LAMA IS HELPING WITH PANDEMIC
FOR many, Wales is a welcoming and inclusive country, ready to take anybody who needs a home under its wing. And there is no better example of this than its diverse and multicultural capital, Cardiff.
And one person who knows this more than most is Buddhist Lama Lobsang, a Tibetan monk who found refuge in the city as a refugee fleeing Chinese persecution.
Arriving in Cardiff in 2006, Lama made the city his home for 12 years, becoming a firm favourite among locals and teaching thousands of children Buddhism and meditation across dozens schools.
Lama came to Cardiff from Lhasa, Tibet, where he had joined a monastery when he was just 15. While in the city, the 47-year-old lived a simple life, conducting religious ceremonies and teaching Buddhist philosophy to his students.
But, after more than a decade of offering a friendly smile, a comforting embrace or considerate advice for anyone who needed it, Lama became noticeably absent from the city’s streets.
In the three years since he left Cardiff in 2018, the world – and Wales – has changed. Coronavirus has buckled health systems and economies the world over and millions of people have lost their lives.
But Lama, who says his sole ambition in life is to make “others lives better”, had no idea that when he left his home city he would find himself helping to save lives in India, one of the world’s worst-hit coronavirus countries.
“I am a Buddhist monk, we like to care for other people and that’s why I’m never in one place. When I see people or places with problems I want to go there, to help, to try and make their life better,” said Lama.
“I want to help them, to help them change their minds. I left Cardiff to help people.
“When I left Cardiff I came to Italy, and then India. In December 2019 I thought I want to go back to Wales but then the lockdown in 2020 stopped that.
“In lockdown I have been helping the Indian people, the Tibetan people, for the last one and a half years. So many people have passed, we have been here helping as we can but so many people have died.”
India has suffered the third highest death toll of the pandemic, behind the USA and Brazil, as 265,041 people have died as a result of the virus.
Lama, who happened to find himself in the country as the virus began, has been helping the Tibetan and Indian communities in the country since March 2020.
“You hear about coronavirus in the world but in India more people have died, more people have got problems – all year I have been helping people with this.”
While in the western world facemasks, social distancing and handwashing have become second nature this is not the case in India.
The UK has dubbed the Indian variant of coronavirus one of concern, with reports of four deaths in the UK linked to the variant. But in India the situation is almost incomprehensible.
“I’ve had both the injections, the vaccines, and so I feel safe, I don’t mind, all is on my mind is helping. People will say ‘won’t you get sick?’ and try and change my mind about helping, but I’ve never been sick,” said Lama.
“In India in lockdown it is hard but so many people are in need now. I go there to help them however I can. You see it around the world, I have seen it in Italy, in the UK, the coronavirus has hurt a lot of people.
“It seems to have been a lot better in Wales and England now. It was worse with you at first but now seems better but here right now is bad.
“Here they don’t have masks, don’t have water to wash hands. I am always telling people “you need to use masks, where is the mask?” I am always giving people masks.
“It’s so sad, the world is different. There’s so many problems here, so many deaths. I have been working and helping every day. I help with the all the bodies and the cremations.”
Lama said that alongside practical help in the form of sourcing supplies, he has also been helping those who are struggling mentally with the ferocity of the virus.
“Many people are sad here. In the Tibetan community we think about things a bit differently. There have been lots of people thinking about Karma, about the next life. We listen to the holiness of the Dalai Lama teaching.
“We have been using this to try and bring us peace otherwise there will be sadness, anger, worry and a lot of problems.”
While he feels like he must now stay in India to help, Lama said he still considered Wales his home and he will return.
“Cardiff is my best and favourite place, Welsh people are so friendly and I really miss them and the city,” he said.