DOKHAM

Recent Trip to Europe

Posted in May 2007

Having travelled extensively to Europe and America and accompanying His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, I am now in Bhutan with a truly wonderful and a mystical experience. It was such a great opportunity for me to witness the unconditional compassion of His Holiness. His Holiness tirelessly preached round the clock. His energy and immense love were evident from the fact that many times he went straight away from the airport to give teachings.

To share my experience on this special trip, I reached France few days before His Holiness’s arrival. After a day’s rest,I gave a short discourse and conducted the Ganachakra in Drukpa Paris Center. The Drukpa Centers in Europe are looked after by Drubpon Ngawang Lama, a great practitioner who is dedicated to His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa and the lineage.

We headed to Munich (Germany) where His Holiness gave teachings to the public beginning with the introduction to the Drukpa lineage. This was the first time that His Holiness gave teaching in Munich. Those who attended the teaching were deeply moved and they seem to have been spiritually uplifted with the words spoken by His Holiness. To quote some of the lines spoken by His Holiness “Now a days, it seems to be the age of violence, which is due to lack of love for ourselves and others.”

He also explained that disappointments can be avoided if we learn to free ourselves from obsessions. He said that external things are just a kind of support but, what is more important is the spiritual development of ourselves.

From Munich His Holiness flew to the Drukpa Plouray Center in France, wherein as many as 600 people had been waiting for his arrival. His Holiness started his discourse with the concept of impermanence of life. He specially emphasized on the Lodok Namezhe or the four ways of turning mind.

He also talked about the need to appreciate the human life by stating that, an animal is incapable of articulating their pain and sufferings unlike the human beings who have the power to express their problems, be it a miniscule one. His Holiness also said that a lot of merits have to be accumulated in our past lives to be blessed with a good teacher in this present life. And after meeting a genuine teacher, one should not waste away one's life but learn to appreciate one's good fortune and practice accordingly. His Holiness added that having appreciation with no sense of impermanence is futile as without it, a sense of satisfaction cannot be developed.

His Holiness said that, “if you are contented, then you are happy. Unless you are content with your life you cannot be truly happy.” He also pointed out that our past Karma is the cause of our present experience. In order to change our negative Karma we have to do Vajrasattva or purifications practices before it ripens in our life. His Holiness also conveyed the idea of “Refuge and Boddhicitta” which are special terms related to Buddhism. The special Buddhist practices of refuge and Boddhicitta are the grounds to lay the foundation of our practice and can also act as a stimulant for our spiritual path.

In Paris, His Holiness gave a public talk stating that compassion and understanding is the same. His Holiness joked that compassion is a spiritual Hi-tech because many cannot understand that through being selfless, one is actually fulfilling one’s own need. Any genuine selfless love or act will always be appreciated by others and responded accordingly. His Holiness mentioned in his talk that the problems of nation, family and personal are due to the lack of genuine compassion. He also said that chanting of mantras such as “Om Mani Pad-mey Hung” has a special power to transform the energy of negative emotions to positive ones.

After a 22 hours flight, we went to Lima Peru and then to Cuscus where winter had just started. This time His Holiness emphasized on meditation which is synonym to the process of familiarization. In his discourse, he explained why meditation is a very good practice and how all of us have been very good meditators of ego from the beginning less time. He joked that it is good news. But the bad news is that we have so far been meditating on non-existing objects and therefore, there is a need to redirect our meditation to an ego-free practice.

We always want the best for ourselves without caring much about the welfare of others. That kind of concept only feeds our ego which makes us unable to put ourselves in other's shoes, consequently giving rise to dissatisfaction. We have to develop equanimity with which a sense of understanding and satisfaction can be experienced. He also said that if we are satisfied then we are happy.

Further, His Holiness elaborated about the negative actions we commit due to the lack of equanimity, such as merciless killing of animals for their fur, meat, and commercial purposes. He said that we consider ourselves special and subsequently hurt other creatures thinking that it is a god given right. His Holiness asked how we would feel if someone is about to kill us for our skin, meat or bones. In such case if we have already developed the sense of equanimity between ourselves and others, then wish to hurt others will never arise and extraordinary joy will come from the pacified state of mind.

This is all about the teachings given by His Holiness which left everyone with immeasurable feelings of encouragement and inspiration.

Although, people frequently came to me with requests for discourse on Buddhism, my purpose of visit was for my sister's graduation. Moreover, I was too busy appreciating H.H. Gyalwang Drukpa's wonderful teachings. His Holiness told me that in future, I will have to go to all the Drukpa Dharma Centers around the world and give spiritual guidance during his absence (retreat or rest). Though, I feel unfit for this task, I am sure that with the blessing of H.H. Gyalwang Drukpa, nothing would be impossible.

After attending my sister's graduation and having a wonderful opportunity to offer my appreciation to my father and the rest of my family members in the U.S.A for 11 days, I headed back to Delhi and then towards Kolkata where I met His Holiness for the Life Release Program. This program mainly focused on the longevity of all the enlightened masters in the entire world and also for the sentient beings, as the great and enlightened masters contribute immensely towards the development of lives of all beings. Without the guidance of the Guru, the effort and practice of spiritual development is not at all possible. The Guru's longevity is very important because if he/she is not there to guide us, there cannot be a practice which is essential for the development of our mind. As a result of which, other beings would be deprived of any help and benefits.

All of us contributed to the Life release with the motivation for the well-being and long life of His Holiness, thereby praying for continued guidance and teachings, so that we can practice and benefit all the sentient beings.

What I witnessed through this entire trip has left me spell bound with a deep sense of respect for His Holiness's painstaking and tiring effort. My respect for him only grew with the amount of selfless acts he put across during this entire trip.

In conclusion, I would also like to say that I was happy to meet my Dharma friends from different parts of the world, who gave me such a sincere hearted welcome. And I also admire their persistent effort to benefit all the beings through the teachings and practices of the glorious Drukpa lineage.

May all of us utilize this precious human life and be the source of authentic happiness for all the beings.

Yours,
Dokham