The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya at Boudhanath is said to grant wishes to those who ask with faith and devotion. Five years ago, I made the journey to Nepal to try my luck. My root guru passed away before I met him, (you’d have to understand the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to know what I mean by that) and I was looking for a live teacher to guide me on the Buddhist path.
Walking around the generous stupa, crossing my fingers for a teacher, I was suddenly shocked awake by a realization. Like that scene in Charade when Cary Grant’s character suddenly realizes that the $100,000 he is looking for is pasted on the mysterious envelope: the stamp is worth thousands. I suddenly realize, as the stupa starts spinning around me and the blood rushes to my head: what a silly girl. I have a teacher. He lives a one-minute walk from here, at a monastery near the stupa. All at once I understand the significance of the term “power places” and how the mind is somehow more able to tune in.
I had totally forgotten that seven years earlier, I asked Thrangu Rinpoche to be my teacher. He had smiled brightly, sat up straight, and said, “I accept.”
And I promptly forgot about it because I got so busy with my life.
Next morning Rinpoche’s radiant smile welcomed me into his private room.
“Nice to see you,” he said.
Flash forward five years, to Last week while I was attending teachings with Thrangu Rinpoche. Again, the stupa did not disappoint. While wishing for an insight into the nature of mind, I had a moment of pure peace and contentment.
Diary of a Pilgrim 