September 3rd, 2008 7:26 p.m.

I am overwhelmed today on so many levels. Why am I the honored guest of such a Rinpoche? Padampa Sangye incarnate! I am battling some digestive crud. I am in the middle of my period. I haven’t gotten more than 4 hours of sleep a night for several days now. To sit in the mandala of my Lama for so long so intensely!

Today I woke up at 1 a.m. and didn’t get up till 2 a.m. I took my cold shower and said my mantras. I then headed down for morning Tara puja. Breakfast was thick flat bread with jelly on it. It was quite good. I then sat and watched Rinpoche in action. He is like the energizer bunny!

I headed out to Boudha on my own and found the internet café, obviously. It worked super good for Nepal and just over an hour cost 40 rupees which is about 50 cents. I then walked around the Stupa saying a mantra. It was quite lovely doing this by myself and without the crowds of the morning and the evening.

The Sun and Moon are just as important to the Tibetan people as they are Pagans. They say their mantras around the Stupa at sunrise and sunset. Quite stunning! Someday I will tell you about the Stupa children and dogs. Quite a sad story actually!!! I can barely think about it before I start crying.

I then returned to watch Lama work some more. It is so powerful to sit and watch the blessings and receive blessings by being there! Many, many people come to him. Someone said today that there is usually about 150 people a day. He pours out blessings in so many ways that I think I could just study his blessings for the rest of my life! The most interesting thing today I saw was he tied a braided cord around a woman’s waist that wanted to conceive. He tied it quite tightly. It could not have been comfortable for her. And it isn’t just Tibetans that come to see him. Hindu nepali arrive consistently throughout the day.

Today Rinpoche blessed me and blessed me. I am so moved beyond tears! First he gave me a large picture of him. I think about 3 feet wide by 4 feet tall. He then gave me a beautiful 8X10 picture of him. What an amazing Lama I have!

His doctor from Switzerland was visiting so Lama took Dechen, Arthur, and I out to lunch at the Hyatt today. You wanna talk about over the top. The Hyatt borderlines on disgusting when faced with the rest of Nepal. But lunch was extravagant and wonderful. Rinpoche then gave me a wooden candleholder, a wooden box which is just perfect for my old blessing cord… he gave me a new one today and told me that I could remove my other ones. Which is nice since that would have made 3 and a wicked tangled mess. He also gave me a wooden tea cup. That is now sitting in my place in the puja room (I can’t remember the name of it). The other monks told me that it was a very nice cup. Lama also gave me the Tibetan script for the chod. Not that I can read it, but very sacred anyway.

I don’t know how I will ever repay the kindness. I am treated like royalty here. I have one of the nicest rooms at the monastery and a personal bathroom with a flushing toilet. I am not allowed to do anything that might be considered work.

This afternoon during puja (when I wasn’t running to the bathroom) there was a break for sweet tea (oh my goodness, this stuff rocks!) and biscuits (crackers). One of the younger monks offered me some biscuits and the older ones told him know, Lakpa got up and ran and got me some ‘better’ ones. I then tried to offer the monks some of my biscuits but they wouldn’t take them.

A fun thing happened today. Today I was helping (finally!) to package up the tsog for tomorrow. From what I know about puja, a tsog is a ritual feast in which blessings are bestowed. So Lama gives out small packages of food (tsog) to each person that comes to see him. I was sitting on the stairs when everyone started pointing behind me. I turned around to see a wild monkey 2 feet from me. I was hoping to see the wild monkeys and became a little giddy until he bared his teeth.

I then stepped back because I’ve read enough stories of monkeys ripping apart people. Dechen’s dad threw the monkey a banana and then chased him back upstairs and outside. I then realized that I had forgotten about the monkey warning on the first day and left my room open. Thankfully there were no monkeys in my room. They will steal everything! Pretty cool!

I skipped this evening’s chod puja so that I could rest up and relax. I have some reading to do and am super, super tired.

Anna is simply amazing. I learned today that the Dali Lama honored something like 48 people from around the world a few years ago for their humanitarian work. Anna was selected and the Dali Lama told her that she had done more work for the Nepali people than he had his entire life. Wow! In March she will be ordained by the Dali Lama into a higher level as a nun.

Anna has been teaching me, although not as much as I would like, lol!, about all sorts of Buddhist things. She helped me select some books tonight, more like small booklets, so that I could start catching up. I mean a Buddhist should know a bit about Buddhism, right? Someone who is staying at a monastery should know how to set up a shrine! I am very remedial.

I think Anna thinks I should become a nagkpa. It sounded really cool and up my alley. So I asked Dechen to ask Rinpoche about it. He is thinking about it and will let me know. I told Anna this. And then she said, of course he would because there is great responsibility on his part for my training and care and it would be bad for not only me but also him if I was to take nagkpa vows before I was ready. I tried to do a little research on nagkpas but didn’t really get anywhere. Then it hit me. Dowa is a nagkpa. Holy snickeys! Once I realized that, I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for such a serious commitment. We are talking about becoming a nun without becoming a nun!

I hope to receive the lungs (oral transmissions) for the Medicine Buddha mantra soon. As well as the empowerment for the Tara puja. I also hope to take the boddhisatva vow soonish as well.

I will not be the same when I return. For that I am hugely grateful! But at the moment I am overwhelmed by the immenseness of the blessings.

I love you all and good night, sleep tight, hugs, kisses, and nipple pinches!