Ringu Tulku Rinpoche invited Roberta and myself to study drawing under the guidance of his brother, Salga, an accomplished Thangka painter in Kathmandu. Roberta is illuminating and illustrating the Lotus Sutra. This is a devotional activity that she has been working on for 10 years. We would like to report that we spent four glorious weeks in Kathmandu in November/December 2007, working (drawing) and following our feet around Boudha, the part of Kathmandu where we stayed. We stayed in the Shechen Guest House within the compound of the Shechen Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Temple and Clinic. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche wanted us to learn the traditional drawing proportions in order to more accurately portray the Buddha and the Buddhist pantheon. Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's brother, Salga, is an accomplished Thangka painter and our teacher. We drew six days a week under Salga's watchful and gentle eye, drawing, a lot of rubbing and drawing again!

We enjoyed lunch and tea each day with Salga's extended family and a few jaunts into the countryside escorted by Shenga-la, Rinpoche's attendant. As time passes I expect it will penetrate just how fortunate we are to have been given a most unusual insight into, not only the working of the training in the art of Thangka painting but in the intimate functioning of the family. Ringu Tulku's family expressed their gratitude and joy to all those who have helped and supported Rigul; the health clinic, the doctor, the building of a school (the first ever) and funding the children. This is the village that the family came from before the Chinese invasion.

A five day, twenty-one Tara puja for Ringu Tulku's safe travels was held by five high lamas in the family shrine room with lots of chanting, drums drumming, bells ringing and horns blowing. Not only did this reverberate through our bodies as we were in the next room but it also resounded round the neighbourhood.

The great Stupa at Boudha is greatly revered and the Tibetan community, morning and evening, do Kora around it (walking and saying mantras, malas swinging along). Many people do full prostrations on the prostration boards supplied and some even prostrate all round the Stupa. We had some interesting encounters. We took some multivitamins to Thrangu Rinpoche's school and when we arrived an emergency meeting had just taken place as the Maoists were at the school gate just before we arrived demanding money or blank, blank, blank. Apparently in the spring of this year the same happened and there were threats of taking the teachers and cutting their hands off!!! We met and entertained a Tibetan mother and daughter one evening. The mother had just come out of Tibet, she was a yak herder and had never seen electric lights, money etc. They were on their way to see HH Dalai Lama.