Sedona CALLAHAN, Writer Monterey County Herald One of the
Neighbors By Sedona Callahan Last weekend, while most Monterey
Peninsula community members went about their business-as-usual,
a small group of local residents gathered in the Pacific Grove
living room of a Buddhist lama to share in the festivities of
the Tibetan New Year. The group, made up of both Tibetans and
westerners, was led in joyful celebration by Buddhist Lama Geshe
Lobsang Gyatso, or “Geshela” to his friends, a man as unique as
the ceremony itself. Lobsang Gyatso was born in the province of
Kham in Eastern Tibet near the Burmese border in 1932. His
family of traders lived among people noted for being fierce
warriors. Lobsang Gyatso accompanied his father on trading
expeditions into China while still a small child. At the age of
8, Lobsang Gyatso was already inclined toward a religious life
and was chosen by the religious leadership of his community to
enter a monastic community. There he studied basic reading,
writing and mathematics, and re