Tenzing had become a friend , he reminded me of a long lost uncle , a fuzzy , charming yet curious character , was he going to be my guide around the mountain paths of Dharamshala .The sun was about to set and I made a lsat dash towards the office block . I was told that the Dalai Lama will give public sermon on the 17th of May , right now his son is sick and the holiness wishes to tend to his son , who needs his special attention .” Can I make a application , you know write a letter to him , I have so many questions I want to ask the great man , please you have to help me .” I almost stumbled over the table , as I tried to explain my predicament to the security guard at the office . He only nodded and said ,” I am sorry no visitors till the 17th you come to the public sermon .” Well I had missed a chance again nevertheless I could get to take some snaps and pictures of the Holy man on the 17th of May , with that thought I ventured towards my Hotel a small guest house called Sagar .
The night is cool here around 19 degrees and the streets get quite most shops shut down by 8:00 pm and the town goes to sleep , summers is the peak season in this part of Himachal , so one has to make hotel bookings in advance , I for one forgot that and ended up hovering from one hotel to the other just looking for a room . My room is neat with a double bed , but no Wifi with a bath and table , along with a pair of brown sofa’s well for Rs 1600 bucks it was a steal especially during the peak season .I was starving , and immediately asked the helper to get me two platES OF idili and sambhar . The food arrived in it’s own sweet time , the door bell rang and I opened the door to my utter surprise and some how with sweat amazement . At the door stood the lean Tenzing , my mad monk from the monastery .” Food , yes ! It is very important , now you get south Indian here also in the extreme north on the mountains .’ He laughed and entered my room .” But you , I left you at the monastery , you chase me till my hotel room , you do have magical powers then .
” I let him come in and make himself at home , Tenzing was my mate , my Bon master who would acquaint me with the wonders of the valley and it’s ancient traditions .I sat him down on the sofa and gave him some water to drink .” You are. Also a writer , I see you have a fine laptop their , true creative person , my Shiva Bhakta my Hindu friend . Tenzing was being extra kind and I still could not get over the fact that he was here with me in my room , no doubt wanting to teach me some other life’s many lessons .” Have you ever wondered what sorrow is , mean really thought and felt the emotion of sorrow , it is a very deep almost poetic experience , pain and sorrow are transcendental experience , which every human being goes through with greater or lesser intensity .” He tried to explain like a old should master , yes he was the Bon master indeed . Tenzing had this habit of making grand gestures with his hand as he tired to explain the easter mysticism to me .” But the pain that hurts the most is the one that is self generated , that is to say , you hurt yourself , their is no cure for that , who can save you from hurting yourself , no one right .” , he paused to take a sip of cold water from the glass and then very carefully placed it on the table .
“ Today was tiring my old friend , but the night is still young come lets go for a walk around the parks , night can be a very enlightening experience , it is at. Night when the occult powers are at their peak and the mountain air gives it it’s special breeze .Come with me we go for a stroll .” I thought the man was doing , I had hardly finished the idli’s he had got for me , for my dinner and now he wanted me to take a walk with him . I nevertheless relented to the offer and followed him step for step , he had very long strides that were still strong after the entire days hectic activity .” Most suffering in the world is self inflicted and that is because we see ourselves as the body , which is a very limiting experience , as a body has boundaries , it can only seeks pleasures of the world .” The man went on with his sermon with self. Assurance , he looked like some one who knew what he was talking about , or atlas he mad you believe that , Tenzing had a balanced tone and modulated his voice to give his talks that extra bit of zing and picturesque imagination .
It’s as if he wanted you to see visually what he was taking about . So it was me and my magical monk floating the streets of the quite town of Dharamshala at the wee hours of the night .’ You too it seems suffer from a pain , a deep pain through deep suffering , but yours too is self inflicted .’ He looked into my eyes when he said that , he looked deep with in my eyes .I was taken aback at that retort , almost startled , even astonished how did he know about my personal pain and suffering , man this man could almost read my mind it seemed . Yes indeed my pain existed the brutal murder of my father and the aftermath where my life was left in tatters and my soul completely crushed . Was I not here to seek answers from his holiness about my fathers unfortunate and brutal death . What should I do , should I forgive the murders , what of me then will I be able to forgive myself and absolve my soul of all that befell on my dad . Was it this pain of mine the monk was talking about , he had struck a cord with in me .” It is true my pain is self inflicted a sort of guilt , like dogs bone it is stuck somewhere in my wind pipe . It’s a kind of blockage in my internal consciousness .
How do I get rid of this then .” I looked back into Tenzing eyes turning my torso toward him , my face blank and without expression searched for answers from him .” First jean to identify with your pain , then slowly watch it the more focused you are when you watch your pain , you will see it will slowly disappear like a cloud in the sky , just melt away .” Tenzing said this and then suddenly bent and stooped to pick up a few pebbles . “ Now just watch me throw these sones into the valley , let me try if I can hit the mountain pick , .” He took a huge javelin thrower stance and with a whip lash threw the stone into the valley towards the mountain peeks . The pebble flew into the sky upwards making an arc and like a projectile began to loose altitude till it disappeared into the crevices of the valley itself .” Now I show again , you just watch the pebble , nothing else just concentrate on the stone and its trajectory with full focus , just watch it again and again more closely , here I go again .” He threw the pebble again with all his might , his shoulders were powerful , well he had made the wishing wheel go round and round with great speed . This time I was alert and just focussed hard on the stone , to my wonder it became slower through the air , it’s like it lost speed and went into slow motion mode , everything looked slow , it seemed that the pebble would keep hanging in the air .” You see that is what watching does it slows thing down it is an antidote to tackle pain it’s the ultimate pain killer specially the type you carry in your heart , just watch and be a witness it will disappear .” He put his arms around me , Tenzing was a bit taller then me by a few inches .
” Did I tell you the story of the great Tibetan monk and holy man Drupka Kunrey , he was a great man who walked the roof top’s of the Tibetan mountains , I tell you his story . He is the reason why the phallic symbol is so popular in Bhutan and that part of the world .” It seems my monk knew his ancient history .’ You see Drupka soon found out after his meditation’s and prayers , that pain could only be transcended by pleasure . As these were twins of each other they went hand in glove , first one then the other pain follows pleasure .The phallic symbols that you see on roof’s and walls everywhere , is the symbol of pleasure as in sexual drive and pleasure which is available to us all , in abundance without paying for it even .Thus in the ancient Bon tradition we believe e that the antidote to pain and suffering is pleasure and only pleasure .” He paused to see how much I had gathered what he was talking about , I sure took my time to absorb his sermon on plain and it’s transcendence through pleasure .
Yes my magical monk had done it again he had given me my second season the Lesson of Transcend pain through pleasure .
