-Rinchen.

Considering Ladakh’s small population, one hears of suicide all too often; specially amidst the youth. Yet, it’s never talked about. These days, there is no solid support structure for the youth. The ‘elders’ who should be guiding the youth are either themselves misguided or are too busy.

In my opinion, one’s solid as well as individually understood source of support, in this day and age, understanding one’s mind. One way to that is through spirituality.

I’m not certain about other places, but surely Ladakh’s Buddhist youth is slowly getting disconnected from its religion: Tibetan-Buddhism. Factors are aplenty: apathy; ‘too cool for spirituality’; ‘too “rational” for spirituality; not been properly introduced to the tenets of the religion; too busy; lack of guidance. The youth today fails to understand that notions of success and coolness cannot take one far; without a firm understanding of the mind we are essentially just drifting through life. On the other side of the coin, the elderly are either unable to effectively share their knowledge, are ‘too cool’ themselves or are ignorant.

On one end, the youth need more comprehensible access to Tibetan Buddhism. In my personal journey as a Buddhist, I have benefited greatly through Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s books and teachings on sound meditation(for those interested, check youtube). Perhaps, the best teaching I could deduct was that one need not hate suffering, instead one should befriend one’s suffering and not be harsh on mental afflictions. Accepting one’s trials, means accepting oneself, and hence, accepting life as it is.

While there are some who stay true to Guru Rinpoche and Buddha’s teachings, there are many who taint the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. Hence, as mentioned in ‘Words of My Perfect Teacher’, one must always analyze and question. Only a nuanced understanding as well as questioning of the science, called Buddhism, can lead to a clearer mind. The very foundation of Buddhism rests on questioning; embracing the dharma should never be blinding. It is all after all an illusion, the learned say.

The ‘rational’ people out there are ignorant of the supreme scientific nature of Buddhist philosophy. And the ones who believe that being a ‘good person’ is enough, fail to understand that being truly good can only manifest when one understands one’s own mind. Also, most fail to understand that Tibetan-Buddhism is a highly nuanced science; the answers don’t lie in the ambit of true and false, but in a realm beyond duality: understanding which requires great learning and good karma (sode-sonam).

Suicide, depression, directionlessness, are symptoms that something surely is wrong. Clearly, capitalist endeavours of ‘success’ haven’t brought a cure, perhaps it is then time to reflect on the empowering philosophy of Buddhism; specifically Tibetan Buddhism for Ladakhi Buddhists or other followers.

What in my opinion makes Buddhism a beautiful science, specially for today’s confused youth, is that it tells us that each and everyone of us has the potential to awaken the Buddha within; implying that we are all not only equal within the human realm but also that we are worth more than we think we are as individuals.  Generically put, it is tells us that we should never give up on life because of difficulties, after all, we even have the potential to become entities who can help others who are facing problems, let alone ourselves. During good times and bad, this philosophy has sustained me. When life seems to be at its worst, I try to remember that I (albeit the notion of I is supposed to go), am worth more than I can understand, and that one must never give up no matter what.

Now what is Tibetan-Buddhism? When Buddhism reached Tibet from India via the great and enlightened Guru Rinpoche and Santaraksita, the amalgamation of Buddhism and the prevalent regional culture (erstwhile Bon traditions minus the negative aspects) gave rise to a different branch of Buddhism, now popularly known as Tibetan Buddhism. This branch of Buddhism is prevalent in Ladakh, Tibet, Lahaul, Spiti, Sikkim, Bhutan and parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Hence the regions are connected in myriad ways through religio-cultural similarities. This again, is a very generic elaboration of what Tibetan-Buddhism is; I hope to give a nuanced elaboration in another article. (Also note, being a follower of Tibetan-Buddhism doesn’t necessarily mean one is Tibetan, various other regions follow the religion; many of which have racial, historical and cultural connections to Tibet.)

Today sadly, Tibetan-Buddhism and its followers are strained with geo-political, social, and cultural tensions. The youth born into Tibetan-Buddhism in Ladakh (and even other regions) are slowly being distanced from both the religious as well as the cultural aspects specific to Tibetan-Buddhism. The answer as to why is it so important to preserve our links to both the religious and cultural aspect of our ties to Tibetan-Buddhism lies in the quest for understanding the meaningful way of life that some of us have access to and others can choose to adopt. At the same time, we also need to question the wrongs that have been assumed by those who pretend to adopt this way of life; a way of life which was originally only intended for reducing suffering by Buddha.

Talking of Ladakh’s society. One question is, where are our elders? Where is the guidance? Clearly, the onus cannot be solely on the shoulders of the youth. Young people go through rather uncertain stages in life as well as states of mind; if the elders aren’t able to guide them, then surely gossiping about ‘misguided youth’ is a rather ironic and sorry defence mechanism.

People say the youth are ignorant of the philosophy, rituals, and prayers of the religion. Then pray, educate them in a nuanced manner: when they understand the benefits accrued to themselves and others, surely they will not desist.

Another question is, where can one (individually?) start or rather restart the journey.. Is it by reading ‘Words of My Perfect Teacher’, practising meditation, reading ‘In Love with the World’ by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, visiting holy sites, learning one’s own script, knowing one’s history, being kind, or just being? But the Buddhist way of life itself encourages questioning, so the answer one lands on should be one that is arrived at after much learning and nuanced questioning. The only certain thing here is that one’s life has more meaning than one understands; one’s privilege to be born as a human being binds one with a duty to find that meaning or at least try.

Anyone who’s read Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, understands how the book ends and specially the quote rings true: “Pachinko, like all gambling, is rigged. The house always wins. It’s a central metaphor of life. It’s rigged, but you keep playing.” We know the rules of samsara, yet we hope.. we try everyday to be better..

Hope is what keeps the world going. We need to talk more about hope, and hope not just for material success, but for inner growth, because that’s the only thing we truly have. To quote the learned Gyalwa Rinpoche, His Holiness Dalai Lama, “There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’ No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.”

Give yourself hope, and share that beacon of hope where you can. Sometimes, our karma can bind us in wretched cycles, but we have the agency to at least try to be better in whatever way we can. No matter what our beliefs are in life, trying to be a better human will be a worthy endeavour.

The question is, is one willing to put in the effort to live a life worth living?