From little ‘Ira’ to being ‘Lama Aria Drolma’, from moving from her birthplace in Coorg in South India to New York City’s Manhattan, from living the fast, breezy life of a top-notch fashion model to becoming a Buddhist nun, from owning 300 pairs of shoes at a time to maybe owning next to nothing now—nothing compares to her transformative journey from a life of dissatisfaction and confusion to a life of contentment and peace.
What stood out during a half-hour profound conversation with Mathew George, News Editor at THE WEEK, at the AYUSH Conclave in New Delhi on Saturday were two words: 'compassion' and 'mindfulness'.
“Buddhism is about compassion. Compassion is a practice. It is also the key to happiness,” says the 61-year-old Lama Aria.
“As a fashion model in New York, I would come back home from social gatherings in the evening, wipe off my makeup, stare at myself in the mirror and ask, ‘who am I?'”
This may be a familiar question to the spiritually inclined, but while most stay back bridled in the humdrum of life, there are some who actually embark on that arduous, but life-changing, journey to find purpose in life.
Lama Aria is among the few. It is not about luck and chance, but perhaps about fate and a sincere effort.
After having spent years practising Buddhism, it was in 2011, when she went for rigorous training in mindfulness—that lasted three years, three months and three days at a monastery near New York—that she realised her true calling.
With very clear and expressive eyes that tell a story of compassion, Lama Aria explains: “Actually, it is all inside you. The Buddha says there is that spark of divinity in all of us. Life’s purpose is to find it. That is what I realised when I started questioning, ‘who am I?'"
Like many Buddhists, the concept of death has been an important concern in her mind.
“Death is something most of us do not look at. Yet it can be just a breath away.” An important event in her life was the aftermath of the demise of her 52-year-old mother.
“After my mother’s cremation, when her burnt ashes were brought to me in an urn, I realised this is what life is.”
The Lama also offers a modern-day mantra: “You can have everything you desire. But it is that attachment to these things like the car, the house, the family and everything else that causes those sufferings.”
"Buddha speaks about the impermanence of everything. Even the seasons change. So sorrow, grief and happiness all happen in the mind. Being mindful is about learning and training to control the mind. That is why the key is to try and find that inner awareness that exist in all of us. It is the awareness that we should all strive for."
Delving further into Buddhist philosophy, the Lama says: “Buddhism is 2,500 years old, yet it is so relevant in modern times. Buddhism does not teach you to be a doormat. You may chide someone, but the key is to not revel in that anger and not to be attached to it,” she explains wonderfully.