Khenpo Kunkhyab’s teachings in our first class happened to be brief, yet impactful. It was important to Khenpo Kunkhyab that we learn the foundations of Buddhism before we learn about the Himalayan Buddhist practices. The teachings began with the story of a young prince who had not experienced what life was like beyond the gates of his castle. When he went into the town he faced the discovery of three things: those who were elderly, those who were inflicted with an illness, and those who were dead. The young prince became critically aware of the critical points in life that are the human condition. He was incredibly distraught by the knowledge that one day he would face all of these realities, he eventually left his home to find the cure for each of these discoveries. Through his endeavors to pursue a higher education, he found that not one teacher had the answer to cure old age, illness, and death. The young prince soon realized that if he could not find the answer, he must look to what the causes of these sufferings were. He practiced with meditation teachers and wanted to learn how to be completely liberated from suffering until he realized that his efforts did not provide the results he had hoped for. It was not until he sat with himself and experienced the feeling of emptiness that he felt some relief. These feelings of emptiness were not uncomfortable for the young prince as he understood the meaning. This meaning of emptiness refers to the understanding of a defined separation from the physical world and our mind. The realization of interdependence from hopes and fears, along with the gratitude and compassion in ourselves and toward others. This was how he became “enlightened” or what is better known today as the Buddha. When he reached this state, he committed the rest of his life to teaching others what he had learned about suffering and sharing how he achieved his liberation.

Khenpo Kunkhyab was able to relay this foundational story of the young prince becoming enlightened for us as students to recognize the suffering that we directly experience in our own lives. This recognition of the suffering we experience invokes us as students to look at the causes and the steps necessary to overcome them. It was heavily emphasized by Khenpo that this understanding of Buddhism requires us to carefully learn what is taught by the Buddha and determine for ourselves whether or not it is true. While the first class was short, it was important for us as students to question in our own lives how we might overcome suffering and find compassion and love within ourselves. As class ended it left me with more questions than answers, questions that I hope we all may find the answers to when we finish our course.

We attended the Shree Mangal DVIP Boarding School (SMD) where we had our first introduction to engagement with the local school. The eminent Tibetan lama, Kehnchen Thrangu Rinpoche founded SMD to meet the needs of children from remote underdeveloped Himalayan Villages where there is no access to education. The students are Mongolian in origin and are identified as an ethnic and religious minority in a country that continues to be dominated by a conservative form of Hinduism. With the implementation of the caste system under civil law, no government has ever considered the livelihood of the marginalized Himalayan communities. Thrangu Rinpoche’s schools address the needs of Himalayan people, as the school offers free education and full care for free. The main school follows the government curriculum enriched by instructions and the preservation of the Tibetan language and Himalayan culture. With Thrangu Rinpoche’s passing in the Summer of 2023, the school has been holding the traditions that he implemented, which we were able to experience in our initial engagements. With our initial visit, we were able to learn more about the history and importance of the school for the young Himalayan folk. Along with this, we were able to split into groups and introduce ourselves to the classrooms in which we will be engaging with students. The group I was assigned to (along with Sadie, Kiana, and Haylie) was a classroom of students they refer to as “nursery” which is the equivalent of preschool. We were warmly welcomed by the students with an impressive performance of English rhyme songs! I do not even think I knew these rhymes in another language at that age, it was incredible. Although our engagement with the students was brief, I was overwhelmed by their enthusiasm and excitement to also be engaging with us. As we begin to engage with the students at SMD, I am discovering how much more I am learning from them!