My visit the Largest Monastery at South India - Sera Monastery
What an extraordinary trip! I was in a whole different world and never in my mind had I ever imagined that I would step foot in a place that is so polluted with smog, noise and densely populated with humanity and also animals. But I still fell in love with India, especially Bodhgaya and the monastery. After experiencing the simple life of the Indians, I was able to look past the appearance of the culture and realized how beautiful it really is, just can't wait to go back again.

We flew to Bangalore the following day and had to drive for nearly six hours to get to the Sera monastery in Mysore. During the drive, I witnessed heavy pollution and dust and also encountered many animals along the streets; something not typically a common sight in most western countries.

We finally arrived at Geshe Dakpa�s house in Sera Jey about 10 p.m. The car pulled to a stop in front of a white building where a number of smiling faces welcomed us. They were Geshe-la�s friends and students. One friendly monk guided us indoors and offered us tea and a late momo dinner. We ate in the small dining room; the momos were so delicious. We were shown our rooms after dinner.

My visit to the New Jadel Khangtsen at Sera Jey
After the Tibetan breakfast and butter teas, Geshe Dakpa invited us to the new gompa where we mounted the many steps leading to the entrance. This large gompa have chanting monks to the right and left in rows and has the capacity to hold five hundred monks in the hall. Geshe Lobsang Namgyal who manages the Jadel Khangtsen has put in a lot of effort seeing it come to fruition. He guided us through the gompa and in the center of the hall is the largest statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, flanked by statues of Tsong Khapa, Tara, Maitreya, and Manjushri. There were others I did not recognize though. The grand opening ceremony took place on Dec. 8, 2000.

Choden & Khensur Rinpoche
I had a opportunity to meet with Choden Rinpoche & Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsering, who both welcomed me and were curious about my plans in India; they were very nice and hospitable. I feel that I have been very lucky to have met Choden Rinpoche, who would have been in Italy if it wasn't for a dilemma with his passport.

Morning Puja at the Sera Lachi
I agreed on the last day in the Sera monastery to awake at 4:00 a.m. for a Puja in the Sera Lachi Assembly Hall. While still dark, I heard knocks on the door with the early morning greetings of Geshe Lobsang Namgyal�s assistant who had been selected to assist me to the morning Puja. We entered the dark streets of the Monastery. I walked slowly and carefully on the cobblestones.

At 5:00 a.m. we were on the patio upstairs overlooking the hall below through the huge windows. Tenzin Lama was already upstairs awaiting my arrival. We were served tea in pretty little teacups and saucers with some soft, warm and tasty bread. Tenzin Lama suggested I dip the bread into the butter tea, what a nice breakfast. At 5:30 a.m. an older monk walked me downstairs to the entrance of this large gompa. I did 3 prostrations before I walked into the main hall where thousands of monks from Sera Jey and Sera Mey monasteries were seated. I followed the old monk walking in. I was handed kathas, the traditional white offering scarves and envelopes of money offerings to the Abbot. Next I offered the Kathas to a huge photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

After the offerings I turned to the left of the gompa where the old monk was handed more kathas for me to hang before the giant statues. The railing on which we were to place the kathas was very high and I had to jump up a little bit to successfully throw the end of the katha over the railing and pull it down. We turned to the right and entered the room of the Protectors of Sera Monastery. The atmosphere was charged. Tantric practitioners were in the room with horns and other instruments blaring at high intensity. Again I offered kathas in front of the statues. It was about 6:00 a.m. still cool and dark outside the gompa. We proceeded upstairs to have more warm butter tea listening to the chanting from the thousands of monks.

Geshe Ngawang Dakpa
During my stay, I realized just how cherished Geshe Dakpa is. Geshe-la received many welcome gifts and visitors coming in from early morning until late night. Every lunch and dinner, we were served food by Geshe Dakpa's friends. The meals were all very delicious.