-Mladen Gorchev, BA student from Bulgaria

“For the sake of which disciple should I manifest?” “Through which method should I train them?” “Which activity of training should be applied?” “To which place of living of a disciple should I go?” “And when should I do so? What is the appropriate time?” Any ideation in terms of such questions does not occur and there is no movement initiated by deliberate effort. For this reason, the activity of a Muni, a perfect buddha, always manifests spontaneously.”–Excerpt from Uttarantra Sastra by Maitreya 

In this short article, I wanted to write a few words about my teacher who passed away a few weeks ago. Specifically, I wanted to write about how his activity, as it seems, manifested exactly as needed for the particular person. This sort of “spontaneous” activity is something which is discussed extensively in the seventh vajra point – Activity (Tib. འཕྲིན་ལས; Wyl. ‘phrin las; Rom. Trinle), that is covered in the text on Buddha Nature – Ratnagotravibhāga (or Uttaratantra) by Maitreya / Asanga, that we studied last semester at Rangjung Yeshe Institute. The purpose of writing about this is to bring some inspiration. 

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were driving back home, around 800km, from southern Germany, from the place where our beloved teacher, Lama Ole, was residing back then and where he eventually passed away a few days later. We were driving with a friend of ours who was also coming back from there, and we started sharing inspiring stories about our teacher. Such stories about him abound, since so many people have experienced something unique in his presence. One of these stories, which our friend heard from someone else, is that, some years ago, while our teacher was in Russia, he and some of his students were driving to the next town where Lama Ole was to give teachings.They were driving in the deep part of the country where the distance between populated areas is substantial. During that time, a thick fog appeared over the road, making it very difficult to see. A student of Ole was driving at the time, while Ole was engaged in work (probably answering mail, since it was done before email). At some point, Lama Ole said to the driver, “Now you drive 150 here,” and, of course, for the average person, given the weather conditions, there was a lot to process when someone told you this. It is definitely not something one has learned while preparing for their driving theory test. Regardless, even though the person might have hesitated, he most probably had deep trust in Ole, as he increased the speed to 150. After some time, Ole said again, “Now you slow down to 20.” To everyone’s surprise, not long after they slowed, an animal emerged from the thick fog and crossed the road. No one could have known about this, given the poor visibility and the speed of 150km/h. Now, whether this story is true or not, I don’t know, and neither I nor the person reading this (almost certainly) have been there to witness it. I have heard it from our friend who has heard it from another friend. And I have heard many different stories from various friends about situations involving Lama Ole in which he manifested signs of knowing through space and time. Even though I cannot prove these stories, what is really interesting is that I started thinking, “What if this is exactly what that person needed to hear so they develop openness and trust (in the teacher or the teaching, or whatever it was needed)?” This thought is not far off, because this is exactly how a teacher and student work within the Vajrayana framework. There, the outer teacher uses any method to develop trust and openness in the student, so they gradually come to trust their inner and secret teacher, one’s own Buddha-nature. But this method to inspire the student, I thought, is not deliberate; otherwise, how would it really resonate with the student? And this is where the seventh vajra point gives a good explanation. 

Other people, like me, have a more normal experience with Ole, as in this case, he did not show that he knew what happens in space and time. Nevertheless, what he showed was truly inspiring for me and was conducive to my personal practice. In 2017, we were on our way to a course site in Guatemala, about a 3-hour drive from Guatemala City. Our friends from there organised buses to pick us up from the airport. I remember we arrived late and were outside the airport at around 9:30 pm, so we divided into buses, and Ole went by car. Then I remember us driving, and I was feeling down, grumpy, probably tired from the travel, with various thoughts running through my mind, feeling that the whole world was collapsing. But many of the other friends, probably 30 or more, had a wonderful time; they were laughing and dancing from that point on. They had a good time. Regardless of my grumpiness, my tiredness prevailed, and I fell asleep at some point. At around midnight, we arrived at the course site, and as I was waking up and getting ready to get off the bus, a friend told me, “Come outside, Ole is on the roof of the bus…” and I quickly went out, and I saw Lama Ole on the top of our bus taking our friends’ luggage down. He was helping with everyone’s luggage, taking down suitcases and backpacks one by one until there were none left. At that time, he was 76, and I was 25. Just to put it into perspective, this man was travelling nonstop through his life to spread some meaning and joy in people’s lives, and he must have had all the time jetlags, etc., and yet at midnight, instead of the 25-year-old boy who is supposed to be full of energy and practising some generosity and joyful effort, it was Ole who was at the top of the bus giving an example. At that moment, I thought, “I must put myself together and get out of this self-pitting situation that I am right now. How is this in alignment with my wish to reach awakening for the benefit of beings?” For me, he was basically an example of the six perfections in action – there was generosity, discipline, patience, joyful effort, meditation and wisdom. And this is how I remember Ole for the 8 years I travelled with him. When there was no formal lecture, he would always act as an example for the teachings through his actions. Then there was another story I remember vividly from when we were at Sharminub Monastery in southwest Kathmandu, close to Swayamhu Hill. It is the monastery built by the 14th Shamar Rinpoche, Mipham Chokyi Lodro, another important teacher for me. We were a group of around 14 people, and we were going down the stairs, and he saw a little spider on the window, probably walking, and he just gently picked it up, opened the window and said “Now you are free”, and he blew on it some mantras and put him outside. Of course, these stories are not the supernatural tales I have heard or could hear about teachers, but they left a lasting impression on me. As I mentioned above, I feel this is how the spontaneous activity of an advanced practitioner manifests, specifically to match the students’ capacity and what they really need at that moment for their development. I also know cases of people who just took refuge with Ole and never returned, practised, or came to the centre, yet every time we meet, they say how meaningful it was and how it changed their lives. 

So I aspire to get even a little bit of the compassion and wisdom that Lama Ole showed me during the time I was actively travelling and checking him out as a teacher. The stories are just a little drop in the ocean, and there are many more to tell, but for now, I will stop here. I just want to say “thank you” to someone who brought positive change to the lives of people who were from many different cultures and walks of life and managed to establish stable roots for Buddhism to grow worldwide, not just as an object of intellectual study by a small group of people in universities, but actually as a living experience that is present in the minds of people from different backgrounds, 24 hours a day. He was the one who inspired me to practice, to start studying at Ranjung Yeshe and to do well in my studies. He would always inspire people and speak about the 16th Karmapa, his teacher, and the importance of the teacher-student relationship for true transformation to occur. Karmapa literally means the “activity man,” or one could also interpret it as “the activity of all Buddhas.”  

And finally, he would always say, even if we just had two minutes, shouting to us as we would be a big group of people – “Listen now, what looks through your eyes and listens through your years, is indestructible, clear light. This experiencer, this awareness, this is who we really are; all else that we experience is just like Disneyland – good, bad, ugly, beautiful – it comes and goes, but this awareness is always behind all of this. Try to identify with that experiencer.” 

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“The pure view means that one doesn’t forget the mirror itself amid all the reflections in the mirror, that one always remembers that what is looking through our eyes and listening through our ears—awareness itself—is joy, fearlessness, and love. One looks more at what is between the thoughts, behind the thoughts, at what perceives the thoughts and feelings—this infinite space-clarity present in everything.” Lama Ole Nydahl