Week 2-3: Dorje Chang Buddhist Center

Afterwards, I moved more towards the city center to the Buddhist center. My goal was to learn more about Tibetan Buddhism there and to meditate and deepen my rudimentary knowledge under the guidance of experts. However, I was disappointed by my expectations and there were no communal meditations practiced at the center. Everyone seemed to be doing it more or less for themselves. There was a Tibetan monk living there who led courses and Puja, a kind of worship, a nun from America who was the manager, and an older nun who was part of the inventory. There were also people living there who were in a community but had nothing to do with Buddhism. I shared the kitchen, a common room, and the sanitary facilities with them and 3 other Woofern. This community sweetened my stay and so I stayed a little longer. For example, there was William, a 60-year-old pianist who had lived in different communities all his life. An incredibly warm-hearted, polite, considerate, and funny man. I gave him my birthday, time, and place of birth and he read me my horoscope. Apparently, it also has a lot to do with how all the different planets were positioned at birth, but I really didn't understand all of it. The result made me lose a little faith; it was unbelievable. So frighteningly accurate and it brought so much to the point... now I wonder why in psychotherapy so much data is collected and numerous questionnaires have to be filled out if birthplace, time, and date seem sufficient =). Then there was Nick. Also around 60 years old. Yoga teacher, musician, and opponent of many political decisions, activist, or in short Public Enemy Number 1. His table manners impressed me. He burped, smacked, slurped, and moaned happily while eating, at volumes I had never heard before. And then there was Craig, an old 76-year-old former rugby player and poetry slammer with sore knees. He has 4 children but was abandoned by his wife because she ran away with his best friend. He fled from heartbreak and then went to Japan for several years and ran a bar there. He met a Japanese woman and had another daughter who is now 21 and still lives in Japan with her mother. He earned up to $20,000 a month. But he didn't have much left because he supported his 4 children and his ex-wife and also spent a lot. He is a trained master craftsman and still manages to make ends meet with a few jobs today. He is currently building an old bus that will become his new home. Then there was Phil, a computer scientist who was about 50 years old and lived there for only 2 months. He wanted to clarify his Buddhist path through conversations with his teacher, the resident monk. He laughed a lot and loudly. His laughter came from the depths of his belly and when it emerged from his mouth it was like a small earthquake, causing the thin walls and floors of New Zealand to ripple slightly. Laetitia was a young French woman who took a break and supported her former teammates of the French national rugby team at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. I helped her carry new huge refrigerators that the center acquired during that time. I envied her for her light-hearted approach to her also sparse English. And then, in the last week, a French couple arrived who took 3 years off, had previously worked in Canada, and now want to travel New Zealand in a bus. And then there was Rinjin, the translator and English teacher for the monk. He came from Tibet and when he was 12 his parents paid for his escape to India. It took 20 days and led over high mountains and deep snow. He said that people also died on the way and that this was normal.

During my time there, I enjoyed conversations with the residents and also attended the Puja's and read a lot in the library... they also had some German books there. The farewell was very warm and the director of the center and her husband, who were also there for a short time, invited me to their home in Kerikeri. Probably a beautiful place in the far north. Maybe I will visit them there in April.