Living with lamas

Insights and life lessons over cups of tea

Chenrezig Institute in Queensland, Australia. Founded by Lama Yeshe is is one of the oldest Tibetan Buddhist centres in the West.

One of the benefits of spending time with our lamas, beyond only attending formal teaching sessions, is that we have the chance to learn from them in different ways. We have a chance to see, at first hand, what happens when we immerse ourselves in the Dharma. What qualities of mind evolve. How to carry ourselves more lightly.

A few months ago I shared some stories of living with Tibetan Buddhist teachers, and the post sparked a number of happy comments and a few nostalgic emails too.

So, I thought I might share some more stories again with you today.

As before, if you have any stories of your own, please do share them in the Comments section at the end.

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It was the 1970s, the early days of Chenrezig Institute, one of the oldest Tibetan Buddhist centres in the West, not far from Australia’s Sunshine Coast. The student was an intense young man who would apply himself diligently to whatever he was asked. His main teacher, a traditional Tibetan lama, had taken him under his wing and was training him in the usual, graduated manner.

Also in the community was a Tibetan yogi who carried himself with a spontaneity and wit that was enchanting. In time the earnest young man and the yogi got chatting, the yogi sharing some more advanced meditation practices. They sounded so appealing and so redolent with promise that the student decided to practice them too. After all, didn’t he also wish to be like the yogi, who had the reputation of being able to read people’s minds?

One day the young man was sitting in his room, practicing the advanced meditations of the yogi. If he really applied himself, he reasoned, if he worked hard enough and put in the required effort, why should he not also master the meditations of an advanced practitioner?

The door to his room was ajar. From the corridor outside he heard the familiar tread of his old school lama walking past his room.

The footsteps paused. Then returned.

The door opened and his teacher raised his hand, “It’s not necessary to do complicated meditations,” he told him forcefully. “Keep practicing the ones I have shown you!”

The student was chastened to have been found out. And to have underestimated the ease with which his lama, who never made a show of his abilities, knew his mind too.

Insight This is a true story. Forty years later, the young man is now a seasoned practitioner who doesn’t just practice the most advanced meditations in our tradition, but also teaches them. Under the guidance of his lama - and yogi! -he followed the path of accumulating virtue – the true cause for realisations on the path.  Application and effort, on their own, are not enough. But with an accumulation of virtue and merit, the mind gradually opens to ultimate reality.

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One of the stupas in the lush, tropical landscape of Chenrezig Institute

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He was a greatly revered Tibetan teacher, whose visit to the city to lead a meditation retreat had been months in the planning. Now he was here!

The husband and wife who ran the centre, had collected him from the airport, meticulously arranged their spare bedroom for his use, and settled into a daily routine during the course of the retreat.

The wife wasn’t simply attending the retreat, but also running the catering for it: no small task with so many meals to prepare several times a day. When she woke up each day, she had a lot on her mind.

“Good morning, lama,” she greeted him early one morning on her through the lounge to her kitchen. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No thanks,” he replied, continuing to read a text.

Minutes later, her husband appeared.

“Morning, lama, would you like a cup of tea?” he asked.

“That would be very nice!” the lama replied appreciatively.

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A short while later, they were sitting at the breakfast table together. They knew each other well enough that the wife felt she could ask her question: “Why did you accept an offer of tea from him,” she pointed to her husband, “but not me?”  

The lama shrugged. “Because he meant it,” he said.

Insight: Authenticity! When offering service to others, we can go through the motions, or we can act from the heart. Even something as trivial as offering a cup of tea. Not everyone may be as insightful as a Tibetan lama. But what matters is not so much the magnitude of the act, as the intention with which it is performed. As Mother Teresa put it: Do small things with great love.

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I enjoyed the following story which I read on Cyndi Lee’s Substack, not least because her lama, Gelek Rimpoche, was a contemporary of our Geshe Loden - and a peer about whom Geshe-la used to speak with warm regard.

From Cyndi:

“Back in the early 90’s, Gelek Rimpoche used to travel from Ann Arbor to NYC every Tuesday for our local Jewel Heart sangha gathering. It was early days for the NYC sangha and we didn’t have an official dharma center yet, so we met in Philip Glass’s kitchen, which was big enough for a couch, a few chairs and a coffee table. It was pretty cozy but everybody knew everybody so it was friendly and fun. I sat on the floor with a few of the other younger members and Allen Ginsburg, who was the most fun of all.   

One summer Tuesday evening Rimpoche was late. It was before texting so we didn’t know what was happening but we were content to wait. We knew it would be worth it.

Finally, Rimpoche arrived, wearing his Jewel Heart tee-shirt, shorts and flip flops. He walked in and calmly apologized. Then he told us this story.

He had already been running late when he arrived at the Detroit airport. I guess he was rushing because a tall young man noticed and offered to carry his duffel bag. As they were getting close to the departure gate, the young man said, “I see that your tee-shirt is from Jewel Heart in Ann Arbor. I’ve heard that the teacher there is really amazing.” Rimpoche smiled, thanked him for his help, and got on the plane.

We all had a good laugh at the story of this good samaritan who didn’t recognize that Rimpoche was that amazing teacher. Clearly, the kind stranger didn’t realize that even Buddhist lamas sometimes wear standard American summer menswear. 

Although Rimpoche shared this story with good humor, like most everything he said or did, it was a teaching.”

Insight: what we wear, and identifying ourselves to the outside world as being a ‘this’ or a ‘that’ has absolutely nothing to do with our Dharma practice. Inner growth is our focus, and when we realise that, we’re able to live with greater lightness and non-attachment to others’ perceptions.

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I’m delighted to share an update this week from the Wild is Life team, who you support through your subscription. Up at the Panda Masuie re-wilding site, about 40 minutes into the bush from Victoria Falls, amazing things keep happening. This is where once-orphaned elies have a chance to go back to the wild, at a time of their own choosing. They are fed and protected overnight in a boma (like a coral) should they choose to return there. Some head off immediatelly to integrate with wild herds. Others keep returning to camp.

Recently, something else amazing happened …

“Murphy’s story is nothing short of a miracle! Spotted by one of our dedicated rangers, Arwell Ncube, at Murphy’s Pan in Panda Masuie, this young bull calf was alone, skeletal and clearly struggling to survive. He had been seen at the pan a number of times, in the company of three wild bulls who had done a remarkable job to keep him safe. It is very unusual for bulls to “rescue” orphans! However, when they left to forage, he wasn’t able to keep up, so stayed around the waterhole - where there is little food and lots of lions. With no food around and predators nearby, Murphy was in serious danger.

(Murphy following a wild bull near the watering hole. Little elies, looked after in matriarchal herds have chubby cheeks, but this orphan was quite skeletal).

Our rescue team, led by Paradzai Mutize, made the brave decision to intervene. They managed to safely separate him from the bulls and bring him back to our Wild is Life, IFAW bomas in Panda Masuie. Upon arrival, the team assessed him to be about 12-14 months old, extremely underweight, very scared and traumatised.

Soon after, he was introduced to Moyo who immediately took to caring for little Murphy! Soothing and calming him and encouraging him to drink water and milk. Moyo, as many of you know, had a vital role at the Nursery as the matriarch of the orphans. She loved that job and took it very seriously, so this was a heaven-sent opportunity for Moyo to rise up and show her full colours again.

(Murphy’s new home with the Panda Masuie herd. Looking much happier and healthier)

Murphy knew to attach himself to Moyo’s proverbial hip, much to the dismay of little Sienna, who was always the little princess. However, Sienna soon discovered her own empathy and settled down next to Murphy, as part of the privileged, able to partake in Moyo’s personal food trough!!

We suspect Murphy to be an orphan, possibly due to human-wildlife conflict. Despite his trauma and sadness, we are so grateful to have him safely in our care now. Every day is a step towards recovery and the way home, for this brave little elephant.”

(Sharing Moyo’s feeding trough. There is no love greater! For those of you who have been following the Panda Masuiwe herd for a while, you’ll notice how Moyo’s left ear, badly damaged, hangs loosely by her side. But still intact thank goodness!)

Stay tuned for more updates!