At mid-morning on January 24, 1960 – nine months and a day since Rinpoche and his small group set out from Drolma Lhakang on their epic escape – he and five of his party climbed into a C-47 aircraft of the Indian Air Force. It would fly them from the town of Tuting over the Himalayan foothills and down to the plains of India.
For Rinpoche the flight was a momentous event and was where, in a short, deeply moving passage, he concluded Born in Tibet. It was the final letting go of everything he had known, and also the gateway to an ocean of fresh experiences, alluring potential. As the aircraft soared over the Himalayan foothills …
We thought about the teachings of impermanence; this was a complete severance of all that had been Tibet and we were traveling by mechanized transport. As the moments passed, the mountain range was left behind, and the view changed to the misty space of the Indian plains stretching out in front of us. -CTR
- For more on this timeless story, go to: fromlionsjaws.ca/
- To view Touch and Go, an aerial video of the escape, see: chronicleproject.com/touch-and-go/
