Work in a monastery

Besides reciting prayers, a lot more is being done in Bir and it's monastic centres.

Putting the mandala house together:

Making tables:

Painting tankas

Shooting movies:

Crafting Buddha statues and ornamentations:

And.. memorizing words:

Arrival in Bir

Due to some good fortune, the end of September 2010 i arrived in Bir, India, to learn spoken Tibetan. Upon arrival in Tseringjong, OT’s house/monastery, the monks where doing a Drupchen. When I heard all the monks chanting and playing the drums and trumpets I was very happy. I was very fortunate that a lot of the monks were at Lerab Ling the summer before, where I had been working closely with some of them to make sure the Westerners had some idea what the monks where doing during the Tukdrub Barche Kunsel Drupchen. Since they knew me it was a bit easier to make some friends.

As for learning Tibetan, it’s not so easy and at times quite frustrating. But I knew that was going to happen. In fact I had consciously chosen an environment where the only option is speaking Tibetan. Being quite lazy by nature, I thought that was the easiest way to force myself to study. After one month or so I’m able to have some simple conversations, but still more often then not, I haven’t got the slightest idea what they are talking about. Especially the old Khampas are difficult to understand. Imagine your old grandpa mumbling something; even in a language you know very well you have a hard time understanding.

In the beginning I didn’t have much program going on, which was a little bit though sometimes, having to make your own schedule for the whole day. But luckily I have a very good Tibetan teacher now, who helps me progress quickly. Just talking with the monks is good, but I also needed someone to correct me and help me with my basic grammar (which was and still is basically non-existent). I also realized the basis of roughly two years studying and reading written Tibetan is a great advantage, as it gave me some feeling for the language. Nonetheless for Tibetan you really need, as Trungpa Rinpoche one said, ‘another mind’.

Then the main attraction at Choling monastery and Tseringjong are the Drupchen’s, in which I gladly participated. In October we did the Ngakso Drupchen (rdo rje theg pa sngags kyi gso sbyong bdud rtsi'i rol mtsho), which is a combination of Guru Rinpoche and the twelve manifestations, and the Peaceful and Wrathful yidam’s. Then at the end of October and the beginning of November we did the Zabdun Phurba (zab bdun phur pa), which is a Vajrakilaya practice. At Choling monastery they are known for their complex rituals, but this last one was so complex that half the time all the newer monks also had no idea what was going on. Imagine sitting with a 400 page practice booklet, in which you constantly have to flip back and forth, in a language you only vaguely understand. Of course if my Tibetan was fluent, it would be a little bit easier. But ofcourse there was a lot to learn, and finally it was a great blessing that both Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Choling Rinpoche where present during the whole Drupchen

Another highlight was Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche visiting Deerpark, giving a Tara blessing, and teaching on tantra for two days (which he rarely does).

Video Sacred Dance in Bir (coming)

Ngakso Drupchen: monks chanting, little monks (poorly visible, sitting in the back) chanting the mantra’s in the break, and the descent of blessings.