Saturday, May 22, 2010

Another Disaster





It is another sad day this morning as a plane crashed in Southern India, killing about 160 people on board. The plane was arriving Mangalore airport from Dubai when it over shot a hilltop runway, crashed and burst into flames.

Mother Earth needs healing. For all healing practitioners, let us all spend some moments each day to send healing energies back to Mother Earth. Let us all put our hearts together to say a prayer every morning when we rise and every evening before we retire.

For those who are familiar with the Twin Heart Meditation, let us humbly request the Universal Supreme Being to invoke Its divine blessings for light, love, illumination and protection. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Despair … hope. Where there is darkness … light. Sadness … YOU. With thanks and in full faith, so be it!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Yushu Here I Come


Plans are brewing, the date has been set. 2nd July I will be heading to Yushu. I do not know what is in store, where I will live, how I will cope both physically and emotionally when I next see Yushu.

To prepare for this trip, I am at the moment brewing Rose Roots (Hong Jing Tian) to consume daily for the next one month plus. This herb helps in both chi and blood circulation. It helps to keep our body in better condition thus aiding in minimizing altitude sickness. I cant say it will eliminate altitude sickness as some of my friends who went with me to Yushu last year were also on Rose Roots but they had some minor challenges with the thin air.

This year’s travel is made easy with the new airport in service. Last year I spent 18 hours on the road from Xining to Yushu. It was certainly a very arduous and perilous journey but, believe me, it was worth all the discomforts and anxieties (narrow, winding roads). The sceneries were breathtaking. Stretching out into the horizon were multitudes of mustard fields, green mountains on one stretch of road and black mountains on another stretch. All these were real and yet seemed so very unreal. It was like driving through some illustrations in a fairy tale book. For any first timers into Yushu I would strongly encourage them to take the road instead of flying into Yushu.

I will need to do a lot of homework before I go. I have to make sure I have many many camera batteries, all fully charged, because I may end up staying in tents with no electricity to do the charging. More than anything else I have to be prepared for the unprepared.

Song dedicate to the victims of Kyegudo Earthquake

Friday, May 14, 2010

2012 ???


Today is 14 May, a month has gone by since the Yushu Earthquake. It may seem a long time and many have put this quake behind them and the people of Yushu are picking up their pieces and getting back into their life. My friend, Kunsang, has gone cordyceps harvesting about 10 days back. Life goes on.

I watched the movie “2012” this morning. It brought torrents of emotions as it brought my imagination to live of what the people of Yushu experienced. For the past month I only heard the news, read the papers, saw all the horrid pictures on the internet and listened to the Tibetan songs dedicated to all the earthquake victims. All these were filtered news i.e. we did not see the actual collapse of buildings, we did not see the fear on their faces, we did not see the grief of these people seeing their loved ones perished.

This morning I lived through the sorrows and nightmares of our friends in Yushu as I watched “2012”. Because the Yushu earthquake is still so fresh, there had been times during the day that I mistook the show “2012” as something real and I would go into the ‘sad mode’ once again. It’s time I pick up the pieces and go into gear of how and what we can do to help the people of Yushu.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Song dedicated to the children of Yushu Earthquake Tibet_Yangchuk Tso

"Small legs lost between the stones

Mother`s lap suddenly got cold

Weeping, shouting to father and mother

I fear, I tremble

FATHER/MOTHER_MOTHER/FATHER

My black hair coverd by the dust

My small body squeezed by the wall

MOTHER/FATHER_FATHER/MOTHER

Please! Search me once with your eyes

MOTHER/FATHER_FATHER/MOTHER

Please! Hold me once with your hands

Small flower destroyed by the storm

Mother`s song suddenly got cut off

Suffering pain, hopelessly

I feel cold, i feel hungry

FATHER/MOTHER_MOTHER/FATHER

My little playground is destroyed

My brethern, friends are pushed seperated

MOTHER/FATHER_FATHER/MOTHER

Please! Call my name once

MOTHER/FATHER_FATHER/MOTHER

Please! Kiss me once

MOTHER_MOTHER/FATHER"

With thanks to: Gangthuk Tibet Boedpa for posting it into his Facebook.

Translation from Tibetan to English by JIGDO

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=572356653#!/profile.php?id=100000750113271&v=wall&story_fbid=124564594225855

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Yushu - After The Quake - What Next!

Three weeks into the Yushu earthquake and as news disappear from the world’s front pages, survivors’ needs increase. Temperatures are still at sub zero. They still lack the very basic necessities of warm clothings, blankets, fuel for cooking etc. They are living on meager food supplies and are driniking water from unsafe sources.

Those who survived the quake are psychologically traumatised. When they are awake they are nervous and when they fall asleep nightmares haunt them. Many of them are suicidal. They face an uncertain future after losing all that they have – family members and their homes.

No amount is too small as a gift to the people of Yushu. For every dollar you will be able to provide a bowl of warm meal, a bottle of clean water or even something to keep them warm. Below is an estimate of what your contributions can do for them :

* A jacket costs : 2 USD.
* A blanket costs : 2.40 USD.
* A toothbrush costs : 0.15 USD.
* One ton of coal costs : 51 USD.
* 20 * 500ml bottled water : 2.20 USD.
* Flashlight : 2.90 USD.

An orphanage, a clinic and library will be built on the grounds of former Norling Library. Norling Library was the brain child of Minam Rinpoche. It was a four storey building which stood proudly in the town of Yushu. Many people, especially children, thronged this library daily.

If you wish to be part of the Norling Library – Orphanage – Clinic project, let’s join hands with Minam Rinpoche to make Yushu a better place for the people of Yushu.