We arrived, went straight from the airport to the hotel where for the next five days Karmapa had meetings and audiences with seemingly half the population of Taiwan, every evening we went to the hall where Karmapa bestowed different empowerments in front of a huge crowd, and then after we went back to the hotel. The city did look lovely out of the taxi window! Once there was even a big dinner meeting, the restaurant just so happened to be… in our hotel. While in the elevator on out way there I mentioned to Karmapa that supposedly there was a pool in our hotel, he laughed, said “apparently so” and we moved on. I’ve said it before, part of my job is to travel to many wonderful places, and many of the times we don’t see anything at all as we’re shuttling around from airport to hotel, hotel to hall, hall to restaurant, hotel to airport - bon voyage. And in between all that there is endless audiences, meetings, blessings, all happening in a tidal wave of activity squeezed into every extra waking moment. This is what being around His Holiness is like, it’s a non stop cavalcade of people from all walks of life coming from all over the world to see him. Nothing else really matters. I learn so much from watching him every day, nothing inspires me more than seeing Karmapa meet with people. He is always focused on them, time doesn’t matter, he has nowhere else to be (even when he really has somewhere else to be), and he gives them all his every attention. Everyone is greeted with that smile, that inviting gesture of effortless compassion. It’s mind-blowing to watch over and over and over. The same goes for the empowerments, every single person got a blessing, some even stopped to ask questions, to which they were greeted with a warm invitation to ask away, no-one would be rushed. I could be dead tired, feet falling off from exhaustion, he never once slows down or needs a break, ever. Every afternoon it was 3-5 hours of audiences, at night blessing line for 500. Some simple blessings, other to speak about their cancer, or a loss of a loved one, all met with the same compassionate being who gives them all the time they need. They laugh, they cry, they want a selfie, no problem - take your time.
When I’m on tour this sort of tunnel vision takes over and I can get uber focused on my work, and sort of dismiss the rest. One day rolls into five and I cannot usually differentiate. But the things that I do remember, those little details, stay with me forever. Like our hotel staff were ridiculously nice - I’ve never had someone tell me they were overjoyed to help me with something totally mundane like extra water bottles. The ninja cleaning staff neatly coiled my charging cables every times I left the room - something my OCD was very thankful about - but which I could never thank anyone directly for. The folks from Karma Phuntsok Choeling, the organizers for our event in Taipei, were also incredibly nice and hospitable. Perhaps it’s a Taiwanese thing, everyone is so generous, giving, and welcoming all the time it’s quite impressive. Everyone was always smiling, asking how they can help even if none of us needed anything at all. Funny story; I was interested to buy a little camera (big Asian cities have amazing second-hand stuff), and I casually mentioned it over lunch and one lady started calling all the camera shops in the city trying to find it for me. When they didn’t have it, we found someone who ended up coming to our hotel lobby one night after the empowerment, well after midnight, to bring it to me. Nicest guy you could want to meet, asked to take a selfie with me. The next day I needed a camera strap for my new toy, one of the main organizers took me in a cab to get one, no questions asked, nicest guy in the world. That’s Taiwan for you I guess.
We are now on to the second half of our Taiwan tour, and I just want to thank everyone I met in Taipei. I really mean it, you all were incredible. All the organizers, the drivers, my camera whisperer, my camera strap adventurer, the hotel staff, (the breakfast buffet lady that always remembered my name, My Korlo she called me), you were all very, very kind to us. Thank you Taipei 😁
