I first wrote this in 2014 when I was still in the USA but upon revisiting it, it still feels relevant especially since we are looking for writers and other creative types, so I’m bringing it back up hope everyone finds it useful and it offers some food for thought! Since I’ve been in the US, […]

Whew! We’ve been having a busy few days showing Geshe Sopa-la and Kelsang Tsultrim (aka Tomtom) around Kechara. It is a long overdue visit, the history of which goes back to our first meeting in 2014! Geshe-la and Tomtom are the types of people you read about, whose guru devotion and ability to sacrifice inspires […]

Today I had the honour of meeting a very special person who is respected by millions around the world. The Panglung Kuten (or Choje-la) is the official oracle of Dorje Shugden who was personally trained by the previous Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. He has been taking trance for over 30 years and consulted by the highest […]

Dear everyone who has contacted me requesting to meet Rinpoche, Thank you so much for your interest! I really am grateful that you wish to spend time with my lama. He is an amazing, vibrant teacher who possesses a wealth of knowledge and most of all, CARES for you from the beginning, middle and to […]

Working closely with Rinpoche means that we always have to be prepared for a wide variety of situations. On any given day, we could be asked to do anything from rescuing animals to assisting Rinpoche in a funeral, to shopping for students to caring for sick people. No two days are ever the same and […]

Received a gift from Rinpoche before? Always wondered how Rinpoche does it? Well, here’s a small clue into that process… Rinpoche goes to the gift room and personally selects every single gift for people. Then he takes the gift(s), recites prayers and blesses each and every item, before he records a message for the person. […]

(Taken with my iPhone) Once a week, I get the immense honour of making like Atisha. Who is Atisha? Atisha was a scholar from Nalanda Monastery, who is credited with reviving the Buddhadharma in Tibet and writing A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. His teachings were passed from one great master on to another, […]

(Taken with Justin’s iPhone) I write a lot about what I like and don’t like, but I don’t write much about what I fear. I see fear as coming from two fronts, although essentially they all stem from the same thing – an ego and the wrong view that I exist in a permanent, unchanging […]

(Taken with my iPhone) Spotted outside the Ladrang again, another lotus.

(Taken with my iPhone) Day 3 of aviary duty, and already the birds have it in for me. You see that blood on his beak? My blood, not his. I have some sort of weird karma with birds and them attacking me.