To Teach and Learn

Tshering sat in his chair and struggled between his faith and his disillusion - an intense tug of war in his mind. His upbringing told him that he had to have complete faith. Even the stories he read as a boy said that if one has complete faith and blind devotion, then one can find the Buddha in the most unlikely things/places. But the modern educated man in him questioned the being before him. He recalled who some of his friends called the Rinpoche, "Rinpoche James Bond" and talks about womanizing and partying kept him occupied and very confused. He would have not been there in the hall had it not been for his best friend, Kinley. While Tshering was confused, Kinlay, on the other hand, was fully immersed in everything devotional. He sat next to Tshering, peacefully luxuriating in the warm radiance of the Rinpoche. The Rinpoche finished his oral transmission and the audience applauded. The Rinpoche smiled and said that the applaud was not necessary. He was not a show-man...