Inconvenient Compassion

by Jhamtse Gatsal Graduate Pema D.

According to the Tibetan lunar calendar, the 10th, 15th, 25th and 30th day of every month are considered very auspicious. Since 2018, Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community has voluntarily given up dinner on these nights.

It started as a thoughtful seed to give back to the world in a small way—not in the future when we grow up and become capable of doing more—but starting now, in this very moment of our daily life. Even within our limited means, we can try to help our neighbours who are suffering and in great need. We learn to give, not because we have a lot, but because we know through experience what it feels like to have nothing.

When we perform traditional dances or other cultural pieces at local celebrations, we are awarded monetary gifts as tokens of appreciation. We decided to donate this money to those around us who were in need. Gen Lobsang La has taught us the practice of inconvenient compassion—to give, not just when it is easy, but even when it may cause us suffering. In this light, donating our earnings from cultural performances was a convenient form of compassion from us. Thus, as a small step towards the ideal of inconvenient compassion, we proposed to the Community the idea of making a commitment to skip one meal every week on the above-mentioned days to donate our saved groceries to a school nearby, which all community members wholeheartedly supported. To our pleasant surprise, we learned that what we could save as a community by giving up four meals a month was sufficient nutrition for a month for the children and at this school that we adopted!

Even before I left Jhamtse Gatsal in 2018 for pursuing further studies, this had become a regular practice. Almost three years since, these evenings of fasting have turned into something even I could not have imagined—evenings of intimate celebration! Now, every night of fasting, we gather as the community to enjoy the Jhamtse Durbar. It is a platform where any member of the Jhamtse family can share their talent, skills and thoughts. It is a platform where you can work on your weaknesses or show off your skills! There are many interesting things to do in Durbar such as dancing, singing, debating, story-telling, poetry recitals, etc. The intent is to have an intimate family gathering which serves as a safe space to practice our skills and develop our confidence.

Looking back, I feel proud of our Community for taking this step together as a family and for seeing it through. I am honoured to be a part of this tradition which will last for a long time to come and will continue to feed the hunger of those in need while giving our Mother Earth some well-deserved rest.

“At the end of the day it is not about what you have or even about who you’ve lifted up and who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” – Denzel Washington