugham had once been sitting in the exact same large cane chairs, gazing out the tall windows onto the lazy river and then at night feasting on organically balanced foods in the Lake Park.