Blessings in Boudhanath

A few days ago, I had one of those fortuitous meetings or more likely, a reconnection, in one of those instances where mutual recognition is instant. Santosh Shrestha and I ducked into the Happiness Cafe to escape the downpour and sitting at the table adjacent to us was a yogi and a blonde woman listening intently to what he was saying.

Since Santosh and I had spent the past couple of hours gabbing, it was a pretty quiet wait and of course, I kept overhearing snippets of conversation from the next table. For a bit, I thought I was watching one of those cases where somone dressed like a yogi is telling an attractive foreigner stuff for less-than-enlightened reasons. It happens. But then, the conversation kept returning to climate change, shamanism and a large gathering in the mountains. At that, I noticed two things, my mind opened a bit and I sensed a very deep, genuine caring from this yogi.

After the rains ended, we made eye contact, and introduced ourselves and headed off to grab tea together.

Appearances are rarely what they seem. Although, when it comes to most yogis I've met, there's a fair amount of what you see is what you get. Many are straight-up, solid individuals (although, I've met my share of rascals and deviance who hide under their ngag-pa robes and a couple who have paid for their transgressions); in this case, Gomchen Karma Yogi was full of surprises.

I could recount his biography, but you're better served to get it directly from the source. For my part, I'm just happy we met. Karma-la has a number of connections with people I know through Shamar Rinpoche, the Sixteenth Karmapa, and Dudjom Rinpoche. But more than that, you bump into someone you feel like you've known most of your life and that recognition counts for something. This has happened twice so far here in Nepal.

In early October, Karma Yogi has organized a Shamanism, Science, and Climate Change conference. I'm hoping for its success as the idea of brining shamans together with environmentalists will help set up a much-needed dialog. Shamanist practices are tied to the earth and the elements and there are general principles of living amongst nature that could help shed light on environnmentalist approaches that haven't even been considered (yet!)

In any case, my yogi brother is very adamant about this and being a shaman himself, has those connections set up. My understanding is that he's receiving some organizational assistance, as well, and a number of us have sent out feelers through our networks to generate more attendance and participation. Unfortunately, I'll be in India in October and won't be able to attend these proceedings, but I'll post more information at the end of this entry for anyone who might be interested.

Monday a week ago, we headed out after out meeting with the NGO that's driving the operational side of the conference to one of the smaller villages across from Boudha and sipped some tongba. It's a fermented barley-based herbal infusion served hot and yes, it's mildly alcoholic. The flavor is reminiscent of sake (or saké, if you want to be posh). We parted company with agreeing to meet on Thursday for the opening and blessing by a couple of tulkus of his Guru Lakhang Bodhichitta Dharma Center. There are more photos in the gallery, but this should give you an idea.

The Padmasambhava statue was made in Bhutan and seems almost alive. I don't recall seeing one quite as happy, either! It was a joyous time and we repaired to the restaurant downstairs at the Mandala Hotel for tea and biscuits (and then off to a tea house on the Boudha perimeter for more tea! Actually, this time we stuck with hot water and lemon) to discuss further matters environmental, spiritual and restorative as, frankly, these kinds of rituals take a certain amount of effort and personal power.

Our friend Yana Castle who was with Karma when we met is a bit of a powerhouse, herself. A therapist by trade, her heart is most assuredly here in Nepal. She also leads spiritually oriented journeys in Nepal for individuals and groups and I don't want to embarrass her by writing to loquaciously, so I'll direct you to her website here.

What I find interesting and hopeful is the intersection between a yogi, a therapist, environmentalists, shamans, and the critical path we're on regarding climate change. Karma-la has expressed that while this conference is the start of something in Nepal that will hopefully be of benefit to, at least, the Himalaya region, he's earnest about seeing this expand to the United States, for societal reasons as much as environmental. To that end, I'll be happy to shill for him and where  possible expedite connections when and as I can. I suspect he and I have a good bit of a future ahead of  us.

That said, I don't think we can any longer separate out the "societal" from the "environmental"; human activity is bound up intimately and with more devastating consequence than ever with the envirionment. If Karma's vision proves fruitful - I see no reason why it shouldn't - it would be a wonderful project to replicate in the States with indigenous Americans and environmentalists in a way that I don't think has been done before.

Do check out Karma's Facebook page for more information on Shamanism, Science, and Climate Change conference. I'm sure there will be more posts in time to come relating to this remarkable man, my yogi bro!