Lama Samten and the Nagas of Lake Tekapo

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He told me he wanted to do practices to placate the spirits that lived in that area, in particular nagas. Nagas are a species of animal associated with water and invisible to our eye. They are highly intelligent and their moods affect changes in the weather and in the feelings of people. They have been known to cause plagues and disease. Lama described to me in great detail what they and a number of similar beings look like and how they behave. He thought the natural balance of the MacKenzie Basin had been upset and these beings weren't very happy. In the weeks leading up to our arrival, Lama said he had established contact with these spirits and they were expecting us. It certainly seemed that way if the weather was anything to go by. On the days leading up to our arrival, there had been blizzard-like conditions at Tekapo but we arrived on a remarkably hot day, canopied by a cloudless azure sky.

By the time we arrived at the Church of the Good Shepherd, a gathering of a dozen or so onlookers had collected and were waiting expectantly. The fire puja went very well. In the space of an hour or so, Lama performed a number of pujas under a clear blue sky in the snow. By the end, clouds began to form. Afterwards, I asked Lama how he felt it all went. He said he felt it went very well and had observed some positive signs. We then left for a neighboring lake, Pukaki, where Lama made some prayers and threw precious offering substances gathered from various holy places throughout Tibet and the Himalayas into the water. I recall feeling a deep inner peace at this time, some sort of communion with the environment. A week after our return, the lakes had filled to the point where the government was confident enough to announce the end of the electricity crisis. The media reported that an unexpected rise in the lake levels that previous week had obviated the need for power rationing.

Read more at : http://www.kagyu.org.nz/content/ktc-laketekapo.html

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When I was twenty-one, I had to decide whether to continue with my studies or to practise. I chose to practise. This is partly because I felt I already had a basic understanding of dharma but mainly it was because I was concerned about death, I had seen so much of it in my family. Soon after I took full ordination, I entered the traditional three year, three month and three day retreat. I did two retreats in succession. The meditations practised during the retreat are as follows:

        First is seven days of Dorje Phurba practice to remove obstacles and to
        provide protection. This practice is also done every evening and is
        continued until the end of the retreat.
        Then follows seven days of White Tara which is practised to insure long
        life and good health. This is also continued each morning until the end
        of the retreat.
        Four sessions of Lotog Namzhi. These are the "Ordinary Preliminary
        Practices", the "Four Thoughts which Change the Mind".
        Four months of Ngön Dro, the "Extraordinary Preliminary Practices".
        These consist of 111 111 prostrations, to purify the body; 111 111 Dorje
        Sempa mantras, to purify the speech; 111 111 mandala offerings, to
        purify the mind; and 111 111 Guruyoga recitations, to invoke the
        blessing of the lineage.
        One month of Lojong Dondün, "Seven point Mind Training", this consists
        of reading and meditating on bodhicitta.
        One month Semdzin, this is shine and lhatong (Skt: shamata and
        vipashana).
        One month Marpa Guruyoga.
        One month Milarepa Guruyoga.
        One month Gampopa Guruyoga.
        One month Karma Pakshi Guruyoga.
        Seven months Vajrayogini.
        Four months Chakrasambhava.
        Seven months Naro Cho Drug: the Six Yogas of Naropa.
        Three months Gyalwa Gyamtso: Red Avalokiteshvara.
        Fifty days Amitabha: O Pagme.
        One month Akshobhya: Mi Drugpa.
        One month Vairochana.
        One month Mahakala.
        One month Chod.
        One month White Tara: Drolma Karpo.

On the completion of my second retreat, I spent another three years in solitary retreat in a forest near the retreat centre. All my instruction was from H.E. Beru Khyentse Rinpoche and Venerable Kalu Rinpoche. I thought I would spend the rest of my life in retreat but, in 1981, His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa and His Eminence Beru Khyentse Rinpoche requested me to come to New Zealand and Australia. I have been here for more than seventeen years now and I like both countries very much and I like the people. Initially, it was difficult for me, on account of my pidgin English. These days I still speak pidgin English but I don't have so much trouble communicating. I'm really not sure how much benefit there is in my being here but there must be at least some benefit, otherwise His Holiness would not have sent me. I trust His Holiness one hundred per cent, furthermore, I'm interested in quality more than quantity. On the whole, I think I have become wilder and wiser.