Morning blessing

Last night I met Tinzen, a Tibetan monk who lives in NYC on 16th St and 2nd Ave ! We are practically neighbors. Oh, on another note I sat next to a Tibetan during the teachings who lives on 10th between Ave A and B! I can see his building from my window when I am in NYC! He left Tibet in '91, trekked 32 months to DH and moved to NYC a few years ago. He works at Nobu and half way through HH's teachings, he whipped out photos of him with Richard Gere at Nobu. It was classic. Well, back to Tinzen......last night he invited me to attend a morning blessing at a temple a few kilometers away. I didn't know too much about the ceremony, but a very holy Monk was holding a ceremony where he meditates on an oracle and then blesses this red rice. You buy a white scarf and give it to him as an offering, he blesses you and gives you some red rice which is supposed to protect you. I dragged my friend Deb (not pictured below) out of bed at 6am to go with me. It was beautiful! There were probably about a hundred people or so, mostly Tibetans. We watched the sunrise, chanted and meditated. The ceremony was beautiful. Don't the horn players remind you guys of the Trojan statue in the lobby of East High??? I offered him the scarf, was blessed and have some grains of red rice to travel with. They'll come in handy during times of trouble or hunger. I stood in line with this sweet lady. We both got our rice and red strings for good luck.