Buddhas in Exile

Why are my statues waiting out on the balcony? Together with banal things like a clothes hanging rack? It's because their shrine is being exchanged. A new one is being built up by my dear husband. What would I do without him? He should be able to build up a furniture like this, because his job is customer service in a furniture store. -- Last night we were on a party, seeing dear friends. There were so many people with at least 30 kids. It was an outdoor party at 55° F. There was a tent with a gas heater, but this tent was open at 3 sides, so our legs got a little cold. But later, the host made a fire in a steel basket, so we stood around the fire like homeless people around an old gas barrel. The food was delicious, the musik was too loud to have a conversation, so some people had fun. I enjoyed most of all sitting near the fire. Until his morning we smelled like charcoal burners.
Here is the built-up "shrine" in the shop:

And the finished setup on Sunday afternoon.

Tibetan Weekend

Surprisingly, our Lama Ontul Rinpoche came to stay over the weekend. He had visited Estonia and Russia, together with his son, who is also a high incarnation. Ontul Rinpoche is sitting in the middle of the picture, next to the young monk in orange robes, his son. It was so good to see him. He asked me how I am, I said "okay", but then I told him about my husband's job problem and mine with the tone that won't let me sleep. I've been working hard with my mind, speech and body, sitting on a cushion, reciting mantras, meditating. The tone is almost gone now, and this morning, my husband got a call from his -- hopefully -- future company to talk to them tomorrow.

The monks in the picture are mostly refugees from Tibet; some came just recently across the montains, they fled from China. Many of the boys have lost one parent or both. The parents of some are too poor or too sick to earn a living. Our Lama's wife (standing, grey dress) coordinates the sponsoring of the monks and nuns. This Lama is not a monk (he used to be when he was young), but a married ordained person which is possible in most Tibetan orders. Everyone makes his own choice whether to take celibacy vows or not. All these boys will decide whether to keep the vows or put them down when they will be about 18 or 20 years old. Being married is not an obstacle to receiving highest initiations.