A Red String: My First Audience with the Karmapa

The purpose of my trip to India is to see His Holiness XVII Karmapa, the supreme head of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. While I was in Southern India, he was giving teachings in Sarnath, Varanasi, with the Dalai Lama, where the Buddha gave his first teaching after attaining enlightenment. It turned out that the day he returned to Dharamsala was the same day that I arrived in Dharamsala. It turned out that airfare for my flight from Chennai to Delhi went down right around the time that the Karmapa was returning home. A funny coincidence or not. Who knows.

A week after being in McLeod, I went to the Karmapa's first public audience since his return. Tenzin, the Tibetan, accompanied me to the Karmapa's temporary residence, Gyuto Tantric University, where the audiences are held. Gyuto Gompa is a beautiful monastery in the lower Dharamsala area with the stunning backdrop of mountains.

To attend the audience, Tibetans and foreigners must register and then go through security before they can await His Holiness in the main temple. Everyone also has a kata, a white scarf, to give to His Holiness. We all waited for a half hour or so and then the moment arrived, His Holiness came into the main temple. Everyone bowed and then the order of events was as follows:

Everyone lined up. People had their kata and money in hand. His Holiness was accompanied by several monks and security. First there was a monk to whom the kata was given. The monk then put the kata back around the person's neck. Then came the Karmapa who stands behind a table. People humbly placed money on the table and the Karmapa doled out a red string. He didn't look at anyone directly. Some asked the Karmapa for blessing. The money isn't a requirement, it's a voluntary donation. Afterward, each person was directed to the temple exit and left the temple. For me it was very short, and very impersonal. I felt very discouraged and thought my whole context for being in India was shot. I came here from the guidance of some dreams and ended up feeling no connection to His Holiness.

I went again to his next public audience a few weeks later. To prepare myself energetically, I did compassion meditation and chanting, especially toward myself. I don't want a negative thought further degenerating my karma. This time, I figured fuck it. If there's no connection to the Karmapa, the compassion meditation is really all that counts and if he inpires me to do it, then that's what's important. This time I had no attachment to hope, outcome, or any connection. For my second public audience, it was the exact same thing as the first time. This time I was fine with it all. No attachment. That evening I could feel the Karmapa all around me.

I emailed a wise friend back home about these accounts and she generously gave me a very wise question in return to contemplate: What is the Karmapa teaching me by giving me a red string?