“At the close of the World teaching tour of Yangsi Khyentse Rinpoche, eight stupas were consecrated at the following places: Lumbini, Shravasa, Sankisa, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Rajgir, Bodhgaya.

Here are a selection of photographs taken by Mathieu Rikard and Raphaele Demandre to inspire and encourage pilgrimage.

Thank you to Yangsi Khyentse Rinpoche, Rabjam Rinpoche and everyone who made possible this extraordinary tour to all parts of the world ”

Lumbini

Shravasti

Yangsi Khyentse Rinpoche at Sarnath

Sarnath

Nalanda, Rajgir

Vultures Peak, Rajgir

Stupa at Rajgir

Vashali

Vaishali Stupa

Bodhgaya

Yangsi Khyentse Rinpoche Sarnath

By Alex Swanson

In October 2010 I traveled to India with my wife Lindy (Star) to attend a Samantabhadra Aspirations Monlam prayer festival at Bodhgaya being held by Dzongzar Khyentse RInpoche. We stayed on in Bodhgaya after it finished, for another ten days before traveling to Varanasi.

On the day before leaving for Varanasi I went with a friend on pilgrimage to Vulture Peak, the place where the Buddha taught the Prajna Paramita Sutras as I wished to recite the Heart Sutra there. On our way home we also visited Nalanda University and finally returned to Bodhgaya in time to eat our evening meal at the Shechen Monastery restaurant, (the spinach and cheese pastries are highly recommended). While sitting at the restaurant a friend mentioned they were going for a walk with a young Rinpoche and asked if a few of us would like to join. I eagerly took the opportunity and went with them.  First we walked up to the Mahabodhi stupa and then made circumambulation (kora) together with Dudjom Yangsi Rinpoche.

It turned out that Rinpoche and I were both there to complete 100,000 prostrations, and so I asked if I may join him. He was very supportive and encouraging and from the next day we began prostrating next to one another.  Later after Star and I had completed our pilgrimage to Varanasi, she went returned to Australia, and I went back to Bodhgaya and started prostrating.

The sessions consisted of one from 4 to 9am and another from 3 to 6 pm. During the morning session I would sit and drink tea with Rinpoche, his teacher and two attendants. We would sit and chat and exchange English and Tibetan lessons.

One day Rinpoche suggested we should write a rap song together about prostrating. We played around with a few ideas over the next two weeks but did not think much of it.

One day Rinpoche mentioned it again and while I walked home I started to compose a song, and wrote down the lyrics over breakfast porridge when I arrived home after the morning session. This resulted in more than half of the song’s lyrics. Two days later we got together and recorded the first part of the song.  It was a fun productive time.

A week later I dreamt of Rinpoche, where he told me we would finish the rap in two days time. The next day I related to him the dream?

The following day we were rained off the prostration boards and so together wrote the rest of the lyrics and recorded and finished the whole rap song. I was amazed? that within 30 mins of completing the rap I started to feel quite sick, becoming bed ridden for about 5 days with a gastric bug.

Anyway, the result is an audio recording of the song attached here, along with the lyrics. We both hoped it would inspire others in their practice, specifically in their prostrations. The song is funny? and light hearted. I hope you enjoy it.

I would particularly like to thank Rinpoche for his inspiration, collaboration and especially his Blessing!

Dudjom Rinpoche & Alex photo: Alex Swanson

Click here to hear the O Guru Rap

and follow the lyrics!

O Guru Rap Lyrics

As I wake up in the morning

Exhaustion exposes me

To my insanity and insecurities

I do not know where I am going or what I need to do

All I know is that I’ll do my best to follow my Guru

So I get out of my bed

I use my hands they’re sore

I try to bend my knees but the skin on them’s too raw

The muscles in my arms are aching even more

And those in my legs are so sore it’s a chore

To even walk out of my room let alone down those stairs

That will lead me to the path that will get me there

I get up and leave my house

The dogs are chasing me

I walk swiftly down the path

To the Maha Bodhi

Lying down on my board

I slide forward in prayer

With all other sentient beings

We prostrate with great care

The refuge tree is here

And the guardians too

I think deeply of you and I pray to you too

O Guru O Guru

Enlighten me and all sentient beings too

O Guru O Guru

I do not want samsara or nirvana, unite the two

O Guru O Guru

I offer myself and my obstacles too

O Guru O Guru

I pray to you now until my face is blue

Being blessed with this life

Being healthy and strong

Yet understanding that this life

is not destined to last long

My past actions are flaws

And they result in the cause

Of unbelievable pain

As all phenomena change

I read in my text that I am going to hell

I’ll be reborn as a pig or my belly will swell

My neck will be too small to eat anything

And all there’ll be to do is more suffering

And so whatever it takes

Or even if my back breaks

Or my limbs no longer bend

I’ll put my faith in a friend

To take me beyond all words

With mind pervading all worlds

Manifesting wherever

Any dualism occurs

O Guru O Guru

Enlighten me and all sentient beings too

O Guru O Guru

I do not want samsara or nirvana, unite the two

O Guru O Guru

I offer myself and my obstacles too

O Guru O Guru

I pray to you now until my face is blue

One day of prostrations later

I’m feeling healthy and strong

I’ve purified some obstacles

Including smoking the bong

My mind is moving in time

It is beginning to shine

And this allows me to see

The truth of insanity

It is full of delusion

Manifesting illusion

But now I have a solution

Providing deep realization

Buddha’s infinite wisdom

And all pervading compassion

Enlightenment beyond suffering

Is the source of all things

O Guru O Guru

Enlighten me and all sentient beings too

O Guru O Guru

I do not want samsara or nirvana, unite the two

O Guru O Guru

I offer myself and my obstacles too

O Guru O Guru

I pray to you now until my face is blue

Interview with Pawo Choyning Dorji

Questions from Yvonne Gold

Q. Where were you born & when?

A. I was born in Darjeeling, India on the 23rd of June 1983. I am Bhutanese but now I spend most of my time between Bir, Northern India and Taipei, Taiwan.

Q. Where did you grow up and go to school?

A. My father worked as a diplomat for the Bhutanese government, so we were always on the move. Of course I spent a majority of my childhood in Bhutan but I also grew up in Switzerland, India and Kuwait. Since we were always on the move, my parents opted to send me to a boarding school to finish my high school. I graduated from Kodaikanal International School, an American boarding school in the beautiful Palini hills of Tamil Nadu, South India. Since my high school was an American school, it was natural for me to do my university studies in the US. I majored in International Relations and Political Science at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. After I graduated in 2006, I moved to Bir to be with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

Q. How & when did you get your 1st camera?

A. I used to use my parent’s old Nikon film camera, but I got my first digital SLR camera when I graduated from college. I guess you could say that was my first serious camera.

Q. How old were you when you started taking photo’s

A. I don’t remember, I always enjoyed taking photos, but I started being serious about it around 2006.

Q. How, why & where did you get interested in taking photo’s?

Pawo Choyning Dorji

A. I think that the world is seen differently by each individual, because each eye is unique. This is just my way of sharing my viewpoint. The way I see the world.
I also take pictures because I want to share my life with others. I do lead a very unique life; I live in a place like Bir and work for my guru. I think I am very fortunate that way…because happiness I think comes down to living a life where you do what makes you happy, and for me that is being around my guru. There are many other sangha members around the world, who probably would also like to live such lives…but they cannot because of different conditions. I take pictures and share them because I want our sangha to feel connected with our guru and his activities.
Also I travel a lot and I enjoy shooting landscape. I like to share that with friends who have not been there yet. (I don’t know if this makes sense but you go ahead and edit it and do whatever.)

Q. Do you have an idea before you shoot of what you want, or just see how it is when you’re in a place?

A. I love to shoot landscape and people. People’s faces (especially old people) are my favourite, I feel like their whole life story is written on their faces…the happy times and the times of struggle. I also shoot a lot of panorama shots, where I actually take several shots on one place in a row.  I then use different software to stitch them together into a giant photo. I think this is cool because it really gives the viewer ideas of what I am seeing when I am there.
I am very open to shooting and processing techniques. I like to experiment and just see how it turns out. I shoot in HDR mode as well, that’s when a photo is shot in 3 different exposure levels and then merged together to form one photograph. Sometimes the end product looks like a painting.

Q. How / why do you go to all these places?

A. I guess it’s the life I lead. I am a Bhutanese, married to an American Taiwanese, living in a small mountain village in northern India. Following a guru who is always on the move! We just end up travelling a lot!

Q. What else would you like to do now or in the future?

A. I would like to study photography. Right now its just something that I have picked up on my own, and I think there is so much more to learn.

Q. Your photos have a huge sense of spaciousness about them, which is very inspiring for meditation. How do you achieve that? What’s your motivation in taking these images?

A. I think it just turns out like that because I am a photographer who happens to a Buddhist, and who also happens to be always hanging around meditative places! Its very unlikely I’ll be taking photos in a place like Paris or Tokyo…I am usually in places like Bodhgaya, Bhutan, or on some remote mountain top.

Instant Inspiration photo Pawo Choyning Dorji

May I become at all times, both now and forever; a protector for those without protection; a guide for those who have lost their way; a ship for those with oceans to cross; a bridge for those with rivers to cross; a sanctuary for those in danger; a lamp for those without light; a place of refuge for those who lack of shelter; and a servant to all in need” Shantideva, The Bodhicharyavatara, Chapter III, Verse 18-19

This is Pawos link which is full of wonderful photos to inspire others to travel to pilgrimage places. http://drukpakuenlay.smugmug.com/Travel/Paths

Beautiful Bodhgaya photo Pawo Choyning Dorji