Built On Respect » Meeting My Hero

Meeting My Hero

SamaSource has arrived! Rohan, one of the fellows from SamaSource arrived in Dharamsala two days ago.

Today, we met with the program manager and started to get the plan in action. We will be selecting the first students this week!

Also, I took my first break. I went with my friend Ngodup, the teacher at Institute of Tibetan Thangka Art to Bir, an area about 2 hours away from Dharamsala. We took the motorcycles, and rode up into the mountains.

Today, after class, I was on the path next to the classroom talking to my friend Kypa from Jamste in Action. As I looked up the hill, I saw Palden Gyatso walking down the path. If you are not familiar with him, he is an elderly monk who was a political prisoner. He was one of the first to write a book of his harrowing experiences, called Fire Under the Snow. If you have seen the documentary, Cry of the Snow Lion, you saw Palden onstage, before the Rage Against the Machine set, showing the torture devices he smuggled from Tibet on stage. These are now on display in the museum at the main temple.

Palden is a perfect example of the strength of the human spirit. Tomorrow, Kyipa and I will visit him for tea.