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THE SNOW LION NEWSLETTER
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Wangda
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Wangda-la: Arms of Steel, Heart of Gold
by Sasha Hare, Ottawa Friends of Tibet
Like many of his countrymen, Wangda has traveled a long way, has big plans and many a story to tell. And he looks the part. He has long graying hair and a beard that HHDL loves to tug every time he has the opportunity to have an audience. He has a blind eye that shines like the moon. He carries himself with grace and strength, a result of many years of Judo training. Married and living a quiet life in Canada now with his wife and two girls, he doesn't forget where he came from.
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Wangda escaped from Tibet in 1957 with the head of the Kagyu Order, Palden Pawo Rinpoche and his party. He was ten. He thought he would reunite with his family in Tibet in a year or two. He never saw his mother or father alive again and could not return to his village or his country until he was an adult.
He has been a monk, a beggar, a resistance organizer, a body guard to HHDL, a master Judo practitioner, a teacher, President of the Ottawa Friends of Tibet, and he isn't bad with a soccer ball.
Wangda told me many years ago, when he was my Tibetan language instructor, "I am like water. If you put me in an ocean, I can fill it. But if you put me in a container I can adjust to its shape. In a river I will flow. In a bottle you can even drink me. And if you put me in the cold I will turn to ice."
"Well," I said, "then if you are put in the sun you will just evaporate!"
"Yes," he said, without missing a beat, "and I will come down again as rain."
That lovely analogy hits it on the head vis à vis the Tibetan experience and the uncanny ability of the Tibetan people to continually meet with success as a refugee population.
Studying Judo in Japan for many years, and having prolonged exposure to great Bodhisattvas like Pawo Rinpoche and HHDL have certainly benefited him to this end.
"His Holiness formed me," Wangda says. He spent seven years under service to HHDL as his bodyguard. Keeping HHDL safe was priority number one, and his other duties included teaching the entire security department Judo.
"The more I had the fortune to be with His Holiness, the more I gained respect for his simplicity, his compassion and honesty. He is a man who practices what he preaches. In fact, he is a God—but he encourages a critical mind, telling us to evaluate his words in our own terms."
One of the messages Wangda took from HHDL was both compassion and action. So in 1996, he, along with a small group of compassionate supporters, started the Ottawa Friends of Tibet. Today, as the now acting President of Ottawa Friends of Tibet, Wangda has addressed a growing problem—inadequate care for Tibetan seniors. In agreement with the Tibetan Welfare Office, OFT is building a home for destitute Tibetan refugee seniors in Kalimpong, India, with money raised through OFT and land donated by The Office of HHDL.
Poverty and inadequate housing leave the elderly in the worst of predicaments—many are destitute and unable to care for themselves. Currently there are a mere 55 beds for 1800 people. With the refugee population aging, the number of elderly requiring proper care facilities will increase.
The Senior's home will provide a functional environment with adequate care to the growing number of elderly Tibetans. Also, the design of the facility will set a new standard for quality-of-life facilities in the Kalimpong region.
For more information about the Kalimpong Seniors' home project, or to learn about the fundraising activities that OFT is planning to raise the roof on this project, please visit: www.oft.ca.
In the meantime, next time you drink a glass of water, think of Wangda.
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More about the Kalimpong Senior's Home . . .
To read more about about the Kalimpong Seniors' Home, visit:
www.oft.ca/projects
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