Conversations with My Guru Chapter 1: Our First Meeting

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Conversations with My Guru Chapter 1 Our First
Meeting Introduction This is the first of a
series of stories that are reflections of
experiences with my root Guru, Singha Rinpoche.
To enable a certain honesty, these are written
with the pen name, Tenzin. Some stories are my
own experiences and some of other students. The
traditional method of applying the Buddhas
teachings to our lives can be likened to daily
medicinal tonic, a slow, gradual process through
listening, contemplating and meditating. But
Rinpoches methods are sometimes more like
injections, or even surgery. Fast acting but
possibly dangerous, both for him and the
student. I now consider myself very fortunate to
have experienced everything - from receiving a
severe scolding from him to being present during
difficult and frustrating situations. These have
been life changing. These stories are recounted
mostly to remind myself of my Gurus kindness and
his unceasing motivation to benefit others
regardless of his actions. (So if I ever see
faults in him, may these serve as a reminder and
as an antidote to my monkey mind, and hopefully
yours too). Our First Meeting Singha Rinpoche -
Lama Felix as he was known then - emerged from
his restaurant kitchen where he was proprietor,
in a singlet, sweaty from cooking and said, I am
going to start teaching Buddhism . I replied,
Can I come and what do I have to bring?.
Bring your body, speech and mind. He did not
look like the typical Buddhist teacher, but
appearances can be deceiving. To be
approachable, this was his appearance. We only
realised that perhaps he was someone important,
when we went to Kopan Monastery in Nepal with him
years later and monks prostrated to him as he
walked around the monastery. He could have lived
a more predictable and simpler life as a Lama at
a monastery but his teachers had told him to
remain a lay person to benefit more
people. Although his café was very popular (the
food was VERY good), Rinpoche was instructed by
his Gurus to shut his restaurant down and start
teaching. How many of us would even consider
doing that? Give up our livelihood for which we
have trained and start doing something with no
salary just because our Guru said so? This was
an introduction to how seriously he takes his
Gurus instructions not be a monastic but also
not have a worldly occupation. When he taught
the Lam-Rim teachings about the importance of
following the instructions of the Guru, we could
be certain that the teaching was authentic - he
is a living example after all.
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At the end of the first teaching I attended,
others were giving him a white scarf to say thank
you. I felt I should say thank you. But I was
also very conflicted, for Buddhism was not the
religion of my birth and changing religions is
not trivial. I went up to Rinpoche and he said,
you are Buddhist inside. My worries melted and
I felt a load lifted. I have experienced and
heard him on many occasions say just the right
thing at the right time some of you have
experienced that too, as illustrated in the book
My Gurus Words. All these experiences have
taught me that his words are not to be taken
lightly. Many of us are fortunate to spend quite
a bit of time with him (unlike other high Lamas
who we might meet for a few minutes a year at
best) but this also means we run the risk of
underestimating the importance of his
instructions and advice. I have certainly made
that mistake very often and now try not to take
these for granted. Tenzin 29 Aug 2021