His Holiness

The Dalai Lama believed to be the embodiment of Chenzrig,
the Buddha of Compassion

After the wedding celebrations of early September I had registered for the Compassion in the Rockies meditation retreat.


The tents at Shambhala Mountain had been left up a little longer to accomodate the many retreatants who wanted to prepare for the Dalai Lama's visit to consecrate the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya which liberates upon seeing.

Two thousand people were expected to make the pilgrimage on Sunday, the fourth day of the retreat. The weather was incredibly diverse over the weekend with thunder, rain, and snow interspersed with periods of sun but mostly cold. Sleeping in a tent, having camp toilets for grooming, a large dining tent for meals and a large meditation tent for sitting most of the day...well like I said, it was mostly cold. Sunday morning dawned with 20 degrees.




Earlier in the year when I first heard of the Dalai Lama's impending visit, I hurriedly purchased tickets to the one day event for Stan and me. Later I was lucky enough to be able to partcipate in the whole weekend retreat. I stressed over the fact that chances were, my brother would not come alone given his aversion to "mob scenes", but I felt compelled to be there for the whole weekend.
After the Dalai Lama had flown off in his helicopter I felt there might be a small chance that Stan might have made the pilgrimage so I gave the area a long scan not feeling very hopeful. I did not spot him but as I turned away I heard "Dona Monacita" (my brother's new pet name for me) We had a teary reunion in front in front of the Stupa. I was just soooo glad we had shared His Holiness' presence and the dharma.
We started the afternoon eating our box lunches together then walked some of the trails and explored a bit.


Text by Mona E. Dunn