Ngawang Paljor comes from a small village around 20 kilometers from the monastery. His father died young, and as the youngest boy in the family, he was his mother's favorite and was never asked to do manual work. He still remembers the day when he held his mother's hand and looked up at Mount Qomolangma, telling her that he wanted to become a monk.

 

"She was not surprised. She told me it was a very noble calling."

 

When he arrived at the monastery for the first time at age 21, he said it felt familiar. "Life inside the monastery was exactly as I had imagined," he said.

 

Although Ngawang Paljor was much older than many of his peers when he became a monk, the abbot appointed Ngawang Odser, a much respected monk and leader of the chanting of Buddhist scripture, to oversee his training.

 

 

Devoting your life to the study of Tibetan Buddhism does not mean you must isolate yourself from what is happening outside the monastery. Ngawang Paljor reunites with his family twice each year.

 

In the fourth month of the Tibetan year, they celebrate Saga Dawa, the anniversary of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Ngawang Paljor is excited because his brother's family will come to visit him.

 

In the tenth month of Tibetan year, he returns to the family home for a month.

 

"In addition to spending time with my family, I chant scriptures and pray in the homes of other villagers," he said.

 

Now that an asphalt road connects Rongpo with the outside world, young monks like Ngawang Paljor have the opportunity to travel and see more of the world beyond the mountainous horizon.

 

Two calligraphy brushes lie beside his ink pot, gifts from a friend he met in Shanghai.