A holy place, the home of the Gods, where the Yamuna River flows.
Dharma, from its infinite depths, Vajrayana, with a guide one walks the path,
A guide whose lineage, Khön Dung descends from gods.
We, his students, blinded by confusion, awaken to find within the path which ends in freedom.

Pema, 2001

For the last two and a half months we - 1,700 lamas, monks, nuns and a handful of lay practitioners - have spent the majority of our waking hours surrounded by the beauty of a new retreat centre, opening our minds and hearts with the help of the generous guidance of His Holiness Sakya Trizin leading us into the magnificent path of the Sakyapa Lam Dre Lobshe tradition.

On November 14th 2000, we all filed through the entrance gate in what I have come to realise is a typical Tibetan fashion. Those wearing robes are allowed a narrow passage as we all are pushed together by the ones behind and held in front by a regiment of guards with sticks. Then gradually we squeezed through the smaller gate within the vehicle gate to be examined by the security team.

This is the first day we are allowed into Tsechen Shedrup Samten Phuntsok Ling, which had been under construction for three years. The road into the meditation retreat centre passes through what will soon be a small forest including pines, rhododendrons and hibiscus as well as different types of palms and bamboo. Outside the walls stands a forest of trees sixty to one hundred feet tall inhabited by the local monkeys and a variety of seasonal birds.

The centre itself has soft tones of pebbled brown and white that blends with the natural setting gently. The structure is solid and spacious without being obtrusive in its surroundings. The overhangs are all sky blue underneath. The bright red columns and jewelled cloud arches between are the points of strong Tibetan colour. The underside of the arches is strong aqua, in sharp contrast with the white of the hallway walls.

The Lhakhang is graced with a huge statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in brushed gold surrounded by murals of Sakyapa Lineage holders. Coral, Cobalt blue, aqua, lavender, blended perfectly to effect exquisite beauty and peace. The very high ceiling is domed and a perfect sky blue. The rooms for retreatants vary in size and will house thirty practitioners for retreats from the traditional three years, three months, three days to lifelong.

There was an initial ceremony beginning with some auspicious prayers and His Holiness Dalai Lama cutting a ribbon at the central entrance door. This was followed by a small ceremony inside the shrine hall carried out by a group of high lamas and some monks reciting prayers. After this, on a lawn at the front of the centre complex, in huge tents of white cloth, bordered by gathers of red scallops, we sat in folding chairs facing a three foot stage furnished with sofa and chairs with coffee tables where His Holiness Dalai Lama, His Holiness Sakya Trizin, His Eminence Chögye Trichen Rinpoche, His Eminence Ratna Vajra, His Eminence Gyana Vajra, His Eminence Aviketa Vajra and His Eminence Lhuding Khen Rinpoche sat and drank tea while speeches and presentations were made. Nyityanand Swami, the Chief Minister of the new state of Uttranchal, in which Dehra Dun now is, presented a statue of Guru Padmasambhava to the Dalai Lama whom he had met forty years before, when he greeted him in the name of India as he crossed the border coming from Tibet.

After the initial ceremonies many people went either to a beautiful catered lunch at the centre provided by Khenpo Gyatso, the principle of Sakya College and the creator of the meditation centre, or to Ngor Gonpa for a picnic. Following this we entered the Lhakhang where Dharma activities were begun. The Dalai Lama, who gave the teachings, sat on a tall throne beautifully decorated with gold sculpting and brocades at the feet of the Buddha.

On November 15th we received explanations from His Holiness Dalai Lama of the teachings of Sakya Pandita. In the afternoon we were given preparatory blessings for the Empowerment of Thousand Armed Chenrezig, which we received the next day. His Holiness Dalai Lama gave us very clear and powerful advice about how to perceive the extremely valuable tradition we would be entering under the guidance of His Holiness Sakya Trizin.

We sat. We entered. Gradually awareness dawned of the vast wealth of precious teachings and empowerments, which were so gently and lovingly being handed on to us. His Holiness Sakya Trizin giving us the empowerments and explanations, His Eminence Ratna Vajra Rinpoche again explaining and accompanying us in meditation techniques, and His Eminence Lhuding Khen Rinpoche giving us hours of Lung. We drank Tibetan butter tea in the morning sessions, often with sweet bread from Dehra Dun and sweet tea in the afternoon sessions.

Our days off were determined by the empowerments given to a limited amount of us at a time. We crowded into local transportation, buses, jeeps, three wheeled vikrams to make our way to the nearest slightly larger village. We bought yoghurt, blankets, fruits, buckets, sweaters etc. The weather got colder and a few trees turned fall colours but most stayed green against the stainless blue sky. Poinsettia trees bloomed and faded. Flocks of small bright green parrots passed through the fields changing from sugar cane to wheat. Tent restaurants appeared and store fronts became phone offices and tea shops. We read articles about the American elections in the 'Times of India' and memorized hand mudras and mantras.

On Sakya Pandita day which fell on January 8th we celebrated the graduation of over forty monks from the Sakya College. They received graduation certificates and Pandita's hats from the hands of His Holiness Sakya Trizin. His Eminence Ratna Vajra Rinpoche was among the graduates.

On January 27th we celebrated in conclusion with a Mahakala Puja and tsok offering. The tea was delicious and the sun was shining. Everyone had bags of tsok offerings - enough to be snacks for the next two or three days until all the packing was completed. They then moved on to Lumbini, Nepal where the Sakya Monlam 2001 would begin.