For quite a few years now, the Abbey of Gethsemani has had a close relationship with the Drepung Gomang Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This temple is associated with its motherhouse in India, and when notable Buddhists come to the temple, they often fit in a visit to Gethsemani, in part to honor Thomas Merton who was a friend to the Dalai Lama.

However, due to the pandemic, it has been a long time since visits from India were possible, and even then, Gethsemani itself was closed to visitors. But on the 27th of September, our relationship resumed.

The occasion was a visit to Drepung Gomang by the noted Buddhist teacher H.E. Kundaling Tatsak Rinpoche. He is not merely a teacher, but an emanation of Manjushri, the Wisdom Buddha, the current incarnation of a long and renowned lineage. While he was there, he gave a public talk, some Dharma teaching, and other presentations. He was also able to come to Gethsemani for an afternoon, along with Geshe Rapgyal, the head of the Drepung Gomang temple, the monks who live there, Anne Walter, the director of the temple, and others.

We met at the abbey, and walked out to the hermitage where Thomas Merton spent his last years. Br. Paul, Br. Lazarus, and Fr. Lawrence accompanied them. Br. Paul read from Merton’s journals about his meetings with the Dalai Lama when he in India, on his way to the conference in Bangkok. The Rinpoche spoke about the importance of the relationship between Buddhism and other religions, in our case Christianity, which the Dalai Lama consistently emphasizes..

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

We at Gethsemani were very glad to have our relationship with the Drepung Gomang temple renewed and we look forward to many more visits in the future.