Bidding ཁ་ལེ་ཕེབས་ to the Rinpoche

Several posts ago, in the Long Life Empowerment post, you all met the Gyalstap Rinpoche. He's one of the most important tulku (reincarnated lamas) in the Karma Kagyu lineage, one of the heart sons of the Karmapa, and the head of the Karmae Shri Nalanda Institute. His main seat is at a different monastery in Sikkim, but every year he visits Rumtek to attend the big puja and give teachings to the monks of the Institute. 

His class was finished about a week ago, and so it came time for him to leave. The final session included a bit of a celebration, and blessings by the Rinpoche, so I attended it as well at the behest of several monks. Because the Rinpoche's class is attended by all of the monks of the Institute, and also because of his importance, it is held in the prayer hall. 

(The Rinpoche teaching. My Tibetan is light years away from being able to understand this, but I took some video so that some day I may be able to go back and learn something from it. 

The statues behind the Rinpoches are, from left to right, the 16th Karmapa, the Shakyamuni Buddha, and Manjushri, a god of wisdom)

Following his final teaching, there was a ceremony which consisted of scattering rice, chanting, playing ritual instruments, and prostrations by some of the highest monks of the Institue. It also included the presentation of katag, long white scarves which serve as ritual offerings.

Following this, every monk got up (in order of seniority) and presented a katag to the Rinpoche, receiving a blessing in return. I did so as well, anxiously watching the people in front of me to figure out what I was supposed to be doing.

(monks in line, katag in hand)

After the blessings, there was food. Tibetan tea (salted tea churned with butter) and a special nut-and-golden-raisin-dotted, saffron scented (and colored) rice, which is served for celebrations and holy days.

(monks with styrofoam cups and bowls, waiting to be served rice and tea)

(more monks)

The students were given styrofoam cups and bowls, and were then served by junior monks walking up and down the lines, but the teachers were given ceramic dishes with carefully mounded bowls of rice. This proved a bit of a challenge for me because we were eating with our hands / mouths, and I had really only been practicing eating rice with my hands for a few weeks. And though it may not seem like the hardest thing to get the hang of, eating non-sticky rice (made extra non-sticky by the butter that the celebratory rice is cooked with) carefully mounded and rounded into a small porcelain dish with your fingers is actually super difficult. I didn't do too badly for myself (all things considered...), but at one point one of the discipline masters surreptitiously slipped me a couple of napkins. And I was pretty glad of it.

(the rice after I had eaten maybe half of it -- I was not exhagerating when I said "mounded" -- and the tea)

After the teaching was finished I got the opportunity of a short visit with the Rinpoche in his rooms, and was given a new name by him (all monks receive new names upon taking their vows, but it is also fairly common practice for lay supplicants to ask names of high lamas). The name I received is Karma Yeshe Yongdü (ཀརྨ་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཡོངས་འདུས་). "Karma" is the title at the beginning of names given in the Karma Kagyu lineage, "Yeshe" means 'wisdom' or 'knowledge,' and 'Yondü' means something like 'compendium' or 'collection.' So I guess I better get to learning more things.

Shorter post this time, but as always there's more to come soon.