Butter lamps alight for the New Year, which started December 11th in Ladakh. Ladakh’s New Year celebrations start nearly two month prior to Tibet’s festivities. Learn the reason behind this divergent tradition below the jump.
Dear Friends,
It is New Year’s time in Ladakh. Butter lamps are burning brightly in homes, monasteries, and public spaces to usher in happiness, freedom from suffering, and new beginnings. In the evening, people light torches and move around in their homes warding off evil spirits and removing obstacles to a harmonious home life.
Dispelling darkness with lamps and torches is an apt metaphor for the mission of the Siddhartha School Project. We are a small but committed community of nearly 500 people who each bring an enlightened belief that a good education will brighten, not only the minds of the of the over 350 students annually served, but also spark new opportunities and reveal new approaches to age old problems.
Khen Rinpoche sees Ladakh as at a crossroads. The challenge for his students now, as he sees it, is to look beyond what Ladakhi people have done professionally, and search out deliberately the dark spaces – to find the voids in service and social realization so our graduates take on new roles, as entrepreneurs, social workers, and policy shapers. Rinpoche, in a speech last year to the graduating class, encouraged them to do their best not to merely ensure a good job for themselves individually, but to take up a profession that would benefit their community.
They are clearly taking Rinpoche’s call to heart. In anticipation of the new year and in contemplation of what they will do after graduation, here are just a few examples from their essays. It is heart warming to hear their plans, as they are focused on serving others and helping Ladakh.
“I want to make an old age home in Leh, as some families are moving away from villages and leaving older people behind without much care at all. They live in the footpaths, forgotten and this shows a lack of vision. I want to correct this by giving older people, Ladakh’s grandmothers and grandfathers, a good place to stay, a place where young people can visit and care for them, as well as learn from them.”
—Jigmet Angmo (A), 2015 graduate and fellowship recipient
“I think it is our responsibility to make our world bright. My aim is to become a social worker and help people consumed with alcohol problems become good people again. I want to spread awareness to stop drinking in my society as part of an anti-alcohol movement. Today I can say all of this because of my school, I want better things for my people, and I am a bolder about taking action because of my teachers, sponsor, and Khen Rinpoche. I am grateful to them for teaching me to think of others and find helping others as the greatest benefit to seek in life.”
—Stanzin Yangdol, 2015 graduate and fellowship recipient
“My dream, firstly, is to become a good human being. Without my humanity and empathy to feel others’ suffering, I will not become the good doctor that I aim to be. I want to be an ophthalmologist to cure people of eye diseases, which are so common due to pollution and sun exposure in Ladakh. I love sciences because they open us to a world not seen with the naked eye. In the hands of a good, caring person, they can make life better for people suffering from disease.”
—Jigmet Lhamo, 2015 graduate and fellowship recipient
“I would like to join the armed forces because they have a leadership component to their training. They also do work in Ladakh to improve the roads and bridges, and we very much need that, especially in villages like my own. I see this as a good step to my ultimate goal, to hold a political office in the state government so I can represent and advocate for the needs of my people.”
—Jigmet Lhamo (B), 2015 graduate and fellowship recipient
The 2015 Siddhartha School graduating class poses for a picture with their white ‘kataks,’ draped around their necks. The white scarves are given to each student in respect for their achievement.
Lives are changing. Opportunities are growing and, with that, we are witnessing an emerging culture of responsibility as Siddhartha School children work hard to give back to their community and plan their career paths. Your generosity inspires these Ladakhi youth to do their very best in their studies, to appreciate their history and heritage, and to take an active role in shaping Ladakh’s future.
The inspiration to innovate is at the heart of the Ladakhis’ Losar tradition, which is held almost 2 months prior to that of the Tibetans to their east and in exiled communities. Ladakhi historians tell us that, when the 18th century King of Ladakh, Jamyang Namgyal, was setting out on an expedition against the Baltistan forces, he was advised by his oracles to wait until the next year. Rather than resigning himself to a long delay, he moved up the New Year celebrations 2 months. Since then, it has become a tradition in Ladakh to celebrate Losar in the tenth month of the year, two months earlier than the Tibetans do.
I like this story because of the ingenious idea to change the luck of a kingdom by resetting the rules. Rather than accept a forecast of fortune, the king did something no one expected, and revised the tradition to work for the benefit of his people. The story is a potent reminder that fresh thinking is often necessary to address the forces that may otherwise conquer us. For Ladakh, leaders like Khen Rinpoche have taken bold steps to re-envision education, even when the odds and the experts have said it would not be fruitful. We make our luck…by doing good deeds, by giving generously, and by finding pragmatic solutions. Your support, your effort, your kindness, your care inspires our students and staff to keep striving, improving, and working to realize their full potential and lead Ladakh without abandoning the past. After all, the King did not cancel Losar, he just moved it to make more sense with his aim and, in doing so, he made a distinctively Ladakhi tradition.
With great appreciation,
Laura
Khen Rinpoche Welcomes His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tashi Lhungpo to Inaugurate the New Prayer Hall
Khen Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness arrives at Tashi Lhungpo Monastery on December 18th to bless the new dunhuang (main prayer hall) Khen Rinpoche’s key project as abbot.
The Siddhartha School Project would like to congratulate Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, our founder and director emeritus. We may all know his work as supporters of the Siddhartha School in Ladakh, but this is just one aspect of his central role in preserving and protecting the ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in 21st Century India.
While working tirelessly for the children’s school in Ladakh, he has also recently completed the main prayer hall project at Tashi Lhungpo, his monastery in South India. On December 19th, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will consecrate the temple for in the presence of thousands of dignitaries, pilgrims, and supporters.
I am humbled when I pause to think of the significance of this event for Khen Rinpoche. The Tashi Lhunpo temple was founded by the first Dalai Lama in 1447 in Shigatse, Tibet. In 1972, the temple went into exile in South India to occupy a central position in the Tibetan settlement of Bylakuppe. Today, more than 350 monks including many Tulkus (reincarnate lamas) live, study and perform rituals there. Now, the 14th (and possibly final) incarnation of the Dalai Lama is coming to Bylakuppe to bless and consecrate the new Dukhang (Prayer Hall). The honor for Khen Rinpoche, Abbot of the monastery, is immense.
The growth of Tashi Lhungpo Monastery and Siddhartha School demonstrate Rinpoche’s practical wisdom and solid commitment to helping young people flourish in 21st Century India, whether they be Himalayans from his native Ladakh or young monastics at Tashi Lhungpo.
Rinpoche, we wish you a successful and auspicious inauguration, a long life and some rest after the events in Bylakuppe come to a close.
Siddhartha School Children Gather Donations for #GivingTuesday; Raise over $3, 240 with the 2 to 1 Match
Inspired by #GivingTuesday, Siddhartha School children collected over $1,080 USD from the community to raise a total of $3,240 with the 2 to 1 match for the scholarship campaign. Students plan to use this money to buy sports equipment for the new games ground behind the main classrooms.
2015 GivingTuesday Campaign: Generous donors bring in over $81, 725 for the Siddhartha School Scholarship Fund
We’d like to thank the over 64 people who have given so far to this vital fund, more than double the number who participated in last year’s #GivingTuesday appeal for SSP. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support.
This campaign is the best way to help Siddhartha School at this time. Many of our most financially challenged students depend on scholarships if they are not personally sponsored and still others depend on this fund to keep tuition affordable and in line with their incomes.
If you have yet to make a gift, we hope you will make one. Any amount, no matter the size will make a difference at this time as we are so close to reaching our online goal of $30,000 USD.
You can make a secure, online, tax deductible gift in any amount. Or, consider sponsoring a child’s tuition for less than a dollar a day. Please give what you can.
All gifts are tax deductible and make a significant impact on improving the lives and future opportunities for the children we serve.
