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Ganden Yiga Chözin Buddhist Meditation Centre in Pokhara, April 2014. Photo via Facebook, Pokhara Buddhist Meditation Centre.
Ganden Yiga Chözin Buddhist Meditation Centre in Pokhara (about 200 km/120 miles from Kathmandu) was the only FPMT center in Nepal to not experience structural damage by the recent earthquake. Director Drolkar Maree Court shared in an email how the earthquake affected their weekend meditation course and what life is like in Pokhara now:
Sent April 28
The earthquake was very intense and scary and happened during the weekend course when we were on the topic of karma and the delusions. The quake lasted about two minutes and we ran into the garden, watching the neighbor’s building that was under construction, but nothing fell down. We have some cracks in garden walls, but that’s about it. And there was some smashed tsa-tsas in the tsa-tsa house on top of the gompa.
The next day when we again had class, we had a pretty big aftershock and the students just flew out the door this time. The day before they’d left quite slowly – a little too slowly it seemed though – I was at the back! But after that, they were very jittery and frightened. Pokhara is relatively unscathed. Just a few houses collapsed apparently and only one or two deaths, which is bad, of course, but nothing like anywhere else.
Since then, we’ve had to deal with all the anxious students who were here on the weekend. We had 26, which was a great number, but I think now that will be it for this season.
… And the weather’s been really bad lately, even before the earthquake. Very strange.
Sent May 6
Pokhara is practically deserted of Westerners and the people here are feeling it. Usually, May is very busy with tourists and people expect to make enough money each tourist season to tide them over during the monsoon and winter months. The center is no exception. We need to make enough money during the two tourist seasons to keep the center running through those empty months. But now with all the tourists gone, you can see the worry on people’s faces as they sit outside empty shops and restaurants. Apparently, many people have already lost their jobs as the employers start to panic over income. I’m sure it’s the same all over Nepal, not just here, as Nepal relies so heavily on tourism.
Nobody is sure when the tourists will come again either. Let’s hope that September (post monsoon) brings a fresh wave of tourists to re-energize the economy.
For more news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
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