Khari Rinpoche

 

I met Khari Rinpoche on my first trip to Nepal. We had dinner together overlooking the amazing Boudha Stupa (Boudhanath Stupa).

 

Since then I’ve enjoyed his company on every trip I made to Nepal and several times in New Hampshire and Vermont when he visited Leeli Bonney, who has been his close friend since they met in Kathmandu in 2005.

 

In the Buddhist faith Rinpoche is somewhat similar to a Cardinal in the Catholic faith. Khari Rinpoche (formally, Khari Tulku Tenzin Yonten) was identified by the Dalai Lama very early in his life.

 

He is a young, very energetic, and spirited person. Rinpoche is the Lama of Khari Ganden Tenphil Ling Monastery, also known as Khari Gompa, in Thamo, a small village in the Everest region west of Namche Bazaar. 

 

Very un-monk-like, Rinpoche enjoys technology, photography, and tennis. He is intelligent and creative.  He designed much of Khari Gompa himself.

 

In 2003 the Dalai Lama requested Rinpoche renovate the existing prayer hall in Thamo. Rinpoche did the architectural and design work, hired the best workers he could find, and oversaw the work until its completion in November 2014.   “The purpose of the construction is to make a peaceful home for the many Tibetan refugees and local people, to share and preserve the Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture, and to practice the Buddha’s teaching which is to develop kindness and compassion in every individual’s daily life and to live a meaningful life.”

Here are photos of Khari Gompa in Thamo.

 

One summer when Rinpoche stayed with Leeli and Jim Bonney in Meriden, NH,  I invited them to our cabin on Lake Sunapee. I remember Rinpoche very happily driving my boat. 

 

 

Rinpoche brought Jann and me prayer flags from Khari Gompa. We displayed and cherished them each summer for years. What a great way to remember his visit and Nepal.

 

 

Those same weeks I injured my right thumb falling off my mountain bike. But Rinpoche wanted to play tennis, which he liked to do whenever he could in Kathmandu. He and I used the courts at Kimball Union Academy for a spirited match. He was not delicate in his tennis game; he slammed the ball very hard, though not always straight. I remember my sore thumb was getting more sore every time I returned a shot.

 

 

 

 

On Sunapee I brashly asked him, “What is your job at Khari Gompa?”. He replied, “I am the boss.”

 

So on my next trip to Nepal, I had brought a T-shirt with a photo of Khari Gompa and the inscription “The Boss of Khari Gompa”. I presented it to him at the first opportunity in Kathmandu. 

 

During my first trip to Nepal in November 2008, Rinpoche treated us to a fantastic dinner at a very upscale restaurant, the Yak & Yeti. We entered the hotel and restaurant through what looked like an alley, but inside the hotel looked like Miami Beach. Google it if you want to check it out for a visit. Here is a poor phone photo of him with Sarah there.

In both 2008 and 2009, Rinpoche gave us a tour of Patan and the statues he commissioned for Khari Gompa. I saw them several trips but unfortunately never when they were finally installed at Khari Gompa.

 

 

 

In March 2012 Khari Rinpoche took us for a wonderful tour of Bhakatapur. We saw potters, shrines, and very very old buildings.

 

Here he is hamming it up with the sacred serpent at Sundari Chowk, the ritual bathing courtyard of Bhaktapur kings.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are three more photos from that great visit to Bhakatapur.  Rinpoche had grabbed Leeli’s camera so he could ham it up with children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like me, he enjoys photography. I have taken him on photo tours in Vermont, as seen below from an October 2012 photo excursion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more photos from Nepal.