“Lotus Love” Chapter 5- Nepal/India: Journey West

Chapter 5- Nepal/India: Journey West

Once back in Lhasa, Tsering met a friend from his home county of Riwoche who was about to embark on a trip to India, the birthplace of the Buddha and the home in exile of the spiritual and secular leader of the Tibetans, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  Tenzin had found a guide to help him cross the Himalayan divide between his homeland of Tibet and the Holy land of India.  As soon as Tsering heard his friend’s plans he knew he was going to join him.  He had come to Lhasa to continue his studies of Sanskrit but decided that it would be ideal to study in India where the language had its origin.  He had a strong sense of adventure as well and yearned to explore the world outside his Motherland.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he paid the fee of 500 Yuan and with just a bag full of Buddhist texts on his back and the disguise of a pair of blue jeans and a denim jacket in lieu of his maroon and saffron robes, he was ready to make the dangerous journey.  Although the group was well aware of the risk and perils involved in their escape, they were all full of optimism and hope that is so typical of Tibetan people.  If they were to be seen by the Chinese police at any point during their escape out of the country via the Tibetan Underground Railroad, they would be arrested and imprisoned at once or worse yet, shot on site.  Yet, in the face of this grave danger they were full of song and laughter.  All together there was just under fifty of them, mostly young adults ready to start life anew, looking for freedom from Chinese oppression and some fleeing persecution.  Some were just children, being sent away from home with the aspiration that they find better opportunities in the refugee community.  A few were monastics like Tsering who wanted to pursue their religious studies and practices.

They walked under the cover of night, starting the journey on the first night of the New Moon when the sky was at its darkest.  They slept during the day, under the generous protection of Tibetan villagers who allowed potential refugees to sleep in their barns or homes.  These families provided them with food and shelter despite the equal risk they took in doing so.

Each individual was responsible for his own sustenance once they left the comfort of the villages and headed into the barren and treacherous mountain passes.  They climbed to snowy altitudes as high as 21,000 feet, and with no protection from the elements most of them suffered from severe frostbite, losing fingers, toes, or worse.  They survived on their individual rations of dried yak meat and tsampa which they all carried in their own bags.  They walked fourteen hours a day and camped at night.  After twenty four days they reached the end of the journey as they descended into the tropical valley of Nepal.  Although relieved to be through the most physically challenging part of the journey, they were not completely out of danger.  If caught by the Nepalese police they would be arrested and turned over to the Chinese authorities.

As the group walked along a mountain road towards Katmandhu, they waved down a passing bus.  The driver agreed to take them to the city.  The exiles were so relieved to be seated but many of them suffered from motion sickness as is typical of Tibetans who are not accustomed to riding in vehicles.  The bus driver agreed to drop the group off near the Tibetan refugee community known as Bodhanath.  Unfortunately he had conned them and drove them straight to Police Headquarters where he was paid a rich sum of rupees for turning in such a large group.  The Tibetans were placed in a large group cell and spent several days there.  The group came up with a plan, knowing that if they were handed over to the Chinese authorities they would face imprisonment.  They decided to tell the guards that one member of their group had gone missing, a young girl.  Believing that their story was true and in fear of repercussions, the Nepalese guards decided to release the group.

They quickly made their way to Bodhanath and blended in with the Tibetan refugee community there.  After a few days of resting and fattening up in a guesthouse, Tsering and his friend Tenzin soon found haven with fellow Khampas from their homeland in Riwoche who offered them room and board.  Now in the safety of exile, Tsering donned his monastic robes and visited the holy sites of the Katmandhu valley and made kora around the great stupa of Bodhanath, a giant white Pagoda that stands six stories tall, painted with half-open eyes of the Buddha that look over the circumambulating pilgrims with a peaceful gaze of loving compassion and wisdom.  After a few weeks of rest and touring the holy sights of Nepal, Tsering started to plan the next leg of his journey into India.  His friend Tenzin offered to accompany and assist him.

Without too much hassle from authorities at the Nepalese/Indian border, a couple hundred Rupees in lieu of passports was all that was needed, the two Tibetans crossed into the Holy land of India.  Excitement mounted as they neared the foothills of the Indian Himalayas in the department of Himachal Pradesh where they would reach their destination of Dharamsala, the remote mountain town where His Holiness the Dalai Lama resides and a large Tibetan refugee community had set up the government in exile.  When the two arrived they were directed to the new arrivals center where they were each given a cot in a large dormitory and provided simple vegetarian meals daily.  They registered with the Tibetan government and were granted an audience with the Dalai Lama with other new arrivals.  The night before their audience with His Holiness neither Tsering nor Tenzin could sleep.  They both lay awake in their cots reciting mantras and purification prayers in preparation to see the fourteenth reincarnation of the spiritual and secular leader of their people and country and the being whom they believed to be the living incarnation of the Bodhisattva, or Saint, of Compassion, the one thousand-armed Chenrezig, or Avalokiteshvara.

When daybreak rose the young Tibetans made circumambulation around His Holiness’ residence along with the many elders of the community who did this as a daily practice.  Prayer wheels spun all around the circuit and the women stretched their stiff old bodies along the well-worn path in prostration.  The young men took a quick breakfast of Tibetan tea and balep, pan fried bread, and then went to the Office of the Dalai Lama to check in for their audience.  There was a large group of fresh arrivals like themselves, about fifty or so, who were anxiously awaiting this moment of a lifetime, holding white katags in their arms and pure thought in their hearts.  After passing through a very thorough security check, the group was ushered into a large receiving room where they were to wait for the arrival of His Holiness.  After fifteen minutes or so, several bodyguards entered and the group all rose in reverence, sensing the imminent arrival of their beloved “Kundun” or “Presence.”  His Holiness arrived into the room with a huge smile and bellowed laughter much like Santa Claus.  The Tibetans were all weeping with joy in disbelief that this moment could actually be real.  This was a moment that all Tibetans back home could only dream about and now they were living it.  His Holiness greeted each one of them individually, smiling at them with the warmth of a parent meeting a child after a long absence.  The Tibetans each offered him a katag as they bowed deeply in respect.  He asked each one of them how their journey was, which part of Tibet they came from, and if they were homesick.  He was authentically concerned about every one of them and the warmth of his love touched them each deeply.  When they had all received his blessings, they were asked to sit before him.  His Holiness shared with them the history of their country, as many of them were never exposed to the truth inside occupied China, the current political status of Tibet and the importance they played in it all as they were now the representatives of Tibet in the free world.  He told them that they were now free to learn the truth about China and Tibet, free to study and learn their real history and that it was up to them to continue the practice of their religion and culture if Tibet was to survive.  He emphasized the importance of education and the role of the Tibetan language in Tibet’s cultural identity and survival, encouraging them all, both male and female, to enroll in the refugee schools for both adults and children.

Tsering listened in awe and was deeply inspired by the words of this Precious Teacher.  He was so grateful to have made it safely through the dangerous journey and dedicated the merit of his passage to the eventual freedom of all beings.  When the audience was over, the group was ushered out of the room and they dispersed into the village of Mcleod Ganj feeling like they were floating on clouds as they slowly descended back to earth.  Tsering and Tenzin spent the rest of the day discussing every detail and instruction they had remembered from His Holiness’ speech.  Tsering shared with his friend that he was planning to leave Dharamsala soon to head south.  He had heard that Penor Rinpoche, a renowned Nyingma lama, had a large monastery in southern India.  He thought he should go there to enter back into monastic life and perhaps find a teaching position.  Tenzin told him that this would be an auspicious plan but that he would not be joining him on his next leg of the journey.  He explained that he wanted to stay in Dharamsala and send word back to his mother that he was safe and waiting for her to join him in exile.  Tenzin wanted to settle here and make a new life for himself and his mother where she could, too, meet His Holiness and practice the Dharma in freedom.

The two friends parted ways as Tsering packed his small duffle bag of Dharma books and bought a train ticket for Mysore.  He was on his own now and would have to start learning how to communicate in Hindi.  He bought a small Tibetan/Hindi pocket dictionary to take with him on the train.  Tsering spent just a few months at Namdroling Monastery.  The bed he had been given was infested with bedbugs and the food was sparse as there were well over three thousand monks to feed.  Tsering learned from some other monks from his region of Kham that there was a small Nyingma monastery in Northern India, in the holy village of Sarnath near the ancient city of Benares, or Varanasi, that was looking for a teacher.  He heard that the monastery belonged to two Khenpo brothers who now lived in America but who were originally from his home in Riwoche county.

After hearing this Tsering decided it was auspicious and that it was his karma to travel back north and find this monastery.  He made the journey up north and found his way to Pema Samye Chokor Ling, the small Nyingma monastery he had been told about.  The monastery was just meters away from the sacred garden known as Deer Park, the holy sight where the Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma for the first time.  There is a large stupa there that consecrates the very spot where the first teachings were given and there are ruins of where ancient monasteries had been before the Muslim invaders had destroyed them.  Sarnath is a small village that is a stop on the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit for worshipers from all over the world.  Every branch and school of Buddhism has a temple or monastery there.  There is also the Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies which would be an attractive opportunity for Tsering to pursue his studies of Sanskrit.  Tsering met with the resident abbot of the monastery who welcomed him to stay and teach.  In this smaller community Tsering felt much more at home and soon fell into a comfortable schedule of teaching Tibetan and Dharma to the thirty young monks who lived there.