Dearest Friends:
Happy Easter. I am safely home. A few of you were closely following the international news while I was gone, and a couple of you emailed me with great concern. I regret that I did not have access to my group email address book or I would have sent a group email to assure everyone that I was fine. It is true that a helicopter crashed in Kathmandu, and everyone was killed. I had mentioned to a few of you that I would be going to a Himalayan region from Kathmandu in a helicopter; however, it was a United Nations helicopter that crashed, and the loss of life was tragic. Also, the New Delhi airport strike was horrific but ended a couple of days before I was to depart although the strike affected some of our group members. The hotel I was to check into in New Delhi had to shut down because of a roof collapse or other problem but those of us who were scheduled to stay there managed to find other accommodations. However, the biggest concern was the situation that is ongoing in Tibet. Two days before I left New Delhi I came across a protest near the Tibetan market, and I am including a 182 picture slideshow of that protest. Picture 66 is Erin, my roommate from Norway, who is holding a sign “Stop Killing in Tibet.” As you watch these pictures, try to understand the frustration that the Tibetan people feel after near 50 years of Chinese rule in Tibet http://www.pbase.com/khandro68/delhi_tibetan_protest&view=slideshow
I would like to ask you to please join the growing world support to take action against the atrocities committed by the Chinese. I have been closely following this situation for years, and I do not believe there is one living Tibetan who feels there has been any advantage to Chinese rule in Tibet. A few months ago the Chinese military shot and killed a young Buddhist nun who was bringing children to Nepal so they could live in religious and cultural freedom, which was captured by mountain climbers on film. I believed at the time that this event that would be a catalyst for action; however, more recent events and just prior to the Olympics in Beijing, has created a momentum that might truly see some positive outcome results. Please take a few minutes of your time to complete the following petition, and I thank you in advance from the deepest place in my heart: http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/
With a pilgrimage comes endless blessings, and it was such a joy to see Maggie again and my friends who went on pilgrimage with me in 2005—Elka and Nikolay from Bulgaria. As far as the challenges and obstacles I faced and the suffering I experienced, it was a wonderful opportunity to purify karma. I want to share this with you because so many of you suffer, and it is a difficult concept to understand the fact that we live our karma. There are no stray bullets that strike us, and we are not victims. There really is fairness in the universal law of karma or as John stated, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”
While our pilgrimage group of 51 people was in Bhutan, a man from Argentina discovered that he had a very large tick on him that was embedded underneath his skin. I didn’t realize what a serious situation this can be and that people can die when a tick is not completely removed; thus, Maggie and a few of us took him to a hospital in Bhutan. I have several pictures of this tick, and I thought it was a rather gross situation. We were at the hospital for quite some time, and a 74 year old medical doctor from Germany proceeded to remove the tick. Of course, by that time I was thinking that any tick that got near me was asking for death….so of course, there was one near me in my room that night, and in human response, I did kill it. I was already sick from an all day trek that we had taken in the snow and rain to the Tangui Gompa of Tulku Tenzin Rabaye Rinpoche, whom I met two and a half years ago in Bhutan when he was with Je Khenpo, the spiritual head of Bhutan. When Tenzin Rabaye Rinpoche was just two years old he began talking about historical events of 15th century Bhutan and was recognized immediately as a reincarnation (parents—just imagine what this would be like). Now he is about 14 years old and not only received us in his private quarters but also gave each of us an individual blessing. Any way, the trek was not ordinary climbing. We were climbing up rocks, and I had no rain repellent gear on (only a shower cap, and yes, it did look ridiculous).
That night I could hardly move from physical pain and discomfort but the itinerary moved forward, and that night I was at the home of the Princess of Bhutan, Asi Sonan, in a dress and tortuous high heels. It was an evening of tea, food, and conversation but what was most special was that we were invited to sit in the beautiful gompa in their home where monks and their lama chanted special prayers for us. Their lama also did individual MO divinations for us until midnight. Please understand that Maggie is very close to the Royal Family of Bhutan, which is why we have seen Bhutan from the inside and visiting places owned by the Royal Family that are not on the tour circuit. A couple of you have asked what tourist agency I have worked with, and there hasn’t been a tourist agency. For both of my pilgrimages to Bhutan, I was invited by Maggie who was the personal translator of Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche for 15 years, who was the Uncle to the Queen of Bhutan.
Back to the tick. The lesson I have learned from this is to travel with a jar to “catch the insect in.” There was also a spider in the toilet in Bhutan. My roommate, Erin, had gone to the bathroom and noticed a spider in the toilet so she ran into the room to tell me. We stood over the toilet as she tried to build a bridge with toilet paper so the spider would come out but it was not an effective strategy (he went in the opposite direction) so we both starting saying mantras for this spider. I have to tell you that it was probably the most humorous thing that happened because everyone was waiting for us at the dinner tables, and we were standing over the toilet saying mantras for a spider. Finally, I looked at Erin and said, “Let’s not think about this now”, and I closed the lid. I truly experienced some karmic suffering for both the tick and the spider. I not only got “near pneumonia”, suffered from altitude sickness (we were at 10,000 feet but I have never had altitude sickness before), but also got carbon monoxide poisoning from riding in an open 3 wheeler for a few hours in New Delhi, a very large city with much traffic). One night I decided that I either had to call Maggie, go to the hospital or come home to America. I ended up doing none of those things but I will say that I have never been so ill. My attitude, of course, was that karmic seeds I had planted had now come to fruition, so I did what I could, with all of my tools, to alleviate as much pain as I could and embraced the process with gratitude because I was paying a debt now that I wouldn’t have to pay later.
When some of my friends and students have karmic diseases, they often tell me that they have done nothing wrong to deserve such suffering so I am here to tell you how imperfect I am in that I, too, suffer from unvirtuous actions such as killing a tick and giving up on a spider; however, I will never do such a thing again because I will be prepared with my insect jar.
The highlight of my pilgrimage was to spend eight days with His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Trinlay Thaye Dorje, at the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (KIBI). After meeting with our group and giving us each an individual blessing, he gave a four day teaching on the “37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”. He first taught it in Tibetan and then translated the teaching himself in perfect English. He said that he first received this teaching when he was 12 years old and talked about how precious this teaching was to him and how much it has helped him. We also received teachings from Khenpo Tsering Samdrup, the main instructor at KIBI and also, Professor Sempa Dorje, a renowned Buddhist scholar, who has been teaching the Karmapa in Kalimpong since he was 10 years old. The Karmapa told us that it has been a “luxury and a joy” to learn from him; thus, for Professor Dorje to teach to another audience was such a blessing for us. Also, Tsultrim Namgyal gave several days of teachings about his experiences with His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. Tsultrim Namgyal is often seen in pictures holding the Karmapa’s Black Crown. The Karmapa then gave three days of initiations (empowerments), and when I learned that one of those initiations was Medicine Buddha, I realized why I was there since Medicine Buddha greatly enhances the healing work that I do, and I had only received the lunge from Lama Ole a few years ago.
What was most meaningful to me, however, was when the Karmapa talked about all of the blessings we had received and then said, “These blessings will remain with you until you reach Enlightenment.” Because all extrinsic phenomenon is impermanent, and the happiness that we cling to in this world is a temporary happiness, to know that those blessings would remain with me was deeply meaningful. For more information and 48 wonderful pictures, please see http://www.karmapa-news.org/?id=443
In many of the sacred and powerful holy places on our pilgrimage, Maggie told us to make strong wishes; thus, I made strong wishes for all of you---that you will be free from suffering and that you will have devotion to your spiritual path, whatever that spiritual path might be---Buddhist or non-Buddhist.
Finally, those of you who asked that I purchase singing bowls or malas for you, yes, my luggage was lost but it was delivered to me at 2 am this morning. Please email me and let me know if you can come by this week. Those items traveled with me on my entire pilgrimage, and the malas were blessed by His Holiness the 17th Karmapa (I have a dozen extra for those of you who want one, and in fairness to everyone, it is best that I include that information in this newsletter rather than pick and choose whom I might wish to have one). The weight of the singing bowls (85 pounds) was not easy to work with as far as transporting, including the ride back to my hotel on a motorbike. My purse was swinging on this kind man’s motorbike, and I was holding 85 pounds of singing bowls between myself and his back. As you know, the traffic is quite crazy in Kathmandu, and at one point in time, we were trapped between a car and a bus, and just as I thought the bus was about to take off my right leg, he HIT the side of the bus very hard. I learned that hitting the side of a vehicle is an emergency signal for “STOP.” I am very grateful for that.
A few of you have asked me to give a talk about my pilgrimage; thus, I will not share further stories here but will hopefully plan for a presentation sometime in the near future.
Boundless love-light,
Carol
www.carolwilson.org
Copyright © 2008, Carol A. Wilson
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