The Science of Self-Empowerment by Gregg Braden

Author:Gregg Braden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hay House
Published: 2019-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

MEETING WITH THE ABBOT

On an icy high-altitude morning in the spring of 1998, I found myself living a reality that I’d dreamed about for as long as I could remember. I was leading a combined research trip and pilgrimage into one of the most magnificent, pristine, remote, and absolutely beautiful places remaining on earth, the rugged Tibetan Plateau, a place where Buddhist monasteries have survived the harsh elements of time for over 1,500 years.

On the 16th day of the trip, I found myself seated along with a few members of my group in the cramped quarters of a tiny chapel hidden deep within the massive walls of the ancient monastery we were visiting that day. Surrounded by Buddhist altars and faded thangkas (intricately brocaded tapestries that preserve the great teachings of the past), which were barely visible in the dim light, we sat face-to-face with the highest-ranking religious leader of the monastery, the elder abbot. Through the skills of our translator we were given a private audience with this lifelong student of meditation and compassion.

During the hour or so of this intimate encounter, I had the opportunity to ask questions about Tibetan traditions, beliefs, and the deepest mysteries of life. My questions were direct and to the point, and the abbot clearly enjoyed the opportunity to vary his daily routine with our meeting. So much so, in fact, that he even resisted the urging from his assistants who were trying to help him leave us to go to another appointment.

I’m sharing this story because it was the trust and friendship from this initial meeting that paved the way for a second meeting in a different chapel of the same monastery seven years later.

In 2005, I had the opportunity to revisit the monasteries of the Tibetan Plateau. This time I was with another group of researchers and pilgrims, and our trip lasted a total of 18 days. When we returned to the monastery that I’d visited previously, we learned that the elder abbot who had been so generous with his time in 1998 was no longer there—he had died. Although we never learned the details of when or how he’d passed, the monks left no doubt in our minds that he was no longer in this world. Clearly, however, the friendships that we’d established seven years earlier had left a mark of goodwill among those who had been assistants to the elder abbot and among other monks still living in the monastery. So even though we’d never met the new, younger leader—only in his late 80s—who had replaced the elder, our goodwill and strong relationships preceded us. When the new abbot heard that our group had returned, we were welcomed warmly and allowed another opportunity to continue the deep conversation that began seven years before.

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