LEARNING WITH MICHAELA

That year Michaela had come with Lama Ole for the Phowa and she stayed after he left. We had a Ngnondro  retreat in San Bartolo. That was very important because we had a lot of new people and they were not taking things seriously. Some persons thought Buddhism was a nice thing to do once a week: to “relax” with meditation. Those were “Buddhism Consumers” according to Michaela. To be a “producer” you have to be a serious practitioner, do Ngnondro  and meditate on a daily basis, Michaela said. It is true that some people have the inner need and some don’t, but if you practice you will find you have “surplus”, extra energy to work for the sangha. With time you can have a better understanding of the teachings because merit enhances comprehension.

Michaela’s teachings sank in and many people started Ngnondro. Javier was one of the most enthusiastic. He had become blind in his late fifties, so if you explained the visualization well to him he could do the practice. He had an excellent memory for the mantras and the rest of the text. Carmen, Violeta , Rosa and Carlos also joined “the producers”. Soon we had a large group of practitioners. It was thanks to Michaela’s visit and retreat that people started Ngnondro in Lima. Lama Ole had given a Ngnondro retreat many years before, but people were not ready at that time.

 

We had been lucky enough to borrow a seaside apartment down at the beach, so we had nice evening reunions and early morning dips in the ocean. Javier from then on referred to Michaela as his Buddhism “Madrina”(godmother) and had a special feeling for her.

 

The new Millenium brought changes. Some young people would soon come. We would soon have a place of our own. Michaela had told us it would be nice if we had a live in center. We looked forward to it and soon the right circumstances would come. Meanwhile we started practicing seriously.

THE NEW MILLENIUM

We celebrated the coming of the New year in Carlos’ apartment. We were a small group, but we would soon meet more friends. Carmen Salas and Violeta were already coming.

There were some new members who had not yet met Lama Ole since he did not come in 1999. They would have to wait until year 2,000, and they made instant connection with him when they finally met him. A young German girl called Valerie came to Lima in order to make a research and made contact with us. Her then boyfriend was Buddhist. We would get together in Javier’s Internet place to read Diamond Way web page and find out more about Karmapa. We also met to study “Things as they are.”

A lady called Rosa Rivas came over one day. She was friend of Carmen. She had a school in San Borja, called  “Maria Reiche”. She offered the premises whenever we needed a larger place for a conference. I remember Eduardo Herrera gave a lecture there. We also started meeting for meditation in the school on Mondays. We kept meeting on Thursdays in Carlos’ apartment. That was in San Isidro, another neighborhood.

In November of year 2,000, my daughter Stefanie got married and all my sangha friends attended the ceremony. Some days previous to the wedding, Javier had rented a house in San Bartolo, a seaside town 49 kilometers south of Lima. He would have the first Internet place in the beaches of the south. That meant business went well that summer (January, February, March)     of 2001.

We also started using Javier’s house in San Bartolo as a place for lectures and retreats (renting the local stadium). It became officially a Diamond Way Center when Hannah told him he had the blessing. In his office, Javier had a thangka I had given him, a picture of Mahakala and a small Buddah blessed by Lopong Tsechu. It was fun for all of us to go south, have teachings, eat seafood; and later have a walk and a dip in the ocean. Many Dharma teachers went there.

In year 2002 we had Phowa and that changed many lives. It was a difficult Phowa because Lama Ole always advises not to take drugs if you want to take Phowa. He says if you do take drugs not to go. That time a lot of young people came and they were taking drugs. I was translating for Lama Ole and I could see he was troubled. It took an extra effort of Lama’s extraordinary energy to drive us all to the final goal. But it was not in vain, because after that Phowa several young people approached our sangha and many stayed until today.

….AND THE PIGEONS CAME TO DIE

The other day when Peter Gomez was visiting the center in Lima, we had a conversation with Ricardo La Serna. We were remembering those days when Lopong Tsechu along with Lama Kalsang and Maggie had stayed in his house in Miraflores, the same place where Lama Ole, Hannah, Pedro Gomez and friends has arrived in 1990 for the first time.

Ricardo was talking of 1996 after Lopong Tsechu left. ”After he left the energy of the place had changed” he said, ”I think it was because in his room he had pasted on the wall the images of two Yidams. And he talked to those Yidams on the wall. Maggie and Lama Kalsang had never seen him do this anywhere else.”

Sometime after they left the first pigeon came to die in Ricardo’s house. It flew in through the window and was found dead on the dining room floor.

The house had access to the roof and for the next few months Ricardo kept finding dead pigeons. If he left windows open they would come, fly in and die inside. There were no dead pigeons in the neighboring houses.

Ricardo had two brothers who had migrated to the US and were now citizens. They obtained American residency for Ricardo and he was planning to go to California soon to live and work there. Since he was leaving Peru for several years Ricardo was planning to rent his house.

One morning he found a dead cat on his doorstep. The cat had come to die there. One day he found an image pasted on his front door. It was that of a monk, but the head had been cut off. That person had also thrown some rice inside the house through a window. She was a very small black lady who was followed everywhere by five little dogs all mongrels. She came over to Ricardo’s house and left under the door a card with the image of Saint Martin of Porres, a black 16^th century Catholic saint who loved animals. Somehow all seers and witches had sensed a source of power in Ricardo’s house which altered the energy of the neighborhood.

One day a dead dog appeared on the doorstep. That was the last straw. Ricardo peeled off the Yidams and painted the walls. Slowly things went back to normal. Ricardo left for the United States and rented the house. He would live in California for many years. It would be there that he met Lopong Tsechu for the last time. He probably made him laugh. Ricardo always made Lopong Tsechu laugh.