We made it to the city of Findlay, Ohio. A very special place and the home of a very special woman – Lobsang’s mother, Margaret. She has a wonderful sense of humor and is in great shape, living independently in her own house in a great neighborhood just off of South Main Street. Our organizers and good friends, Phil Sugden and Carole Elchert, have been hosting the monks in Findlay for almost 20 years. This is no small task and this time they are being helped by Gary Bright of Century Health and Tamera Rooney of the United Way. Phil is an accomplished artist and professor at Bluffton University and Carole is a an accomplished writer and professor at University of Findlay. Among their numerous projects is the PBS television presentation and a companion book entitled, “White Lotus, An Introduction to Tibetan Culture” (published by Snow Lion).
Our first stop was at the Blanchard Valley Hospital. The hospital hosted us to lunch and gave us a tour their incredible facility. It is truly a state of the art hospital with all the technology and a kind and nurturing staff. It really showed that these people care.
Next we were off to our new home for the next three days – A Boy Scout Camp called Camp Berry. We got to stay in a big lodge with a huge fireplace surrounded by woods. There was even a bed for every monk!
Day two included a trip to Bluffton University. This is a Mennonite university with an emphasis on peace. Throughout the campus they have many monuments to peace. We received a tour of the Lion and the Lamb Peace Center and visited with a group there. Then we were off to the Art Department to do a sand mandala demonstration. After the demonstration we were treated to lunch with the students. Here are a couple of articles about our visit:
Later that night we hosted an “Evening with the Monks” out at Camp Berry. People came from up to an hour away. We built a big fire and sat around in a circle sharing stories and answering questions about Buddhism and Tibet for hours. It was quite nice.
On Thursday evening we were invited to speak at the Unitarian Church. The place filled up and the people were great – asking many questions and very engaged. Venerable Geshe Norbu gave a wonderful talk on the “Compassionate Practices of Buddhism.”
Over the weekend we worked on a sand mandala at the Findlay Municipal Building. This was sponsored to help Findlay heal from a devastating flood they are recovering from. We worked on it throughout the day on Saturday and put the finishing touches to it on Sunday morning. The dissolution of took place at 1:00 in the afternoon. The Mayor, along with a large group from the community came out and even walked with us down Main Street to put the sand in the river. Everything went well and we even got a special surprise when Tina, Michael, and Robert showed up from Toledo.
In addition thanking our organizers for all their efforts on our behalf we would like to give a special thanks to:
Carole – for those amazing walks down by the reservoir.
Phil – motoring us all over town and your wonderful banter.
Gary – your kindness and gentle spirit.
Tamera – for sharing your house and humor.
Margaret – for sharing your house and your son (Lobsang) with us.
Eric and Diana – for the monks on ATV experience.
One Comment
Hey John looks like a beautiful journey. I can see the happiness in your eyes. The pictures are great! Thanks for staying in touch and for being a good friend love Pat