Journey to Nepal

Part 1: Losar

Lama Osel, accompanied by his attendant Ngawang Tsetsen, left Sera Je Monastery for the Tibetan New Year (Losar) holiday at Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal and Tushita Retreat Center in Dharamsala, India. They traveled from Sera Je Monastery to Bangalore by taxi on January 31 and from Bangalore to Delhi and then to Kathmandu by plane on February 1.

During his stay at Kopan, Lama Osel relaxed in his new room above the new Kopan Gompa but still continued with his daily prayers in the morning and at night.

Kopan celebrated Losar with a Lama Chöpa puja very early on the morning of February 8th. The Kopan monks gave a performance of Tibetan dance (Cham) and there was a big picnic in front of the new gompa.

That afternoon Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived at Kopan and the next day the monks made offerings and offered Tibetan scarves (khatas) especially for Rinpoche while both Lama Osel and Lama Zopa Rinpoche were there.

During these days, Lama Osel visited the new meditation center in Kathmandu city itself, called Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center (HBMC) which used to be called Himalayan Yogic Institute (HYI). The new director is Uldis Balodis.

Part 2: Birthday at Kopan

Lama Osel celebrated his birthday at a Shangri-La Hotel restaurant in Kathmandu and invited many of his friends and students and the good part was that my teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche was there too. We all had a very fine lunch and afterwards my birthday cake came – it was delicious, but I only ate one piece because I was afraid I would get sick.

Part 3: Inauguration of Kopan Gompa

Although he was invited to the inauguration of the new Kopan gompa on February 17, Lama Osel could not attend as he had been instructed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to take the Getsul ordination with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala on the very same day.

Getsul Ordination

In the afternoon of February 17 (originally scheduled for the early morning), Lama Osel went down to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s private temple to receive the Novice Ordination (Getsul) of a Buddhist monk. There were around 60 other monks that received ordination that day together including two of Lama’s friends from Sera Je Monastery, Gomo Tulku and Tamdrin Rinpoche. The ordination took about five hours.

Lam-rim Teachings

From February 23 onwards for about 12 days Lama Osel attended the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the Great Stages of the Path (Lam-rim Chenmo) by Lama Tsong Khapa and received the initiations of Chenrezig and Guru Rinpoche as well as some oral transmissions of mantras.

Lama returned to Sera to continue with his regular studies after the initiations.

Editor: Lama Tenzin Osel

Reporter: Lama Tenzin Osel

1st Class Coolie: George