Date: Mon Aug 21, 2000
Subject: Spiti Kalachakra Initiation

Hey folks,

It's been about 3 weeks since my last missive, and what a time it's been, attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra Initiation at Ki Gompa in Spiti.

Before leaving Varanasi, we had a fine sendoff by a couple of Gangetic dolphins who swam alongside our boat on our last day sightseeing trip - the first time for me to see dolphins in the Ganga after such a long time spent in Varanasi...

We travelled to Spiti via Delhi (short time only) and Phatlikhul, near Manali, where Tenzin's sister lives and where Tenzin spent his school holidays as a child. His family really looked after us and sent us on our way to Spiti very well prepared, including arranging a blessing for our journey by the family Lama.

Spiti is a remote mountain desert region - huge mountains of boulders, rocks, pebbles and dust, with occasional green cultivated irrigated areas in the valleys. The monsoonal rains are blocked by the high part of the Himalayas, so the main water source here is snow and glacial melt during summer, and most of the erosion shaping the mountains is due to wind rather than rain. It's very high up (we were at about 3600m I think), so the sun is very strong during the day, and a few of our group suffered headaches from altitude sickness. Luckily for me I seem to be suited to high altitudes and actually feel much better up there - I think for me the low oxygen levels and inspirational views put me in a state of semi-permanent slight bliss.

The site of the teachings was at Ki - there was a tent city set up on a large flat area (rocks, pebbles, dust and sparse spiky mountain-desert flora), about 200m below the gompa, which is one of the more important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism, especially now with the destruction of so many monasteries in Tibet.

The daily pilgrimage up to the gompa took about 25-50 minutes depending on your fitness (or 15 minutes if you took a taxi) - there we were, part of a huge crowd of Spitians and Tibetans from near and far (quite a few Tibetans had snuck past Chinese border guards and are now sneaking back), as well as a sizable group of foreigners (Italians, Americans, Germans and the rest) - the foreigners tried to squeeze into their allotted area where the radio reception for translations was best. For many local people (and those foreigners without radios), the language and philosophy was too heady and incomprehensible, so for many the experience was more of a darshan and blessing from the Living God - for myself it was one of the best introductions to Buddhism I could ever have hoped for.

The first few days of teaching (after a few days for us to settle into our camp) were introductory Buddhism - a very convincing argument for universal compassion. There followed a rest day with dance and dramatic performances, and then three days of the Kalachakra Initiation proper.

Kalachakra Initiation is supposed to bring enlightenment within a single lifetime, but to truly follow the practices given would take years of training and probably several initiations. There were many vows (eg the vow to abstain from killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and drinking intoxicating drinks - I left out the last and leave the second last open to interpretation) and different smaller initiations in Tibetan, eg empowerment, supplication to the Lama, supplication to the Kalachakra deity, long-life empowerment, many meditations and visualisations of deities and the Kalachakra Mandala, etc - most of these things would require a lot of learning to be able to relax with, I'm sure. Anyway, it was a good experience to be part of and gather some of the
energy and hopes and dreams from...

One of the things HHDL stressed was that just going through the external practices of the religion like attending teachings, temples, making prostrations, chanting mantras etc is not as important as actually practicing compassion and seeking enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. The reason he emphasised this so much became evident on the last day, when everyone was able to view the Kalachakra Mandala that had been made out of coloured sands by the monks during the week. Imagine thousands of people crowding and pushing towards a narrow set of stairs - horrible; I hate to think about it - all those people pushing for their own benefit and not considering that people were getting crushed (one old man died) just in front of them. Most foreigners and I suppose more educated local people sat this out, but the crush
that the majority of local people created seemed evidence that they placed a lot more importance on the blessing they imagined came from viewing the Mandala than on practising compassion for those around them... It left a very sour note on the end of a beautiful week, which was softened for me by going to view the Mandala later that night, when it was very shanti (peaceful) - in such circumstances viewing the Mandala and the Thangkas (silk paintings) was indeed a bliss-inducing experience.

Now we're in McLeod Ganj (Upper Dharamsala), capital of the Tibetan exiled population and government, and blissful in another less enlightening way. The food here is so good, and the atmosphere so easy going that it seems all we do is eat, sleep and think about shopping. Big contrast to the harsh conditions in Spiti where an enlightened attitude seems easier to manifest. It's also very rainy here - the wetness has given me a sniffle...

Aum Mani Padme Hum
Shen