| Interviewer: |
As
a Buddhist monk, how does religion play a part in your daily life? |
| Om
Bahadur Gurung: |
Culture
and religion are an important part of all of our lives. We have been
practising them since our childhoods. Our parents have taught us the
good things and to follow the Ramro Bato (Good Path). I have inherited
my culture and religion from my father. I have learnt compassion,
happiness and to the value the good things in my life. Thus, we respect
our culture and religion. |
| Interviewer: |
It
sounds like following the Ramro Bato has taught you a great deal of
good things in your life. Could you please elaborate a bit more? |
| Om
Bahadur Gurung: |
Well,
in our society, people do all sorts of things, both good and bad.
I learnt that if you do a bad thing, you will have to face disastrous
consequences, 'pap', after your death. Cleanliness is important in
our religion. Our three hundred years old monastery is in the forest,
away from the dirty village. We respect the forest because it is the
home of our god. We protect the forest and tell other villagers to
do so. The forest provides valuable medicinal herbs which are important
in our lives. Our mantra (prayers) and traditional medicinal herbs
save the lives of our people when they are sick. We tell people not
to cut down trees and not to kill animals. |
| Interviewer: |
Oh!
Why do you tell this message to others? |
| Om
Bahadur Gurung: |
The
answer is simple. Do you kill your children? No, you do not. You love
your children, don't you? All creatures have life and they are born
freely on the planet Earth. I believe they have the right to survive.
As a human being, we should take care of all the living creatures
and live in harmony with their environment without oppressing them. |
| Interviewer: |
It
sounds good. How does your culture and religion reflect the notion
of sustainable living? |
| Om
Bahadur Gurung: |
All
living creatures live and die. As for human beings, we believe they
do not die, but change their spirit and form another life. We Lamas
perform 'arghau', for example, within 49 days of a person's death
because that spirit will be in a hard life. We pray to our god to
send them into heaven and to change their life into another living
creature. That is our interpretation of sustainable living. Life is
a cycle. If we don't do our 'karma', the cycle will be broken. |
| Interviewer: |
Finally,
do you have any message to educators? |
| Om
Bahadur Gurung: |
I
have learnt many lessons from my Guru (mentor) over the years. To
prove my worthiness as a Lama, I spent three years, three months and
three days in a hostile place to learn the ways of the Buddhist culture
and religion. When I went to the city to observe other monasteries
and meet other monks, I learnt that I still have to learn more. I
hope educators have more access to learn about our culture and religion.
From my experience, I would say that the Buddhist philosophy of culture
and religion provides the wisdom to protect our environment and sustain
our lifestyles. |
