What joy to the world looks like

At this, the darkest time of year, it's good to share bright stories, especially if they offer us a taste of magnificence. So I'd like to mention the recent 80th birthday celebration of my teacher, the very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.

Fifty-three years ago, Rinpoche ran for his life with nothing but the maroon robes on his back. Like an unstoppable tsunami, the psychopathic Chinese were rampaging through his native Kham, a huge province of Tibet, viciously annihilating everything in their path. Rinpoche made a daring escape on horseback with a cohort of about 100 and as he has told us, they soon ran into an ambush of Chinese gunfire. As his white horse reared in panic, Rinpoche saw White Tara in front of him and actually saw her deflect the bullet aimed at his chest when in actuality there was no tangible object to do that. While most of his party was mowed down, he galloped on and made it to freedom.

Rinpoche arrived in India with absolutely nothing, in our material sense, but his life. No money, no food, no phone to call home. Fifty years later, 2,000 people braved what's become the squalor of Nepal from every continent on Earth to wish him a happy birthday with the most baroque splendor any movie set designer could conjure. There was feasting and dancing and an eye-popping array of shiny brocades. The brass and gilded statues were polished to gleam. And there was of course a long long snaking parade of glorious offerings, after which the monastery shared the generosity by giving huge sacks of rice to every villager in the valley below.  All this something for someone who had nothing was quite the thank you.

Judging from the faces in the photos, the highlight of the week's festivities was the re-union at long last of the main gurus from the monastery in Kham Rinpoche fled. The even more aged and frail Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, who'd also escaped, made the arduous journey to the outskirts of Kathmandu from Woodstock, NY. To everyone's amazement, the tireless Lodro Nyima Rinpoche actually got out of Tibet and into Nepal. And to even greater amazement, the young Zuri Rinpoche, who'd so hotheadedly departed company years ago, came from the far east of Bhutan to renew his respects. Here were three miracles, or as I like to think, three huge handouts of appreciation by the universe. 

Rinpoche's smile was widest, his eyes brightest in the posed photos with his brother lamas. For him being re-united was the real cause for celebration. And that joy brought everything back to the beginning. It was the reminder, or the teaching if you prefer, that Rinpoche didn't pass GO with nothing. He had the Dharma. 

For over 50 years, Rinpoche has nonstop tirelessly and generously shared his Dharma with just about anybody who needed or asked for it. He never expected anything in return. "Give up all hope of fruition" and "don't expect applause" are part of the training. But what he got, what was voluntarily given back as thank you, was a global empire. Today there are substantial Dharma centers filled with his monks and students in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Germany, Toronto, England and the United States. Sponsors have constructed enormous monasteries in Sarnath, India; Vancouver, Canada; and Namo Buddha, Nepal. They are now fundraising for one in Kuala Lumpur. They have erected smaller monasteries in Crestone, Colorado; Boudhanath and Lumbini, Nepal; Hinan (Nubri), Nepal; Tashigong and also western Bhutan. 

There is a nunnery and separate retreat center for 260 women, and a boarding school overcrowded by 400 kids who get prepared for higher education. Dozens of them are now with scholarships in colleges abroad and dozens are going back to their primitive villages high in the Himalayas to teach hygiene and literacy to finally improve the miserable quality of life up there.

A special three-year retreat center now stands in Bhaktapur, Nepal where as part of the celebration, Rinpoche just consecrated the new seven-story Milarepa tower. That tribute to the great Tibetan Buddhist saint--as well as that extension of retreat facilities-- was an aspiration that grateful students fulfilled.  

There's a dharma publishing house run by and for the overseas Chinese. Three of the monasteries and one nunnery contain medical clinics that provide free health services to the surrounding communities. Three guesthouses were built so seekers would find clean, inexpensive lodging. Fundraising is almost complete for the restoration of the original monastery in Tibet which was totally devastated by the earthquake two years ago. There is a small nunnery nearby. Canadians set up an official charity to support some of this (Vajra Vidya Foundation) as did the English and the Americans. Himalayan Children's Fund is consistently ranked tops for honesty, transparency and donating every last cent to its cause. 

For over 50 years, Rinpoche has depended totally on the kindness of strangers, and this is how his kindness to them paid off. Honesty, simplicity and relentless generosity turned empty pockets into splendor. Amid all the glory that now surrounds him, Rinpoche himself remains penniless. All contributions go to charitable foundations.  So he never sold his soul for riches. Giving it away made his dream come true: he's been able to spread the Dharma across the Earth to benefit the strangeness in us all.  Sounds like the genuine, heartwarming spirit of this cold holiday time to me.







~Sandy Garson "Wordsmithing to attest how the Dharma saved me from myself!"
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