N  118  An additional  milestone in my life journey

When I published Bamboo Hospital about 4 years ago I thought it would be my last book to be translated and published.I had reached an advanced age, and so I thought I would not be able to do more due to health issues , which would occur to me at one time or another.But this thought is with me only when  a book I’m interested in is not in my sight.

In October last year I visited  Bangkok with my family. As a lover of book I usually visited Kanokuniya book store  at Siam Paragon  shopping mall. But  as I didn’t have a particular book in mind I just looked around to find something I might want to purchase.But it was hard to choose one from a sea of books.In the end I pulled out one which is about Tibet and another from the shelf  and paid for them.

I started reading the Tibet book with the title “From a mountain in Tibet….. A monk’s journey “ and came to like it.I read it on my way to Cheingmai  and finished it before we went home to Taunggyi. 

The book is about the life of a lama ( Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche) from when he is a little boy growing up in a small village until he became a Rinpoche. (high monk ). So we read about the life of Tibetan people, how they live,what they eat,what is their livelihood, their religion, their strange funeral customs etc….

The author whose name is Jamdruk at the age of 13/14, went to Dolma Lakang monastery to assist his brother who is the head monk, a Tulku ( a reincarnation monk , who is much revered ). He started learning Tibetan only then.But after some years in 1959 Communist China invaded Tibet.Because of their aggressiveness and harsh treatment towards the people and religious persons people dare not stay in their homeland anymore.Even the head of State Dalai Lama fled to the Indian border with a small company.

Jamdruk, his brother Akong, Akong’s friend Trungpa  with a company of monks and lay people  and some animals also left the monastery for the Indian border.Their group gradually grow to about 300. With much difficulties and hardships they trudged towards the Indian border without much knowledge of directions. When winter came the journey became an ordeal for them. People died on the way because of the cold weather and not enough food. Animals had to be left on the way because there was not enough animal feed.Even people who are not well and cannot walk had to be left behind. 

At last when they reached the Bramaputra river, on which other side is India and their free land , they came in contact with the Chinese army which ruthlessly gunned them down.Among their group of 300 only Jamdruk, Akong, Trungpa and  ten people reached the other side and India.

The company had to stay in a refugee camp which was not convenient for sometime  and then he drifted from one Tibetan community to another for about 6 years after which he joined his brother Akong and Trungpa in the UK ,where they had established  a Tibetan  Mahayana Centre and distributing their religious faith.

Jamdruk was not a monk and he didn’t make himself useful to the centre.Instead he just loaf around , idling, drinking and crashing cars which Akong bought for him. But when the Karmapa (the head of their sect ) came to UK he went with him to the US.  There he helped built a Tibet Buddhist Centre and then went back to his old habits.

When he reached the age of about 40 , then that he realize his wrong doings and suddenly wanted to become a monk.He got ordained by the Karmapa who happened to be in the US then and went directly into retreat ,which lasted 5 years.During his life as a monk, he took his duty seriously and did his best for the meditation centers acting as instructor or managing them until when he reached 70 of age that he received the title Rinpoche. 

Between the life story of the monk one will read about Tibetan’s Buddhism. About who they worship, (apart from Bodhisatta they worship Guanyin and many different deities )how they practice, their beliefs and their rites and rituals, the intensity of their meditation practice and some supernatural and mysterious happenings which Tibet is famous for.

I had translated and published nine books so far. Although my works may not be that great I take pride in them, and take each book as a milestone in my life’s journey.So with the production of this book I will have ten milestone in my life journey . And I also thank U Lwin Oo of Tet Lu Kyaw sarpay to produce this book for me.