An interview with Om Bahadur Gurung

Buddhist Monk and Lama (Priest) from the Village of Ghandruk, Nepal

Interviewer: As a Buddhist monk, how does religion play a part in your daily life?
Om Bahadur Gurung: Culture and religion are an important part of all of our lives. We have been practising them since our childhoods. Our parents have taught us the good things and to follow the Ramro Bato (Good Path). I have inherited my culture and religion from my father. I have learnt compassion, happiness and to the value the good things in my life. Thus, we respect our culture and religion.
Interviewer: It sounds like following the Ramro Bato has taught you a great deal of good things in your life. Could you please elaborate a bit more?
Om Bahadur Gurung: Well, in our society, people do all sorts of things, both good and bad. I learnt that if you do a bad thing, you will have to face disastrous consequences, ‘pap’, after your death. Cleanliness is important in our religion. Our three hundred years old monastery is in the forest, away from the dirty village. We respect the forest because it is the home of our god. We protect the forest and tell other villagers to do so. The forest provides valuable medicinal herbs which are important in our lives. Our mantra (prayers) and traditional medicinal herbs save the lives of our people when they are sick. We tell people not to cut down trees and not to kill animals.
Interviewer: Oh! Why do you tell this message to others?
Om Bahadur Gurung: The answer is simple. Do you kill your children? No, you do not. You love your children, don’t you? All creatures have life and they are born freely on the planet Earth. I believe they have the right to survive. As a human being, we should take care of all the living creatures and live in harmony with their environment without oppressing them.
Interviewer: It sounds good. How does your culture and religion reflect the notion of sustainable living?
Om Bahadur Gurung: All living creatures live and die. As for human beings, we believe they do not die, but change their spirit and form another life. We Lamas perform ‘arghau’, for example, within 49 days of a person’s death because that spirit will be in a hard life. We pray to our god to send them into heaven and to change their life into another living creature. That is our interpretation of sustainable living. Life is a cycle. If we don’t do our ‘karma’, the cycle will be broken.
Interviewer: Finally, do you have any message to educators?
Om Bahadur Gurung: I have learnt many lessons from my Guru (mentor) over the years. To prove my worthiness as a Lama, I spent three years, three months and three days in a hostile place to learn the ways of the Buddhist culture and religion. When I went to the city to observe other monasteries and meet other monks, I learnt that I still have to learn more. I hope educators have more access to learn about our culture and religion. From my experience, I would say that the Buddhist philosophy of culture and religion provides the wisdom to protect our environment and sustain our lifestyles.