The Gyalwang Drukpa

I had just finished my official visit in South India and now I am on my way to Nagarjuna Konda. I was very happy that my colleague Drakseng Rinpoche started the first monastic institution for the Drukpa Lineage, with the help of his capable and learned son Acharya Ngedon Tenzin, whom I promoted during this trip to the level of Khenpo Rinpoche or Khen Rinpoche, a well-deserved title for him. Therefore, despite my extremely busy schedule, I visited Drakseng Rinpoche and inaugurated his new monastic establishment, known as Drukpa Drubgyud Thoesamling Monastery. I thought that since I had to come all the way to the South, why not go for a short pilgrimage to give myself also a chance to reconnect with the sacred sites of our precious masters, such as Nagarjuna, and I was happy that a few of my friends and students came to join us despite such a long journey from their homes such as Hong Kong, Poland, England and America.

The weather in South India is amazingly pleasant. I was very happy to see many huge and well-developed monastic institutions in South India and there is also a huge Tibetan settlement. Firstly, I thought our Drukpa style being quite humble and low profile would not be getting much of attention from anyone, but when I arrived at the Bangalore airport, I was more than surprised that besides Khen Rinpoche and his entourage, my very old friend Ayang Rinpoche from Drikung, my new friend Karma Rinpoche from Kamtsang and many other Rinpoches and monks, many of whom I had never met before, came to receive me and my entourage. I want to express my deep gratitude for such a warm reception.

A couple of days ago, I was requested to give public teachings to the local Tibetan people at Drakseng Rinpoche’s new monastic institution, and then the day after, I gave the initiation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, at my beloved Guru’s palace where he gave his first Kalachakra initiation. Somebody told me that as the Tibetan people who went for my teachings the day before enjoyed a lot, they closed the schools and shops and encouraged everyone to come and receive initiation. Maybe everyone was trying to make me happy by saying that, and also by telling me that they had never heard deep philosophy of Buddha being explained in the simple way that could be easily understood by the modern people. Still, I can’t believe this, because I know that many great masters are teaching the way that can be understood by people nowadays. But I take it as that they are welcoming me who is a nobody with warm and open hearts by saying these kinds of encouraging and sincere words. For this, I want to thank everyone who participated and who attended my teachings, and I know this is because of the blessings of my beloved Guru. Some people may be complaining I don’t give the names of my Gurus whenever I talk about them to the public and they are confused which Guru I am talking about. For me, I feel that their names are so precious, it is so difficult for me to even mention their names with my contaminated mouth or my contaminated fingers. This seems to be a style that I have been living with. I feel sometimes very strange when some of my friends keep mentioning the names of their gurus, I honestly feel very uncomfortable to do that.

It was a pleasant surprise that the knowledgeable great Abbots from Sera Jey, Sera Mey, Tashi Lhunpo and His Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche’s Namdrol Ling came to receive initiation from me. I was very happy to see them and to have them around me, and I felt very lucky that I have the opportunity to exchange my knowledge with such great Bhikshus and learned Pandits.

Since I am not a politician, I was not expecting coverage by the Voice of America. But surprisingly my activities here in South India were covered in the Tibetan programs of their radio and TV channel. I hope this coverage had also helped a few sentient beings through the spiritual messages.

Throughout the two days of teaching and initiation, I was teaching in Tibetan. I felt a little sorry for my non-Tibetan friends and students that they might have felt left out. But I am sure they would understand. I was told that there were about 7 to 8,000 people attending the teaching and initiation and I was again very surprised that so many people came, even though they didn't know much about me before my trip. I again talked about the stories of the different colours of hats to the public. I was wearing a red hat the other day, and then the colour of the hat became blue the next day. I said that it’s not because of miracle, I just turned the hat inside out, because this very special hat has two colours. One side is blue and one side is red. Everyone laughed so badly, even all the Great Abbots found it amusing that I was pulling everyone’s legs.