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Prayers for a Long Life
Lumbini, the reputed birth place of Lord Buddha, is usually a sleepy town on the dusty plain of southern Nepal just north of the Indian border. But the week I visited Lumbini was overflowing with the burgundy and saffron robes of Tibetan monks. They filled the guest houses and spilled into a makeshift settlement of colorful tents erected in a nearby field.
The monks and I - as well as a host of foreign pilgrims - came to Lumbini to participate in a Monlam - a prayer festival held there each year by the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhists. This year's Monlam was a special occasion since the Sakyas were also celebrating the 50th anniversary of their leader His Holiness Sakya Trizin's enthronement.
Since I'd been involved with the Sakya Center in Minneapolis, I was honored to join the festivities and to spend a week celebrating Tibetan traditions. Each day began with several hours of prayers, chanted in Tibetan, as well as offerings to His Holiness and prayers for his long life. A similar ritual took place in the afternoons, and in the evenings we enjoyed the cool, dark solitude of the rural community - a solitude, broken occasionally by the frenzied cackling of local jackals.
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