When I decided to come to Nepal for the spring, I knew I needed to find a volunteer position to occupy my time. I began my search on the ever-faithful interweb, and eventually found the inviting and very informative littlelama.org. Detailing the daily events and life stories of the "little lamas" of Jonang Monastery in Boudha, Kathmandu, I was immediately drawn to this opportunity. Luckily Cynthia, the wonderful volunteer coordinator, agreed that I would be a suitable English teacher for the monks.
Just a few days after my arrival in Kathmandu, I met one of the head monks, Thupten Jinpa, to walk for the first time to the Jonang Monastery. The Jonang tradition of Tibetan Buddhist (and here I will dive into the bit of what I know, more can be wikipedia-ed!) was thought to have been eradicated by the 5th Dalai Lama, who consolidated temporal and religious power in Tibet, but the recent re-emergence has been welcomed by the current Dalai Lama. I believe the monastery where I teach is the only Jonang monastery in Kathmnadu, and possibly Nepal.
We decided on a schedule of teaching, and I met the boys that first day at the end of their day-and-a-half weekly holiday, from noon Saturday through Sunday. Though I wound up missing the first week of class due to a mixture of confusion and illness, I would soon begin my English teaching adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment