By Darrell Kirk
Sounder contributor
Gelong Kalsang Rinpoche, a fully ordained Tibetan Buddhist monk, visited Orcas Island in September to share teachings on karma with the local community at Emmanuel Parish Hall in Eastsound. The visit was organized by local resident Anne Mayer.
It was Rinpoche’s first visit to an island like this in the continental United States, and he expressed being “very impressed by the natural beauty” and found it “very relaxing to his mind and body and spirit.”
Rinpoche became a fully ordained monk at age 11 and escaped Tibet at ages 13-14 during the Chinese communist occupation. After fleeing to Nepal, he met his root teacher and has since become an accomplished meditation master. He currently divides his time between Nepal, Taiwan and Southern California, where he works with a sangha near Los Angeles.
The teaching focused on the Buddhist concept of karma, known in Tibetan as “le” (phonetic; Wyl. las) — cause and effect. Rinpoche explained that karma operates across all Buddhist traditions and described it using vivid metaphors: “Karma and cause and effect are attached to you much like your shadow is attached to you on a sunny day” and “Karma is like a flowing river … constantly flowing down the stream.”
Rinpoche offered particular praise for the Orcas Island community. Through his translator, he observed that Orcas islanders “must be people of a very high degree of good karma all your lifetimes.” He noted the island’s peace, self-sufficiency and “vibrant community with really interesting things going on.”
Contrasting the island’s abundance with global suffering in regions experiencing “extreme poverty, starvation, lack of drinking water, real pain, war, chaos,” Rinpoche emphasized: “You don’t have war. You don’t have a lack of food. You live amongst a decent and compassionate community.”
Central to his teaching was personal responsibility: “You are the captain of your own ship, and you really spearhead your destiny with every action you take.” He stressed that “you must really be careful with your actions, your intentions, your mind in this very lifetime.”
The visit concluded with Rinpoche offering blessed protection cords to attendees and making aspirations for peace in suffering regions worldwide.
