Rinpoche's daughters invited everyone one evening to a
special gourmet dinner and fun dance party at one of Kathmandu's posh
clubs. It was a lot of fun.
Himalyan Picnic with the Terton
The spectacular Kathmandu Valley.
His Eminence planned a special surprise picnic with him
for all of us. When we departed on busses for the place, we had no idea
where we were going or what was going to happen. Our bus ride was quite
lengthy, climbing always upward to higher elevations, down narrow roads,
overlooking lush Nepali steep terraced landscapes, and at last we arrived.
We were at a spectacular mountaintop site overlooking on the horizon a
panorama of snow-capped Himalayas. Rinpoche pointed out that right on
the other side of the visible Himalayas was Tibet. To many of us this
felt like a familiar scene, a poignant revisiting of a view from other
lifetimes. His Eminence talked about the view we had, that this was the
place where many Tibetans had made the difficult walk across the Himalayas
to Nepal from Tibet.
Rinpoche's daughters had come along, also Jigme Rinpoche
and Lhunpo Tulku Rinpoche. The latter son showed quite a skill with his
kite flying, keeping that thing high in the air for a very lengthy period.
Obviously this was not his first time at flying a kite! Rinpoche had brought
along a bag of prayer flags for our group which he heavily blessed so
that we could hang them across the small chasm between hills. Several
adventurous students took the flags, hiked over the special spot, and
hung them across the space, tying them to the top of a tree. In no time
at all the special flags were blowing in the wind, sending Rinpoche's
blessings out to sentient beings, and taking his blessings as well across
the Himalayan mountain peaks where so many of his family and friends still
reside.
At one point, a most unusual cloud formation developed
and passed by, in the incredible shape of a Dragon! It eventually passed
by and dissolved, leaving no trace of its mystery.
His Eminence, on a Himalayan
hilltop, trying out his new Gucci sunglasses.
When the sun became very bright, one of the group offered
the Terton sunglasses to protect his eyes. He seemed unaccustomed to such
things but he put them on and they were WONDERFUL! It was a beautiful
and funny moment - to see this great Terton wearing Gucci sunglasses,
as he sat there on his tiger rug with the Himalayas in the background.
When he saw how much we enjoyed this moment, he actually posed for us!!
He turned this way, then that way, grinning, while everyone's cameras
snapped. It was an unforgettable moment.
Nepal Tashi Takki Trekking provided hot lunch and loo
bathrooms for us on top of this mountain. These trekking companies are
amazing in their ability to do these things in the most remote places.
After lunch, most of the people joined in a Tibetan game
(name unknown) where two opposing teams were formed and someone had to
complete the stacking of a pile of rocks, this being done under total
assault by the opponents hitting them with balls. There was general chaos
and laughter and falling down head-over-heels and running and the ultimate
stacking of the rocks! It was pretty hard to tell who was winning except
when a lot of huzzahs went down. Rinpoche sat on the side of the hill
(with Gucci sunglasses, of course) watching and laughing. Amongst the
sibling tulku's and Rinpoche's daughters, there was a lot of family joking
of "You cheated" and "You're out" and debate about who was playing or
not.
Before sundown we left. Prior to departure, the Terton
called to him the person who had loaned him the sunglasses, returning
the blessed sunglasses to the fellow.
The Thangka Event
The pilgrimage group had a rare and special opportunity
to visit the home and gallery of Rinpoche's student, his personal thangka
painter, Cho Tshering, of the Marpa Thangka House. To make a long story
here VERY short, we all bought MANY thangkas! Some we took home with us
and some were shipped to the U.S. later. These thangkas could never be
seen in the commercial thangka marketplace or for sale anywhere else.
Cho Tshering's thangkas depict Tibetan images related specifically to
the termas and teachings given by His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche.
Therefore, these Gesar thangkas were created based on Rinpoche's vision.
The same for the thangkas of Vajrakilaya, Guru Rinpoche, Chenrezig. The
beauty and craftsmanship of these thangkas are very special. Even the
framing brocade fabrics are exquisite and unusual, not seen in other thangka
markets.
Farewell to Nepal
As difficult as it was to leave Nepal, the day eventually came where
we had to depart. A group of 22 continued on to India with Namkha Drimed
Rinpoche and Jigme Rinpoche. Most were returning to the U.S. or Europe.
And a few hearty souls, not willing to leave the Himalayan region so soon,
continued on by themselves or in small groups trekking through the mountainous
areas close to Bhutan or Tibet. But before we left Kathmandu, His Eminence
invited everyone to his home for a farewell dinner. He sat in the yard
with the people while dinner was served. The momos were outstanding! And
Rinpoche was luminous as usual. As a special thank you gesture, His Eminence
presented Thank You Katas to some of the students. And later each student
(in groups of 10) went up to his personal shrine room to meet him for
a farewell blessing as well as to receive a special gift that he had had
prepared for them as his gesture of gratitude. Rinpoche also blessed the
students' thangkas and statues.
It was such good news to see that Rinpoche and his family live in a very
beautiful home in Kathmandu. Their students have been good to them and
we all felt very good about that. Their struggle to set up a new life
outside of Tibet has not been an easy one, so this set of circumstances
for them is most deserved.
