By Fr. Flynn

A Catholic Missionary and a Buddhist monk find Friendship and much to admire in each other’s religion 

I have a friend who is a Buddhist monk: Nyechan Rimpoche Thuptenchodak Gyatso. That is his name. Gyatso is his family name; Nyechan is the name of the temple he entered at the aged of eight years, and Rimpoche would mean something like “Father”. But the whole name is important because only by the whole name would you know that he is a Lama (A Tibetan priest) of outstanding scholarships.

He is a refugee Buddhist monk from Tibet. Two years ago in a very simple way he came into my life. A non-Christian doctor told me of this lonely Buddhist monk from Tibet living at the Mount Koya Buddhist University. He could not communicate in Japanese and there was no one with whom he could freely communicate in English.

I invited him to visit our church. He accepted and arrived with his shaven head, dark maroon robes, and sandals, with a small cloth bag suspended from one shoulder. “Did you come by taxi?’ I asked ‘I made enquiries at the station’ he replied ‘but a taxi would cost almost L1 and I don’t have that sort of money.’ So he had walk, often in a wrong direction, for an hour and a half before he reaches the church! 

He had never heard of Christianity until he was thirty years of aged, and he had never seen a Christian service. I invited him to our Christmas Mass and he sat in the sanctuary, a ‘wise man’ giving edification to all.

During his frequent visit since then he has gradually unfolded his life story. When he was born, calendar were consulted and he was given the title ‘Rimoche’ since it was presumed that he was the re-incarnation of a celebrated Lama who had died at the exact date sometime before.

Living in the Tibet on the isolated roof of the world north of the Himalayas Mountains in a country that had not changed for centuries, Ripoche was reared in a religion-centered society. Religion was the main occupation of the country. Every family aspired to have at least one son monk and a daughter a nun. There were over 10,000 monks in the some of the University centers, and some convents had over 1,000 nuns. It is estimated that among the six million people of Tibet there were over 100,000 monks. The Dalai Lama the presumed reincarnation of the Buddhist deity of enlightenment –was the ruling high priest. Ripoche was eight years of age when he entered the monastery.

He was 32 years of age when, in 1969, china over run Tibet. Rimpoche and an estimated 70,000 Tibetans fled with the Dalai Lama and took refugee in India. After eight years as senior professor at the Sanskrit University in Varansai he came on loan to the famous Buddhist University on Mount Koya in Japan to teach the professors Sanskrit and Tibetans Scriptures.

To my questions he always give candid replies: your parents? My mother remained in Tibet. I have no words of her. My father, 78, is in India.’ Mother Teresa in India? ‘I have never heard of her.’ What do you think of Christianity? I did know there was such a thing until I was 30. I find it a living religion. In India, and here in Japan, it is active in social welfare and education. It involves may ordinary people in its activities. Buddhism leaves everything to the priest. The priest carry on the temple works and conduct services. Few ordinary people are involves.’ Christian worships? I have only seen it in your church. Bright song s, simple words easy to sing and easy to remember; I like that. You Christians use organs and guitars. Japanese Buddhist use only gongs and drums. In Tibet we use 23 different kinds of drums, brassy horns big and small, load cymbals and small handbells.’ At and Ecumenical Christmas concert, he commended ‘I am amazed. I have great hope for the peace of the world when I see so many Christians from different countries and different traditions being so friendly. This is my first experience. I shall never forget it.’

What of Japanese Buddhism? ‘There are no big communities of celibate monks as in Tibet. Most Japanese monks are married whereas in Tibet the celibate life was greatly revered. Japanese priest spend less time   in prayer and religious observances. Prayers recited are different but since there are over 1,000 volumes of Sutra (sets of precepts) to select from, that is not so surprising.’ How do you pray? Does Buddha live in you like Christ lives in me and prays with me? No. I must do all by myself alone. It is only my prayer that counts. There is no one can help me. I have something like a big wishing well. I hope for may things, some of them come true.’

Ripoche provided another first hand experience in the Ecumenical Endeavor. The Buddhist priest who arranged this coming to Japan seemed to be busy administering the temple properties that he forgot Rimpoche needed money enough to buy food, etc. when I heard the facts I arranged the interview with the head of the University and took along A Japanese Methodist minister to back up me. The chief Buddhist priest at the University was a very fine, warm hearted gentleman- started off with a big smile, ‘This is strange but beautiful. An Australian Catholic priest, a Japanese Methodist minister, is meeting me a Japanese Buddhist priest about our mutual friend a Tibetan Buddhist monk. It should be easy to arranged something.’

Rimpoche was delighted and smiled his thanks: ‘I had begun to feel like an animal but now I feel that I am human being again.’

Rimpoche is received on equal terms and made welcome by all the Columbans here. We feel that he has taught us a lot and his example of a decided Buddhist celibate monk is there before our eyes. I hope that we in turn have been able to inspite him also in his vocation.

The Author, Fr. Flynn, a Columban missionary