This is the only place where there is at least a slow connection and I had a bit of time to jot down something while on the road. However, the slow connection does not allow me to share the photos that we have taken up until now. Fortunately, I hope the Pad Yatra website will be able to share some of the photos with you, so that you can at least know what has been happening.
Many people have been asking me if we have reached 100million Vajra Guru Mantra count. I am very happy to say "Yes!" Drukpa Vietnam topped the count with more than 20million mantra, followed by participants from India, France, Nangchen, each of these regions did about an additional of 5million, and then we have Malaysia and Hong Kong who added another 2million. I was even surprised that from Bhutan, we received half a million and many different places who did not join last time, joined in the second session. This was a very good news for all of us. However, I hope everyone will start to practise more diligently because of the good habit that was built up in the past few weeks.
I have been receiving news of friends and students passing away due to cancers and very strange incurable diseases. Many of them could not find spiritual masters around to help them with prayers when they were going through bardo. One of their family members requested me to tell him when he was going to die, so that he could move to Druk Amitabha Mountain to prepare for his death, and my nuns will be there with him. Actually, this is not a joking matter, because we are supposed to be preparing for our death. Everything is uncertain, but death is. So if you are not prepared, you will suffer tremendously because you will not be ready.
I had a very old friend in Darjeeling who was a very successful businessman, but he was very worried about not being prepared for death. So he requested his guru to advise him and to prepare him for this moment. At the peak of his business career, one day his guru called him and said that he should sell all his business, and he did it immediately without asking any question. He moved into his guru's gompa after that. Then his guru asked him to do many practices. After that, his guru told him to go into 3 year retreat, and he did it without any doubt. He passed away in his second year of retreat, which was great. In our case, we are never prepared, we are constantly busy doing this and that, planning for this and that, as if we are immortal, we are never going to die. When death knocks on our door, we cry and there is no one to help us, because we are not spiritually prepared. Therefore I am very happy that so many of us are courageous and determined to put aside 42 days to do this Pad Yatra. Even those who manage to come for part of it are also considered to be very fortunate.
Just now, we did a very difficult kora at the Drilbu Ri, the holy site of Chakrasamvara. A few people did not make it because of mountain sickness, but almost everyone made it with very strong mind. There were avalanches a few days before, so walking in the snow and going up to the peak of the mountain was extremely difficult, even for myself. We had to use ropes to go up almost towards the peak. Everyone without exception was smiling so happily when we finally reached the peak. So this experience tells us that our mind has to be stronger than our physical body, if we want to achieve anything in this life. If your mind tells you that you cannot make it, you will not be able to make it, so your mind determines everything.
One of the TV stations asked me at an interview why did I call this Pad Yatra "Walking on the World's Rooftop"? There two reasons to it, one is external and one is spiritual. Externally, we are going to be walking in the Himalayas, paying homage to our great masters of the past, visiting their holy caves and hermitages, and some of these places are more than 5,000m above sea levels, so it's on the world's roof top, isn't it? Spiritually, we are generally not grounded due to the superficial conditions we are living in, and it's very difficult for us to get a chance to break away from these conditions. To be able to do this, you need to develop a very strong mind and strong altruistic mind of enlightenment, because you are not doing this for yourself, but you are also doing this for others who are not fortunate like you to be able to undertake this spiritual journey. Besides, if there are any funds raised, these will go to help to improve education, medical, environment and spiritual heritage in these remote Himalayan regions. So, I am very proud to say that we are doing one thing which can go many directions positively.
In a while, there will be no more connection for me to connect to the rest of the world until after the Pad Yatra. I have requested DPPL to re-open the registration for the shorter journey until 5th June, so that some of you can still join us. But there are also a few people that I have specifically asked not to join because of different reasons.
That's all for now. I hope we will meet soon in the final part of the Pad Yatra.
