Sun, 28 Feb 2010
The Boy Can't Help It
Maybe, as Brad Warner says, the need to gossip is hard wired into our brains. In that case, you'll have forgive me for ladling this spoonful of gossip, because the boy just can't help it. Last night I saw Lama Phurbu Tashi for the first time since he got back last night. I couldn't have seen him much earlier, as he only got back an hour or so before, He was originally scheduled to arrive back on Wednesday, but arrived late because of a missed connection and some time spent with a friend in New York. Lama looks well, in fact, it looks like he's put on a few pounds. His Indonesian hosts must have fed him well. I kept up with what he was doing while he was in Indonesia, but after he went to Tibet, I didn't hear anything. I thought it was because conditions were primitive in Tibet, but actually it was because of Chinese censorship. China does not allow Tibetans to connect to the outside world. Only a few, officially approved, websites are accessible and you can't make international phone calls. Lama showed pictures of his visit to Tibet. He taught to large crowds at his brother's house and at the Gangkar Monastery. Lama seems happiest when he's teaching, so this was some satisfaction to him. He also took part in the Losar practices at the Gangkar monastery, including the lama dances.
This video is for Kathy, who tells me she's afraid of losing her ego. There's nothing to be afraid of—jump on in the water's fine. It's not a Buddhist video, but it hits the nail right on the head (or knocks the ball out of the park, or whatever other metaphor you'd like to use.) And for those of your are looking for more losar-y goodness, here's a selection of videos taken at the 2010 losar at KTD, where the celebrations were more elaborate than those at TMC.
