IT’S BEEN ALMOST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

Next January 2014 ; it will be twenty-five years since Lama Ole came for the first time to Peru to teach. We have many memories: and the purpose of this blog is to rescue them before time takes them away forever.

As Lama Ole and Hannah were experiencing the adventure of exploring a new territory; we started a spiritual adventure under his guidance. Many people have listened to his teachings. Many still follow them. There have been many Phowas and Mahamudras in Lima.

What is most important is that very many persons have heard that they are not their bodies.  They have their bodies to give love and protection to others, but that they are that which listens through our ears and sees through our eyes. I don’t know how many have really understood that.

Others have realized that constant meditation will give them peace; and that external things only give short pleasure but are impermanent. A few have understood that you can only find joy  within. Those who have experienced joy through Buddhist practice know what Lama Ole means.

The inner development that we can achieve in this life through Lama Ole’s teachings is something that will not be lost. We can take it on to the next life. In fact is the only thing we can take.

And SONAM, or the merit we achieve through practice will allow us to better understand the teachings. How can we thank  the Lama for such precious gifts? There are things so precious that they are priceless. Lama Ole has gone incessantly around the globe giving these precious teachings to anyone who can hear. He has affected many people positively and conquered many hearts.

I am sorry the old times when we received Lama Ole and his entourage as close friends and had time to go to the beach are gone. He is now busier and busier because he has many more students and has to write books.

Today we have a Center in Lima where ten people live. We’ve come a long way from five persons meditating in my living room in 1991! Now we have a large Sangha. And we also visit each other with other sanghas.

Next week we will have Phowa here in Lima in a seaside resort (Ancon) outside of Lima. The weather is still warm, so it will be lovely. I can only make wishes a lot of people come!

OUR FIRST CENTER

By 2003, Carmen had rented a room on the second floor of a two story building in Miraflores. She told us they were renting out the rest. It was a small apartment with a large living room good for a Gompa which had a balcony. There was also a small kitchen and one bedroom and a bathroom. Carmen’s room was also on the second floor, but on the other side of a wall. Soon we would tear down that wall.

We had been meeting Mondays at Rosa’s school and Thursdays in Carlos’ apartment. Michaela had advised it would be good to start a live-in center and we were eager to try. I was happy because the new center in Ribeyro street was three blocks away from my house.

Alfonso moved to the only bedroom and Mauricio and other friends helped with the painting. This was in 2003. In September 2004 Javier would also move in after the wall was torn down. On the other side of the wall on the second floor there was an office, a bathroom, Carmen’s bedroom. Then by itself, on the other side of a staircase was Javier’s room which had a bathroom. So then we had three persons living in our center. Natalia made a movie at the time we tore down the wall.

Carlos would direct Meditation on Thursdays. We also met on Mondays and Javier was always there, so he would open the door, greet the people and direct the Meditation, which since he was blind, he had learned off by heart. This would make Alfonso jealous, so he would ask that Mondays, the ones in charge would be the young ones, namely himself and Mauricio. Alfonso would never be there because he was working and Mauricio would not show up; so Javier would end up being in charge again out of responsibility. This would be cyclical until we had a larger Sangha and Lama Ole came up with the Ten Minute Egg, which made the attention shift from one person to another and so egos did not become bloated.

The kids wanted to paint the walls sky-blue. The lama came and blessed the place. He came to give a lecture in Petroperu Auditorium in February 2004. Now we were practicing Buddhists, we had a place of our own and it had been blessed. We could only grow from then on.

THE YOUNG ONES

The new Millenium also brought young ones. He had been a drug dealer but wanted more out of life. She would take drugs and walk for hours down Lima’s streets listening to her walkman. He was tall and heavy. She was beautiful, and they were friends. They showed up one day and they stayed.

As Karmapa came out of Tibet his energy field became stronger; said Lama Ole. We soon had a lot of young friends. There was Alvaro our best Yogui, the one who finished Ngnondro first. Mauricio was the cleverest and Alfonso had a very strong connection with Lama Ole. Soon they brought their friends and we had two groups: those who were middle aged and the young ones.

In the beginning there were complaints from the older group about the vocabulary, conduct and drug use of the young ones though not all had that conduct. Some people with stiff concepts left. But those people hadn’t  ever been serious Buddhists in the first place. They had come to have a nice time.

The Sangha became a group of practitioners, young and old. The young were obviously friends with the young, but both groups got along well. Now there were more hands to help out pasting posters whenever there was a public lecture and they were very useful using the internet which had become a handy instrument to spread the word.

With time Valerie returned to live in Lima and became an important member of our Sangha. She would take care of the Dharma shop. She would travel to Germany also and bring books. Soon we had a big Sangha with many lovely young people.

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.

THE POWER OF MANTRAS (EL PODER DE LOS MANTRAS)

It was the beginning of April 1999 and Michaela was giving a lecture in Carlos’ apartment. She had first come several years before. There were some thirty people and I was translating.

A couple arrived and stood listening for a long time. Then they took a seat. He was tall, in his middle fifties, with balding grey hair and he wore glasses. I later learned he only wore them to protect his eyes because he was blind. He had become blind a few years before due to Glaucoma. He was an expert in computers (he had a column in a newspaper) and he had an Internet place around block forty of Benavides Avenue in Surco. His name was Javier and before becoming blind he had produced and directed TV commercials for many years.

He liked the lecture from the start and he wouldbecome part of the Sangha or group of buddhist practitoners. Javier had been  anavid reader  all his life  and he was eager to learn all he could about Buddhism. I read to him Lama Ole’s books. We got together in his office to read.

One day we read a very moving story. It was about some lamas who lived in a monastery in a faraway mountain. A thief arrived with the intention of robbing them and tied them up. They could not defend themselves; but one of the monks who was more realized began to recite the mantra of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion.

The thief chose what he wanted to take, but he had to stay the night  because  he was far. He dined and fell asleep. The lama said the mantra all night. The thief started dreaming about all the harm he had caused; but the victims int his dream were not strangers but they had the face of his mother. All night the lama recited the mantra until the next morning the thief woke up crying. He set the lamas free and apologized to them. With time he also became a monk.

We thought it was a very inspiring story of another time and place. Javier said that he had always been Buddhist, but that he didn´t know it. Then every time he learned something he agreed one hundred per cent. Little by little he became a practitioner learning mantras and practices very quickly. A Buddhist practitioner is not a saint, but he makes an effort to have a meaningful  life and relate to others with compassion. He tries to have equanimity, since attachment and aversion are obstacles to growth. It is us who give positive or negative meaning to people and things. It is Ego.

It was Wednesday at eleven in the morning. Javier was in his office,next to the internet room in the prettiest Internet Place in all Surco. Suddenly he heard a voice close to him. He understood by the tone of the voice that it was a robbery and realized they were pointing a gun to his face. He knew it when he felt the cold of metal on his forehead.

They made him stand up and took him to a corner near the door of his office. They made him lie down and tied his arms and legs behind with a rope. Javier realized that what the robbers wanted to take were the eight computers besides the little money he had. Javier started to recite “OM MANI PADME HUM”.

I was in the Internet at a computer that morning, and had my handbag next to me. Suddenly I heard the doorbell, and a boy who was there too, stood up and opened the door. Javier’s Internet place was on a second floor and you had to go up a flight of stairs to get there. A tall man of strong build entered. He was probably an ex-policeman. Another man who was in a booth close to me stood up and both took out their guns. One of them talked to Cathy, the secretary who ran the office. They took us all to the kitchen and made us lie down on the floor. One man watched us. We were two ladies,one ten year old boy, a gentleman, Maria the cook and Cathy. The other man was probably with Javier, tying him up.

The doorbell started ringing and to echo on all telephones.There were four telephones ringing. Since nobody answered they rand and rang. That annoyed the thieves who didn’t know what  to do. It made them nervous. They talked to each other. They wanted to take the computers, but that would take some time: to take them apart, tie them up and take them away.

The doorbell rang for a long time. The person ringing was Jose Andres, the son of Anita, who was bringing a casette of the Coors. Since it was office hours and the office was open, he kept ringing since he didn’t want his trip to be in vain. After so much noise, the thieves thought it was some kind of alarm and decided to flee. Before leaving they took what they could get from the hostages. They took our rings and bracelets, looked into the ladies’ handbags, the wallets . They took our glasses, keys and what money there was in the office and ran off. We waited for a while on the floor. Then a child stood up and went to see. ”They are gone”, he said.

We slowly walked out of the kitchen. It was true, they were gone.I saw Javier on the floor tied hands and feet. I went to untie the ropes. On feeling the contact, as he could not see he asked “Who is it?” i told him it was I and that the robbers were gone. After letting him free we counted our losses: a passport, so much money, they hadn’t taken the computers. We had to change all thelocks on the doors because they had taken the keys.

After we returned from the police office Javier told me how he had behaved like a practitioner: he had felt sorry for the thieves: he could sense their fear and felt compassion. From there sprung the mantra of Chenrezig which he recited incessantly until we set him free. It may have been a coincidence, but if that kid hadn’t come and rang the doorbell so insistently the robbers would have taken the computers.

What matters is that  Javier took refuge in the Buddah of Compassion and that gave him equanimity during the robbery. One must also think that the Buddhas protect us and that Buddhists also have miracles.

Era abril de 1999 y yo estaba traduciendo una conferencia de Michaela Fritzges, Dharma Teacher de Ole Nydahl. De pronto llegó una pareja y estuvieron escuchando largo rato de pie. El era alto, de unos cincuentaitantos años, algo pelado, con el pelo gris y anteojos. Después me enteré que los anteojos los usaba para protección de los ojos porque era ciego, pero no le servían para ver. Había quedado ciego hacía pocos años por una glaucoma; y siendo un experto en computación tenía una cabina de internet por la cuadra cuarenta de la avenida Benavides. Se llamaba Javier y antes de quedar ciego había sido publicista y se había dedicado a dirigir y a editar comerciales de televisión.

Desde el principio le gustó la charla  y pasaría a ser parte de la Sangha o grupo de practicantes de Budismo. Javier había sido un ávido lector y quería aprender todo lo que pudiera  sobre budismo. Le leíamos algunos libros. Nos reuníamos a leer en su oficina.

Un día leímos una historia conmovedora. Era sobre unos lamas en un monasterio en lo alto de una montaña. Llegó un ladrón con intención de robarles y los amarró. Ellos no podían defenderse, pero uno de ellos, el más realizado, empezó a recitar el mantra del Buda de la compasión, Chenrezig.

El rufián escogió lo que quería llevarse, pero debía pernoctar por tratarse de un lugar tan alejado. Cenó y se dispuso a dormir. El lama recitó el mantra toda la noche. El ladrón empezó a soñar con todo el daño que había hecho, pero las víctimas en su sueño no eran desconocidos sino que tenían el rostro de su madre. Toda la noche el lama recitó el mantra hasta que  al amanecer el ladrón se despertó llorando. Desató a los lamas y les pidió disculpas, y con el tiempo se unió a ellos e hizo votos de monje. Nos pareció una historia muy inspiradora, pero de otro tiempo y lugar.

Javier decía que siempre había sido budista, pero que no lo sabía. Ahora cada vez que aprendía algo era para estar cien por ciento de acuerdo. Poco a poco se fue convirtiendo en un practicante, aprendiéndose los mantras y las plegarias en tibetano con mucha rapidez. Un practicante no es un santo, pero trata de tener una vida significativa y mirar a los demás con compasión. Trata de ser ecuánime, ya que la aversión y el apego son obstáculos. Somos nosotros los que cargamos a las personas y a las cosas con significado.

Era un miércoles a las once de la mañana. Javier estaba en su oficina, al costado de la sala de internet de la cabina más linda de Miraflores. De pronto escuchó una voz cerca de él. Por el tono entendió que se trataba de un asalto y se dio cuenta que  le habían estado apuntando a la cara. Lo supo cuando sintió lo frío del metal de una pistola en la sien.

Lo hicieron pararse y lo llevaron a una esquina cerca de la puerta de su oficina. Lo hicieron echarse en el suelo y le amarraron los brazos y pies por detrás con una soga. Javier se dio cuenta que lo que querían los ladrones era llevarse las ocho máquinas aparte del poco dinero de la caja. Javier se puso a recitar OM MANI PADME HUM.

Yo estaba en una máquina escribiendo en internet. Tenía mi cartera a mi costado. De pronto escuché sonar el timbre de arriba, no el de la puerta de calle, y un niño que estaba en una máquina abrió la puerta. La cabina quedaba en un segundo piso y para llegar había que  subir un tramo de escalera.  El que entró era un hombre de porte marcial, probablemente expulsado de las fuerzas armadas. Otro hombre que estaba cerca de mí se paró y los dos sacaron armas. Uno de ellos le decía algo a Caty la secretaria que administraba la cabina. Nos metieron a todos a la cocina y nos echaron al piso. Uno nos vigilaba mientras el otro probablemente ataba a Javier.

El timbre de la calle empezó a sonar  y a repetirse en todos los teléfonos ya que había una mini central telefónica. Sonaba y sonaba porque nadie respondía. Eso aturdía a los ladrones que no sabían qué hacer con ese ruido. Los ponía nerviosos. Hablaban entre ellos. Querían llevarse las máquinas, pero eso iba a tomar tiempo: desarmarlas, atarlas y transportarlas. Siguió el ruido del timbre bastante tiempo. El que tocaba era Jose Andrés, el hijo de una amiga que portaba un casete de The Coors que nos enviaba. Como eran horas de trabajo  y la cabina estaba abierta él insistía ya que no quería que su viaje fuera en vano.

Ante tanto ruido los ladrones pensaron que se trataba de una alarma y decidieron huir. Antes de irse, para que no fuera en vano su asalto decidieron robarnos a los rehenes. Nos quitaron anillos, revisaron las carteras de las señoras, las billeteras. Nos quitaron anteojos, llaves y pulseras y se dieron a la fuga. Nos quedamos un rato en el suelo. Luego un niño se paró y fue a ver. "Ya se fueron”, dijo.

Lentamente caminamos fuera de la cocina. Era verdad. Se habían ido. Yo vi a Javier tendido en el suelo atado de manos y pies. Me acerqué a desatarlo. Ante el contacto y como no podía vernos preguntó “Quién es” Le dije quién era y que los ladrones  se habían ido. Después de desatarlo hicimos un recuento de las pérdidas: ninguna máquina, un pasaporte, tanto dinero etc. Las pérdidas no eran muchas. Tuvimos que cambiar las llaves de todas las puertas porque se habían llevado los llaveros.

Ya después de hacer la denuncia en la comisaría y de tomar algo, Javier me contó cómo se había conducido como un practicante: le había tenido lástima a los ladrones. Sentía su  miedo y su nerviosismo y los compadecía. De allí surgió el mantra de la compasión de Chenrezig  que recitó incesantemente hasta que lo desatamos. Puede ser solo una coincidencia, pero si no viene el chico y toca el timbre los ladrones se hubieran llevado todas las máquinas.

Lo que importa es que Javier se refugió en el Buda de la Compasión y eso lo hizo estar ecuánime durante el asalto. Hay que pensar  que los Budas  protegen y que los budistas también tienen sus milagros.