With nearly 1,000 monastic centres and millions of followers worldwide, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1000-year-old Drukpa Order has one aim — to promote universal harmony and inner peace
How do you remain of the world, and yet be untouched by it? Be a monk at heart, yet understand the pressing issues of the current times? How do you understand traditions, yet embrace modern practices like an excited youngster? But maybe when you are an evolved spiritual leader, it all flows easy, just like the mountain air that he breathes in every day.
For His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1000-year-old Drukpa Order based in the Himalayas, with around 1,000 monastic centres and millions of followers worldwide, shows the depth and serenity of the scenic Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh. For not too far from it is the awardwinning Druk White Lotus School, which provides its students with a modern education, while preserving their local culture. And the school does exactly what it shows in the movie 3 Idiots.
Ask His holiness about the school and his love for it reflects on his face. “Modern education is very important to equip children with necessary skills to live in the modern world. However, this must be rooted in their own culture and tradition, which have a specific connection with spirituality, a respect to nature as well as a positive attitude towards their families and other beings — education on interdependence of all things and all beings,” he says adding how this kind of education on the interdependence seems to be lacking in modern education. According to him, this may prove to be dangerous later on as children grow up. “Selfish attitude is normally the result of failure of understanding such interdependence,” he says.
such interdependence,” he says. But the school is just one of the many things that he puts his energies into.
Eight years back, His Holiness found a call that he felt had to be answered. And that was the birth of international NGO Live to Love. Ask him what motivated him to start it and he explains gently, “It was initially an in-house concept for me to motivate myself and my followers to come out of their comfortable meditation rooms and ashrams so that we can interact with others.”
The idea of Live to Love, he adds, is simply compassion in action. “I decided to call it Live to Love because it is easy to remember and understand. ‘Live’ is a continuous progress of living and ‘love’ is a positive way to interact with others. Live to Love basically carries the message of a continuous positive way to interact with others”.
The work that began in 2007 with schools and communities gradually expanded to include involvement of general public. For instance, Live to Love’s annual month-long Eco Pad Yatra, where members pick up non-biodegradable garbage on the way, has become an international event. The oranisation’s education programme, which includes schools and talks about gender equality, too, has caught the attention of the public through students’ academic and extracurricular achievements. In the past years, Live to Love has organised medical camps, a million-tree planting initiative, relief aid in disaster-struck areas and supporting museums in the Himalayas.
Today, the NGO works in five different areas (education, environmental sustainability, medical, relief aid, and heritage preservation) and has brand ambassadors such as Aamir Khan, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Reis. They not just participate in the NGO’s work but also help to promote and raise funds and awareness, besides donating to the different projects.
And although Live to Love works in several areas, environmental sustainability is the closest to His Holiness’ heart. “Natural disasters are taking place not because they are ‘natural’; they are results of manmade carelessness and unending greed. We have been abusing our environment for far too long,” he says. His Holiness feels it is time for us to heal the environment through reducing our reliance on non-biodegradable products so that such wastage is minimized; through planting trees; using green energy; and being vegetarians, amongst others.
What is also fascinating is his clarity of thought on how he wants to see positive changes in things around him.
That said, however, he has had his share of struggles. Take, for instance, the fact that he was taken away from his parents and sent to Darjeeling when he was all of four, when it was found that he was a reincarnate child.
The life of a reincarnate teacher, he says, is quite challenging.
Not only because of the responsibilities of taking care of monasteries, monks, nuns and lay devotees, but also because of the need to go under strict training at a young age, away from parents, almost alone. “There was no childhood. I can even say that you become an instant adult with responsibilities from centuries or lifetimes the minute you are recognised.”
The difficult training started when he was between five and 13 years. The Holiness had eight tutors who were extremely strict and demanding and he had to learn alone, without any company. “I remember being beaten so much once that I fainted. There are high standards for a reincarnate child to abide by, including mannerisms and studies,” he shares.
What is interesting is that His Holiness’ parents did all they could to keep him under wraps. “They were so worried that I would be recognised as a reincarnate guru that they never stayed long at one place. So apprehensive were they of my being recognised that they dressed me in grey or dark coloured clothes and never allowed me to wear any red or yellow dress,” he shares. The couple was able to carry on the evasive act for over three years. But like they say, a vessel can hold water but no vessel can hold gossip.
The young boy showed special signs from early on. “I remember wherever there was a table, I liked to climb on it and sit cross-legged on it. As they say, ‘The goat and guru like high places’. At that time I didn’t have the title of a guru but it seems I had the mind of a guru. I also liked to place my hand on the head of people and pretend to bless them. Some humble people would act like they were receiving blessing and when others did not do so I would wonder why they didn’t take blessing. When I think back, it seems I had an inborn faith in something called blessing. I also remember having a small inherent thought of helping others,” he says.
Years rolled by and the little boy grew into a young teacher with a clear mind. Today His Holiness travels extensively to many parts of the world to conduct spiritual discourses and retreats. Ask him about the turning point in his life and he says, “There have been many, but the most significant one is the realisation that compassion, loving-kindness and all these beautiful concepts should be transformed into actions, instead of leaving them as just beautiful thoughts and intentions.”
To balance the emotional, spiritual and practical, he has a simple formula. “Living in the present helps to balance everything in life. I try not to think about the past, nor worry about the future.”
Talking of the present, His Holiness firmly believes that the world needs to see the interconnectivity of everything. For instance, if we realise that by polluting the air, we will all end up having no fresh air and eventually getting sick, what use would be earning lots of money through such pollution? “Peace, harmony, happiness, and joy — all these come from a genuine understanding of interconnectivity and practice of respect and appreciation,” he feels.
When he travels the world, interacts with different people, he has one important message to share, “Be happy about what you have, don’t complain about what you don’t have. Be understanding, kind and appreciative of everything, including the difficult experiences, because the process of life is learning and a great chance to enrich oneself.”
You can’t speak to a spiritual guru and not ask him the secret to happiness. “Real happiness comes from enjoying and appreciating the process of life. Happiness is not a goal to be achieved, if you look for happiness as a goal, you are looking at the wrong place. Happiness is a process,” he says.
Food for thought, we say!