Lama Yeshe insisted on a full curriculum at Kopan in those days. I learnt how to draw; this is something I had never done before. I liked it a lot. A Tibetan lady used to come and teach us how to do embroidery. We would embroider flowers on bags to raise funds. We did paintings of flowers and postcards of the monastery. A Spanish nun taught us how to draw thangkas. We had a teacher who examined our embroideries and paintings. There used to be exhibitions. At one time, I won a prize in a competition. The Spanish nun brought me to a five-star restaurant for lunch. That was the first time I dined in a five-star restaurant.

We had to spend a lot of time memorising texts, usually a page a day. We had to memorise these texts for our exams. Sometimes my mind could not concentrate and it would be unwilling to work. I even got angry with the texts!

We had to learn how to cook as we took turns cooking for everybody. This was where I picked up my cooking skills. At first the food wasn’t too good but it improved as time went on. Lama Yeshe tried to get us to eat vegetables.

We had debate classes in Kopan too. I used to find it boring. We tried debating with each other but we’d get bored. I suppose we didn’t know enough. I enjoyed drawing most of all. The more I did, the better I became. When I first moved to Sera Monastery in India, I continued to draw a bit. I remembered painting a large Shakyamuni Buddha. I don’t know what happened to it now. In Sera, I became more interested in reading and debating.

In Kopan, we were responsible for keeping our rooms clean. There used to be cleaning competitions about once a month. Lama Yeshe would come and examine our rooms. I shared a room with three others and our room usually won first prize! We had to wash our clothes and do everything on our own.

Lama Yeshe used to make us do yoga classes but I wasn’t keen on that. I was more interested in football, but Lama didn’t allow us. So, in secret we’d sneak down the road and play there. For those of you who have been to Kopan, you know how steep that road is. I would even give up lunch to have more time for football. We played barefoot because playing football would wear down our shoes quickly. I really don’t know how we managed to play football on that hilly road. We couldn’t play on top of the hill. If Lama had caught us, we would be in trouble.

There wasn’t enough water in Kopan in those days. This was before the pumps were installed. So, we had to take our clothes to the river and wash them. We used to enjoy ourselves very much doing that. There were so many fish, and of course we’d play in the river. Nowadays when I look at how dirty that river is, I wonder how I could ever have swum in it.

We were beaten if we misbehaved. I didn’t get beaten much but I did remember one time we were playing in the gompa. There were a few of us dancing around. I was playing the big drum. I suppose we were making a lot of noise. Anyway, Lama Yeshe heard us and came down. He chased us around the pillars waving his sandal. He closed the doors so we couldn’t escape. This is the only time I got beaten. I was bit scared but it wasn’t painful. Generally, I was quite well-behaved. There were other monks who got beaten regularly; they eventually changed their behaviour. So, it was a well-rounded education. When one is young, it is difficult to fully concentrate on the Dharma; so it is good to study other subjects. 

In the next edition, I’ll continue with the story of our trip to Lawudo, the cave where Lama Zopa Rinpoche meditated for over 20 years in his previous life.

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