Lamp in my Room

I lit a butter lamp for the first time in my life on 23 Nov. ‘05’. Ecstatic I felt on that numbingly cold November morning.

Although I visited many lhakhangs and holy sites on numerous occasions, never did I feel so sublime, so pious, so serene and so joyous as I did on that misty winter’s morning.

I realized that god existed everywhere, in every loving home and not just in lhakhangs and a sacred place, provided one has full faith.

At that precious moment, spiritual happiness washed over me and I felt a sense of accomplishment that I hadn’t felt in years. It was a holy joy. Perhaps god might have giggled at the humorous sight of someone lighting a butter lamp for the first time in his room. It would have even made him whisper, “What on earth’s got into that man’s head?”

I was able to illuminate my room with a butter-lamp presented by my trainee friends. It was a gift wisely and wholeheartedly given as a token of remembrance to their graduating friends. Thanks to my sweet companions of Pema House, it shall always remain in my heart.

And every time the rays of the lamp glow in my room, I remember the wonderful evening of 22 November 2005. The moment shall linger around the room in the flickering rays of my lamp.

Thinley Dorji    
 Kuensel, August 2007