Just when you were living yet another uneventful day......

The craziest thing happened to me today.

But first let me provide you with some relevant information regarding Buddhism:

*Be compassionate, put others before yourself
*The universe will provide for you when you are on the right path, that is to say, we always get exactly what we need.
*No event is by chance.
*What goes around, comes around (aka-Karma)
*Monks live in monasteries and have no belongings. Everything they receive (funds) usually go to the monastic community.

Today I was walking around Kathmandu, having just visited the famous Durbar square with all its monuments and temples. From behind me I heard a friendly "Tashi Delek" (which means Hello in Tibetan). This actually caught my attention (usually I ignore the million hellos I get in a day because they're almost always followed up with "rickshaw, madam", "trekking information", "you like look in my store" etc) because in Kathmandu, this is not a common phrase. Napalese is quite close to Hindi and "Namaste" is the general term. I was joined in stride by an older Asian man who claimed to recognize me from Dharamsala. I nodded, surprised and also a little ashamed because I definitely didn't remember him from any particular encounter I had there. At first I thought he just got lucky and assumed that, with the Buddhist symbol I have on my bag, I had been there. But he then mentioned that he had seen me at the Karmapa's monestary. He was one of the yellow-capped monks from the monastery and had taken part in the puja(see photo) I had been watching (as I recall, I was probaby lingering around there for a good hour). A bit blown away by the fact that this monk remembered me, I had no objections to him accompanying me on my walk to Nepali Immigration. We got to chatting and he mentioned, in a whisper, that he was trying to get to Lhasa. When I asked him where he was staying he kind of shrugged it off and mentioned that he wasn't. When I told him that I had been feeling sick he immediately removed the red ribbon he had around his neck and gave it to me, mentioning that I now had the blessings of the Karmapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I felt honoured and humbled by his simple gesture. When I told him I was from Vancouver, he mentioned that he, as one of the Karmapa's 25 monks, would be making a trip there next March and that I could sit beside my new friend during his teachings. I was excited at the opportunity this would present for me to meet the Karmapa again, not to mention the fact that I could actually sit with the monks! It seems to me that every conversation I get into ends with the person wanting money from me. And sure enough, this time was no different. But the one thing that was, was the fact that Norbu Dorje Lama actually never asked for help. He was trying to get to Lhasa to see his mother who is ill. He has requested that the Chinese allow him entry and they told him to come back with XXX Yen and they would let him in and drive him to the Tibetan capital. This is a crazy, pretty much impossible amount of money to ask of a monk. He just kept saying how happy he was that he had found me and kept saying occasional prayers to the heavens as we cruised the streets of Kathmandu. So we walked for a while and the thought that this was some crazy guy who has come up with a really good story to con yet another foreigner crossed my mind many many times. But this guy was walking around with nothing but the clothes on his back and a few rupees in his pocket and just as the thought was in the process of crossing my frontal lobe for the 17th time, he stopped mid sentence to help a blind man across the street. Was Buddha trying to tell me something?

I listened to my heart and I followed the signs and I decided to help Norbu out and give him the money. He had many offerings and promises for me for when we meet again in Canada, but I won't hold him to it, I know he'll do that himself. I don't ask for anything in return except for the confirmation that the words exchanged between us were the truth..... and that will only come if and when we meet again.

It blows my mind how life worked out for Norbu today, and I'm pretty sure he's thinking the same thing. He says he's been waiting 49 years to meet me and today he did, at exactly the right moment. As for me, we'll wait and see what the Buddha has in store. I hope that I can show Norbu and his lama posse around our world when they come. He asked me if I had a boat as he made paddling gestures with his hands....he really has no idea. He also said that he and a few other lamas would come to my house and create a thangka painting for me.....I'd love a snapshot of that.

So that was my good deed of the day. I followed that up by walking into a Trekking agency and yelling and swearing at the guy there for 30 minutes for ripping me off.

Peaks and valleys, I guess.