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| Group Photo |
I would have never known sacredness of Tharpaling if I had not chosen my present path. I'm saying this to repent for not visiting during my school days when I had an ample of time. Now I'm so busy that I can't even remember most of my daily chores. This sounds quite funny but it is true. Hardly I can manage time for myself to treat Tharpaling's inscrutable energy. Neither can I express nor can you describe being around this place. Honestly, I can only recommend you to visit, once in your life, to taste what people gets when they go back from here.
The place was initially blessed by Guru Rinpoche, later, prophetically, the number of interest of Buddhist priests visiting this place became a prominent both within and outside of country, especially Tibetans. One such figure that I fervently believe is The Great Longchen Rabjam who spent almost a decade’s time into exile. For me the synonym of Tharpaling is Longchenpa. (What is the literal meaning of Tharpaling?) What Longchenpa has achieved in his life is beyond sky and the earth. I, vehemently, say that we as a Buddhist owe this great practitioner in many aspects. There is no doubt that I beseech him like any other buddha's of three times.
Therefore our class made a trip. This trip went so well that I instantly felt like blogging.
I'll be forever indebted to certain group of people for their sponsorship without them this trip would have been nothing more than a plan. They’ll remain in our daily prayers. Some great masters of the past and present always said and says how lay practitioners can accumulate merits: patronage is one such kind of an act. It takes immeasurable amount of time to ripe one's acts & I just can't imagine when we might have started for this particular moment. It also requires perfect cause and condition to mesh together in order to ripe the fruits. Of course every moment of life flows in that cycle but most of the moments that we experience are not which allow us to do dharma. I've no other choice but to embrace and cherish a wonderful moment like this.
Accompanied by Khenpo, few other seniors, patrons and some devotees, our class performed simple puja, essential tantric sacramental rite offering, inside Chodra Gompa. Our simple act was aimed to close session of the class which is done every year at this time. It was such a breathtaking moment for me to be in a holy place that too with a great purpose—service to sentient beings. Nearly two and half hours rite closed with a speech by our coordinator. We dispersed to visit holy sites after taking a lunch and a photo session.
This time I couldn't visit any site’s. One reason is because I want to visit whenever I get time and feel as if I'm visiting for the first time. So I leave some of the sacred sites to unfold in my next trip what is known in Buddhist terminology as predisposition (བག་ཆགས). This time I sat along with three others in a small temple and did a recitation of one of the sacred scriptures composed by Longchen Rabjam at Gangri Thoekar in Tibet. Temple was enlarged later in an exact place where Longchenpa has spent time composing several books. I could feel the energy of great master. It has a collection of statues and other sacred items. I was lost in the presence of Longchenpa and didn't bother to ask anything beyond. Such is the power of my master Longchenpa! We spent almost an hour.
It was 3:00 PM when I looked into my cellphone time. Many of our friends were busy visiting holy sites. I told them to get ready as soon as possible. They agreed. Since there was enough time, we thought why not take a walk before all the friends have assembled. I informed our bus driver that four of us would be walking ahead on the road. We talked all kinds of nonsense, walked nearly two hours, it started to get cold, and yet bus was not coming from behind. We reached Uruk village, met cow herders returning home with their cattle, saw some villagers busily greeting us while repairing fence and finally we heard roar of a bus in the distant. Not to my surprise, heard our friends singing songs in the bus, it was pretty dark by then. We hopped in. I recollected past memories when they sang a song that doesn't have beginning and end. Isn't it a refreshing moment away from our strict monastic rules? Some people would badmouthed for such behaviors but monks aren't that way all the time. We do but once in a blue moon. We are a human too, as I say oftentimes.
We have taken an oath to improve, we aren't improved.
Every time I go to Tharpaling, I pray and wish to return again.
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| Performing Feast |
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| Offering Feast Song |
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| Lunch |
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| Returning After A Feast Offering |
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| Feast |
