On Thursday the 28th of June, 2018, the entire team of Flowering Dharma along with the Interns had a meeting with Rigyal Rinpoche. The meeting took place at the Youth Cultural Center, Raku House and lasted for over two hours.
Rigyal Rinpoche is the seventh reincarnation of Drikung Kagyu lineage master Rinchen Gyaltsen, one of the thirty seven direct students of Drikung Kyoba Jigten Sumgon (The founder of Drikung kagyu lineage). He completed his basic education from Drikung Kagyu Institute (Dehra Dun) after which he went to Almora for a retreat ‘lo-sum chos-sum,’ a meditating period for three years, three months and three days. Rinpoche is the head lama of Shang monastery and recently appointed as a head lama of Phyang monastery by His Holiness The Drikung Chabgyon Chetsang Rinpoche.
The main aim of the meeting was to start a project which tackles the environmental damage caused by garbage. Throughout the meeting various plans of actions were discussed and after much discussion it was decided that it would be more beneficial to begin from the smaller villages and then work inwards towards Leh. The problem of garbage disposal in Leh and it’s surrounding areas is a major concern that needs immediate attention, with the number of tourists increasing every year, disposing off the garbage becomes more of a hassle.
Rigyal Rinpoche believes that Ladakh can be transformed to a ‘zero waste’ area, where most of the garbage is either recycled or disposed off in the correct way. He has collaborated with various other environmental organizations for this project and looks forward to work with Flowering Dharma for the same. Having previously worked with villages around Leh and managing to successfully clean them up; he believes that making Ladakh garbage free is not impossible.
Riponche said, “ To work globally, you have to act locally.” This is another reason that he wishes to start working with the villages first, he also has a practice of recycling tissue papers as he believes that all changes begin with oneself.
Flowering Dharma looks forward to be a part of this environmental campaign and all information regarding this project will be posted on the Flowering Dharma Website, https://floweringdharma.org/
