When I was a little boy I loved following my maternal uncle who was a Gomchen (lay Buddhist monk). He lived very close to our house and took care of our shrine every day. He performed morning and evening rituals and made offerings to the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and deities. Besides, he helped us with a lot of our day-to-day activities especially heavy works such as fetching water, firewoods, and feeding cattle. He was a father figure to us since our dad lived far away from us with his other wives. So, I and my brothers looked up to him and followed him wherever he went.
One of his duties as a Gomchen was going for alms begging at least twice a year. He usually made his alms begging round after harvests and before he went into retreats. His alms would be mainly cereals of all kinds such as corn, wheat, buckwheat, barley, and rice depending on the season. He begged for alms to support himself and his wife. According to the Buddhist traditions of the area, he was not permitted to work on the farm being a Gomchen. This is in keeping with the Vinaya of the Buddhist practice.
Every time he went for his alms round I used to nag him to take me along as his assistant. Often he refused at first but I convinced him saying that I could carry a big bag of alms for him. My mother would try to stop me but I turned deaf ears on her words. In fact, they would try to stop me in vain.
We stepped out of our houses before daybreak and headed for the next village. He was always dressed in a maroon robe wrapped over his shoulder with a broad red shawl. Over his other shoulder, he strung his Kapara (bag) which contained his pack lunch and his priced instruments - ritual drum and vajra bell. Wanting to look like him I wore my faded dress Mathra Gho (red-patterned robe) and carried a small Kapara (bag) of my own filled with empty bags for the alms collection. My uncle was a tall man so I had to walk fast to keep up with his gigantic strides. After walking for about an hour we reached the village Khandroma.
As we approached the first house my uncle took out, his instruments stuff and readied ourselves. Excited as I was, I made my empty sacks ready to receive.
around footsteps to learn the traits of a peasant.
by Even before I was enrolled in the pre-primary school I
