Journeys in Ladakh, Part IV: With the Lama in Lamayuru

After driving along those vertiginous mountain roads, we ended up in the village of Lamayuru where the monastery, in a spectacular setting, overlooks the valley below. The mud-brick village houses are set amongst long mani walls--mani, as pictured here, are century-old stones with Buddhist mantras etched on them.

As we waited for the morning prayer at 5:30, the sun was already shining blindingly and casting deep shadows on the rocks. Meanwhile, the local villagers kept coming by with their prayer wheels and beads. I took pictures of several of them (they eagerly charged around 25 cents; no one here is immune to the effects of tourism).

You will notice that there were no young folks among them. While the village is not entirely composed of the old, they are squarely in the majority; most young people escape to seek more profitable employment than working the barley fields. And so the traditional way of life in Ladakh might be on the outs.

However, new Buddhists are always there to take over--as we got to Lamayuru, we met a couple from St. Petersburg who informed us that eighty more of our ex-countrymen--aspiring or practicing Buddhists, or simply spiritual seekers from Russia and Ukraine, were about to descend on this little village, to hear a talk by the head lama and then to continue on to a distant valley for teachings by no other than the Dalai Lama.

Yes, we were in close proximity to His Holiness, though we didn't have time to go commune with him. And, just as with unsuspecting tourists in Rhinebeck, NY on the day of Chelsea Clinton's wedding, it would disrupt our travels a fair bit...

But we did listen to the second-order lama's talk--which took the place of the morning prayer--and despite nodding off a bit, tried to internalize his message of non-attachment and aspiring to a higher reality. Afterward, some Russian ladies heatedly discussed the benefits of a certain kind of linoleum in their apartment renovation, to our unholy merriment. We were very hungry for breakfast. Despite the promise that each person can achieve Buddhahood in their lifetime, our group was not yet prepared.