mattlindén
Sonam Drolma - Dharamsala
I love this woman.
She's a good friend of mine and I always called her 'my local HMV' (HMV, the CD and DVD store)! She sells her CDs and DVDs on Bhagsu Rd in Mcleodganj (if I remember the right road), and all of her money goes to supporting her three children who study in the local Tibetan Children's Village.
Her story is quite inspiring. At the age of 5 her parents escaped Tibet with her to Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama in exile. During those early years, her parents, desperate to survive, worked building roads, only to die after a few years from exhaustion, maltreatment and disease. Young, and all alone, she was lucky enough to be admitted to the Tibetan Children's village during its early years, where she eventually graduated, and found a job as a cleaner.
Over the years, she scrimped and saved, until she had enough funds to rent a stall - where she sells CDs and DVDs, as well as her hand-knitted scarve and gloves. She has very faint memories of her homeland in Kham, eastern Tibet, and doesn't really want to return - she is really happy and content with her life.
Her name is Sonam Drolma, Sonam meaning 'merit' and Drolma being the Tibetan name for the Buddhist deity Tara, the saviouress of all living beings. She was always inviting me round to her house for tea and I never had time to go - next time, I must say yes.
Matt
From Wikipedia:
Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan language:rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. In Japan she is known as Tarani Bosatsu, and little-known as Tuoluo in Chinese Buddhism.
Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues.
Sonam Drolma - Dharamsala
I love this woman.
She's a good friend of mine and I always called her 'my local HMV' (HMV, the CD and DVD store)! She sells her CDs and DVDs on Bhagsu Rd in Mcleodganj (if I remember the right road), and all of her money goes to supporting her three children who study in the local Tibetan Children's Village.
Her story is quite inspiring. At the age of 5 her parents escaped Tibet with her to Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama in exile. During those early years, her parents, desperate to survive, worked building roads, only to die after a few years from exhaustion, maltreatment and disease. Young, and all alone, she was lucky enough to be admitted to the Tibetan Children's village during its early years, where she eventually graduated, and found a job as a cleaner.
Over the years, she scrimped and saved, until she had enough funds to rent a stall - where she sells CDs and DVDs, as well as her hand-knitted scarve and gloves. She has very faint memories of her homeland in Kham, eastern Tibet, and doesn't really want to return - she is really happy and content with her life.
Her name is Sonam Drolma, Sonam meaning 'merit' and Drolma being the Tibetan name for the Buddhist deity Tara, the saviouress of all living beings. She was always inviting me round to her house for tea and I never had time to go - next time, I must say yes.
Matt
From Wikipedia:
Tara (Sanskrit: तारा, tārā) or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma (Tibetan language:rje btsun sgrol ma) in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. In Japan she is known as Tarani Bosatsu, and little-known as Tuoluo in Chinese Buddhism.
Tara is a tantric meditation deity whose practice is used by practitioners of the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism to develop certain inner qualities and understand outer, inner and secret teachings about compassion and emptiness. Tara is actually the generic name for a set of Buddhas or bodhisattvas of similar aspect. These may more properly be understood as different aspects of the same quality, as bodhisattvas are often considered metaphoric for Buddhist virtues.