Thirty years ago – raising funds for Chasey Kengtse School
It is exactly 30 years since Dmitry and Carol completed our first major fund-raising effort to preserve the teachings and traditions of Yungdrung Bön – an Interfaith Peace Walk from London via Kagyu Samye Ling to Holy Island in Scotland! Our journey lasted exactly 49 days, and we were raising money for the Chasey Kengtse School to be built for Bönpo children in Kathmandu.
Letters from Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung about the fund-raiser (redacted)
How it all began
The Walk was conceived by our friend Marika Brennan (now Osmond), a devout Christian who had been so inspired by a meeting with the Dalai Lama and his sister, Jetsun Pema, that she promised to raise funds for Tibetan Children’s Village https://tcv.org.in/, a non-profit founded by Jetsun Pema that secures loving homes for refugee children. We expanded this to include sponsoring seed money for the Chasey Khenste Bönpo School, Kagyu Samye Ling, and Holy Island itself.
Marika’s plan was to set off on foot from London and walk to Holy Island, a small island off Arran that has long been a place of pilgrimage and is currently cared for by Kagyu Samye Ling https://samyeling.org/. Dmitry and Carol were already experienced hikers and campers, but this was something entirely new for Marika and her friend Rebecca, so we helped them train, and also planned the route – on foot from Putney Bridge, London, following long-distance trails through England, including the famous Pennine Way, and on up into Scotland (where we woke to find our tents covered in ice!). Then we swung West towards Ardrossan. From there we took the ferry to Arran, and another short ferry crossing brought us to Holy Island at last.
The Pilgrims
We set out with five pilgrims and a dog: Marika Brennan, Rebecca Langton, Maureen (who had to leave us due to dreadful blisters), Carol, Dmitry and Poppy, who had never set paw outside of London and made many discoveries of her own, including drinking from streams, jumping stone walls, escaping crazed cows and sailing!
We were joined en route by many lovely folk, including Carol’s parents Alan and Pearl, Rebecca’s father, Marika’s daughter Lavinia and many others who would share a few miles with us, or even their homes. In particular, Gwennie and Simon Fraser took us in for a couple of days when we reached the English-Scottish border, offering some much-needed rest and home comfort. They also introduced us to folks from the local Bahai community, who later joined us for a day’s walk to Samye Ling.
Rest stop with Rebecca’s dad in the Cotswolds; In the wilds of Northumberland with Carol’s mum; After a good night’s rest chez Carol’s Auntie Margeret near the Manchester Ship Canal; Gathering wild bilberries with Marika’s daughter Lavinia on the Cloud in Derbyshire.
The Pilgrimage
As you can see from our huge rucksacks, we were carrying tents, sleeping bags, camping stoves, maps and everything else we needed, including food and water for the more rugged, isolated stretches. We walked an average of 15-20 miles a day – this was before the rise of step-counting apps or mobile phones but that’s my best guesstimate – and when it was time to stop for the night, if there was no obvious campsite nearby, the four of us would briefly discuss: pub or church? If we opted for the pub, after a couple of beverages and a whip round, someone would usually offer their back garden or living room floor for the night; if we knocked on a Church door, Marika would show the vicar a letter from her own vicar vouching for us, and we would be ushered in and cared for.
John the boatman who ferried our huge rucksacks along the River Thames for a couple of days; Poppy having a well-earned treat; Drying off at Coleshill Catholic Retreat after a very wet day; With a new friend at the Protector’s Castle near Kinder Scout in the Peak District.
Kagyu Samye Ling: meeting Tai Situ Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
It was September by the time we reached Kagyu Samye Ling. Gwennie, Simon and some friends from the Bahai community, with their dog, had joined us for the walk that day. The Samye Ling community were having super in the old dining hall when we strode in with our big rucksacks, and suddenly we found ourselves the centre of attention – we even got a standing ovation!
Tai Situ Rinpoche was also staying at Samye Ling then, and my old friend Thom McCarthy arranged an interview with him, as well as with Lama Yeshe, the resident teacher there.
Our pilgrims with Lama Yeshe; Sharing a joke with Tai Situ Rinpoche; Gwennie and Simon’s welcoming cottage; With Thom, all loaded up and ready to set off again for the last lap to Holy Island.
Tai Situ and a Dream
The night before we met Tai Situ Rinpoche we had all slept in a hostel out in the wilderness. Someone in the male dormitory was having a restless night, snoring very loudly. Suddenly he let out a blood-curdling scream which woke everyone up with a jolt: “HELP!! I’m lost in the moors!” When we offered khatags to Tai Situ the next morning, he looked at us with a piercing gaze and said: “We spiritual folks must be humble and get on well with each other, otherwise, if someone makes a lot of loud noise, it’s like snoring, it disturbs everyone!” We all laughed; but there is a great truth in his words, too.
Holy Island – Eilean MoLaise https://holyisle.org/about/history/
Holy Isle has been a place of spiritual significance for over fourteen centuries. With its hermitage cave where the Celtic saint Molaise practised in the 6th century through Viking visits and monastic settlement to its rebirth as a centre for retreat and interfaith dialogue under the Holy Isle Project, it was the perfect destination for Marika’s Interfaith Peace Walk. Dmitry and Carol already knew this wonderful place; back in 1994, we had kindly been granted permission to do a personal retreat there, camped on the slopes of the holy mountain Mullach Mòr, and we were happy to visit again.
View of Holy Isle from the ferry; Wild Soay sheep near St Molaise’s cave on the island.
There was tangible excitement as we first glimpsed Holy Isle from Arran, and a wonderful sense of relief and accomplishment when we finally set foot on the jetty and were met by resident monk Rinchen.
We had left London precisely 49 days previously, so as well as raising thousands for charity, for us this Walk was a Bardo of sorts. Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche must have foreseen this through his compassionate clairvoyance – a few months earlier, Dmitry and Carol had been with him in Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, and just before we left Nepal to return to the UK, Rinpoche gave us two mantras, saying: “This may be useful. You can recite them while you are walking.”
Poppy, Dmitry, Rebecca, Carol and Marika on Holy Island, September 1996.
Chasey Kengtse School
The Chasey Kengtse School was originally envisioned as a boarding school for Bönpo children to be built near Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu. It was later established in the Bön village of Lubrak, Mustang, so that Bönpo children could stay close to their families. This year, the Chasey Kengtse Hostel is celebrating its 25th! https://www.facebook.com/mustangbonaction
The original Chasey Kengtse School Appeal leaflet.
Today
Now, 30 years later, we can look back and rejoice at how these small but inspired actions have blossomed in the lives of so many.
Celebrating 28 years! Video from Mustang Bon Action Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/mustangbonaction