The first dolls arrived sometime around the start of the Kopan lockdown, roughly at the beginning of 2020. Those and almost all dolls since then have been offered by Oanh Vovan, who lives in Kathmandu, and is extremely generous and loves giving. From time to time, she would send up delicious food, beautiful flowers and dolls for Rinpoche, and snacks for the attendants. Rinpoche and locals call them dolls, the manufacturers call those made with soft fabric “plushies,” while the Western concept is probably toys.
I think I received the first doll as a gift from Rinpoche, who wrote on it, then later embellished the eyes and added unique smiles. I loved the doll, which I called AH. The advice was to carry the doll everywhere, so it went to the dining room, the café, the gompa for puja, the bank, the visa office and for kora, circumambulation around Kopan. In retrospect, I think it was to bring a little lightness to lockdown.
Initially Rinpoche wrote on the plushies, then gradually Ani Tsen-la and I wrote down Rinpoche’s ideas, and mostly Rinpoche wrote the mantras. Rinpoche sometimes added eyelashes, eyeliner and unique smiles. Some quotes came after deliberation, while others came while Rinpoche was doing something else, like reading or writing or whatever. Suddenly Rinpoche would say, “Put this on the zebra,” for example.
Before giving the dolls away, Rinpoche would recite mantras then blow profusely all over them. More blessings! One girl’s mother had seen pictures of the dolls around Rinpoche while Rinpoche was giving COVID teachings on Zoom. Rinpoche accepted her request for one, and after sending the doll of her choice, her worries and inability to sleep disappeared. She still sleeps with the doll.
Those people who were in lockdown at Kopan were the next recipients—water bowl offering helpers, girls who worked in the café and teachers at the Kopan school, who had been separated from their families for a year. Then, as lockdown was gradually relaxed, some students and guests of Rinpoche received them and as the dolls went out, more and more arrived.
Rinpoche gifted the last group of dolls to the 2022 November Course participants. There were hundreds of people and a few dolls, so Rinpoche had each person throw a dice before offering their khatag and if one dot came up, the doll was theirs. It was fun for everyone!
Several times, Rinpoche asked if I thought publishing photos of the dolls would make people happy. “Would people enjoy?” Rinpoche asked. “Of course!” I replied. Then, in the last weeks Rinpoche asked me to make a book before I die of the doll photos and the quotes. Luckily, Rinpoche had mentioned several times to record all the quotes and take photos. The dolls that ran away before their photo shoot were found around the world, and now LYWA is publishing these precious, often humorous quotes from Rinpoche, a reminder of Rinpoche’s great love for us and his unique means to inspire and open our hearts.
Tenzin Namdrol
Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal
October 2024
