by Diane Schudmak with Chris M
When and why did you first come to the Tibetan Buddist Society (TBS)?
I became interested in Buddhism in the early 80s after experiencing stress at work and observing that a co-worker who had returned from a holiday in Nepal was a lot calmer.
I asked my colleague about his holiday, and it transpired that he had gone there for a Buddhist retreat. I had also done some trekking in the Himalayas, and I had noticed that the people although quite poor were very happy.
This piqued my interest, and I did a short introduction course on Buddhism and followed up with attending further introductory classes for Tibetan Buddhism at the South Yarra library.
When did you first meet with Geshe Loden?
When I first went to TBS, Geshe Loden was in Tibet building a house for his mother. I met him on his return to Melbourne and that marked the start of an intensive period of teaching and other activities such as fund raising for the Tibetan refugee community in India. This fund raising was primarily selling Tibetan hand-woven rugs and other handicrafts at various markets.
What were some of your recollections of your interactions with Geshe Loden?
An early memory related to that fund raising. One Sunday afternoon I was called to come and see Geshe-la in his room. On arrival I found another student already there. Geshe-la then asked us which of us would become a nun first! I was surprised (possibly shocked) and Geshe-la saw the look on our faces and laughed. He then presented us with a Tibetan rug appropriate to each of us to thank us for our fund-raising activities.
Over a few interactions, I gained the confidence that Geshe-la was able to provide advice on our worldly activities with an unusual degree of foresight. He provided me with important life advice on several occasions. One time I recall I was contemplating moving to Broome as I liked Broome and saw an opportunity to start a new business there. I asked Geshe-la about that plan. He didn’t provide me with an immediate answer but said he would think about it.
Later, when I went to the airport with others to see him off and just before he was boarding the plane, he called me over and gave me the answer to my query. He told me that financially a move to Broome would be fine, but personally I would not be happy. I was also concerned about missing out on teachings, but he wasn’t concerned as he said I would have his books to provide access to teachings.
Another time after I had purchased a new house closer to the centre, he talked to me about the trees in the garden of my new property. In that discussion his description of the trees on the property was quite accurate and I couldn’t understand how he knew what was there. Thinking he must have passed the property at some point I checked with others to see if he had visited or been near my property. He had not.
Geshe-la suggested that I should plant a Golden Robinia tree on my new property, the same trees that had been planted in front of the temple. I couldn’t do that and sometime later he indicated that I could sponsor a Golden Robinia at TBS. I did this and that is planted in the central courtyard.
I am very grateful for the teachings and advice I received from Geshe-la over many years.
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