In my daily teachings at Rinchen Parli Monastery, one of my favorite experiences was my time spent with Khenpo Dhondup. Khenpo is basically the principle of the monastery, and has become a great friend. His has an incredible drive to learn English and we continue to be in touch via Skype all these years later and I correct his writings via email.
At the Monastery, while the other adults I worked with had very set times for our lessons, Khenpo and I aimed to meet around tea time (3pm) when we would enjoy our talks over tea. But if he had to miss our meeting, rescheduling was a priority. Often I would get a knock at my door and a shy little monk would hand me a message from Khenpo. Here is his first note:
A previous volunteer at the Monastery right before my arrival introduced Khenpo to the world of coffee and this man was hooked! I did miss coffee myself so he was so excited to have someone to drink it with.
Also, I am VERY accustomed to having my name misspelled but ‘Chirtin’ is a first. Since I could hardly spell anyone’s name at the Monastery I did not take any offense and found it rather cute. Plus, he already got it right by his next note:
This one was delivered to me when I had just returned from walking on the path just outside the Monastery (keeping an eye out for the tiger of course). This poor little guy probably spent forever trying to find me to deliver this important message!
Click (here) to read more about my lessons with Khenpo.
Journeys Through Samsara 