My Brother Ugyen

I have been going to the Tibetan Exile in Bylakuppe over the last 11 weeks to find peace and have a break from Gokulam..I met a monk by the name of Ugyen the week I arrived in Mysore..We began emailing each other and talking on the phone and it turned out he lived a bit of each year in the Tibetan Exile in Bylakuppe..We arranged a meeting..right away we were like brothers..I have never had a connection like this with anyone in my entire life...It is so odd and so normal at the same time..


I arrived at the Golden Temple and called my monk Ugyen..He came down and right away i knew who he was..I had never seen a picture of him and there are thousands of monks at Bylakuppe..I see a stocky looking monk walking in the courtyard and I just walked up to him and said Hi.. I am Jonathan...There were several white tourists and he was walking in my direction as well..He said... I know... I was walking directly towards you..We are brothers you and I...and he just smiled..He put his arm around me and walked me back to the temple where we sat and talked for hours..


Ugyen is from Bhutan and always knew he would be a monk from the time he was very little..He has 10 brothers and sisters...It is so funny because we are so much a like..He loves to eat and comes from a big family and loves animals and most of his family are farmers and his mom is great at gardening and cooking...He asked me how my mom was doing one day and I asked what do you mean..He said he knew she was sick for a very long time and she is doing better now...I just dropped my mouth open because I had never mentioned this to him..He said in deep meditation you are very connected to your brothers and sisters and family..because we are brothers we are always together in the mind..another thing... when I think about calling him... my phone will ring and it will be him...This happens all the time..We are truly brothers in every way..


The first night I was there... him and the other monks who live with him made me dinner..They wouldn't let me do a thing..As soon as I walked in they had orange soda chilled for us to drink..His room mates were making rice and stir frying veggies and making authentic Bhutanese food...We had mushrooms and hot peppers and curried veggies...It was the best food I have had yet in India..They were all laughing at me when I took the first bite because they heard white people couldn't handle spice and they thought I was going to make a funny face..but than they looked at one another puzzled...Than one of the other monks asked if I was really white because I kept eating the hot peppers...Ugyen said no... and they all laughed..I felt so at home for the first time in so long..It was so perfect..


Later that night my brother Ugyen went with me to the bus station and made sure I got on the right bus..He was so worried about me getting home safely...I told him not to worry..He hugged me and smiled really big and asked me to come back in a few days...When I walked into my apartment back in Mysore I took out my phone to call him and the phone began to ring before I could get it out of my pocket...It was Ugyen...He said he was calling me to make sure I was home safely..I said yes and he wished me peace and a good night..


I am so fortunate...I have gained so much love from this trip..I already had so much love in my life..I can't imagine having more... but I do...I am so grateful..


Good night from Mysore