The Audience...

In Tibetan Buddhism there are four main schools much like the Catholics and protestants of Christianity but maybe with a bit more integration. Each school has its leader, much like the pope or the arch bishop of Canterbury. The Dalai Lama is the most well known. His counter part, the Karmapa is the next most well known. The Panchen lama is famous for his disappearance when he was only a very small child with his family from their home in Tibet three days after the Dalai Lama recognised him as the true reincarnation of the last Panchen lama, (the word is the Chinese disposed of them). The other leader is little heard of.

It is very hard to get a private audience with the Dalai Lama, it can take up to three years as Antionette discovered. A private audience with the Karmapa is a little better but still, it is very lucky to be allotted a five minutes appointment. How lucky were we to get that opportunity and then win his interest so that we kept him for almost half an hour!!!

The Tibetan centre down in the village near to where we lived when I grew up in Scotland was of the Karmapa's lineage. When I was about the same age as Frances and Abbey, I was granted a private audience with the previous incarnation of the Karmapa, when he visited Samyeling in 1978. My question to him at that time was 'How did the world begin?. And his answer was “There is no beginning and no ending, only the present moment.” Most frustrating at the time but I gradually came to understand it. As I remember him then, he had the same demeanour as the current Karmapa who is known for his seriousness, unlike the laughing Dalai lama.

I had a question for him this time too but it seemed Jevita's topic about kids, especially disadvantaged kids, was good for all of us. I managed to add a little of mine when she asked if an ordinary person could become enlightened... I asked if an animal could be enlightened. He took some time to consider this before he decided that it was possible. (my whole question was along the lines of whether modern religions and science have underestimated/valued the consciousness of the animal/natural realm and hence our potential downfall within only a few thousand years compared to ancient thinking which held animals/natural world in reverence and kept us going for three million years...).

The girls will tell you all about the rest. There was much fun, interest and searching. Frances and Abbey were listening carefully and later, when we all went to lunch to try and piece it all together they seemed to have caught the most of the important teachings... What better way to learn about the world than to experience it first hand in all its various lessons. I left my written question with him, we had our photo taken and we left in high spirits.

We had lunch at Norbulingka, a centre for Tibetan arts and crafts. It is set in the most beautiful gardens. In fact, as if in answer to my question, here was the stark contrast to everything that is unfortunate about people, slums, India, the world... Instead the care, the love, the reverence of the beauty of the world... 

We ate and chatted, and debriefed about what each had gleaned from what he had said. We had met Olivia from Britain who had had an audience after us and was curious as to all the laughter and length of time we had had and so accompanied us to lunch, thus we got the added bonus of her audience teaching!! We watched the wood carvers, and metal workers making the Tibetan statues and ornaments. We wandered in the gardens and it was just wonderful.