"Meeting" Ling Rinpoche in Dharamshala in January 1986

As you will see I put "Meeting" Ling Rinpoche this way for many different reasons.

Thubten who was Geshe Lobsang Gyatso's nephew who had been a Gelukpa Monk like Geshela (endearing name for Geshe Lobsang Gyatso) was in Dharamshala, India when we met him there through Geshela. He Traveled with the Gyuto Tantric Monks who do chants that are unbelievable to hear if you haven't heard this type of chanting before (very deep in sound and timber and amazing). Well the Gyuto Tantric Monks came to America and possibly Europe? and toured here with Thubten as their announcer because Thubten could speak perfect English. The reason for this is that when his parents became too ill to work and support themselves he gave Geshe Lobsang Gyatso his monk's robes for awhile so he could financially support his parents until they passed by being a Mountain Climbing Guide in the Himalayas. So, he learned partly through this perfect English. He was the one who also introduced me to Drukpa Kunley stories which had me laughing so hard I often would fall on the floor in laughter at the Drukpa Kunley Stories from Bhutan mostly.

So, one day after we arrived in Dharamshala, India Thubten Told us he had permission to take us to see something very special and secret. The secret was Ling Rinpoche who had run Tibet until the Dalai Lama had become old enough to run Tibet at I believe 18 years of age.

So, we were taken to this stone cabin on foot and we had to hike several miles (my whole family which was okay because my wife then and I were 37 years old and our children were strong and healthy and 11, 12 and 14 years old then in 1986  (two boys and one girl) the girl was the middle one. 

(NOTE: Sorry my wife Called from California to say Good Night and I got distracted).

So, as we approached this Stone cabin with a locally harvested Slate Roof (I had seen them load slate onto these donkeys from the slate quarry near to Dharamshala myself. So, I know they can come from local quarries for Slate. They put a hole on the top end of them when they place them on a roof tied to something like a rope or something and then the next one down the roof covers that rope? as they lay them down the side of a roof.

So, we knocked on the big wooden hand made door and two Gelukpa Monks (Tibetan Buddhist Monks) opened the door but they didn't really speak English likely only Tibetan. So, since Thubten was with us and fluent in both languages I asked: "Is Ling Rinpoche going to wake up from his meditation? and the Monks shook their heads. And then I asked how long he had been meditating like this in the Maitreya Mudra position? And they said to Thubten (about 2 years I think). So, did I meet Ling Rinpoche or just his body?

After experiencing this I realized that Ling Rinpoche was transmitting Maitreya Buddha's Heaven Realm through the Aura of his body and this was likely the single most profound experience of my life. Sort of like the moment my first son and all my children were born. It was like an awakening to a new world, to a heaven Realm of Maitreya which I have never left since that moment.

Also, about 5 months before this or so in 1985 in August my father had passed away and his brother Tommy (my Uncle) had come for my Dad to take him to a heaven realm and showed up at the Fire Lookout I was working at for CDF in California (now they also call this CALFIRE too.

So, this time it was something I had never seen before where this man's body (A Tibetan Monk who ran all of Tibet for the Dalai Lama until the Dalai Lama could reach 18 and rule Tibet).

So, this was a completely new version of reality that I experienced that year especially after my father had passed away in August of 1985 and this was now January of 1986 in Dharamshala, India up at about 6000 to 7000 feet in the foothills of the Himalayas with many many peaks above 20,000 feet including the tallest mountain on earth which is Mt. Everest.

So, I was overcome with emotions beyond anything I had experiened before and went outside and cried from this experience and I have lived in Maitreya Heaven ever since. This doesn't mean that difficult things didn't happen in my life it simply means that since Maitreya Buddha was there that everything was survivable and life always returned to something beautiful and wonderful.

By God's Grace