After precious time with the Hopi people, I drove out across the Mesas with the pure intention of meeting the Garchen Rinpoche. I had been told that spending time with him would open the heart chakra of any Being.
I arrived just in time for a magnificent free lunch! From around the world, his disciples had gathered to honor the Tibetan New Year together with him. Russia, Germany, Taiwan, LA and many other places were represented by over 200 attendees. He was, as I expected, beaming with happiness and joking around about his missing teeth (the bottom ones!) I loved him at first sight.
Garchen Rinpoche, as with most Rinpoches has been descended in previous lives from many honorable lineages. But in this lifetime alone, he was recognized and enthroned in eastern Tibet by former Drikung Kyathgon Zhiwe Lodra. At the age of 7 he was brought to Lho Miyal Monastery, which he adminstered from the age of 11. Studying under Siddha Chime Dorje, he received profound instructions. Then at the age of 22, he was imprisoned for 20 years during the political turmoil of China’s Cultural Revolution. While in the labor camp,he received instruction from his root lama, Kempo Munsel. Enduring hardship and practicing secretly, Garchen Rinpoche attained realization of the Lama’s wisdom mind.
Since his release from prison in 1979, Garchen Rinpoche has been rebuilding monasteries, establishing a college, as well as two boarding schools for children in eastern Tibet. It is said that Garchen Rinpoche is omniscient and known for his vast realization as well as his great kindness and compassion.
While I was there I participated in ceremony at the Temple and visited his Stupa (see picture below) where people had been invited to camp out. Inside the Stupa, I found many simple but very enlightening teachings mounted on the walls. Also, stored there were some 44 relics of honorable Lamas and teachers from days gone by. As the wind whipped the prayer flags on this hill over looking the Arizona desert, I felt a certain calm and peace. Receiving hugs from him, I did indeed feel my heart chakra opening. I was so glad I had made the journey.
For more information on his White Tara Teachings, please visit this site: http://www.garchen.net/
Abiding by the signposted request to NOT TAKE PICTURES of the ceremonies in Hopiland, I resisted the urge to photograph the live Kachinas climbing up the tall ladders and out of the Kivas at dawn. I had been invited to witness the Kachina Ceremony, where young girls were presented Kachina dolls and boys, hand made bows and arrows. The ceremony, happening on the Third Mesa, would later that day be followed with Ogre Kachinas, going from house to house to remind the youngsters of how to be good children, by obeying their parents and other great advice.
Sitting at the kitchen table of Martin Charley, his wife, various kids and grandchildren all around, eating breakfast, I heard stories about the Hopi and their traditional lifestyle out there in Hopiland. It is busy with ceremonies happening often, sometimes more than one per day with the different Mesas and many extended families to support. Each month features a particular theme, all involving the Kivas and what could actually be considered secret societies of people conducting the events. It is wonderful to see such a spiritual commitment to ceremony and ritual and an excitement about life!
Martin’s son who was dressed up and one of the Kachinas during the sunrise ceremony told me that if he did not speak the native Hopi language, he would never understand what was happening inside the Kiva. It is good news to hear that the Hopi language is alive and strong. They had been growing bean sprouts in the Kiva and the secret society had just this very morning, harvested and delivered a large basket full of the sprouts to each household in the village. A feast was to be prepared throughout the day and these beautiful sprouts would be made into a soup dish that would be a medicine for the people. Everyone in the family was looking forward to the meal with great anticipation, similar to Christmas dinner in Dickens’ “The Christmas Carole.” Margaret, Martin’s wife carefully unpacked and offered me one of the most delectable things I have ever eaten: rolled up, tissue paper thin cornbread, cooked on a “smooth, like glass” rock that would be the prize of any woman who creates these delights. There was a box of the delicate rolls already prepared for the feast.
Being there with the Hopi people, I could understand why they were considered the “Peaceful People.” Martin and his family had been generous and kind, inviting me, a virtual stranger into their home. They lived the spirit of interconnectedness that was the message I understood to be forthcoming from the second Prophecy Rock, which I went to visit. It is pictured below, showing an instrument, that according to the Hopi Elders, will bring people together to create ONE WORLD. This instrument could very possibly be the Internet. The hope is that with the instrument we can all become people of peace and can accomplish this through a combined effort, altogether. We are the people we have been waiting for.
During breakfast, Martin told me that he realized I had been looking for a different Martin. He said that if I was looking for the Keeper of the Hopi Prophecies, that would be Martin Gashweseoma. His wife returned to me the gift that I had given them when I first arrived at their door, thinking I had found Martin, the Keeper of the Hopi Prophecies. They wanted me to give it to the person for whom it was intended. But I realized that these kind people who had shared their home, spirituality, knowledge and meal with me were, in fact, the right people. So, I told them that I wanted them to keep the gift but to share the message that came with it, which was that now, in my experience, we are all praying together.
The Dalai Llama has been to the Mesas to visit the Hopi. Tibetan and Hopi religions and cultures are closely associated and have similar prophecies. One example of similarity is that the Hopi word for “sun” is the exact same word as the Tibetan word for “moon” and vice versa. Amazing! from half a world away. Both people create elaborate sand paintings, to be destroyed upon their completion. After hearing about the Hopi – Tibetan connection, I knew it was important to go the Temple of Garchen Rinpoche near Prescott, Arizona to pay my respects. According to some of the people closely associated with the Rinpoches, they are committed to staying through 2012, to help us get through this time.There is quite a lot about the Hopi – Tibetan prophecy that I am unaware of, but I learned enough to know that I would drive 4 hours to visit the beautiful being of Garchen Rinpoche near Prescott.
So, I left my kind, new friends in Hopiland and drove West, across the mesas, to meet the Tibetan Rinpoche, known for his great kindness and compassion. He would be there that very day, celebrating the Tibetan New Year. So exciting!!!
Here is a YouTube of Grandfather Martin Gashweseoma, the actual Keeper of the Hopi Prophecies, speaking about the them:
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