A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN FPMT LAMA

Jean Chuang talked to Geshe Lama Konchog, Kopan’s beloved lama, during a recent visit to Jinsui Farlin in Taipei, Taiwan.

At what time does Geshe-la get up in the morning at Kopan?

I wake up at the time I wake up, sleep at the time to sleep, eat when the time is for food and go to the toilet when I need to go to the toilet.

How many courses does Geshe-la teach?

At the moment, I do not teach any class…There is nothing to write about me.

How long does it take for Geshe-la to do his prayers every day?

I don’t practice, I sleep all the time. My main practice is sleep, eat and go to the toilet.

Does Geshe-la have any suggestions for students?

Students know what they need to do.

I know, but it is really trying to help people, just like Milarepa’s story, which can really inspire people.

Normally, I try to benefit people by giving the teachings; besides that, there is not any benefit towards others. Anyway, there are a lot of holy beings out there; it is not necessary to take me as an example.

Like Buddha teaches with 84,000 methods, Geshe-la is one of the 84,000 methods.

No. If people would like to know my whereabouts, you may tell them that I am in Taiwan now, will stay in Taiwan for one month, then I will go to Singapore. Then maybe I will come back to Taiwan, then I will go to Hong Kong where I will give teaching for one or two days, and then I will go back to Kopan. That’s it.

Actually there is no need to put this in the magazine. I am useless, I am good for nothing.

But Geshe-la’s story is really very inspiring.

There is one kind of wood that grows so twisted, yet the leaves and flowers flourish: just like me. I am a terrible, very bad person, but I am very fortunate to have very qualified lamas. The shape of the wood is so terrible that it cannot be used to make something out of it, but the flowers and leaves are beautiful. Even though I am a terrible and bad person, due to the kindness of the lama, I have something to speak from my mouth, otherwise I am totally useless.

Maybe Geshe-la doesn’t want to say anything, but somehow it will inspire people. For us ordinary people, full of vexations, we do need all these stories to help us. We would like to have Geshe-la share his experiences with us.

If I want to tell my daily story then I need to explain all the bad things as well: the anger, attachment, hatred, pride, delusion that arises. Instead of inspired, the readers might be disappointed. But if I say only good things, it is useless.

So would you mind telling us all the bad things?

Every day different delusions arise, so if you write about every day it will be difficult.

So make it one day for example, such as today?

I am suffering from the heat. I have desire to drink water, to drink Coca-Cola; I have the desire to sleep; all these things.

So how does Geshe-la transform his mind to stop the desire?

I cannot transform. If you can transform, that would be wonderful. I am just controlled by these things.

In our daily life, we have all these vexations. If Geshe-la could tell us how you manage, at least we could give it a try.

We all should look to Buddha.

We would like to look to the Buddha, but Buddha is far and Geshe-la is here.

Buddha was the same as us at the very beginning, then through practice he became Buddha…

I am a person from a remote place, it is no use to advertise in the city. There is no point to write these things. I try to give teaching as much as I can; I hope this may benefit others. There is no benefit to say anything else.

Your life is very beneficial to us. And putting these things in the magazine is also kind of keeping a record.

If you need to write, you may write down that I have the desire to sleep and desire for good food and to eat a lot. Then when I eat too much and feel too full, I have to lie down. And I have to stretch my legs to relax. All these things. My normal life story is like that.

Ven. Tenzin Zopa, Geshe-la’s attendant, later spoke about him:

I do not know about Geshe-la’s mental activities; I can provide only some information about Geshe-la’s physical activities, but not everything he does.

Geshe-la does not really have a fixed schedule for his daily life at Kopan. Normally Geshe-la wakes up between 3 and 4:30 in the morning, and then he seems to do meditation and prayers before asking for tea. I serve morning tea around 4 or 4:30, sometimes at 5 a.m.

If he is busy in the morning, he does his prayers in the evening or sometimes at night. It all depends on how busy he is. He has two very thick prayer books, one is long and the other is just a normal prayer book, and he will complete these two prayer books every day.

He has his breakfast in his room. In Kopan, he does torma offerings to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and all the beings of the six realms every morning. He also receives the people who come to visit him. Sometimes he just goes to see Lama Lhundrup or goes around the monastery.

He takes his lunch (midday), tea (5:00 p.m.) and dinner (7:00 p.m.) with the other geshes, the staff and the visitors in Kopan’s dining room. And he does walking exercise around Kopan hill for his knee’s sake.

He likes to be around the small monks in Kopan whenever he has time. He is happy with the small monks.

Last night when I talked to him about the interview, he said, “I am an old, extra, useless person at Kopan.” Then he said that two of his old and good friends whom he used to talk to had passed away and that he is pretty lonely. The two good friends, in fact, were the two big dogs in Kopan, who died a couple of years ago. Their names were Mahakala and Gomchen, which means meditator. Those two dogs were huge and everyone at Kopan was scared of them.

I don’t think Geshe-la is a useless person. It is very clear to me that wherever he goes and whatever he talks about, he is concerned with the education and living conditions of the Kopan nuns and monks and also all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s organization, as well as Sera Je and all the other monasteries. He is concerned about all these just like a parent cares about his children.

I regard Geshe-la as our father and Lama Lhundrup as our mother, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe as a combination of both. I hope that other Kopan monks and nuns and all the students also know this. I feel it is very important to know how precious all these lamas are. Geshe-la also really cares about the preservation of Tibetan culture and teachings.

Before, Geshe-la used to teach the monks and nuns philosophy on a regular basis; however, due to his busy schedule of overseas traveling he is no longer teaching philosophy. Also, Kopan has a few young geshes now, who have come back to teach.

Currently, Geshe-la gives initiations to the nuns and monks, sometimes general teachings, and teaches at most of the Kopan courses for foreigners. Whenever there is a need, Geshe-la is happy to help giving advice for the retreats and so forth.

There are many people who come to visit him and there are many e-mails requesting his advice or help; he is very happy to help.

At night, he comes to see the monks debating. Once in a while, Lama Lhundrup and Geshe-la get to debate with each other and everybody gets really excited. And sometimes Geshe-la debates with the other geshes or students. They all really enjoy the debates.

In the evening at 7:45 Geshe-la tries to listen to the Tibetan news on Voice of America.