Home > Blog: Currents & Futures > Wasantha: “I feel like the Kingdom of Ladakh is Calling Me Back”

Currents and Futures

[Click here for the Ladakh Campaign]

Greetings;

When I asked my friend, former Sarvodaya co-worker  and ordained Buddhist monk Wasantha (his ordained name is The Venarable Dammapala) if he could leave Sri Lanka to accompany me to Ladakh, this was his reply (pieced together from two emails, with grammar corrected).

Having a trusted friend on the Ladakh journey will save time, money… and will add a second set of eyes and another heart on the quest for sacred civilization. 

Peace,

Sharif

Dear Sharif,

Wasantha 02Warm regards from Sri Lanka.

I would really love to travel with you in August to Ladakh.

You asked me: what caused me to travel to Ladakh? It was simply my search for WHO I AM.

Long ago I had a vision of the landscape of the Himalayas in Moonlight.  I had this dream even from my early childhood.  Shamanic drums have always beat within me.

I felt much more at home in Ladakh than in Sri Lanka.  My heart took me to Ladakh, followed later by my mind and body.

Your very words: “Birth of Civilization” is perfectly applicable for the Kingdom of Ladakh.  I was born in a former colony – the island of Sri Lanka.  I felt a high spirit of freedom in that snowy land of Ladakh.

 [NOTE:  I asked Wasantha why he went all the way to Ladakh to be ordained as a Buddhist monk, when there were literally hundreds of temples in Sri Lanka… His answer was eye-opening and fascinating…]

I went because I really want to know about suchness/ pure awareness/ great consciousness.

The southern version of the Buddha’s transmission is too analytical and male dominant — too dry and too politicized.

In Ladakh there are four schools of Buddhism, which have more space for sacredness of every being and every thing — including sex and wine.  There are many married lamas still there.

[NOTE:  This was news to me!  I’ve always thought that mandatory and permanent celibacy was a really bad idea, no matter what religion promoted it.] 

I think that if you read the songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama, it will explain everything.

Good luck for your own sacred journey.

wasantha

I look forward to a truly sacred journey of discovery and enlightenment with Wasantha in August…  Click here to donate to the Ladakh Campaign.

 

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[NOTE:  While I welcome your comments, I do not post comments from “Anonymous”, or from bogus email addresses.  That is not the kind of society we should support.  The next society will be based on love and community, not snarkiness and anonymity.]

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