Somehow we still managed to conduct a healing and two Dharma talks. One in the little town of Medina at Rx Yoga and one at a meditation retreat led by Venerable Ani Palmo Rybicki. She was leading a three day Vispassana meditation retreat and had Venerable Geshe Norbu give a talk on the benefits of meditation. She is wonderful and so were her students. They all had great questions and were radiating from their retreat.

Since so many were interested I will post the radio documentary that the Tibet Connection recently replayed on their program about my journey to become a monk. Here is the link – The Tibet Connection. Just click on the “Feature Documentary.”

You can see our current schedule by clicking this link – Tour Schedule

October 5th – Sunday was a busy day for us. First Venerable Geshe Norbu gave a talk at the Jewel Heart Dharma Center in Cleveland on the Four Noble Truths, then we made a mad dash out to the beautiful town of Ashtaubula to give a talk on Creating Happiness in your Life. The wonderful people at Ashtabula’s Wellness Center organized our visit and it was hosted by the kind people at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. The church has a lot of history, if you get a chance check out the parish history on their website. Father David opened his church up to us for free. Susan, Andy, and Grace from the Wellness Center brought a large, very engaged crowd and Rodger and his daughter made sure everything ran smoothly. We really loved our visit their and are grateful for all their kindness.

October 7th – Tuesday night we did a cultural presentation at the Grand River Academy. The academy is a boys boarding school with students from all over the world. Established in 1831, it also has a great history and beautiful grounds. It was great for me to be at a high school again, reminiscing about my students back in Long Beach. We had dinner with them and they were all so interested it was great. They had so many questions we could have talked all night.

October 8th – Wednesday was a very special treat for us. We were invited over to dinner at Chunden’s house. She is a local tibet and one of the first voices for Radio Free Tibet. It is always a special treat for the monks to have Tibetan cooking and company. The Tibetans are incredibly polite and generous and take great care of their guests. This means lots, and I mean lots, of food. They just keep bringing it against all of your protests. Again another late night with good friends and good food =).

October 9th – Thursday night we were back at Jewel Heart to do Tsog and a talk on the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. The place filled with a lot of great energy and Venerable Geshe Norbu gave an amazing talk. There was great buzz filling the space and everyone kept visiting long after the talk. As it was getting very late, we finally piled back into the van and headed back home.

October 11th – Saturday we hosted by the very kind and talented artist, Beth Wolfe, and the curators of the Asterisk Gallery. There was great turnout for our Chay Droy ritual – one in which the Lama, in the form of Tara, removes and purifies obstacles from people’s lives. The current exhibit deals with the last eight years in the USA and featured art as political dissent. So the energy in the room was initially pretty intense and provocative. However, during the ritual, Ven. Geshe Norbu transformed the space, the people, and all the collective energy into a healing, purified, and wonderful clear space. It was great and we met so many really kind, thoughtful people. Among them was Ren, a very gentle spirit with an incredible talent for photography. He was kind enough to email me so photos and will post them in the gallery below.

October 12 -Tomorrow we are headed off to Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. We finished off our visit today with two events. First we did a 21Tara Puja at RX Yoga where we had a nice little group. Then we went to the Unity Church of Greater Cleveland to do a demonstration and monastic debate, followed by a Dharma talk on karma. The debate session was great and very lively with Venerables Phuntsok and Yeshe taking on Ven. Geshe Kalsang. Venerable Geshe Norbu followed with a talk explaining Karma allowing a lot of time for questions and discussion. We really enjoyed our time there and want to extend a special thanks to Rudi, Vivian, and Reverend Joan for their kindness in opening up their church to us.

We also want to express our immeasurable gratitude to Bill and Susie for all their efforts, kindness and generosity in making our visit to the Cleveland possible. In the morning we are off to a new adventure in New Wilmington.

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Monks make for low-maintenance houseguests.

Grand Junction’s Ray and Peggy Pilcher invited six monks with the Gaden Shartse Monastery to stay in their home during the monks’ stay in Mesa County.

The monks are on a U.S. tour, raising awareness about Buddhism and donations for construction of a hospital to serve their monastery and other villages in southern India.

The monastery originally was built in Tibet, but Chinese occupation decades ago forced the Tibetan monks to flee to India.

The Pilchers, both Buddhists, have opened their home to the Gaden Shartse monks for the past 10 years, showing the monks the compassion synonymous with Buddhism.

Ray Pilcher said he has been interested in Buddhist culture since he was young, and his nearly four dozen trips to China and Tibet through the years only furthered that interest.

On Sunday, during a free presentation at Western Colorado Center for the Arts, the Tibetan monks demonstrated the precision and time that goes into making a mandala, which is believed to help cleanse negativity for those who view it, said monk Jangchub Chophel.

The monks used brightly colored sand made from crushed and dyed Indian quartz to create a symbolic representation of Green Tara’s universe. Green Tara is honored in Buddhist culture for being a female Buddha, showing that women can achieve equality in a male-dominated society.

The mandala construction began Saturday and will finish at 6:30 p.m. today during a Green Tara puja and sweeping up ceremony, in which the monks will distribute some of the blessed sand to those in attendance at the Art Center ceremony at 1803 N. Seventh St.

The remaining sand will be thrown in the Colorado River to float downstream. The cleaning of the mandala signifies nothing in the world is permanent, and understanding change is part of balancing life.

The Buddhist monks will be in Grand Junction until Wednesday. From Grand Junction, they head to Hotchkiss and Moab, Utah, before continuing east across the country, Chophel said.

To learn more about Buddhist culture, to bid on silent auction items Ray Pilcher brought back from Tibet or to see the mandala, visit the Art Center from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. today.

Money donated will be used to build a hospital in southern India.

By MELINDA MAWDSLEY
The Daily Sentinel