The Dalai Lama's Cat Awaken the Kitten Within by David Michie

Author:David Michie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, Tibetan Buddhism, spiritual happiness, ageing well, life's purpose
Publisher: Conch Books
Published: 2021-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Usually, after Geshe Wangpo’s Tuesday night classes, people would leave Namgyal temple in a quiet but steady flow, monks returning to their living quarters, visitors crossing the courtyard and leaving through the gates.

That evening, however, there was a different mood. People who were coming out of the temple seemed reluctant to leave. It was as though that evening’s teaching had engaged them so deeply that they weren’t yet ready to go. A particular focus of attention as they emerged was Christopher, who had made his way slowly out of the temple helped by several students.

Wary about being caught in the footfall, I waited for most of them to leave before hopping from my seat and making my way through the great temple doors. From the top of the steps, I observed a group of students gather around Christopher, grateful and solicitous, as he waited for the nursing home car to take him home.

“What a wonderful question!” Merrilee was congratulating him. “You asked exactly what I wanted to know, but I’ve never been quite sure how to put it.”

“To get Geshe Wangpo to talk about yidams,” Franc’s expression conveyed the consequence of what had happened. “That really is something. He’s very old school, you know. He doesn’t usually even mention Kriya tantra.”

“I’ve never heard him mention Sukhavati, except with students he knows well,” confirmed Serena.

At the center of the group, despite his worn jacket, oxygen lines and dependence on a stick, Christopher possessed a magnetic appeal.

“I … I have to confess that right at this moment, I feel like a damned fool,” his bass voice commanded attention. “I have lived next door for the past eight years,” he turned in the direction of the nursing home. “Most of them, in reasonable health. Not once have I come to a class before tonight. And it’s been … a revelation! I wonder how much further along the path I could have travelled, if I’d come here before.”

There was a pause before Sid, in his own quiet but elevated tones said, “But you arrived in a spiritually evolved state, like our friends are saying,” he gestured around the group. “You connected with Geshe Wangpo in an exceptional way.”

Emotion rose on Christopher’s face as he held Sid’s gaze. He seemed about to speak. But as he opened his mouth, he bent forward and started coughing heavily, gasping for breath. The students rallied around him, including one who was a nurse, as violent spasms racked his body. They were holding onto him as headlights appeared through the monastery gates. The car that was to take him home crept cautiously towards the group.

By the time the car had halted, Christopher was standing upright again, his breathing labored but returning to normal. An orderly from the nursing home had opened the rear door of the vehicle and was approaching him.

“If I may, before you go,” Sid’s eyes met Christopher’s again. “My wife and I are great admirers of the painting you gave His Holiness.”

“Primordial Dawn,” said Serena. “He put it in his reception room, for all his visitors to enjoy.

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