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PILGRIMS
FLOCK TO INDIA FOR BUDDHIST "DRAGON" CELEBRATION
AFP,
Sat Jul 21, 1:36
AM ET (Text: AFP/Tripti Lahiri; Photos: AFP/Manpreet Romana)
 SHEY,
India (AFP) - Pilgrims from as far afield as Malaysia and Mexico
have flocked to India's isolated region of Ladakh this week for
celebrations to mark 800 years of the "dragon" sect of
Tibetan Buddhism.
The
events have included hours of chants and prayers around the
44-year-old Gyalwang Drukpa, the head of the Dragon lineage, plus a
more contemporary song contest inspired by his motto, "Live to
Love."
"It
was like love at first sight," said pilgrim Trent Williamson,
who embraced the faith after meeting the Gyalwang Drukpa in
Williamson's native Australia.
"Mentally
I stopped killing. Even if there was a mosquito on me I didn't kill
it," said the Australian, who took the Tibetan name Jigme Kunga
Shonu or "Fearless Youth Loved by All."
Williamson,
who works as a music producer in Sydney, won the song contest with a
cheerful tune entitled: "In this world of great despair, the
dragon man is here."
The
Drukpa or 'dragon' sect was founded in the 13th century and is a
part of the Kagyupa tradition, one of the four main schools of
Tibetan Buddhism.
The
Gelukpa line, headed by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai
Lama, established its presence in mountainous Ladakh first. But the
Drukpa order gained favor under Ladakh's Namgyal royal dynasty in
the 17th century.
 Cristina
Pandal, 61, who traveled to the scorching, high-altitude lunar
landscape of Ladakh from Mexico City, said she had embraced Buddhism
after tiring of the more organized Christian churches.
"Jesus
had the same teachings but I don't believe much in the church and
its rules and the way the teachings get manipulated -- there's too
much guilt," said Pandal.
The
Drukpa leader has about 10,000 foreign followers outside of South
Asia, according to Drukpa Trust volunteer Lynne Chiang, who is
Malaysian.
Many
Malaysians made the journey to the Naro Photang Puspahari temple in
Shey, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Ladakh's main town of Leh, for
this week's celebrations.
Among
them was a man introduced Thursday as "a godfather of Asian
pop" -- record producer Chow Kam Leong, who also took part in
the song contest.
 But
in spite of their evident reverence for the Gyalwang Drukpa, not all
are completely open about their beliefs in their home countries.
Williamson
said that he preferred not to tell too many in Australia -- outside
of close friends -- that he follows a Buddhist master.
"Australians
are very afraid of things that they don't know," he said.
"They judge you. I'd rather not have the trouble."
Pandal
said fellow Mexicans did find her Buddhist path strange but she
didn't let it bother her.
"I
respect everybody's choices in life," she shrugged.
"But
I have found my way."
©
AFP |
